February 1, 2011 (More from Egypt; Mobile Broadband)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FEBRUARY 1, 2011
Today's agenda http://bit.ly/gqr2th
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Google and Twitter team up to let Egyptians tweet by voicemail
White House: Free Internet Communication is Issue Egypt Must Address
Twitter: It Won't Start a Revolution, But It Can Feed One
State TV in Egypt Offers Murky Window Into Power Shift
Egypt crisis makes case for network neutrality: ex-Obama tech chief
Wary of Egypt Unrest, China Censors Web
Test affirms United States' ability to circumvent Internet censors
Officials: US better at finding cyber attackers
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Worldwide mobile data traffic exploding, nearly tripled in 2010, Cisco says
Obama administration looks to Defense Department airwaves for commercial use
Broadcasters downplay threat of 'alleged spectrum shortage'
MetroPCS: make "bill shock" rules for Verizon/AT&T, not us
Not-so-unlimited MetroPCS
Is AT&T Systematically Overcharging iPhone and iPad Users?
Android Gets Even Bigger And Tops The Charts For Smartphone OS
Apple Moves to Tighten Control of App Store
BROADBAND/INTERNET
Web Running Out of Addresses
FCC Seeks Comments to Update Rural Broadband Report
Rural America Needs Sustainable Broadband Not Profitable
2011: The Year of Broadband Adoption through the National Broadband Plan
Verizon: DC Court Must Hear Net Neutrality Challenge
Not-so-unlimited MetroPCS
Cash, please! A Nordic change of heart on network neutrality
Huge ISPs want per-GB payments from Netflix, YouTube
OWNERSHIP
Hearst Makes Blockbuster Offer for Lagardère's Mags
NBC Universal chief Burke resigns as Comcast COO
NBCU/Comcast Readies For Mega-Marketing Packages
CONTENT
Piracy Nearly A Quarter Of Global Internet Traffic, Says Study
The Race to Create a Web of Reputation
ADVERTISING
How Much Is One Googler and Facebooker Worth?
Industry Groups Argue Against Regulations Based On Fair Information Practice Principles
CBS declines to run ad submitted by NFL players union
PRIVACY
Why You Should Trust Apple More Than the Commerce Department With Your Universal Online ID
Netizens Gain Some Privacy
Industry Groups Argue Against Regulations Based On Fair Information Practice Principles
INNOVATION AGENDA
Startup America
Governments & Startups Just Don't Mix
MORE ONLINE
Google drops $5 million on DC lobbying in 2010
Docs, public have similar views on health IT
New US law could foster community radio boom
Tablets Rekindle Our Love of Reading -- Books, Too
Apps Alter Reading on the Web
New app to bring US art to wider audience
Smithsonian regents support secretary's censorship decision
Thai Cabinet to Consider Telecom Compensation Report
First a Speech, then an Uprising, Dominate the News
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
TWEETING VIA VOICEMAIL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
Twitter and Google have teamed up to create a new service that lets Egyptians tweet using just their voices - no Internet connection or computer needed. The announcement comes in response to the Egyptian government's ongoing block on almost all Web traffic, including Facebook, Twitter and other social networking services. Now Google has come up with a way to let Egyptians express their views using standard phone lines. "Over the weekend we came up with the idea of a speak-to-tweet service -- the ability for anyone to tweet using just a voice connection," said Ujjwal Singh, co-founder of SayNow, which Google acquired last week, and AbdelKarim Mardini, Google Product Manager for the Middle East & North Africa. The service is already live; anyone can tweet by simply leaving a voicemail on one of three international phone numbers (+16504194196, +390662207294 or +97316199855) and the service will instantly tweet the message using the hashtag #egypt.
benton.org/node/49239 | Hill, The
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FREE INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that the need to communicate over the Internet and more broadly freedom of speech must be addressed in a substantive way by the Egyptian government going forward, whoever is in power. He said that must be part of any "orderly transition" of government, which the U.S. has been calling for in recent days. By transition, he said it must be a dialog about meeting grievances. "They have to address the freedoms that the people of Egypt seek," he said.
benton.org/node/49237 | Broadcasting&Cable
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TWITTER CAN FEED REVOLUTION
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Kentaro Toyama]
With the backdrop of political unrest in Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen, Roger Cohen mocks Evgeny Morozov's The Net Delusion as an ill-timed book in the same category as Dow 36,000, which was published just before the dot-com crash. Cohen epitomizes technology utopians when he writes, "The freedom to connect is a tool of liberation." Morozov's point is subtler, however. His goal is to highlight the negative uses of the Internet, often by powerful governments to achieve their own nefarious ends. He doesn't deny the positive impacts of technology, but he does offer a counterweight. Morozov's real target is the simplistic, one-sided view that dissemination of communication technologies necessarily supports democracy. Technology can communicate and spread frustration, but it also amplifies government propaganda and misinformation. Technology can accelerate a revolution once it begins, but it can't feed or educate an enfeebled population to the point of rebellion (PCs for schools notwithstanding). What does this mean for policy? Technology policy should be more selectively applied. It helps most when the social balance is already in favor of a desired outcome. Otherwise, there are other conditions we might push for first -- good nutrition, viable healthcare, and universal education -- most of which are less controversial, even for dictators. And, in any case, technology-for-all policies require extreme care, as Hillary Clinton found with WikiLeaks and "Internet freedom," technology's blade is always double-edged.
benton.org/node/49236 | Atlantic, The | NYT - Roger Cohen
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CIRCUMVENTING INTERNET CENSORS
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Aliya Sternstein]
A recent internal test by a federally-funded broadcaster shows that the US government has the power to bypass foreign Internet censors by feeding news over a special e-mail system. How that capability might affect events in Egypt, where leaders have cut off Internet services despite appeals by the Obama administration to restore them, remains unclear. Between March and June 2010, the Broadcasting Board of Governors successfully used the tool in China to transmit news feeds from broadcasters Voice of America, CKXX and China Weekly, according to a report the nonprofit website GovernmentAttic.org obtained this month through a Freedom of Information Act request. The experiment offers a glimpse into the secret measures the State Department and US broadcasters have taken -- and may currently be taking -- to enable the free flow of information when oppressive regimes cut off Internet access. The report reveals that an "anti-censorship team" at the board's technology services and innovation office performed tests on the so-called FOE, or "feed over e-mail," system in Washington; Shenzhen, China; Beijing and Hong Kong. GovernmentAttic.org, which regularly publishes federal documents obtained through FOIA, requested the test findings in November.
benton.org/node/49185 | nextgov
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
NEW NTIA SPECTRUM STUDY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
In its quest to make more airwaves available for consumer wireless devices, the Obama administration said it is evaluating a chunk of spectrum currently being used by the Defense Department and federal law enforcement for possible commercial uses. The Nation Telecommunications and Information Administration said the swath of airwaves, totaling 95 megahertz in the 1755 to 1850 band, will be evaluated for its technical properties and costs to repurpose into commercial mobile broadband networks. The move is part of the White House's push to free up more public and other airwaves -- such as those held by television broadcasters -- to be used for a next generation of smart phones, tablets, appliances and Internet-connected machines. Assistant Secretary of Commerce, Lawrence Strickling, said the NTIA and Federal Communications Commission will work together to evaluate the airwaves currently being used for satellite, surveillance, and aeronautical operations. The agency plans to compete the analysis by Sept. 30, 2011.
benton.org/node/49233 | Washington Post
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WHAT SPECTRUM SHORTAGE?
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is minimizing the severity of what public officials have described as a looming spectrum crisis. The Obama administration and the wireless and tech industries have invoked a shortage of airwaves as a reason to recover spectrum used by TV broadcasters. They want to put it to use by mobile broadband companies instead. In a letter to Commerce leaders in both chambers, NAB President Gordon Smith cited press reports that Time Warner Cable is warehousing spectrum rather than deploying it and that wireless carriers are sitting on as much as $15 billion in spectrum. Smith referred to the "alleged spectrum shortage" facing the nation. "If there is truly a 'spectrum crisis,' then allowing companies the size of [Time Warner Cable] to hoard airwaves should not be permitted," he wrote. Smith advocated for spectrum inventory legislation as a way to ascertain which companies and government agencies are sitting on spectrum. He said an inventory is necessary as a first step if the nation is "truly committed to unlocking the technological potential of wireless broadband."
benton.org/node/49191 | Hill, The | TVNewsCheck
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METROPCS: APPLY BILL SHOCK RULES TO BIG GUYS
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
Three months ago, the Federal Communications Commission launched a bill shock proceeding, proposing rules that would require mobile carriers to provide consistent "usage alerts," letting a subscriber know that she's on the way to exceeding her usual monthly charges. The wireless industry is strongly opposed to this proposal. But MetroPCS, the nation's fifth largest carrier, offered a compromise this month: exempt the smaller carriers and just make the big guys obey bill shock rules. It's unclear to us how only imposing this concept upon Verizon and AT&T alone will inspire MetroPCS to improve. But to be fair, the carriers' comments illustrate how complex this issue can get, given the different business models that mobile ISPs deploy.
benton.org/node/49229 | Ars Technica
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AT&T OVERCHARGES?
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Nicholas Jackson]
Retained by plaintiff Patrick Hendricks, a representative from an independent consulting firm visited an AT&T store, purchased a brand new iPhone, and then disabled all location services and push notifications. All of the applications on the new iPhone were closed, no email account was configured with the device, and it sat untouched -- the plaintiff claims -- for ten days. "During this 10-day period, AT&T billed the test account for 35 data transactions totaling 2,292 KB of usage," Courthouse News Service reported. "This is like the rigged gas pump charging you when you never even pulled your car into the station." The so-called phantom data traffic charges are just one component of a new federal class action lawsuit that AT&T Mobility is faced with concerning the company's iPhone and iPad services. The other: systematically overbilling for data usage.
benton.org/node/49227 | Atlantic, The
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BROADBAND/INTERNET
RURAL BROADBAND REPORT UPDATE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission is seeking comment on how to best update and evaluate the 2009 Rural Broadband Report. The report recommended new policies to deliver broadband to rural areas and restore economic growth and opportunity for Americans residing and working in those areas. The 2009 Rural Broadband Report identified a number of challenges typically affecting rural broadband, including technological issues, high costs, and lack of data. The report made a number of recommendations, including enhancing coordination among and between federal, Tribal, state, and community agencies, governments, and organizations; reviewing existing federal programs to identify barriers to rural broadband deployment; coordinating broadband data collection and mapping efforts; and supporting consumer education and training initiatives aimed at stimulating and sustaining broadband demand. The report also identified a number of policy areas and proceedings where Commission action could support broadband deployment and adoption. Interested parties may file comments on or before March 2, 2011. When filing comments, please reference GN Docket No. 11-16.
benton.org/node/49223 | Federal Communications Commission
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SUSTAINABLE BROADBAND
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] It pains me to say this, but our government's 100% wrong when it comes to how it's trying to solve the rural broadband dilemma. Our government leaders don't just talk about how to get connectivity to these communities, instead they talk in terms of how do they make the environment more conducive to private investment to fill these gaps. Now, this attitude does make some sense in more densely populated areas, where private-led investment has proven reasonably effective. But when that population density drops, the profit of deploying broadband infrastructure disappears rapidly. Where this leads us to is that government investments end up focused on subsidizing profits, which leads to a less efficient transference of public dollars into increased deployment. When you really think about it, this mindset doesn't make any logical sense. If it's going to cost some huge sum to get rural America online, why are we focusing our limited resources on subsidizing profits for private companies? Why aren't we more seriously investing in non-profit solutions to rural broadband? Yet this is exactly what our government's doing.
benton.org/node/49188 | App-Rising.com
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VERIZON WANTS SUIT IN DC COURT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Verizon has told a federal court in Washington that no matter who files suit against the Federal Communications Commission's recently codified network neutrality rules and whatever circuit the suits wind up being consolidated in, its challenge to them as a license modification must be heard separately and by the DC circuit alone. That is the court that held that the FCC had not justified its Internet regulatory authority in smacking down Comcast for blocking BitTorrent files, and Verizon has suggested the FCC's new net neutrality regulations should meet the same fate. In its motion to deny the FCC's motion to dismiss the suit, Verizon told the court that the court still needed to weigh in by Feb. 3 on Verizon's request that the court assign the same panel of judges to Verizon's case as decided the FCC BitTorrent decision, citing their expertise in the issue. In its filing with the court Monday, Verizon said its filing was not premature, but that it had signaled that "out of an abundance of caution," it would also file after the rules are published in the Federal Register. The FCC had argued that such publication triggers the filing window, while Verizon said it was triggered by the FCC's release of the order in late December.
benton.org/node/49210 | Broadcasting&Cable
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CHARGING NETFLIX AND YOUTUBE
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
Poor Internet providers. They have to carry all that horrible, horrible traffic from Netflix and YouTube, and they just can't afford it anymore. Unless they start charging end users 21 percent more for Internet access, or unless they're allowed to bill Internet companies at 3.7¢ per GB, the Internet could "become unusable at peak times" due to congestion. The huge incumbent ISPs have a fairly obvious agenda for the future of the 'Net, one that involves traffic prioritization, more "managed services," and high prices, but rarely is the wish list on such prominent display as in a recent report from consultancy A.T. Kearney. Four of Europe's biggest ISPs -- Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, Telecom Italia, and Telefónica -- commissioned a study from the company on "A Viable Future Model for the Internet" (PDF), which involves giving lots more money to ISPs. The basic argument is simple and well-known. The ISPs claim that they just can't afford all the investment they've been making, and that's it totally unfair that companies like Netflix get to make nice business on their pipes without paying their fair share. Yes, it's the old, tired claim about "freeriding."
benton.org/node/49221 | Ars Technica | read the report
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OWNERSHIP
HEARST BIDS FOR LAGARDERE
[SOURCE: MediaWeek, AUTHOR: Lucia Moses]
Hearst has offered to pay about $890 million for Lagardère’s international publications -- far more than the $1 that had become the going price for iconic, yet faltering, magazine brands. The price represents about 13 times earnings before interest, taxes (EBIT) close to the high point of multiples paid for magazines just before the recession, estimated Reed Phillips, managing partner of media investment bank DeSilva & Phillips. The price offered reflects Hearst’s belief that it can improve the properties through cost-cutting, however. In the US, the deal would include Lagardère’s unit Hachette Filipacchi Media, publisher of Elle, Woman’s Day and Car & Driver. Hearst -- parent of Cosmopolitan, Esquire and other titles -- would add over 100 international magazines for a total of more than 300 overseas editions. The deal would make Hearst the No. 2 publisher in the US in terms of ad pages and, it’s believed, the biggest international publisher by number of editions. The sale is expected to close in the third quarter of 2011.
benton.org/node/49231 | MediaWeek
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MEGA-MARKETING IN THE WORKS
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: David Goetzl]
NBCU CEO Steve Burke indicated the spring premiere of Universal film "Hop" will serve as a laboratory for the promotional opportunities the new company offers across its properties. No doubt, if the multiplatform -- a term that sounds so limited when Comcast NBCU is concerned -- initiative works, the company will have grist as it takes it outside and offers some sort of mega-marketing package to big spenders. What will be the metric? The 2010 Universal-distributed film "Despicable Me" - done with the same partners as the "Hop" - grossed some $250 million-plus in the U.S., so there's one benchmark. That film actually used some promotional integrations with corporate sibling NBC. For one, calling on "Biggest Loser" trainer Jillian Michaels to do promo videos with two animated characters from the movie. According to the memo sent by Burke announcing appointments before Comcast NBCU was formed, two executives stand out as playing top roles in cross-company sales: Ed Swindler, ad sales COO at NBCU, and Page Thompson, charged with integrating Comcast's technological and distribution capabilities with NBCU's programming arsenal.
benton.org/node/49213 | MediaPost
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ADVERTISING
HOW MUCH IS A GOOGLER OR FACEBOOKER WORTH?
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Laurie Sullivan]
Driving tons of traffic and making sure it converts into clicks are what metrics marketers and Web publishers consider when it comes to generating revenue. Numbers out Monday from Chitika shed some light on the subject. As it become increasingly difficult to determine the worth of consumers, marketers must trust the numbers generated by analysis to more efficiently budget and drive campaigns. Looking at a sample of nearly 70 million impressions across the Chitika ad network, the company found that compared with Facebook, Google does a "much better job" at driving traffic and making sure it converts. Also, Google sends about 89 times the raw traffic, and to Chitika, it becomes obvious that a Web publisher's No. 1 most important goal should become maximizing traffic from search. All marketers want to maximize traffic from search. Those that land on a Web site from a search engine arrive with the intent to find information or buy a specific service, product or information before moving on. The findings suggest that social-media traffic, especially Facebook, reflects the intent of the searcher's friends, which doesn't translate well to the traffic's desire to convert. Don't forgo a Facebook presence, although numbers imply that most activity on Facebook stays on Facebook; traffic doesn't convert to the same intent as Google. Search becomes much more focused. No marketers would argue that contextual is more efficient than search. Still, aimClear founder Marty Weintraub argues that Facebook's content network traffic converts much better, compared with Google's content network. "If the Google content network worked great it would look more like Facebook's," he says. "Facebook kicks Google's Display Network's Ass, in terms of the targeting focus, impression volume and, at least for us, conversions."
benton.org/node/49217 | MediaPost
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PRIVACY
PRIVACY GAINS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Pressure by regulators is having an effect on consumer privacy on the Internet. Last week, Google and Mozilla announced new software for their Web browsers that would allow consumers to permanently opt out of the online tracking used by many advertisers to follow online activities, build consumer profiles and deliver tailored ads. The move follows efforts by some of the largest Internet advertisers and data trackers -- including Google and Yahoo -- to offer consumers an easy way to opt out of tracking on their sites. Microsoft said it would offer a feature (dropped last year) that would allow surfers using Internet Explorer to block some monitoring efforts. Mozilla’s feature, which will be added to new versions of its Firefox browser, will broadcast users’ preference not to be tracked to the Web sites they visit and the tracking companies that deliver cookies from these sites. But it will be up to these companies to comply with customers’ wishes. Many advertising networks that offer opt-outs still track surfing, just not for marketing. To close these loopholes, Congress should require all advertising and tracking companies to offer consumers the choice of whether they want to be followed online to receive tailored ads, and make that option easily chosen on every browser.
benton.org/node/49197 | New York Times
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INNOVATION AGENDA
STARTUP AMERICA
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Tom Kalil, Doug Rand]
The Obama Administration launched Startup America, a “national campaign to help ‘win the future’ by knocking down barriers in the path of men and women in every corner of this country hoping to take a chance, follow a dream, and start a business.” The White House is focused on entrepreneurship as a core element of the President’s innovation strategy because of the critical role that startups play in job creation in the United States. Startups are also responsible for developing many of the breakthrough products and services that will allow the United States to compete and win in the global economy such as low-cost solar cells, new life-saving treatments for diseases, or the next breakthrough in wireless technology. Answering the President’s call to action to invest in job-creating startups, leaders in the private sector launched the Startup America Partnership, an independent alliance to mobilize additional private sector commitments. Steve Case, co-founder of AOL and Chairman of the Case Foundation, will chair the Partnership, and Carl Schramm, President and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation will be a founding board member.
Startup America will:
Expand access to capital for high-growth startups throughout the country;
Expand entrepreneurship education and mentorship programs that empower more Americans not just to get a job, but to create jobs;
Strengthen commercialization of the about $148 billion in annual federally-funded research and development, which can generate innovative startups and entirely new industries;
Identify and remove unnecessary barriers to high-growth startups; and
Expand collaborations between large companies and startups.
benton.org/node/49202 | White House, The | SA website | WH press advisory | Aneesh Chopra | Associated Press | The Hill - Industry commitments | Sec Locke | National Journal
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GOVERNMENT AND STARTUPS DON'T MIX
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
[Commentary] Startup America looks like an opportunity to get a lot of press, with low returns for actual startups. The goal of the program is to “continue to marshal private-sector resources to spur entrepreneurship in the U.S.,” something I'd argue is already happening at most of the levels the program plans to concern itself with. It will focus on replicating successful accelerator programs such as Denver’s TechStars, expand entrepreneurship education and boost the commercialization of new technologies out of colleges. At their best, governments want to boost the overall economies of their constituent base and want to spread diversity and other warm and fuzzy ideals. For example, the program will offer roundtable discussions in cities to teach people about building businesses and there will be an incubator created to help veterans build companies. At their worst, governments can be a source of patronage, and have a tendency to fund people or businesses that aren't the best. On the flip side, both entrepreneurs and VCs are pretty Darwinian and ruthless when it comes to allocating their time and resources; their goal is to make money. So other than some good publicity and a friendly program that will point back to everything President Barack Obama is doing for entrepreneurs, I'm not sure this effort will make that big a dent. Sure, it helps get a bunch of names together to push entrepreneurialism, but most forward-thinking regions and universities are already working on building programs for better commercialization and many incubators are providing mentorship where there’s interest. Perhaps we’re beginning to see the creation and solidification of an “innovation” lobby that will push for issues close to startups’ hearts such as more H-1b visas, the slow patent application process or opening up monopoly markets.
benton.org/node/49200 | GigaOm
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