February 2011

Consumer group wants to tax Netflix to pay for rural broadband

Mark Cooper, director of research for the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), says Netflix should have to pay into the Universal Service Fund. "The Internet is not an infant industry anymore. It can certainly bear the burden of making sure that wires and the communications mediums are there," Cooper said. Phone companies pay into the Federal Communications Commission's $8 billion telecom fund, which subsidizes phone service in high-cost and rural areas. They write off the cost on consumer telephone bills. The FCC is trying to migrate the subsidies to fund broadband rather than phone calls this year. As it begins the overhaul, the question of who must contribute into the fund is heating up. It would be "legitimate" to force Netflix and other high-bandwidth companies to contribute to the fund, said Cooper, a longtime consumer advocate.

Comcast, NBC deal opens door for online video

New Internet video services from companies such as Netflix and Apple are offering a glimpse of a home entertainment future that doesn't include a pricey monthly cable bill. To challenge the cable TV industry's dominance in the living room, though, online video services need popular movies and TV shows to lure viewers, and access to high-speed Internet networks to reach them. Yet they have had no rights to either — until now.

To win government approval to take over NBC Universal last month, cable giant Comcast Corp. agreed to let online rivals license NBC programming, including hit shows such as "30 Rock" and "The Office." Comcast also agreed not to block its 17 million broadband subscribers from watching video online through Netflix, Apple's iTunes and other rivals yet to come. Those requirements aim to ensure that the nation's largest cable TV company, with nearly 23 million video subscribers in 39 states, cannot stifle the growth of the nascent Internet video business. Although they apply only to Comcast and NBC, these conditions could serve as a model for other big entertainment companies in dealing with new online competitors. They also send a powerful message that the government believes these promising young rivals deserve an opportunity to take on established media companies.

Hollywood Studios Lose Appeal on Australian Piracy Lawsuit

Walt Disney and Viacom’s Paramount Pictures are among Hollywood’s biggest movie studios that lost a piracy lawsuit in Australia as an appeals court upheld a ruling that a local Internet provider wasn't responsible for customers illegally downloading films.

The Federal Court of Australia Full Court, in a two-one decision, today upheld Judge Dennis Cowdroy’s Feb. 4, 2010, verdict that vindicated iiNet Ltd. The studios can appeal the ruling to the country’s High Court and a notice must be filed within 28 days, unless an extension is sought. Village Roadshow Ltd.’s Roadshow Films led the companies trying to stop iiNet customers from using BitTorrent software to illegally download copyrighted films, in a precedent-setting case for all Internet providers in Australia. A ruling in the studios’ favor would have made all Internet providers liable for their customers’ conduct. “The evidence supports a conclusion that iiNet demonstrated a dismissive and, indeed, contumelious, attitude to the complaints of infringement,” Judge Arthur Emmett wrote. “Its conduct did not amount to authorization of the primary acts of infringement on the part of iiNet users.”

NTIA Request for Comments on the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority Functions

The United States Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) remains committed to preserving a stable and secure Internet Domain Name System (DNS). Critical to the DNS is the continued performance of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions. The IANA functions have historically included: (1) The coordination of the assignment of technical Internet protocol parameters; (2) the administration of certain responsibilities associated with Internet DNS root zone management; (3) the allocation of Internet numbering resources; and (4) other services related to the management of the .ARPA and .INT top-level domains. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) currently performs the IANA functions, on behalf of the United States Government, through a contract with NTIA. Given the September 30, 2011 expiration of this contract, NTIA is seeking public comment to enhance the performance of the IANA functions in the development and award of a new IANA functions contract.

Comments are due on or before March 31, 2011.

Peers or not? Comcast and Level 3 slug it out at FCC's doorstep

The big headlines about the dispute between Level 3 Communications and Comcast over the latter's access charges may have subsided, but don't let that fool you. Like so many telecom wars, this one has migrated to the antechambers of the Federal Communications Commission. There, both sides are battling over whether the feud comes under the FCC's authority via its still-unofficial net neutrality rules. "It would be ironic and unfortunate if, as we begin the era of growing broadband connectivity and use, the Commission effectively abdicated jurisdiction over broadband Internet services in a way that reduces choice and openness for the American consumer," Level 3 is warning the agency. Au contraire, insists Comcast. "This has been, is, and will remain a dispute about the terms of an existing arrangement for network interconnection. It is not properly before this Commission." Is not? Is too? Let's recap this story and see how the behind-the-scenes slugfest is going.

Judges Hard to Read In FCC Ownership Case Argument

Broadcasters may be looking for regulatory clarity on media ownership rules, but if one attorney and a second observer in the courtroom were any indication, it has yet to get any signals of judicial certainty.

The three-judge panel hearing oral argument in challenges to the Federal Communications Commission's media ownership rules in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia Thursday seemed to have trouble with the FCC's decision from both ends of the spectrum. "They were clearly troubled by the arguments that we made about what the commission did wrong. And they were clearly troubled by the arguments that the broadcasters made about what the commission did wrong. We were coming at it from kind of opposite directions. It seems open to the possibility the they will just kind of throw up their hands," said Andrew Schwartzman, who argued the case Feb 24 on behalf of those who say the move was too deregulatory.

FCC Explores Improved TV Ratings, V-Chip

The Federal Communications Commission is exploring an overhaul of the nation’s television ratings, potentially enabling the use of alternatives from religious, parental, and other groups that utilize more-rigorous standards, government, industry, and advocacy sources said.

Parents could program their televisions to filter content based on guidance from Focus on the Family and similar organizations that have independent ratings, the sources said. Key to all of this is updating the so-called V-chip, which is required by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The technology, installed in all TV sets with screens that are 13 inches or larger, allows viewers to use the ratings to block programming they consider objectionable. Also under discussion is the idea of adopting more-uniform standards for how TV shows, and perhaps other forms of entertainment, are rated. In recent weeks, the office of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has been reaching out to a variety of groups concerned about the issue regarding possible changes to the ratings scheme.

Lobbying Intensifies As Cable Firms Aim To End Retransmission Battles

Lobbying has picked up in recent weeks as the Federal Communications Commission prepares to launch a proposed rulemaking on possible changes to the current rules governing the process by which cable operators and other video content distributors negotiate to retransmit broadcasters' programming.

The FCC has included on its agenda for its March 3rd monthly meeting a proposed rulemaking seeking comment on changes to the retransmission process. Cable firms and other multichannel video programming distributors negotiate fees to allow them to carry programming from ABC, CBS, Fox and other broadcast networks. A parade of cable firms and other stakeholders have met with FCC officials in recent weeks to press for changes to a process they say is outdated and broken. Among the proposals they would like to see the commission adopt is some sort of binding arbitration process and a requirement that broadcasters continue to allow cable firms to carry programming while disputes are being resolved. The issue has gained increased attention in the last year after high-profile disputes between cable firms and broadcasters have led to short blackouts in some areas including in the New York area last fall when some Cablevision viewers lost access to Fox programming during the World Series because of a retransmission fee dispute. In a letter Feb 23 to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Full Channel, a small Rhode Island-based cable provider, was the latest in a long list of cable firms pushing the FCC to "rectify the imbalance of power" between broadcasters and cable firms, the company said. Full Channel cited a recent dispute it had with Univision that led the Spanish-language broadcaster to pull its programming from Full Channel's customers after the cable firm balked at paying a 33 percent fee increase.

Technology Industry Groups Increase Advocacy With New Website

Seeking to ramp up their advocacy efforts in DC, CompTIA and a range of regional trade organizations launched a website aimed at representing small- and medium-sized technology companies.

Dubbed an "online public advocacy platform," TechVoice will help users connect directly with their representatives, stay updated on legislative actions and issues, said Liz Hyman, vice president of public advocacy for ComtTIA, an advocacy group that represents a group of IT companies. "With technology issues coming up again and again on the Hill, small companies need their voices heard," she told Tech Daily Dose. "TechVoice will be a grassroots tool that we hope will build momentum on some of the issues that are important to these companies." CompTIA partnered with the Technology Councils of America, or TECNA, which represents almost 40 regional technology trade associations and 16,000 companies. The website will address a range of issues, including workforce development, small business concerns, healthcare IT, green IT, cybersecurity, cloud computing, data breach and privacy.

Maine laptop program offers lessons in ed-tech implementation

Nine years after it became the first state in the nation to initiate a 1-to-1 laptop program in its schools, Maine continues to innovate with technology and has hired technology integrators to help its schools move forward.

Jeff Mao, director of learning technology for the state’s education department, recently reflected on the groundbreaking program and its lessons learned. “What we are doing [is] relatively bleeding edge. … There isn't a book to read, there isn't really a manual that says this is how you do it … but you are kind of creating it on the fly, and from that perspective there’s a lot of invention,” said Mao. Mao said the biggest adjustment for the state and its school districts, which began the program in 2002, was not the machines themselves but the human element.

Benton

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