October 6, 2010 (Shooting blanks on wireless policy?)
Frustrated House still waiting for Senate action on 420 bills
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2010
NETWORK NEUTRALITY/BROADBAND RECLASSIFICATION
AT&T: no one can stop our "paid prioritization" [Video]
MORE ON BROADBAND
Broadband Stimulus Post-Game Recap
FCC Commissioner Clyburn encourages academics to study BTOP grants
Utilities Resist Changes to Pole Attachment Rules
New Survey Calls Government Broadband Goals Wimpy
Time for U.S. to assert itself on the Internet, report says
Consumers Willing to Upgrade, but Slow to Embrace Super-Fast Technology
ITIF Releases Guide To Digital Politics
Qwest, CenturyLink to spend $50M for state broadband
WIRELESS
Shooting blanks on wireless policy
TV Auction's Big Question: How Much?
Let TV Stations Lease Their Own Spectrum
Verizon Wireless Says Oops
Senators urge FCC to keep an eye on wireless industry
Newest Google Android Cell Phone Contains Unexpected 'Feature' -- A Malicious Root Kit.
TELEVISION
The Uneasy Crown Atop King Content
Feds Disperse $35 Million for LPTV Digital Transition
NBC Invests in Targeted TV Ads Business
The Coming Golden Age of Television
See also:Time Warner Sees Ally in Web
In the 500-channel universe, we're definitely lost in space
RADIO
The History and Future of Hyper-Local Radio
CONTENT
Inquiry on Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Internet Economy
Administration Cracking Down On Internet Piracy
The Dream Is Over: Music Labels Have Killed Their Digital Future
PRIVACY
Critics Strike At Google's New 'All-It-Can-Eat' Privacy Policy
CYBERSECURITY
Jones warns organized crime is increasingly tech-savvy
Pentagon: The global cyberwar is just beginning
The Pentagon's new cyber warriors
JOURNALISM
Local Startups Seek 'Future of Journalism'
Shield Law: Mr. Smith Came to Washington
At Flagging Tribune, Tales of a Bankrupt Culture
ENERGY
New DOE Reports on Smart Grid Technologies Seek to Promote Innovation, Privacy and Access
Driving Innovation and Investment in the Clean Energy Economy
HEALTH
Online tool boosts chronic disease and preventive care
Telemedicine aids early diagnosis: study
Computerizing care can have unexpected consequences
Innovation Communities in Health Technology
STORIES FROM ABROAD
MPAA Heart ACTA; European Parliament Not So Much
ISPs begin fighting IP lookup requests in wake of data leak
India's Internet Promise
Europe Raises Cry Over Chinese Technology
MORE ONLINE
Clean and Open American Elections
FCC, Phoenix Center trade barbs on jobs study
Device owners read more books, magazines and newspapers
Eavesdrop on the Internet With Trendrr
Aiming to Learn as We Do, a Machine Teaches Itself
Jury orders Apple to pay $625 million in patent suit
Promise and Price: Ookla tools tell broadband consumers the real story
NETWORK NEUTRALITY/BROADBAND RECLASSIFICATION
AT&T SAYS FCC CAN'T STOP PAID PRIORITIZATION
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
The "paid prioritization" train is leaving the station, and not even the Federal Communications Commission's drive to "reclassify" Internet services as limited common carriers can derail it. Network neutrality advocates, incensed when AT&T first suggested the need to charge some Internet companies for "using his pipes free," won't be pleased to hear that AT&T won't let such deals be halted by the FCC. Even if FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski succeeds in bringing Internet service providers under "Title II", AT&T says it will have no effect on its ability to charges companies more for priority Internet access. "Reclassification is not much of a threat to prioritization," said AT&T's Hank Hulquist. "The FCC has decades of precedence of tariffs that were deemed lawful for the provision of prioritization."
benton.org/node/43173 | Ars Technica | CongressDaily | see the event
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MORE ON BROADBAND
BROADBAND STIMULUS RECAP
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: John Celentano]
Overall, $9.3 billion was designated for 647 broadband stimulus projects with $6.5 billion in grants, $1.3 billion in loans, and another $1.5 billion in matching funds. Infrastructure projects took 428 awards, with $5.8 billion in grants and $1.3 billion in loans. Some observations:
1) Why wasn't more money allocated to wireless infrastructure? Wireless systems can extend broadband to subscribers over many miles at much lower deployment costs, around $1,500 per subscriber for the access portion (base station and subscriber units). Moreover, wireless systems are easier and faster to deploy than trenching fiber cable over long distances.
2) Department of Agriculture Broadband Infrastructure Projects budgeted $10,000 per subscriber for FTTH deployments. Most of these projects are in rural areas with lots of wide-open spaces, so deployment costs will be higher than if FTTH were deployed in denser-populated areas. Still, that figure is probably 2-3 times what can actually be done to extend fiber into rural markets.
3) The first half -- Round One -- was a free-for-all with seasoned veterans almost overrun by a pack of undisciplined, freewheeling walk-ons and free agents scrambling to score a piece of the action. Those that couldn't demonstrate viable performance were cut almost immediately. Second half action in Round Two was much more orderly with applicants showing more disciplined approaches and greater technical and economic feasibility.
4) the referees (reviewers) faced a monumental task in sorting out projects that had merit from those that did not; they did a commendable job.
5) Most BIP awards went to established companies that have a history of borrowing, and repaying, funds. Scores of BIP applicants were turned down flat because they had no track record or because their proposals were not feasible.
6) Fiber projects far outweighed wireless alternatives. This is, in part, because more wireline companies (independent telcos, ISPs, small cablecos) applied for funds. Fiber systems are the safe bet; the technology is stable and the players are established. Fiber equipment manufacturers are well-known, reliable, and have a good performance record.
benton.org/node/43141 | Connected Planet
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ACADEMIC STUDY OF BTOP
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn encouraged academics to study the effectiveness of broadband stimulus grants allocated by the Commerce Department in support of broadband deployment. "As the commission retrofits its policies to further encourage broadband deployment—both wireless and wired—feedback on the wholesale impact on our nation will be valuable," she said. Emphasizing that academia has a role in shaping American broadband policies, Commissioner Clyburn said the FCC staff conducted dozens of workshops with notable academics as it shaped the National Broadband Plan. "They did obtain a significant amount of information from industry and consumer groups," she said, but "they also received input from academia." "As a result of your work and participation, we have an incredibly well-adapted plan," she said.
benton.org/node/43140 | Hill, The
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POLE ATTACHMENT COMMENTS
[SOURCE: Coalition of Concerned Utilities, AUTHOR: Jack Richards, Thomas Magee, Wesley Wright]
In a proceeding that the Federal Communications, a coalition of utility companies is resisting a proposal for a host of new pole attachment requirements for electric utilities
that are intended to promote the deployment of broadband services across the country. Unfortunately, the National Broadband Plan presented the FCC with a "wish list" for attachers as if it were noncontroversial and beyond debate, all the while ignoring the significant concerns raised by the electric utility industry. As is apparent from the comments filed in this proceeding, these proposals would do very little if anything to promote broadband services, and almost all of them would jeopardize the safety and reliability of electric distribution systems. It is troubling that the full FCC would bootstrap these recommendations into new proposed burdens on electric utilities without any consideration of prior input from the electric utility industry. The National Broadband Plan recommendations were so one-sided that they cannot reliably form the basis for any proposals by the FCC, let alone ones that potentially impact the safe and efficient operation of electric utility distribution systems across the country.
benton.org/node/43134 | Coalition of Concerned Utilities
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WIMPY BROADBAND GOALS
[SOURCE: Forbes, AUTHOR: Elizabeth Woyke]
Politicians and businesspeople keep talking about the importance of improving broadband Internet access. But will their recommendations really help spur economic development? A new report, prepared by the consulting firm Successful.com and sponsored by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), casts some doubt. While the majority of respondents agreed that broadband can improve local economies, most also felt that broadband targets set by the U.S. federal government were too low. More than 90% said that supplying 4 megabits per second (Mbps) broadband to rural areas, a goal outlined in the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Plan, is insufficient to meet their economic development goals. The majority of respondents cited 100-120 Mbps as the minimum speed needed to "directly impact" economic development in their areas. Many expressed support for even higher speeds, such as 500 Mbps and 1 gigabit. Respondents were also dissatisfied with the government's timetable for rolling out faster broadband in urban and suburban areas. A majority (55%) said federal agencies should deploy 100 Mbps broadband in these areas by 2013. The National Broadband Plan, which was released in March, is more conservative. It calls for 100 Mbps broadband for 100 million (mostly suburban and urban) U.S. households by 2020.
benton.org/node/43137 | Forbes
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US INTERNET GOVERNANCE
[SOURCE: Government Computer News, AUTHOR: William Jackson]
The international community has failed to develop an effective model for governing the Internet, and the United States must assert its interests in overseeing the infrastructure that plays a vital part in its national security and economic well-being, according to a new report from the Council on Foreign Relations. The report, by Robert Knake, notes that the annual cost of cyber crime is estimated at $1 trillion and that cyberattacks are becoming a part of warfare and diplomacy.
benton.org/node/43136 | Government Computer News
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CONSUMERS SLOW TO EMBRACE SUPER-FAST
[SOURCE: BroadbandBreakfast.com, AUTHOR: Rahul Gaitonde]
Consumers are willing to pay a large amount to upgrade their Internet access speeds from slow to fast, but are more reluctant to upgrade from fast to super-fast, according to a research paper discussed at the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference last week. Gregory Rosston of Stanford University discussed research addressing the value of consumers' high speed Internet access. Consumers are as greatly interested in reliability as they are in speed, he said. The research also found that experienced users are much more willing to pay for higher speeds while inexperienced users are willing to pay for basic access. Additionally, consumers are willing to pay for high-speed access but demand reliability over a super-fast speed.
benton.org/node/43146 | BroadbandBreakfast.com
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GUIDE TO DIGITAL POLITICS
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Eliza Krigman]
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation released a new report delineating the landscape of American digital politics. "Digital politics, if not the greatest issue of our age, will be central to the life of our nation in the years ahead," the guide states. The report describes who the major players in the information technology space are and where their attitude falls on cross-cutting policy dynamics such as government regulation versus laissez-faire and individual empowerment versus societal benefit. According to ITIF, there are 8 major political actors in the IT world: cyber-libertarians, social engineers, free marketers, moderates, moral conservatives, old economy regulators, tech companies and trade associations, and bricks-and-mortars. The basic worldview of each actor is detailed in the report.
benton.org/node/43145 | CongressDaily | read the report
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MINNESOTA BROADBAND
[SOURCE: St. Paul Pioneer Press, AUTHOR: Leslie Brooks Suzukamo]
To win approval for Century-Link's $10.5 billion takeover of Qwest Communications International, the two companies have agreed with state regulators to spend $50 million over five years to expand broadband infrastructure in Minnesota. The two phone companies also agreed in a filing to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission that for two years after the deal closes, they will make no changes to how Qwest handles lines leased to competing phone companies. Qwest spokeswoman Joanna Hjelmeland called the broadband commitment "significant," but some broadband advocates and competing telephone providers expressed disappointment with the agreement forged with the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
benton.org/node/43168 | St. Paul Pioneer Press
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WIRELESS
WIRELESS POLICY
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Thomas Hazlett]
[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission is designating that unused TV channels be made available for low-power wireless devices. The move - pushed by tech giants Microsoft, Google, HP, and Dell -- is hailed as "liberalization", paving the way for "Wi-Fi on steroids." The exact same hype, including a similar "licence-exempt" plan, inspired a 2005 bandwidth set-aside for WiMax (at 3.6 GHz) that has since flopped. The TV Band initiative is likewise a debacle in the making. Technology defines what is possible, but economics reveals the options that are best. Complex value trade-offs exist; state bureaucrats are flummoxed. The FCC has spent years pondering how white space devices should operate, rejecting every "smart radio" design submitted. They aim to protect viewers of over-the-air TV from reception interference. But how much protection, and at what cost? Each mandate forces new Wi-Fi radios to be better behaved in order to reduce the threat to Aunt Minnie's rabbit ears - but that raises their price or hampers their performance. For example, the FCC will not allow the new mobile devices to use more than a tiny splash of power (a small fraction of that permitted with Wi-Fi). Moreover, the radios must avoid any channel with a TV station on it or next to it - blocking off three channels per local TV broadcast. Such top-down restrictions are what produced vast "white spaces" to begin with. Wi-Fi on steroids? Try Wi-Fi on a walker.
benton.org/node/43180 | Financial Times
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HOW MUCH FOR TV SPECTRUM?
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Price Coleman]
Wall Street seems skeptical about the National Broadband Plan's proposal to induce broadcasters to give up all or some of their spectrum in exchange for a cut of the money when it's eventually auctioned off to wireless broadband operators. Any attempt to evaluate the so-called incentive auction is thwarted by the fact that there has been virtually no public discussion of what percentage of auction proceeds broadcasters would receive. One of the reasons for that: Allowing broadcasters to receive anything at all from an auction of spectrum requires congressional approval. Enabling legislation has been introduced, but it's a long way from getting the green light. At the heart of the FCC plan is the contention that broadcast television is, at best, a mature industry, and at worst, an industry in decline, while wireless broadband, where the FCC would reallocate the spectrum, is on the rise. Some also see in the plan a bureaucratic determination that broadcasters may not be the best judges of how to deploy and monetize their spectrum. "Broadcasters are effectively being told their current business model may not be best use of spectrum," a financial analyst says. "For a broadcaster to hear that, when you're serving the public interest and just spent millions to get your station digital ready, from the perspective of many of the broadcasters I cover, that's not what they want to hear." Broadcasters want time to judge whether nascent services such as digital subchannels and mobile DTV will bear fruit, says Mark Fratrik, vice president of BIA/Kelsey.
benton.org/node/43179 | TVNewsCheck
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CAN TV STATIONS LEASE SPECTRUM?
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Gregg Skall]
[Commentary] The National Broadband Plan envisions greatly expanded wireless broadband capability to promote economic growth. The problem with the plan is that it proposes to accomplish this by repurposing 120 MHz from television broadcasters, who understandably have reacted with shock and indignation. However, broadcasters could turn this assault into potentially attractive new business models by becoming interactive, wireless broadband service providers. Simply put, if the broadcast spectrum is repurposed to broadband, broadcasters are best situated to make that transition. Although broadcasters, as mobile broadband providers, may present new competitive possibilities to existing mobile providers, they might also present themselves as potential business partners to providers in need of expanded spectrum. It would require rulemaking, but no legislation. This solution also provides an appropriate market mechanism that would signal the best economic use of the spectrum while also preserving over-the-air broadcasting services. Nothing in the plan forecloses broadcasters from developing — alone or in partnership with others — and providing flexible broadband services. The FCC should provide the means for broadcasters to make this change, rather than making the assumption that broadcasters are not up to the task.
benton.org/node/43178 | TVNewsCheck
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VERIZON SAYS OOPS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] The big phone companies have been campaigning to convince Congress that attempts by the Federal Communications Commission to regulate Internet access like it regulates phones are a costly intrusion that will slow online investment and hamstring progress. And then — oops! — one of the big phone companies reminds us why they should not be allowed to discipline themselves. Under pressure from the FCC, Verizon Wireless has now admitted that it incorrectly billed 15 million customers between $2 and $6, on average, for data services they didn't use. Apparently, Verizon's phones are built in such a way that it is easy for customers to accidentally press the button that opens a Web browser. If they don't have a data plan, that would immediately tag $1.99 to their bill, no matter how quickly the request is canceled. Verizon Wireless says it will pay current customers back for the charges by crediting their accounts and will send checks to former customers. It estimates that it owes $30 million to $90 million in restitution. Mistakes do happen. What's instructive about Verizon Wireless's behavior is that when customers called to complain about the problem, it often refused to reverse the charges. When the FCC officially approached the company in December, it denied there was a problem. The FCC opened a formal investigation in January. On Sunday, Verizon changed its tune. The lesson Congress should take from this incident is that the telecommunications networks are too vital to leave to industry self-regulation.
benton.org/node/43188 | New York Times
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KEEP EYE ON WIRELESS INDUSTRY
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
Sens. John Kerry (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Mark Begich (D-Alaska) have written to the Federal Communications Commission urging the FCC to keep an eye on billing practices by wireless companies after Verizon announced that it had overcharged millions of customers. The incident, they said, reveals "the confusion consumers often experience with wireless billing practices" and "highlights the need for the [FCC] to remain committed to vigorous oversight of billing practices in the wireless industry."
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn released a statement saying Verizon's announcement "clearly requires further explanation. I expect the company will continue to cooperate fully with the Commission and I look forward to the results of the investigation. The fifteen million overcharged consumers, identified by Verizon Wireless, deserve more than refunds. They deserve answers and steps to assure that such errors will not happen again. We cannot and should not let them down."
benton.org/node/43149 | Hill, The | Commissioner Clyburn
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NEW PHONE COMES WITH SECRET SURPRISE
[SOURCE: New America Foundation, AUTHOR: Dan Meredith, Sascha Meinrath, Josh King, James Losey]
Android-based smart phone G2 truly is representative of the next generation of mobile devices. The hardware capabilities surpass the abilities of most available netbook computers, including the ability to play High Definition video seamlessly. Unfortunately, the G2 also comes with built-in hardware that restricts what software a device owner might wish to install. Specifically, one of the microchips embedded into the G2 prevents device owners from making permanent changes that allow custom modifications to the Android operating system. This is the same Android that purposefully opened up its source code under the Apache License, allowing anyone to use, modify, and redistribute the operating system code even if they choose not to contribute back to the development community. Even among other Android computing devices and phones, the G2 is touted as an open platform. Unfortunately, the hardware in this device completely undermines this license by allowing mobile network providers to override end-user changes to the source code. Wireless network operators have deployed a hardware rootkit that restricts modifications to a device owned by the user. This would be akin to a computer sold with Microsoft Windows containing chip that prevented users from installing Linux or another operating system of their choice.
benton.org/node/43169 | New America Foundation
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TELEVISION
KING CONTENT
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Vince Vittore]
[Commentary] Over-the-top video has gotten plenty of attention lately, in large part because Apple is trying to correct the mistakes it made with the first version of Apple TV. Part and parcel to the discussion is whether consumers will cut off pay TV services in favor of these Internet-based options. Yankee Group research shows there indeed was a measurable amount of momentum growing toward video cord cutting. What's now just a trickle certainly could turn into a stream and ultimately a raging river. It's not there yet, though, and that is an important distinction that sometimes gets lost in the reporting. People don't think nearly as much about their pay TV options as we'd like them to. In fact, it's a pretty quick decision, and it's based largely on economics. Consumers will migrate away from pay TV services if and only if the economics dictate and it's exceedingly easy to change. Content owners play the biggest role in making the transition easy. Among those consumers that tell us they'll never cancel pay TV service, which sits at 17% right now, more than 50% said they enjoy the convenience of the service and the variety offered. If content owners were unified on the issue of offering their product through every channel possible, the number of consumers unwilling to let go of pay TV would plummet. Content clearly remains the most important and often missing piece of the consumer shift to new viewing habits. Until owners of that content are incented to move in lockstep, we'll continue to see an uneven movement that is significantly more nuanced than is being reported.
benton.org/node/43171 | Connected Planet
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NBC INVESTMENT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jessica Vascellaro]
NBC Universal will invest in Invidi Technologies. Terms of the deal aren't being disclosed. A NBC Universal spokeswoman called the investment "small." Google, Motorola and WPP's GroupM are already investors in Invidi, which targets ads to set-top boxes based on the geographic location of the box and other data. Ed Swindler, executive vice president and chief operating officer for ad sales at NBC Universal, said the company made the investment to be able to test future advertising models. "We would anticipate doing some testing as soon as it becomes possible," he says, adding NBC hadn't worked out any details. The promise of the technology is big: allowing advertisers to show multiple ads during the same commercial slot. It is the kind of targeting that Internet companies continue to brag they can pull off online but hasn't been possible in the TV world. Invidi, along with other technologies companies like Visible World, are trying to change that. But progress has been slow. Invidi was founded ten years ago and has raised around $90 million in financing to date.
benton.org/node/43154 | Wall Street Journal
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GOLDEN AGE OF TV
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jeff Bewkes]
[Commentary] Television is emerging as the dominant medium of the digital age. Yes, you read that right. Television. By just about any measure, television is a very healthy industry -- with viewership, advertising and subscriptions all on the rise. In fact, in terms of overall revenue, TV networks and video programming are among the only media to grow since the advent of the Internet (aside from the Internet itself). For audiences, there's more choice than ever before -- with higher quality and more original programming. But now television is at a critical moment in its evolution. Whether audiences continue to enjoy this golden era of TV will depend largely on whether content creators continue to stay apace of consumer needs and make strategic decisions that favor long-term sustainability over short-term dollars. I believe the best path for TV's next phase is clear. For the past 15 months, Time Warner, along with a growing number of content and distribution companies, has been implementing a new strategy called TV Everywhere. It operates on a simple but powerful premise: If you have access to television in your home -- whether through rabbit ears or a paid cable, satellite or telco subscription -- you should be able to view all the channels you receive on demand on whatever broadband device you wish. TV Everywhere is not about favoring one TV network model over another, or protecting outdated paradigms. It's about harnessing technology to redefine TV in the 21st century in a way that continues to give viewers the best possible experience, and ensures that great programming will continue to be created and enjoyed. [Bewkes is the chairman and chief executive of Time Warner]
benton.org/node/43185 | Wall Street Journal
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500 CHANNELS, NOTHING ON
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Tom Shales]
[Commentary] In the 500-channel universe, which may, of course, contain many more channels than 500, the fun never stops -- fun at such a fever pitch as to sometimes seem threatening, numbing, even agonizing. Somewhere along the way, standards seem to have been not so much lowered as eliminated. "Content" has replaced that archaic term "substance" and seems to promise much less. Style, in many cases, is content; that's not even really news anymore. The bar has been lowered so many times that it now just lies there on the floor, lifeless and limp, the outmoded relic of other eras. Originality is now really too much to expect from a movie industry enslaved by economics and the need to produce film franchises fit for clone upon clone after clone. In television, on CBS, there are those endless "CSI" franchises. ABC's "Grey's Anatomy"and "Private Practice" are essentially the same show. On ABC Sunday nights, "Desperate Housewives" flows fairly effortlessly into "Brothers and Sisters" -- their temperament and attitude are identical and they seem to even share the same musical score.
benton.org/node/43183 | Washington Post
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RADIO
FUTURE OF HYPER-LOCAL RADIO
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Christina Dunbar-Hester]
Some day soon, Congress may pass the Local Community Radio Act, a piece of legislation that will allow a couple thousand new low-power FM radio stations to go on the air. The new broadcasters would be much smaller than the stations that dominate the market now, and by law, they'd be noncommercial. Low-power FM (LPFM) transmitters operate at 100 watts or less (drawing about as much power as an incandescent lightbulb), which means they reach only a few miles and are truly local in scope. This means these stations have the potential to occupy a very different niche from large-scale networked broadcasting. Mom-and-pop LPFM stations range widely in terms of programming. KAQU-LP in Sitka, Alaska, broadcasts whale sounds from an underwater mic; various school districts and churches have LPFMs, covering religious, municipal and highly local topics like school board meetings; and other stations provide the sorts of arts and culture programming that have been drowned out in the wave of homogenized content brought about by consolidation of for-profit media companies. Part of what is so interesting about media made by community members is its potential to challenge what we think radio "is." Our present-day understanding of radio has to a great degree crystallized around the massive network configuration -- both commercial and noncommercial, like National Public Radio. Yet LPFM shows that technology's contours can shift over time based on ongoing renegotiation between players like regulators, corporations, advocates and everyday citizens. Far from being a moribund medium, radio can have an alternate future -- one that actually reawakens long-forgotten debates that were "settled" shortly after the dawn of broadcasting. In fact, radio provides a somewhat rare opportunity to think about technological change over time, and in many ways the issues surrounding it now are not so different from those present at the dawn of broadcasting in the 1920s. Then as now, a large part of what defined the technology was decided through heated contestation between groups with competing visions for its use: Should radio stations be networked and strive to reach a wide and dispersed audience? Should they be commercial and profitable, or operate on a non-profit or community-subsidy model? Should they serve the "public interest", whatever that is construed to be? Should certain forms of content be privileged over others? Should radio be made by professional elites or by neighbors and community members? And the question that hovers above them all: Who gets to decide?
benton.org/node/43138 | Atlantic, The
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CONTENT
COPYRIGHT PROCEEDING
[SOURCE: Department of Commerce]
The Department of Commerce's Internet Policy Task Force is conducting a comprehensive review of the relationship between the availability and protection of online copyrighted works and innovation in the Internet economy. The Department, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) seek public comment from all interested stakeholders, including rights holders, Internet service providers, and consumers on the challenges of protecting copyrighted works online and the relationship between copyright law and innovation in the Internet economy. After analyzing the comments submitted in response to this Notice, the Internet Policy Task Force intends to issue a report that will contribute to the Administration's domestic policy and international engagement in the area of online copyright protection and innovation.
Comments are due on or before November 19, 2010. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/43144 | Department of Commerce | The Hill | TechDailyDose | Press release
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INTERNET PIRACY
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Eliza Krigman]
Curbing Internet piracy is a big priority for the Obama Administration, U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel said. The Administration does not have an official position on the Combating Online Privacy Infringement and Counterfeits Act, a measure recently introduced by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), but looks forward to working with Congress on finding an appropriate legislative solution, Espinel noted. Her remarks came at the Future of Music Coalition policy summit where she spoke about the work her office is conducting and fielded questions from the audience. "My job is to protect the creativity of U.S. citizens," she said.
benton.org/node/43143 | CongressDaily
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MUSIC INDUSTRY KILLS DIGITAL FUTURE
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Wayne Rosso]
The hope of pioneering the music industry's most profound transformation, that inspired entrepreneurs over 10 years ago, has finally been snuffed out by the very people who would have profited the most—the music industry. The table is now set. There will be no new players of significance to enter the business. Investors don't want to entertain the remotest possibility of funding any start-up that deals with music, no matter how clever and innovative. As one major media venture firm told me a few months ago, they're tired of writing cheques for big advances to record labels. Not to mention the huge legal fees that start-ups have to spend in order to get licensed, a process that takes at least a year. What's most ironic is that the record labels have now put themselves in the position of having to depend on the bulk of their digital sales from companies that actually couldn't care less about selling music: Apple, Amazon, and now Google. These behemoths have huge revenues, 99.9% of which are not related to digital music sales.
benton.org/node/43135 | paidContent.org
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PRIVACY
GOOGLE PRIVACY POLICY
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
Google's new, streamlined privacy policy, which went into effect on Monday, will effectively "diminish privacy protections for users of Google services," a coalition of advocates argues in a letter to CEO Eric Schmidt. The Electronic Privacy Information Center and other critics assert in the letter, dated Friday, that Google's new policy is problematic because the company can now treat users' data "as part of an integrated platform." They argue that in the past, people could "selectively reveal information to Google for the use of a particular service, such as email, document management, or mapping." The new policy, they say, gives Google the right to transfer data from one service to another without seeking people's consent. The advocates are asking Schmidt to withdraw the new policy. Signatories include representatives from the American Library Association, Consumer Federation of America, Center for Digital Democracy and the World Privacy Forum. A Google spokesperson says the new document is meant to be "more transparent and understandable."
benton.org/node/43142 | MediaPost
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CYBERSECURITY
TECH-SAVVY CRIME
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
National Security Advisor General James Jones told a gathering of Russian officials that the US and Russia must work together to combat organized crime syndicates that increasingly rely on technology to conduct their operations. Speaking at a security council gather in Sochi, Russia, the NSA's Jones told the audience that many international organized crime groups have used technology to extend their activities internationally without fearing reprisal from domestic authorities. He said industries that rely on intellectual property such as music, media, and software firms have the most to lose. "Using bribery, fraud, violence, and state relationships, enhanced by technology, transnational criminal organizations will increasingly damage the ability of legitimate businesses to compete in the global market space," Jones said in his prepared remarks. "They will continue to develop their alliances with corrupt and complicit state officials, undermining the rule of law and enabling criminals to dodge regulation and flood the world market with pirated -- and sometimes deadly -- products that threaten industries dependent on intellectual property such as fashion, pharmaceuticals and technology." Jones said many of these criminal organizations as recently as the 1990s were limited in their use of technology and had minimal links to other organizations such as drug cartels or terrorist groups. Thanks to the spread of the Web that has changed, and now Jones warned that such criminal groups are rapidly expanding and diversifying their operations.
benton.org/node/43148 | Hill, The
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CYBERWAR JUST BEGINNING
[SOURCE: The Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Anna Mulrine]
The Pentagon is rapidly preparing for cyberwar in the face of alarming and growing threats, say senior defense officials, who add that sophisticated attacks have prompted them to take the striking step of investigating the feasibility of expanding NATO's collective defense tenet to include cyberspace. But as such planning intensifies, the military is struggling with some basics of warfare - including how to define exactly what, for starters, constitutes an attack, and what level of cyberattack warrants a cyber-reprisal. Equally tricky, defense officials say, is how to pinpoint who is doing the attacking. And this raises further complications that go to the heart of the Pentagon's mission.
benton.org/node/43182 | Christian Science Monitor, The
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JOURNALISM
FUTURE OF JOURNALISM
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Diana Marszalek]
The growing presence of neighborhood news sites backed by broadcast stations and newspapers or national companies like AOL make securing local online turf a tough prospect for independents, most of which don't have big bucks to put into promotion, sales and staff. "I've seen many of them fall flat," says Gordon Borrell, of Borrell Associates, which tracks the online media business. "You'll get crushed unless you have several million dollars in assets." Borrell estimates that there may be more than 1,000 independent hyperlocal sites. But most are "run by what could be called gadfly hobbyists or perhaps disgruntled former journalists living on the fumes of severance pay." The number of sites "of any note" -- that are actually generating significant advertising revenue -- is between 100 and 150, mostly in large markets, he says. Many independents have virtues that corporate-backed hyper-locals don't, like news-savvy staff and community roots, but lack of business know-how puts them at a disadvantage, he said.
benton.org/node/43147 | TVNewsCheck
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TRIBUNE'S BANKRUPT CULTURE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Carr]
Sam Zell and Randy Michaels, who was promoted to chief executive of the Tribune Company in December 2009, arrived with much fanfare, suggesting they were going to breathe innovation and reinvention into the conservative company. By all accounts, the reinvention did not go well. At a time when the media industry has struggled, the debt-ridden Tribune Company has done even worse. Less than a year after Zell bought the company, it tipped into bankruptcy, listing $7.6 billion in assets against a debt of $13 billion, making it the largest bankruptcy in the history of the American media industry. More than 4,200 people have lost jobs since the purchase, while resources for the Tribune newspapers and television stations have been slashed. The new management did transform the work culture, however. Based on interviews with more than 20 employees and former employees of Tribune, Michaels's and his executives' use of sexual innuendo, poisonous workplace banter and profane invective shocked and offended people throughout the company. Tribune Tower, the architectural symbol of the staid company, came to resemble a frat house, complete with poker parties, juke boxes and pervasive sex talk. The company said Michaels had the support of the board.
benton.org/node/43189 | New York Times
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ENERGY
NEW SMART GRID STUDIES
[SOURCE: Department of Energy, AUTHOR: Press release]
In order to implement recommendations made in the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Plan, the Department of Energy released two reports on important policy issues raised by Smart Grid technologies that can promote innovation, cut costs for consumers and modernize our electrical grid. Each report completes a public-information-gathering process begun earlier this year by the Department. DOE General Counsel Scott Blake Harris said, "These reports will allow the Department to better inform a dialogue with state and federal officials as they implement and deploy Smart Grid technologies that will help create good-paying jobs, save consumers money and encourage rapid growth in renewable energies like wind and solar." The first, Data Access and Privacy Issues Related to Smart Grid Technologies focuses on how legal and regulatory regimes are evolving to protect consumer privacy and choice while promoting the growth of innovative energy-management services and technologies that rely on detailed energy-usage data. It found there is considerable consensus that flexibility and consumer education will be critical to the successful adoption and deployment of Smart Grid technologies like advanced metering. In addition, it found that to protect privacy, consumers should be able to choose whether to affirmatively opt in to any non-utility, third-party use of their energy-usage data through a secure and trustworthy process. Flexibility and education were also found to be critical to making Smart Grid widely successful. It is important for consumers to understand the long-term benefits of these technologies, like lowering energy bills. Finally, there was consensus that no one technology or implementation schedule will serve the needs of all consumers. The second, Communications Requirements of Smart Grid Technologies examines how the communications needs of utilities and the electrical grid are likely to evolve as Smart Grid technologies become more widely used. This report recommends that to improve overall coordination, utilities and other Smart Grid constituents should be represented on key federal industry committees that address communications- and network-related security and reliability issues.
benton.org/node/43167 | Department of Energy | read the privacy report | read the communications report
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BROADBAND AND CLEAN ENERGY
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Phoebe Yang]
On October 5, Federal Communications Commission staffer Phoebe Yang addressed the 1st Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Smart Grid Communications. She talked about the energy-related aspects of the National Broadband Plan. She said, "The FCC's efforts to enable and improve Smart Grid communications are just one part of the solution we will need to ensure a smart, cost-effective, and secure electric grid in the 21st century. As you in this hall know better than just about anyone, building the Smart Grid will continue to be a technologically challenging and expensive endeavor. But ultimately, it is an endeavor as worthy of our collective national efforts as the interstate highway system. Reflecting on the creation of the interstate highway system in his memoirs, its champion, President Dwight Eisenhower wrote that 'more than any single action by the government since the end of the war, this one would change the face of America . . . Its impact on the American economy -- the jobs it would produce in manufacturing and construction, the rural areas it would open up—was beyond calculation.' These words were undoubtedly true of the interstate highway system. But I believe they will be equally true of our collective efforts to build out broadband and the smart grid across America in the years and decades to come. New construction of the interstate highway system has largely sunsetted in the United States today. But with the Smart Grid, we stand at a remarkable, and promising, dawn."
benton.org/node/43166 | Federal Communications Commission
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HEALTH
ONLINE TOOLS IMPROVES HEALTHCARE
[SOURCE: HealthcareITNews, AUTHOR: Bernie Monegain]
A web-based tool that extracts information from the electronic medical record is helping physicians provide better care for patients with diabetes and heart disease, according to a new Kaiser study. A separate study showed the technology, called Panel Support Tool, also helped doctors provide better preventive care. The Kaiser Permanente studies are the first to examine the effectiveness of a population care tool in a large, diverse patient population. The Panel Support Tool (PST), devised and implemented by doctors at Kaiser Permanente, is a Web-based tool that helps primary care physicians to manage care for individual patients, groups of patients or their entire panel. It does this by comparing the care the patient is receiving to the care that is recommended by national guidelines. For example, doctors can query the PST in advance of a patient visit to find out if that patient needs a screening test or vaccine. They can ask the PST to display a list of all of their patients who are overdue for a mammogram or colon cancer screening test, or a list of their diabetic patients whose blood sugar levels are too high, or those who need a foot or eye exam.
benton.org/node/43170 | HealthcareITNews
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TELEMED AND EARLY DIAGNOSIS
[SOURCE: ModernHealthcare.com, AUTHOR: Shawn Rhea]
A new telemedicine study has found that review of electronically transmitted heart images by remote specialists allowed for earlier diagnosis and treatment of pediatric heart problems. Nearly 72% of the tests were ordered as a result of heart murmurs detected by local physicians, and roughly 74% of the echocardiograms were determined by the specialists to be normal. Fewer than 2% of the cases needed to be referred to Children's Mercy for treatment, the study found. "This study helps illustrate how telemedicine can save families significant worry, time and expense," said Seiji Ito, co-author of the study and a resident at Children's Mercy. During the 11-year study period, methods for transmitting the echocardiograms evolved from videotaped images sent via an integrated services digital network to digital studies sent over the Internet.
benton.org/node/43132 | ModernHealthcare.com
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COMPUTERIZED HEALTHCARE
[SOURCE: Philadelphia Inquirer, AUTHOR: Josh Goldstein]
The Obama administration is banking on the idea that electronic medical records will reduce errors and costs. But much refining will be needed, at least with computerized drug orders, a University of Pennsylvania study shows. Penn researchers compared two groups of doctors on their use of two drugs with potentially dangerous interactions: the blood thinner warfarin and an antibiotic, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. To test if a hard-to-override alert would reduce the drugs' use together, the researchers had the system stop those orders for half the users while leaving the old system in place for the others. The computerized "stops" had the desired effect; fewer prescriptions of both drugs together were made by the first group. But the study was stopped early because of four cases in which patients had long delays in getting the needed drugs. Brian L. Strom, who led the study, said that one solution could be to make it easier to override computer stops in patients with HIV and other conditions for which timely administration of the two meds are critical.
benton.org/node/43131 | Philadelphia Inquirer
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
NO LOVE FOR ACTA IN EUROPE
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
The motion picture business likes the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). After a few tough years of record-setting box office receipts, the industry welcomes new legal enforcement tools that will "protect the jobs of the millions of men and women working in film and other creative industries." But the European Parliament isn't convinced yet. After all, there's not even a text to view. And despite official statements expressing peace, love, and harmony, it's clear that ACTA hasn't actually been finalized and that some real issues still remain. So the news that negotiators have packed it in and will host no more meetings didn't sit very well with Parliament, which worries that an incomplete deal is being passed off as final and will soon be shoved down its throat. To keep its collective throat clear of ACTA-sized obstructions, key members of Parliament have taken preemptive measures. Some members of the European Parliament are demanding that the European Commission provide the final text - if talks have indeed concluded.
benton.org/node/43172 | Ars Technica | CongressDaily
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