December 2010

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2010

Two events today: 1) the Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council and 2) a Department of Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee Meeting http://bit.ly/htWII3

NETWORK NEUTRALITY
   The FCC's Guide to Losing Network Neutrality Without Really Trying
   Puncturing The FCC's Network Neutrality Perceptions
   Franken: FCC should bury network neutrality proposal unless it is strengthened
   Cantwell and Inslee Call For Stricter Rules on Net Neutrality
   CTIA will 'unequivocally' oppose network neutrality if wireless rules strengthened
   AT&T Joins Comcast on Level 3’s Enemies List
   'DPI' by any name continues to climb in importance

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   ICANN delays web domain expansion plan
   Is Pay-Per-Use for Broadband Inevitable?
   Predictions 2011: If Pay-Per-Use Comes to Broadband, Then What?
   Telecom Corp. Selected for Prioritized Talks on New Zealand Broadband Plan

POLICYMAKERS
   Upton announces GOP Commerce members -- who likely won't focus on telecom
   Wireless advocate Steve Largent says it's all about spectrum

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
   End Near for Comcast-NBC Review?
   Rockefeller Pans Comcast-NBCU Deal
   Rivals Say Google Plays Favorites
   Web firms of all stripes hear Google's loud footsteps
   Murdoch's WikiLeaks Cameo
   Inmates in Georgia Prisons Use Contraband Phones to Coordinate Protest
   News Corp. Crams for Classes

TELEVISION/RADIO
   Michael Copps: FCC Should Not Reinstate Fairness Doctrine
   FCC Again Dismisses Chicago and Milwaukee TV Station License Challenges
   Time Warner tells of arrangement to bypass local affiliate if retransmission dispute goes on

SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
   FCC Launches Remake Of Radio Spectrum Technology
   Indian Regulator Recommends Scrapping 38 Permits
   Wireless advocate Steve Largent says it's all about spectrum

CONTENT
   Viacom’s Unusual Legal Tack Against YouTube -- And Why It Just Might Work
   MPAA, IFTA File Amicus Brief In Viacom v. YouTube
   Smurf app for iPhone, iPad accused of encouraging kids to go on Smurf spending sprees
   Facebook Wrestles With Free Speech and Civility

JOURNALISM
   WikiLeaks Taps Power of the Press
   Public Broadcaster Is to Sell Current, a Trade Publication

PRIVACY
   Connecticut attorney general takes legal action to get Street View data from Google

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
   Creating a Clear Path to Interoperable Communications for America's First Responders

ADVERTISING
   Do Not Track effort could revolutionize online ad industry
   Procter & Gamble moves from soap operas to tweets
   The Sexual Divide: Americans Split In Reaction To Racy Ads

HEALTH
   Most docs using at least partial EHR: CDC

HUMOR ME
   Holiday songs get a Genachowski twist

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NETWORK NEUTRALITY

FCC LOSING NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Craig Aaron]
[Commentary] Over the past year, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has managed to take the Administration's top tech priority - and Obama's promise to "take a back seat to no one" on the issue - and driven it into a ditch. Instead of staking out a strong position and forcing powerful companies like AT&T and Comcast to come to the table for a compromise, Chairman Genachowski has been negotiating against himself, backpedaling from his backpedaling, and ultimately proposing toothless rules that look nothing like real Network Neutrality. Yet now Genachowski expects the millions of Americans who have spoken out for Net Neutrality to buy this lemon when the FCC meets to vote on his rules on Dec. 21.
benton.org/node/46251 | Huffington Post, The
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NET NEUTRALITY PERCEPTIONS
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky]
[Commentary] To a certain degree, in fact to a great degree, the ability to succeed in as mushy an arena as politics is the ability to construct a perception that differs from reality. It’s what Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski is trying to do now with his proposed network neutrality order. Right now is his best shot at creating a formal network neutrality rule. He needs the votes of the two other Democratic commissioners, Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn. At the same time, he wants the blessing of AT&T, mistakenly thinking it will provide him some political cover for a hotly contested issue. Chairman Genachowski is doing his best to create the perception that the compromise he forged is the best arrangement that could be made, and that any attempt to upset that arrangement could result in the death of a network neutrality rule. Commissioners Copps and Clyburn, both strong advocates of an open Internet, are the targets of the campaign to create the aura of inevitability.
benton.org/node/46275 | Public Knowledge
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FRANKEN: STRENGTHEN NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, Sen Al Franken (D-MN) urged the agency to table network neutrality rules unless they are significantly strengthened. He is the first Democrat to argue that having no rules would be preferable to the ones the agency proposed last week. Sen Franken decried the proposal for shortcomings in its wireless component, its failure to ban paid prioritization, and its a narrow definition of broadband Internet access service. “If this Order is adopted as drafted, it would be the first time in the Commission’s history that it effectively legitimated blatantly discriminatory conduct on the Internet -- against lawful applications, content, and devices,” he said.
benton.org/node/46254 | Hill, The
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CANTWELL, INSLEE WANT STRICTER NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Eliza Krigman]
Sen Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Rep Jay Inslee (D-WA) wrote the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency to adopt stricter rules on the proposed network neutrality order. Rep Inslee and Sen Cantwell want the FCC's network neutrality order to include several measures advocated by public interest groups including a ban against paid prioritization, similar regulations for both wireless and wireline, and carefully crafted definitions of broadband Internet access and reasonable network management. With out good definitions, loopholes in the regulations can be exploited, the lawmakers warn. "It is essential to get mobile right," they wrote. "If strong net neutrality rules for mobile Internet access are not put in place today, through the final order, it will become too late to take action once business models become entrenched."
benton.org/node/46253 | National Journal
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CTIA WILL NOT BACK NETWORK NEUTRALITY CHANGES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
CTIA, the wireless industry lobby, is OK with the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality plan as it was proposed last week — but if the rules are strengthened, the association will oppose the effort. "We're not happy where he's at, but we can live with the rules that have been proposed," said Steve Largent, the association's president. If anything more than "a thee or thou" changes, Largent said the wireless industry will "unequivocally" not support the proposal. "We think we've compromised right now," he said. "Any substantive change that applies more regulation to the wireless space would be opposed by the wireless association."
benton.org/node/46228 | Hill, The
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AT&T AND LEVEL 3
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Shayndi Raice]
In a posting on the company’s Public Policy Blog last week, AT&T’s Bob Quinn, who handles federal regulatory issues, wrote that “spin is both king and queen” when it comes to Level 3’s claim that Comcast is violating net neutrality rules by terminating its free traffic exchange agreement with the service provider. “Those who keep trying, deliberately or inadvertently, to maintain that the Level 3 and Comcast disagreement is ‘just a peering dispute’ rather than a blatant attempt by Comcast to leverage a dominant position in the residential Internet access market are missing the point, no matter how loudly and how often they try to distract from this central issue,” replied Level 3.
benton.org/node/46263 | Wall Street Journal
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NEW DPI
[SOURCE: Connected Planet, AUTHOR: Susana Schwartz]
Infonetics Research released its updated Service Provider Deep Packet Inspection Products Market Outlook, a market share and forecast report that tracks standalone DPI solutions and vendors. As in its previous report, Infonetics still thinks that the DPI product market will grow 6-fold to $1.5 billion by 2014 (previous estimates were for that to happen by 2013). The extended period for that growth could have something to do with lingering distrust around net neutrality and previous issues around DPI. Those issues still conjure up bad feelings in the mainstream as its abuse by some MSOs is still remembered; and therefore, telcos may pay the price for a while for being straightforward about its use. I even notice some vendors are coming up with fancier marketing names for what essentially equates to “DPI,” but perhaps they don't want any negative feelings about that label to hinder their ability to sell and deploy solutions, as some continue with a wait-and-see approach to DPI. However, it does seem like we are moving into a different generation of DPI now, so infringement of net neutrality shouldn't be as big an issue as it was a couple years ago. Though “DPI” used to -- in some circles -- equate to “throttling” or “behavioral targeting,” DPI today really seems to be more an enabler to making networks more “visible” for the purposes of better predicting usage and peak congestion times. Therefore operators can devise better marketing and capacity management strategies -- tailored around the actual usage by different types of users at different times, and the availability of different elements on the network to support the peak periods.
benton.org/node/46249 | Connected Planet
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

ICANN DELAYS DOMAIN PLAN
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Joseph Menn]
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the global body that controls website addresses, has put off plans to enable the creation of hundreds of top-level domain names to compete with .com and .net in the wake of objections from the US that the group had not fully examined the economic implications of the move. ICANN voted at the close of its meeting in Cartagena, Colombia on Dec 10 to seek more information from an advisory committee with representatives of 100 national governments before implementing the plan to allow anyone to apply for a new top-level domain to add to the existing 20-odd generic web suffixes. The delay by ICANN will give at least a temporary reprieve for owners of valuable brands, who fear that they will have to register many more domain names that echo their trademarks to prevent opportunistic “squatters” from registering them first or spend money on legal claims to oust them after the fact.
benton.org/node/46297 | Financial Times | Associated Press | ICANN
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IS PAY-PER-USE INEVITABLE?
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Joe Weinman]
[Commentary] Pay-per-use broadband pricing is not an evil plot by greedy robber barons, but a natural outcome of independent, rational consumer choice. Consider a town with an all-you-can-eat (flat rate) buffet and an a la carte (pay-per-use) restaurant. Smart shoppers on diets will save money by patronizing the a la carte restaurant, whereas heavy eaters will save money by visiting the buffet. As patrons switch, the average consumption of the buffet will increase, driving price increases for the luncheon special, causing even more users to switch to pay-per-use. Bottom line: it is not the proprietors driving this dynamic, but the customers themselves acting out of pure, rational self-interest -- light users, by deciding not to subsidize the heavy ones, foster the vitality of the pay-per-use model. As the spread in bandwidth consumption increases between frequent digital movie streamers or videoconferencing users and lightweight occasional emailers, rational light users will want to migrate to pay-per-use. Of course, people aren't always rational, and consumers often prefer to overpay for flat-rate rather than save money but risk bill shock.
benton.org/node/46278 | GigaOm
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WHAT AFTER PAY-PER-USE?
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Joe Weinman]
Pay-per-use broadband pricing will create new opportunities and drive new technology breakthroughs. Here are some thoughts on such a future:
Fewer Ambient Applications. Less passive push, more active pull.
Truth in Labeling. Apps and content may need to disclose total data transferred or peak data rates. Drugs need to disclose potential side effects (may cause congestive heart failure), apps and content may need to do the same (may cause congestive network failure).
Certifications and Guarantees. Programs may be developed to certify “bandwidth-efficient” endpoints.
Real-time and Projected Monitoring and Billing. Providing ubiquitous access to your current data consumption, rated to provide visibility into your projected bill, is next.
Price Caps.
Network Enhancements and Trade-Offs. Usage-sensitive pricing will drive enhancements in compression algorithms, less chatty protocols, and less predictive caching.
Application Design Changes. Higher interactivity demands lower latency, therefore greater application dispersion.
Increased Caching and Premises Appliance Sharing. Expect more caching, subject to laws and DRM. And, expect players from various manufacturers to query each other.
Congestion Pricing. Simplified congestion pricing might mean free nights and weekends.
Security. Expect more users to turn security on, and more access point vendors to focus on simplicity and usability of security administration.
Peer-to-peer. If letting your neighbor uncontrollably increase your monthly data bill is unwise, perhaps neither is letting everyone on the planet using your peer-to-peer client do the same.
Intelligent, Policy-Based Optimization. Better to cache that movie now or download it tonight, when the forecast is for a twenty percent chance of lower data transfer rates?
End-to-End Open Interoperability and Integration. Expect device manufacturers to increasingly support interoperable control so that a streaming media player doesn't rack up charges when no one is watching.
Conservation Culture. Reduced consumption is a well-known effect of metered pricing.
Cost-Based Adaptivity. Technologies such as Scalable Video Coding degrade gracefully to smaller screens and lower frame rates and quality due to network congestion. Future technologies may do the same based on real-time network data pricing.
Return to Ownership. Recent trends have favored on-demand rental over ownership. Shifting breakeven points may cause these trends to moderate or even reverse. Don't toss that DVD shelving unit yet. If you can rent a house with an option to buy, perhaps similar models will emerge where streaming a movie will entitle you to a discount on purchasing it on physical media.
Shifting Business Models and Ecosystems. People who drive to the video store for a DVD (as some still do) expect to pay for the data transport costs (e.g., fuel, car wear and tear). People who rent by mail expect that the cost of delivery and return postage is borne by the video service. Expect a variety of customer-pays, provider-pays (i.e., bundled pricing), and advertiser or other third-party supported models to vie to become accepted industry practice, although in any event, the consumer ultimately pays with either eyeballs or hard dollars.
benton.org/node/46277 | GigaOm
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NEW ZEALAND BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Tracy Withers]
Telecom Corp. has been selected for prioritized negotiations by the New Zealand government to deliver the ultra-fast broadband services program in 25 regions, which may lead to a demerger of the company. The regions cover the entire country apart from seven areas already assigned to rivals and an eighth zone where there’s another prioritized bidder, Crown Fibre Holdings Ltd. the agency overseeing the process, said in an e-mailed statement. The government is also in prioritized talks with Enable Networks for services in the South Island city of Christchurch and with the Flute joint venture for broadband in Dunedin. The government is seeking partners for a NZ$1.5 billion ($1.1 billion) nationwide fiber-optic network that will deliver fast Internet to homes and businesses. Telecom, the nation’s biggest telephone company, has said it will demerge to create a separate network company to satisfy government requirements.
benton.org/node/46291 | Bloomberg
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POLICYMAKERS

UPTON NAMES COMMERCE COMMITTEE MAJORITY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: ]
Rep Fred Upton (R-MI), who will take over as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the next Congress, welcomed 12 new Republican members to the committee. They will join returning member Greg Walden (R-OR). Analyst Rebecca Arbogast of Stifel-Nicolaus said that Republicans will most likely start off by aggressively pursuing oversight of the Democratic administration's agencies, but are unlikely to focus their energies exclusively on telecommunications. "First priorities are probably elsewhere," Arbogast said. Another industry analyst agreed with that sentiment, noting that Rep Upton ran for the chairmanship mainly by pledging to be tough on energy and health care issues. One area Rep Upton may focus on, however, is network neutrality. He has come out strongly against the Federal Communication Commission's ideas on network neutrality, even asking the FCC to "cease and desist" their efforts. Arbogast said she'd be interested to see whether or not Rep Upton will focus his eye on spectrum legislation as well, but said the most interesting development may have nothing to do with policy. Partisan politics, to be sure, may change the entire relationship between the committee and the telecommunications agencies it oversees. There are several issues with more bipartisan support such as privacy protection and advertising regulation. What remains to be seen is whether the two parties can build any kind of coalition.
benton.org/node/46262 | Washington Post | National Journal
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP

END NEAR FOR COMCAST-NBC?
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Comcast and NBC Universal executives met earlier this week with senior staff from both the Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department on proposed conditions on Internet video distribution, according to a filing. The companies said it discussed potential conditions on their proposed merger "related to online video distribution, the provision of broadband Internet services, and Hulu." A look at past filings show joint meetings with Justice and FCC officials are rare. That got some merger watchers speculating that Comcast and NBC may be near agreement with the federal regulators on conditions for the merger.
benton.org/node/46260 | Washington Post
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ROCKEFELLER PANS COMCAST-NBCU
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: David Hatch]
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) told the Federal Communications Commission that the proposed merger of Comcast and NBC Universal could have a detrimental impact on consumers and competition. Using terms such as "worry," "fear" and "concern," the senator warned FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski that the deal could result in higher rates, fewer programming choices, and the blocking of competing online content. The lawmaker urged the agency to carefully scrutinize the transaction, emphasizing that "a merger of this magnitude has the power to reshape the media landscape."
benton.org/node/46280 | National Journal | B&C
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RIVALS SAY GOOGLE PLAYS FAVORITES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amir Efrati]
Google increasingly is promoting some of its own content over that of rival websites when users perform an online search, prompting competing sites to cry foul. The Internet giant is displaying links to its own services -- such as local-business information or its Google Health service -- above the links to other, non-Google content found by its search engine. Google, which is developing more content or specialized-search sites in hopes of boosting ad revenue, says that prominently displaying links to them is more useful to Web searchers than just displaying links to sites that rank highly in its search system. But the moves mean Google increasingly is at odds with websites that rely on the search engine for visitors. Those companies say their links are being pushed lower on the results page to make room for the Google sites. Critics include executives at travel site TripAdvisor.com, health site WebMD.com and local-business reviews sites Yelp.com and Citysearch.com, among others.
benton.org/node/46296 | Wall Street Journal
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WEB FIRMS HEAR GOOGLE'S FOOTSTEPS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Jia Lynn Yang]
Google this year has been gobbling up Web companies that look nothing like Google, from a social gaming start-up to a firm that powers most online sales for the airline industry. As the tech giant spreads its reach, it is making new enemies who fear that once Google steps onto their turf it will use its almighty search engine to quash them. Now, these critics are pushing antitrust officials to block some of Google's mergers or build a blockbuster case against the search behemoth, reminiscent of the government's battle with Microsoft. Yet as Google expands its ecosystem of products - a spread that already includes e-mail, a digital bookstore and cellphone software - it's only become a bigger puzzle for regulators. Antitrust law was crafted with bricks-and-mortar companies in mind, companies whose business lines fit into neat categories, not a firm like Google whose influence is spreading lightning-quick into different markets that are connected only by the Internet. Google says its acquisitions help the company build a bigger menu of useful products for consumers. And the tech firm accuses competitors of waging their battles against the company in Washington, rather than going toe to toe on the Web.
benton.org/node/46295 | Washington Post
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MURDOCH'S WIKILEAKS CAMEO
[SOURCE: Daily Beast, AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz]
The Wall Street Journal has been aggressively covering the WikiLeaks controversy. Turns out that Rupert Murdoch's newspaper also pops up in one of the secret cables. In a May 2009 missive from the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh -- titled "IDEOLOGICAL AND OWNERSHIP TRENDS IN THE SAUDI MEDIA" -- there are indications that Murdoch wants to do more business with the kingdom. According to a source whose name was redacted, a Saudi (whose name was also withheld) "recently had a three-hour discussion with one of Rupert Murdoch's sons on a deal to publish an Arabic-language version of the WALL Street Journal." What's more, the cable says, the Saudi Research and Marketing Group -- the country's largest publisher, and said to be one-third owned by Prince Waleed bin Talal -- "is trying to win a contract to publish the International Herald Tribune (uncensored, he emphasized) in Saudi Arabia."
benton.org/node/46219 | Daily Beast
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TELEVISION/RADIO

NO FAIRNESS DOCTRINE REVIVAL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission member Michael Copps said "I do not believe the FCC should reinstate the Fairness Doctrine," in a letter to Rep Joe Barton (R-TX). "As I said in a speech over a year and a half ago, the Fairness Doctrine is long gone and it's not coming back," Commissioner Copps said. He said that broadcasters have a responsibility to serve their communities of license, that many do, but some "larger media conglomerates" are run by owners remote from those localities and "not so frequently in touch" with the needs of their audience. "I do not think it is onerous to expect broadcasters, in exchange for free use of the airwaves, to engage in some level of dialog with citizens of a community of license about how issues of interest are being covered." Commissioner Copps said he shared Barton's concern that Americans should have access to a diversity of voices and views, and that was why the Communications Act required broadcasters to operate in the public interest, convenience and necessity, and why the FCC "is charged with responsibilities attending that requirement."
benton.org/node/46258 | Broadcasting&Cable
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MILWAUKEE, CHICAGO LICENSE CHALLENGE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications commission's media bureau has dismissed an Application for Review filed by the Chicago Media Action and Milwaukee Public Interest Media Coalition which alleged FCC staff error of law in a series of decisions related to their petitions to deny the license renewal applications of television stations serving the Chicago and Milwaukee markets for failure to present adequate coverage of state and local elections during the final four weeks of the 2004 campaign.
benton.org/node/46220 | Federal Communications Commission
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TIME WARNER-SINCLAIR DISPUTE
[SOURCE: Buffalo News, AUTHOR: David Robinson]
Time Warner Cable is telling local subscribers in Buffalo (NY) it will continue to carry Fox network programs into January 2011 and beyond, even if its deal with the owner of WUTV, the local Fox affiliate, expires and the station is dropped from the local cable system. WUTV, owned by Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group, could disappear from the Time Warner lineup Jan. 1 if no deal is reach to extend the agreement that allows the cable company to carry the channel. But local Time Warner officials said that they have an arrangement that will allow the cable system to continue carrying Fox's national programming, such as "American Idol," "Glee" and "House," even if WUTV is dropped from its programming lineup. It also would allow Time Warner subscribers to watch the Super Bowl, which Fox will air in early February. Language in the deal that Time Warner struck last January with Fox Broadcasting allows the cable company to carry Fox network programming for up to a year in markets where the local Fox affiliate is pulled from the lineup.
benton.org/node/46218 | Buffalo News
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS

FCC LAUNCHES SPECTRUM PROCEEDING
[SOURCE: CommLawBlog, AUTHOR: Mitchell Lazarus]
In an obscure and largely overlooked Notice of Inquiry, the FCC has begun to overhaul the very foundations of radio communications. The first practical radio transmitters, early in the 20th century, used a simple “spark gap” technology that spread signals over a wide swath of frequencies. This was not a problem when few transmitters existed, but as their numbers increased, the then-useful part of the spectrum soon became crowded. Within a few years, engineers were using then-new vacuum tubes in conjunction with a circuit that limits a radio signal to a specific frequency. That solved the immediate congestion problem, as each transmitter could be assigned a frequency different from others in the vicinity. Now, a century later, we still use that same system. Every licensed transmitter, whether flea-powered walkie-talkie or megawatt TV station, is assigned a specific frequency. The FCC now wants to expand automatic spectrum-sharing to help alleviate the shortage. Rather than offer specific proposals, however, it is on a hunt for ideas.
benton.org/node/46248 | CommLawBlog | track the NOI
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TRAI SPECTRUM RECOMMENDATION
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Ketaki Gokhale, Subramaniam Sharma]
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has recommended scrapping 38 airwave permits held by companies including Aircel Ltd., Dishnet Wireless Ltd., Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. and Unitech Wireless Pvt. TRAI has also suggested “legal examination” of 31 licenses given to Aircel, Allianz Infratech (P) Ltd., Etisalat DB, Loop Telecom Ltd., Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. and Videocon Telecommunications Ltd., Sachin Pilot, junior telecommunications minister. The regulator’s “stance is that this is a scarce national resource and this is the harshest way of punishing these operators,” said Naveen Kulkarni, an analyst at MF Global Ltd. in Mumbai.
benton.org/node/46215 | BusinessWeek
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PRISON PROTESTS AIDED BY CELL PHONES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Sarah Wheaton]
The prison protest has entered the wireless age. Inmates in at least seven Georgia prisons have used contraband cellphones to coordinate a nonviolent strike this weekend, saying they want better living conditions and to be paid for work they do in the prisons. Inmates said they would not perform chores, work for the Corrections Department’s industrial arm or shop at prison commissaries until a list of demands are addressed, including compensation for their work, more educational opportunities, better food and sentencing rules changes. The protest began Dec 9, but inmates said that organizers had spent months building a web of disparate factions and gangs -- groups not known to cooperate -- into a unified coalition using text messaging and word of mouth.
benton.org/node/46289 | New York Times
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CONTENT

VIACOM-YOUTUBE DISPUTE
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Joe Mullin]
There’s a curious thing about Viacom’s recently appealed copyright case against YouTube. Viacom’s evidence and allegations focus on the YouTube of 2005 to 2007, not the YouTube of 2010. Why does this matter? Because it suggests that, for all the bad blood between the two companies, Viacom doesn't actually object to how YouTube currently filters content and deals with copyright -- or, if Viacom does have a problem with present-day YouTube, it thinks that case would be too hard to win. What Viacom does have, however, after years of paying lawyers to dig for dirt, is a very unflattering portrait of the young YouTube. And here’s why that might still be enough to win.
benton.org/node/46216 | paidContent.org
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SMURFS HAVE PARENTS TURING BLUE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jessica Guynn]
When "The Smurf's Village," a game for iPhone and other Apple gadgets, came out in November, it shot up the charts, becoming the highest-grossing app in the Apple store. And, get this, it was free. So why are parents turning red with anger? Smurfberries. One California mom realized her 4-year-old had spent $66.88 on virtual Smurf stuff in the game on the iPad before she figured it out and stopped him. Fortunately he did not discover the "wheelbarrow" option, which can be purchased with two taps and sets you back a whopping $59.99. Now, don't go complaining that we are picking on the Smurfs. The makers of Smurf's Village have added a warning ("PLEASE NOTE: Smurf Village is free to play, but charges real money for additional in-app content. You may lock out the ability to purchase in-app content by adjusting your device's settings") and are considering warnings inside the game. Capcom Entertainment Inc., the publisher of "The Smurf's Village," says inadvertent purchases by children are "lamentable." And the Smurfs are certainly not alone: Six of the 10 highest-grossing iPhone and iPad games are free but encourage purchases. And we are wagering that the bulk of the Smurfs' haul comes from "addicted adults" who want to quickly build their villages, adding bakeries and zoos (I mean, who wouldn't, right?). Right now the game is the fourth-highest grossing game in the App store.
benton.org/node/46231 | Los Angeles Times
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FACEBOOK CIVILITY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Miguel Helft]
Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and chief executive of Facebook, likes to say that his Web site brings people together, helping to make the world a better place. But Facebook isn't a utopia, and when it comes up short, Dave Willner tries to clean up. Willner and his colleagues on Facebook’s “hate and harassment team” are part of a virtual police squad charged with taking down content that is illegal or violates Facebook’s terms of service. That puts them on the front line of the debate over free speech on the Internet.
benton.org/node/46286 | New York Times
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JOURNALISM

WIKILEAKS TAPS POWER OF THE PRESS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Carr]
Has WikiLeaks changed journalism forever? Perhaps. Or maybe it was the other way around. In July, WikiLeaks began what amounted to a partnership with mainstream media organizations, including The New York Times, by giving them an early look at the so-called Afghan War Diary, a strategy that resulted in extensive reporting on the implications of the secret documents. Then in October, the heretofore classified mother lode of 250,000 United States diplomatic cables that describe tensions across the globe was shared by WikiLeaks with Le Monde, El Pais, The Guardian and Der Spiegel. (The Guardian shared documents with The New York Times.) The result was huge: many articles have come out since, many of them deep dives into the implications of the trove of documents. With each successive release, WikiLeaks has become more strategic and has been rewarded with deeper, more extensive coverage of its revelations. It’s a long walk from WikiLeaks’s origins as a user-edited site held in common to something more akin to a traditional model of publishing, but seems to be in keeping with its manifesto to deliver documents with “maximum possible impact.”
benton.org/node/46287 | New York Times
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CURRENT TO AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Elizabeth Jensen]
Current, the newspaper that has covered the public broadcasting business every two weeks for three decades, is leaving the hands of its longtime owner, WNET.org, the New York City public broadcaster. The board of WNET.org last week approved an agreement to sell Current to the American University School of Communication, whose board has also approved the move. The change is expected to take place in the new year, once a final contract is signed. The trade publication, which is based outside Washington, was founded in 1980 by the National Association of Educational Broadcasters, but in 1982 it shifted to the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, the forerunner of WNET. American University Dean and former Benton Foundation President Larry Kirkman said the school had “become a laboratory for the future of public media,” helped by initiatives like the Center for Social Media and the Investigative Reporting Workshop, which produces for PBS’s “Frontline.” He added that he hoped students would become more engaged with public media with Current at the university.
benton.org/node/46284 | New York Times
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Jennifer Manner]
The Federal Communications Commission's Public Safety Bureau, based on the recommendations of the FCC's Emergency Response Interoperability Center (ERIC), is working toward a technical interoperability framework . The ERIC recommendations were developed following a thorough review of fifteen interoperability showings from early builders of 700 MHz public safety mobile broadband networks, as well as extensive comments by the public safety community. This technical framework will help ensure from day one that interoperability is achieved among all public safety broadband networks. It also moves us closer to ensuring that the nation will not face the same magnitude of problems previously identified by the 9/11 Commission and others regarding the limitations and inability of America's first responders to effectively communicate with one another during 9/11 and then, subsequently, during and in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. We look forward to our continued work with America's first responders, state and local emergency managers and hospital emergency departments to make sure their broadband communications needs are met.
Under the baseline technical framework, waiver recipients will:
Construct networks that support Long Term Evolution (LTE) interfaces that support roaming and interoperability;
Construct networks that provide outdoor coverage at minimum data rates of 256 Kbps uplink and 768 Kbps downlink for all types of devices throughout the cell coverage area;
Provide 95 percent reliability of signal coverage for all services and applications throughout the network;
Conduct conformance testing on devices to ensure compliance with technical requirements associated with 3GPP Release 8 (LTE) and higher release standards;
Perform interoperability testing of the LTE interfaces to determine their roaming capabilities and make sure that these capabilities are sufficient;
Build security and encryption features into their networks based on certain optional features of the 3GPP security features for LTE Network Access Domain;
Allow to use permanent fixed point-to-point and point-to-multipoint stations only on an ancillary basis and on a non-interference basis to the primary mobile operations; and
Coordinate with one another when their networks overlap or operate adjacent to one another to avoid signal/spectral interference or disruption to communications.
benton.org/node/46255 | Federal Communications Commission | read the order
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ADVERTISING

DO NOT TRACK
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Byron Acohido, Jon Swartz]
If you're like most Web users, you probably don't realize how intensively your visits to many of the most popular pages on the Internet are scrutinized.
In fact, the art of anonymous, Internetwide monitoring of who visits what webpage has been advancing dramatically, driven by advertisers' desire to tailor their messages to specific groups of customers. This month, however, the Federal Trade Commission -- responding to complaints that "tracking" software can violate the privacy of those using the Web -- moved to put the brakes on such monitoring. The FTC called for a "Do Not Track" mechanism that would enable consumers to opt out of being tailed around the Web. Privacy advocates praised the move, saying that tracking has gotten out of hand. Opponents counter that the Do Not Track plan would disrupt the burgeoning online advertising industry, putting at risk the estimated $300 billion of U.S. economic activity it helps to foster, as calculated by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).
benton.org/node/46293 | USAToday
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P&G STOPS PRODUCING SOAP OPERAS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
Procter & Gamble, whose sponsorship and production of daytime TV dramas helped coin the term "soap operas," has pulled the plug after 77 years. Instead, the maker of Tide detergent, Ivory soap and Olay skincare is following its customers online with a big push on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. "The digital media has pretty much exploded," marketing chief Marc Pritchard said. "It's become very integrated with how we operate, it's become part of the way we do marketing." The last P&G-produced soap opera, "As The World Turns," went off the air in September. The show was the leading daytime soap for decades, but had lost some two-thirds of its audience at the end. Over the years, P&G produced 20 soap operas for radio and TV. But ratings for daytime dramas have been sinking for years, as women, their target audience, increasingly moved into the workplace, switched to talk and reality shows, and spent more time using online media and social networking sites. P&G, the world's biggest advertiser, still buys individual commercials on daytime dramas. But the dollar amount has shrunk. P&G won't say by how much.
benton.org/node/46227 | Associated Press
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HUMOR ME

HAPPY HOLIDAYS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
A choir of Federal Communications Commission staffers put a humorous twist on Christmas carols on Friday by altering the words to make them telecom-themed. Cell phone charges were the new topic of "Carol of the Bills," which gave shout-outs to Verizon and CTIA. And FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski was the new focus of "The Hallelujah Chorus," which intoned: "Ev’ry fourth word I say’s about broadband! ... And all the rest are still about broadband!"
benton.org/node/46259 | Hill, The
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