November 12, 2010 (Broadband caps; Privacy agenda)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2010
Radio revolution and Capitalization Strategies headline today's agenda http://bit.ly/c7GfdV
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Charter Follows Comcast With Broadband Usage Caps
Solving Network Neutrality By Splitting The Baby
Cerf warns over Internet address space squeeze
NARUC Wants More Funds For NTIA Broadband Oversight
Qualcomm CEO Confident Broadcasters Will Give Up Spectrum
BT in drive to quicken broadband rollout
TELEVISION
Internet TV battles come to head at FCC
22% of Americans Canceled or Cut Back Cable TV in Last Six Months
iPad Users (And Would-Be Users) More Likely to Ditch Cable TV
Qualcomm CEO Confident Broadcasters Will Give Up Spectrum
Christine O'Donnell haunted by Ghost of TV Appearances Past
DIGITAL CONTENT
Video Games and the First Amendment
Washington Post Still King, But Online newcomers Storm Gates
Lawsuit Tests Whether Twitter Pictures Are Free For The Taking
Social Books Hopes to Make E-Reading Communal
PRIVACY
Watchdog Planned for Online Privacy
Consumer Watch Claims Contradiction In Google Official's Testimony
Without Legislation, FTC's Do-Not-Track System Lacks Mandate
Australian Privacy Commissioner highlights flaws in telco interception bill
HEALTH
Health IT Facing Consolidation
POLICYMAKERS
Barton gets help from former committee heads in effort to lead House Commerce Committee
JOURNALISM
Bloggers Blast an Iran War Scenario
NPR retains outside fire to review l'affair de Williams
Sun-Times Media closing 11 weekly Illinois newspapers
Heatmap: How News Consumption Differs Across Europe
COMMUNITY MEDIA
These Headlines presented in partnership with:
Sun-Times Media closing 11 weekly Illinois newspapers
Portraits of Success: Powerful Voices for Kids
Media literacy in the classroom and community
Literacy Bridge Project At Wood Place Public Library Funded by LSTA Grant
Outsourcing public libraries gets more review in sagging economy
Media Literacy Week Calls on Canadians to Explore Gender Representation in Media and its Influence on Young People
STORIES FROM ABROAD
BT in drive to quicken broadband rollout
BBC Journalists Call Off Strike
Mexican Billionaire Salinas Goes After Televisa With New Cable-TV Service
Australian Privacy Commissioner highlights flaws in telco interception bill
INTERNET/BROADBAND
CHARTER BROADBAND CAPS
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
Charter Cable plans to start enforcing monthly data caps on its users in December. The cable operator will also implement a congestion management plan similar to the one Comcast designed after it got in trouble with the Federal Communications Commission for blocking P2P files in 2008. Charter will start notifying excessive users next month to make them aware of their usage patterns, to help identify possible causes (e.g., unsecured wireless routers or viruses) and review security options with these customers to reduce the risk of unauthorized Internet use. Charter doesn't yet have a tool to help those customers measure their use, but it is working on one. Currently, 98 percent of Charter's 5.2 million customers will be unaffected by the decision to enforce the caps.
benton.org/node/44866 | GigaOm | Multichannel News
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SPLITTING THE NET NEUTRALITY BABY
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] The open Internet and network prioritization are valid concepts that may be able to coexist, so long as from a regulatory perspective we recognize that they're separate and need to be treated as such. If I were an open Internet supporter I'd want to leverage this opportunity to move the debate to questions like how much of a broadband provider's capacity needs to be devoted to the open Internet vs. prioritized network services, enabling the discussion to be about how to specifically protect the open Internet instead of having to argue on behalf of theoretical ideals. And if I were a believer in the value of prioritized network services, I'd relish the opportunity to have my position validated, to start clearing up the regulatory uncertainty that the net neutrality debate has created, and therefore to be able to continue building the future of my company in earnest. Given that I actually am a believer in the possibilities of both the open Internet and prioritized network services, I could not be happier that we may finally be reaching a tipping point whereby the net neutrality debate can be about more than demonizing the other side and can instead focus on how we can continue moving our country forward.
benton.org/node/44858 | App-Rising.com
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CERF ON IPV6
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Tim Bradshaw, Joseph Menn]
Vint Cerf, one of the Internet's founding fathers, has warned that online growth could start grinding to a halt within six months as Internet's address space runs out. IP addresses are unique numerical codes allocated to every web page, computer, mobile phone or other device connected to the Internet's. IPv6 -- the latest iteration of Internet's protocols -- allows for trillions of unique IP addresses. However, estimates suggest that IPv4, the previous iteration, will use the last of its 4 billion addresses in spring 2011. Cerf, Google's chief Internet's evangelist, said that if businesses and Internet's service providers failed to implement IPv6, it would become difficult to add new people or devices to the global network. "It's like trying to sell a telephone without a telephone number," Cerf said. "We know [address space] will run out, we don't quite know when. We know what the consequences are: no more growth unless we get IPv6 implemented."
benton.org/node/44874 | Financial Times
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NARUC WANTS OVERSIGHT MONEY
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
The National Association for Regulatory Utility Commissioners is debating a call on Congress to appropriate more money for oversight of broadband stimulus grants. As part of the Recovery Act, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Agriculture Department's Rural Utilities Service were charged with distributing $7 billion to foster broadband access and adoption in the United States. The grants have been awarded and NTIA is waiting on Congress to appropriate additional money to oversee the program's grantees. In the draft proposal, NARUC urges Congress to provide additional funds for oversight before December 3rd, when the current funding for this activity expires.
benton.org/node/44873 | National Journal
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TELEVISION
INTERNET TV BATTLE AT FCC
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Changes in the television marketplace have been fast and furious in recent months, and soon more tumult may come by way of the Federal Communications Commission. A push to break open the technology of the television set top box, and the FCC's review of Comcast and NBC Universal's proposed merger, could chart a new course for the industry as the Internet and television collide, observers said. First, media and communications firms are watching to see if the FCC proposes a rule in coming months that would standardize set-top-box technology and loosen the grip of cable and satellite providers over the gateway device to the television. The All Video (known as AllVid) idea was first introduced in the FCC's broadband plan last spring, and the agency said it would aim for a December proposal for concrete rules. Observers say the agency is more likely to introduce a policy proposal in early 2011. Second, the agency's review of Comcast and NBC Universal's merger is now being cast by competitors and public interest groups as the nexus of many hot-button issues in the telecom and media industries. The FCC recently asked Comcast dozens of additional questions about its merger, many related to contract negotiations with content programmers and how the merger could affect online video distribution deals. Analyst Rebecca Arbogast of Stifel Nicolaus said the FCC's review could extend into early 2011.
benton.org/node/44861 | Washington Post
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CABLE CUTTERS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
Harris Interactive estimates that about one in five Americans canceled or scaled back their cable TV service in the last six months to save money. An online poll found that about 22% of respondents said they downgraded or eliminated their cable TV service, and another 21% considered it over that time. 28% of consumers 34 to 45 (Gen Xers) said they canceled or cut cable, followed by the 46-64 baby boomers (23%) and 18-33 Echo Boomers (22%). Of the 65-plus "matures" cohort, just 13% said they dropped or cut back cable TV. Meanwhile, 17% of respondents said they canceled their landline phone service and are only using their cell phone, while another 17% have changed or canceled cell phone service. The most popular money-saving measures on the Harris poll: 62% of U.S. consumers have been purchasing more generic brands in the last six months, and about 45% are brown-bagging lunch instead of purchasing it.
benton.org/node/44865 | Multichannel News
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IPAD AND CABLE CUTTING
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Ariel Schwartz]
The Internet hasn't killed cable TV (yet). Nor has Google TV. But the iPad might. A study from the Diffusion Group (TDG) claims that iPad users and intenders--that is, people who plan to buy iPads in the next few months--are more likely than regular adult broadband users to downgrade or cancel their pay TV services. According to the study, a third of iPad owners are "likely" to cancel their pay TV service sometime in the next six months, and 12.9% are "highly likely" to cancel their service. In comparison, 13.5% of iPad intenders and 9.6% of average adult broadband users are likely to cancel their service. It gets even worse when the possibility of downgrading comes into play: A whopping 35.5% of iPad owners and 29.5% of intenders are to varying degrees likely to downgrade their pay TV service, compared to 20.7% of regular broadband users. For some perspective, Apple sold 4.19 million iPads last quarter. Cable TV networks are caught between a rock and an iPad, in effect. They could try to offer subscriptions on the tablet but that might cause a further collapse in their cable audience. Alternatively, networks and content creators might expand their online offerings in an attempt to increase viewership. It's hard to say at this point which tactic will work -- but we have a sneaking suspicion that cutting iPad user access to high-quality content won't be the best tactic in the long run.
benton.org/node/44864 | Fast Company
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DIGITAL CONTENT
VIDEO GAMES AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] If the Supreme Court renders justice in a case it heard this month, Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association, it will strike down a California law barring the sale or rental of violent video games to anyone under 18. That would end a violation of free expression — but not prevent the states from finding other ways to support parents who do not want their children to play violent games. Restricting the content of games would mean adding to the short list of expression excluded from the First Amendment's protection.
benton.org/node/44876 | New York Times
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POST STILL KING ONLINE IN DC
[SOURCE: NetNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Carol Marie Cropper]
Politics isn't the only battle raging in the nation's capital these days. Media companies, too, are using sharp elbows -- and new technology -- in a grab for online readers. The stakes are high. While the Washington metro area is the nation's ninth largest in terms of population, it's fifth from the top when it comes to local online ad spending, according to media consultants Borrell Associates. A full $500 million is expected to be spent on local online advertising here this year, reports Borrell, and that amount is projected to almost double -- to nearly $914 million -- by 2015. The big guy in the fight is The Washington Post, whose Web site is visited by almost half of the area adults during a given month, according to the spring survey by The Media Audit, a local and syndicated market and media research firm based in Houston. But nipping at its heels is a growing array of D.C.-area Web sites. The most aggressive challenge these days is Allbritton Communications, which has leveraged its ownership of ABC affiliate WJLA and regional cable network NewsChannel 8 into two lively, well-funded Web sites.
benton.org/node/44859 | NetNewsCheck
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LAWSUIT OVER TWITTER PICTURES
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Joe Mullin]
In the past year, news agencies have grown accustomed to re-broadcasting content posted on Twitter to help cover breaking news. But a lawsuit over photos of the Haiti earthquake may prove to be an early test of what kind of rights users of Twitter and related services retain to their content. The Agence France-Presse wire service has insisted that it has the rights to use Daniel Morel's photos of the Haiti earthquake without Morel's approval—all because the photographer used the TwitPic and Twitter services to try and sell his work. If the AFP's argument is successful, it could mean that content creators who use Twitter to disseminate images could be putting their copyright at risk. But observers are skeptical that AFP will succeed in its argument that Morel's photos are now available to all without charge. The case is being heard in the Southern District Court of New York.
benton.org/node/44854 | paidContent.org
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PRIVACY
ADMINISTRATION PRIVACY PROPOSAL
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Julia Angwin]
The Obama Administration is preparing a stepped-up approach to policing Internet privacy that calls for new laws and the creation of a new position to oversee the effort. The strategy is expected to be unveiled in a report being issued by the Commerce Department in coming weeks. In a related move, the White House has created a special task force that is expected to help transform the Commerce Department recommendations into policy. The White House task force, set up three weeks ago, is led by Commerce Department general counsel Cameron Kerry, the brother of Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), and Christopher Schroeder, assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice. The initiatives would mark a turning point in Internet policy. Recent administrations typically steered away from Internet regulations out of concern for stifling innovation. But the increasingly central role of personal information in the Internet economy helped spark government action.
benton.org/node/44875 | Wall Street Journal
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GOOGLE WI-SPY CONTROVERSY
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
Consumer Watchdog, one of Google's most persistent critics called on the House Commerce Committee to hold a hearing into the firm's Wi-Fi data collection controversy, citing a discrepancy in a Google official's testimony on the matter during a Senate hearing in June. Consumer Watchdog urged Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ranking Member Joe Barton (R-TX) to call Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Google Director of Privacy Engineering Alma Whitten to testify. The group claims that while Whitten has testified that Google did not breach any private data from the Wi-Fi networks, information revealed before the hearing from an investigation by the French National Commission on Computing and Liberty revealed the opposite. "Google has demonstrated a troubling pattern of changing its story in public statements as it has offered explanations of why it gathered private data from wireless networks. Moreover, it is clear that Whitten, who mentioned Google's Wi-Spying in congressional testimony this summer, gave a written statement that contradicted the facts," Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court and John Simpson, director of the group's Inside Google project, wrote.
benton.org/node/44857 | National Journal
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DO-NOT-TRACK AUTHORITY?
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
The Federal Trade Commission is considering proposing a do-not-track mechanism that would allow consumers to easily opt out of all online behavioral advertising. But the agency lacks the authority to mandate do-not-track. Yes, the FTC can certainly say it thinks that Web companies should figure out a way to implement a universal do-not-track program, but can't do much more absent new legislation. And a do-not-track registry wouldn't stop marketers from sending online ads to people. Instead, it would prevent marketers from trailing people online and delivering ads based on users' Web history. What's more, any ad network that belongs to the Network Advertising Initiative already is (or should be) honoring a do-not-target mechanism -- the NAI opt-out cookie that allows people to opt out of behavioral advertising. Of course, the NAI program has a few drawbacks. One is that not every company participates. Another is that consumers often delete their cookies -- including their opt-out cookies. Yet another drawback, explains Jim Brock at Privacy Choice, is that companies who participate in the NAI program promise only that they won't send consumers targeted ads, not that they won't track users. Still, in principle, the NAI already offers something similar to what the FTC is touting, but on a smaller scale. Expanding that program might mean that more companies are honoring consumers' privacy preferences, but wouldn't mark a departure from existing self-regulatory principles.
benton.org/node/44856 | MediaPost
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HEALTH
HEALTH IT CONSOLIDATION
[SOURCE: InformationWeek, AUTHOR: Nicole Lewis]
A report from financial advisory firm Marlin & Associates predicts that the US healthcare information technology market is in the early phases of a massive consolidation that will ultimately translate into a handful of mega firms that form healthcare IT "superstores," or healthcare information networks. The report notes that the confluence of technologies is at a pivotal point to enable radical changes at relatively reasonable costs. In addition to continuing advancement in the field of medicine, major breakthroughs in telecommunication, data management, infrastructure, and analytics technologies have laid the foundation for more innovative solutions for the industry. "The responses reveal that the social and economic imperatives for a better healthcare system have never been so pronounced," said Afsaneh Naimollah, co-author of the report and a partner at Marlin & Associates, in a statement. "Solving the cost of healthcare from the fringes has never worked. Now, with the healthcare IT mandates in the federal healthcare reform bill, coupled with a stream of superior technologies, we are finally in a position for technology to have a measurable impact on the costs and the quality of care delivery."
benton.org/node/44863 | InformationWeek
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POLICYMAKERS
BARTON GATHERS SUPPORT
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Darren Goode]
Former House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer (R-TX), former House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bud Shuster (R-PA) and Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) -- former chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure and House Natural Resources panels -- have sent a letter to the House GOP Majority Transition Team in support of rep Joe Barton's bid to regain the chairmanship of the House Commerce Committee. "We believe he deserves that second term now, and that neither the spirit nor the letter of the rule was ever intended to prevent it," they said. A 17-year-old Republican Conference rule states, "No individual shall serve more than three consecutive terms as chairman or ranking member of a standing, select, joint or ad hoc committee or subcommittee." But Archer, Shuster and Young point out that Senate Republicans "adopted the same ambiguous language and have since clarified it to mean that no one can serve more than six years as chairman and six years as ranking member." Regardless, House GOP leaders are looking to get rid of Rep Barton, who they say ignored their calls to replace his staff director and made an embarrassing gaffe by apologizing to BP during a hearing in the midst of this summer's Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Rep Barton quickly apologized for that apology and has since raised a lot of money for fellow Republicans.
benton.org/node/44860 | Hill, The | B&C
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JOURNALISM
BLOGGERS BLAST IRAN WAR COLUMN
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
Amidst mainstream press headlines of an angry and divided electorate, the blogosphere last week suggested there is at least one thing people across the political spectrum agree on: Going to war with Iran to boost the US economy is a troubling idea. During the week of November 1-5, bloggers across the board roundly rejected that kind of strategy. The idea came in an October 31 column by David Broder and attracted more than a third (35%) of the news links on blogs that week, making it the No. 1 subject according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. In the piece headlined "The War Recovery," Broder -- a longtime Washington observer with generally moderate views -- wrote about ways that President Obama could bounce back from a difficult 2010 election to win a second term. Although Broder wrote he "was not suggesting that the president incite a war to get re-elected," he also declared that if Obama spends the next two years "orchestrating a showdown with the [Iranian] mullahs...this will help him politically" and the "economy will improve."
benton.org/node/44855 | Project for Excellence in Journalism
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