March 2011

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011

Three items on today's agenda: 1) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board, 2) FCC Open Meeting, and 3) Can Technology Save Foreign Aid? http://benton.org/calendar/2011-03-03/

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Panel Agrees To Dems' Request For Network Neutrality Hearing
   House leadership questions industry for taking it lying down on network neutrality
   Law Curbing Muni-Broadband Advances In North Carolina
   Plan to help low-income people access broadband is a 'mistake,' its creator says
   Broadband Growth Slows For Fourth Straight Year
   Campbell To Re-Introduce Online Gambling Bill With Frank
   Industry group forms cloud commission to advise White House

WIRELESS
   Telecom tussle over public safety
   Public Safety Priority Access to Shared Commercial Networks
   Kerry, Snowe introduce spectrum inventory bill
   To Serve Broadcasters*
   AT&T Says No Surprises on iPhone Defectors
   Sweden Starts Auction of 800Mhz Spectrum

TELEVISION
   Indecency Complaint, With A Spanish Accent
   Fox News suspends Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum
   DirecTV poised to launch premium video-on-demand as theater executives voice outrage
   Why Studios Should Spark A Premium VOD War
   The Future Of Public Access TV In Chicago
   MSTV Board Votes to Pursue Merger Discussions with NAB
   The Underestimated Over-The-Top Device: The PC

FCC REFORM
   Towards a More Targeted and Predictable Merger Review Process

HEALTH
   AMA to ONC: EHR program doesn't work for docs

OPEN GOVERNMENT
   Why Open Government Is Good for Politicians and Their Careers

ACCESSIBILITY
   FCC Launches Proceeding to Implement the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act

MORE ONLINE
   CenturyLink-Qwest deal gets Arizona approval
   TechAmerica Warns of Fed Shutdown Consequences
   In Social Media Postings, a Trove for Investigators
   Online comments post to Facebook wall

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INTERNET/BROADBAND

DEMS WIN NET NEUTRALITY HEARING
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
House Commerce Committee Republicans have agreed to a request from the panel's top Democrats to hold a hearing on a resolution that would block the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality rules. The Communications and Technology Subcommittee postponed its scheduled markup Wednesday of a resolution of disapproval, offered by its chairman, Greg Walden (R-OR) to block implementation of the FCC's open Internet rules. The Congressional Review Act gives lawmakers a limited amount of time to pass a resolution of disapproval aimed at blocking regulations approved by federal agencies. While such resolutions are subject to the regular congressional process, they can not be amended. A committee spokeswoman said that the committee has agreed to a request from Commerce Committee ranking member Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA), the ranking member on the Communications and Technology Subcommittee, to hold a hearing on the resolution before marking it up. The spokeswoman did not say when such a hearing would occur.
benton.org/node/51803 | National Journal
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY MEETING
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
House GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) convened a meeting of top communications companies, where he, House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) questioned why they are not doing more to help Republicans in the fight against network neutrality rules. Participants included Peter Davidson of Verizon, Tim McKone of AT&T, Steve Largent of CTIA, Walter McCormick of U.S. Telecom, Kyle McSlarrow of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), Comcast, and Time Warner Cable, according to industry sources.
benton.org/node/51839 | Hill, The
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NC MUNICIPAL BROADBAND
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
A North Carolina law that would restrict municipal broadband cleared a preliminary hurdle on Wednesday when it was approved by the state's House Public Utilities committee. The matter now will go to the House Finance Committee, where it is expected to be voted on next week. The bill -- "An act to protect jobs and investment by regulating local government competition with private business" -- would impose tough financial restrictions on cities that want to build their own fiber-to-the-home broadband networks. The law would curb cities' ability to fund broadband networks, advertise them, and prohibit cities from pricing the service below cost. "The point is to make it incredibly difficult for community networks to operate," says muni-broadband proponent Christopher Mitchell, director of the Telecommunications as Commons Initiative for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. This latest bill, like three previous failed municipal broadband bills introduced in North Carolina since 2007, is touted as a job-retention measure. The theory is that incumbent providers will leave the state if they have to compete with municipalities for subscribers. But Mitchell says that jobs haven't been lost in either Salisbury or Wilson -- two North Carolina towns that recently built high-speed fiber-optic broadband networks.
benton.org/node/51851 | MediaPost
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LEVIN ON LIFELINE, LINKUP
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
In a speech to the Joint Center on Political and Economic Studies, National Broadband Plan architect Blair Levin targeted two Federal Communications Commission assistance programs: Lifeline, which subsidizes phone service, and Link-up, which helps households pay to install traditional phone lines or activate wireless phones. They should both be phased out rather than expanded to promote broadband, Levin said. because spreading broadband to low-income groups is a different kind of problem than spreading telephone access. "Cost is an issue. But it is just one issue," he said. The spread of broadband comes with challenges around device literacy, search literacy, and even basic word literacy. "No one needs these to use a phone," he said. Levin detailed a new way forward, proposing an FCC assistance program created from scratch. The program would entirely focus on broadband, and heavily emphasize training. Levin stressed the importance of conditional subsidies in such a program, dependent on recipients taking certain positive actions. For instance, a family could receive a broadband subsidy if their child uses the Internet for homework, and maintains a certain grade point average. He also suggested ways to drive down costs, including auctions allowing broadband providers to compete for the chance to offer low-cost service, which would win them business from the people on subsidies.
benton.org/node/51802 | Hill, The | BroadbandBreakfast.com
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BROADBAND GROWTH SLOWS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
New research from Leichtman Research Group finds that the broadband growth rate cooled for the fourth year in a row. The 19 largest cable and telephone providers, which account for about 93% of the US broadband market, acquired 3.4 million net high-speed Internet subscribers last year. That's compared with 4.1 million in 2009, 5.4 million in 2008, 8.5 million in 2007 and a peak of 10.4 million in 2006. Major cable operators gained 2.3 million net broadband subscribers in 2010 -- representing a 68% share of annual broadband additions. As of the end of 2010, those providers had 75.1 million subscribers. Cable companies had 41.5 million broadband subscribers -- holding 55% share -- and telcos tallied 33.5 million. Comcast is the biggest U.S. wireline broadband provider with 16.99 million subscribers at the end of 2010, followed by AT&T with 16.31 million, Time Warner Cable with 9.8 million and Verizon Communications with 8.39 million. LRG estimates that Cox Communications had 4.37 million high-speed Internet subscribers at the end of 2010.
benton.org/node/51816 | Multichannel News | Leichtman Research Group
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WIRELESS

TELECOM TUSSLE
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Tony Romm]
The campaign to create a nationwide wireless network for police officers and firefighters hasn't just been about what works best for public safety almost a decade after Sept. 11. In Washington, it’s been about what works for top telecom companies, too. At the heart of the unfolding debate on Capitol Hill has been a heavily moneyed battle between Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and other top telecom providers and equipment makers. Those industry players agree public safety needs a new network to share information during national emergencies, especially following the logistical perils some faced during Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina. Debate over the network is in full swing, but it’s become a political football between telecom giants trying to secure access to wireless spectrum — a resource critical to their future — and neither Congress nor the White House has managed, so far, to referee a successful outcome.
benton.org/node/51844 | Politico
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RADIOS ACT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Sens John Kerry (D-MA) and Olympia Snow (R-Maine) are introducing legislation that allows federal agencies to survey how the government is using spectrum that could otherwise be used for commercial wireless. The bill is being reintroduced amid greater focus by the White House and Federal Communications Commission on freeing up radio waves for mobile high-speed networks. The senators said their bill would allow the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to take stock of radio spectrum being used. The proposed RADIOS Act would also establish Wi-Fi hot spots and other systems in federal buildings.
benton.org/node/51842 | Washington Post | Broadcasting & Cable
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TO SERVE BROADCASTERS
[SOURCE: CommLawBlog, AUTHOR: Harry Cole]
In what appears to be an ongoing effort by the Media Bureau to soften the ground on the spectrum re-purposing front in advance of an eventual all-out assault, Bureau Chief William Lake recently spoke to the National Alliance of State Broadcasters Associations, preaching the gospel of incentive auctions. His message: We come in peace, with broadcasters’ interests at heart. Submit to our plans and everything will work out for the best. Honest. Maybe theirs is the path to the ultimate win-win-win situation. As we have previously urged, broadcasters should keep an open mind and give careful consideration to any final plan the Commission eventually comes up with. But broadcasters might also be forgiven if, at least for now, they opt for skepticism over unquestioning acceptance. In his speech, Lake lays out five basic points:
The need for more spectrum for wireless broadband is real.
All the good spectrum is already occupied, so somebody’s going to have to be relocated ­ and that somebody should be TV.
The FCC has the broadcast industry’s interests at heart.
“It is natural to fear the unknown.”
Keep an open mind.
benton.org/node/51790 | CommLawBlog | read the speech
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PUBLIC SAFETY PRIORITY ACCESS
[SOURCE: Roberson and Associates, AUTHOR: ]
This technical study adds a key element to the public debate by addressing the issue of how a commercial broadband wireless network, operating on a shared basis with a dedicated public safety network in the 700 MHz frequency band, can meet public safety priority access requirements and provide transparent overflow capacity and enhanced geographic coverage when needed. The study refutes the criticisms that commercial networks cannot guarantee initial access to public safety users under congested conditions; that they cannot provide a guaranteed level of capacity to public safety; and that commercial network priority access cannot be provided automatically without explicit public safety user action.
benton.org/node/51786 | Roberson and Associates
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SWEDEN STARTS AUCTION OF 800MHZ SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: Cellular News, AUTHOR: Simon Davies]
Sweden's telecoms regulator, the PTS, has started the auction to assign licenses for the use of radio transmitters in the 800 MHz spectrum band. The licenses are technology and service neutral, which means that the license holder can choose which technology and area of application that will be used within the band.
benton.org/node/51782 | cellular-news
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TELEVISION

NEW INDECENCY COMPLAINT
[SOURCE: CommLawBlog, AUTHOR: Frank Montero]
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) have filed a complaint (173 pages in all, including extensive attachments) with the FCC against a TV station in the Los Angeles area. The focus of their complaint: the Spanish-language television talk show “José Luis Sin Censura” (translation: “José Luis Uncensored”). According to NHMC and GLAAD, over 20 episodes of the show that aired between June-December of last year contained images and language that were indecent and that would have been routinely edited out of English-language broadcasts. The complaint alleges the repeated use of sexually-oriented terms such as “pinche” and “culero”, along with anti-gay epithets (“maricón”, “joto”, “puñal”) and anti-Latino slurs (e.g., “mojado”). Presumably recognizing the likelihood that the FCC may not be familiar with Spanish pejoratives, the complainants have included a “Note on Translation” in which they provide the approximate English equivalents. (“Pinche” is said to be “roughly equivalent” to “fucking”; “culero” means “assfucker”; “maricón”, “joto” and “puñal” are derogatory terms for gay people, akin to “faggot”; “mojado” refers to “wetback”.) They've also posted a collection of examples (including a number of NSFW items, such as semi-clad women) demonstrating their point on YouTube.
benton.org/node/51792 | CommLawBlog | see video
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FOX SUSPENDS PUNDITS
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Jennifer Epstein]
Fox News has suspended -- for the next 60 days -- contributors Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum until they decide whether to run for president.
Both, anchor Bret Baier said, “have signaled possible runs for the presidency” and it “is Fox policy” for them to be suspended. With the suspensions, the network has taken its first big step to address mounting concerns that it could run afoul of campaign finance laws and journalistic ethics by continuing to keep on its payroll people who are maneuvering to run for president. But the suspensions of two contributors also leads to questions about three others on the Fox payroll -- Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin and John Bolton -- who are also weighing White House bids.
benton.org/node/51812 | Politico
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DIRECTV PREMIUM VOD
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Ben Fritz, Richard Verrier]
DirecTV is in advanced talks to be Hollywood's first partner for early video-on-demand, a plan that is putting it in the cross hairs of the nation's top theater chains. People familiar with the matter said the satellite TV company would likely be the first distributor to launch so-called premium VOD, through which consumers would pay about $30 to rent a movie via the Internet or cable 60 days after it opened in theaters and at least a month before it would become available on DVD. The plan represents a significant step in Hollywood's strategy to make movies available in the home earlier and in new ways to generate fresh revenue as DVD sales continue to fall and domestic box office has been stagnant. It has previously taken a minimum of three months for films to shift from theaters into the living room. DirecTV is looking to introduce its product by the end of June with movies from 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. Walt Disney Pictures is also in talks to join the initiative, the people said, while Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures are not expected to participate initially.
benton.org/node/51849 | Los Angeles Times
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PREMIUM VOD
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Andrew Wallenstein]
Theater owners are rightfully nervous that ticket-buying audiences could dwindle if presented with the option of paying about $30—perhaps way too much, recent research suggested. Threats of blocking theatrical distribution are either prelude to a clash or just public posturing for some kind of pact that will insulate theater owners should premium VOD take too big a bite out of their wallets. The prospect of war brings to mind a standoff that occurred one year ago between Disney and theater chains including Odeon over the studio’s plan to move up the DVD window on Alice In Wonderland. At some point soon, one studio or another is going to step up and make known what title(s) will be the canaries in this premium-VOD coalmine, and if White’s comments haven't already lit the fuse, that will. As badly as the studios want to meddle with the traditional windows that are under becoming more and more challenged to deliver revenues under pressure from digital platforms, they can't alienate the theater owners. The box office provides that first-window exposure crucial to driving momentum in every other stop on the distribution chain.
benton.org/node/51846 | paidContent.org
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CAN TV
[SOURCE: Illinois Entertainer, AUTHOR: Cara Jepsen]
Any individual or organization in Chicago can learn how to produce their own program at Chicago Access Corporation (CAN TV) and show it on one of its five channels. That’s because of the city’s strong cable-TV franchise agreement, which allows CAN TV to receive its funding directly from cable providers. Refranchising takes place every 15 years, and will start up again in June when RCN is due for renewal. RCN, WOW, and Comcast are franchised by the city, but have the option of refranchising at the state level — which is what AT&T has chosen to do. CAN TV executive director Barbara Popovic says that if these other companies opt for a state franchise, a 2009 Chicago ordinance will give the city — not CAN TV — control of the one-percent fee for public, government, and educational (PEG) channels (this would be in addition to the five-percent franchise fee the city already receives from cable companies). “Whatever the regulatory vehicle, we feel it’s very important that the public be firmly in the mix,” she says. CAN TV recently commissioned an independent survey, which found that 85 percent of Chicago cable subscribers say it’s important that community issues are covered on local TV channels, and that customers would like more money set aside in their cable bill for the production of local programming than for commercial channels. Nearly 80 percent said it’s important that Chicago residents have access to a local facility where they can get assistance in producing programs. “If anything in Chicago, we see an increase in local interest and an increase in people using it,” says Popovic, noting that public-access centers have closed down in San Francisco and Seattle in addition to scores of PEG center closures in California, Michigan, and Indiana.
benton.org/node/51830 | Illinois Entertainer
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FCC REFORM

BAKER ON REFORMING FCC MERGER REVIEWS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Speaking at the Institute for Policy Innovation Communications summit, Federal Communications Commission member Meredith Attwell Baker said the FCC should set a timetable and limiting principles for merger reviews so the process will not chill investment. Commissioner Baker says the FCC should enforce its 180-day shot clock on vetting industry mergers, should make it clear merger conditions have to be truly merger-specific rather than general policy in conditions' clothing or the FCC equivalent of earmarks for public interest groups, and consider whether to get rid of the dual-review system that has both the FCC and either Justice or the Federal Trade Commission reviewing the same merger. She would like to see that change to answer three main questions: 1) should mergers be subject to dual reviews? 2) do the reviews take longer than necessary? and 3) do adopting wide-ranging conditions serve the public interest? She did not definitively answer the first question, but suggested the dual review was duplicative and that the FCC's role of approving license transferred had "morphed into a full-fledged merger review -- similar to, but not identical to, the antitrust review." She said the FCC should "We should work with Congress to help evaluate whether this dual review structure as currently configured remains the best use of limited government resources in this era of tightening budgets."
benton.org/node/51799 | Broadcasting&Cable | | Commissioner Baker
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HEALTH

DOES EHR WORK FOR DOCTORS?
[SOURCE: ModernHealthcare.com, AUTHOR: Rich Daly]
Many physicians -- specialists in particular -- will not participate in the federal electronic health-record adoption incentive program because it requires them to include patient data that they do not otherwise collect, according to a Feb. 25 letter from 39 medical organizations letter to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. The barriers to physician participation will only grow, according to the letter, as proposed new criteria for meaningful use of EHR systems, which clinicians must meet to qualify for federal incentive payments, require the use of not-yet-available IT infrastructure and tools for sharing patient information among clinicians. The physician groups recommended several changes to the proposed regulations, including the addition of an "exclusion option" that would allow clinicians to opt out of a measure that the groups say has "little relevance to the physician's routine practice" and still receive the federal subsidy.
benton.org/node/51788 | ModernHealthcare.com
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OPEN GOVERNMENT

OPEN GOV IS GOOD FOR POLS
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Gregory Ferenstein]
As governmental distrust reaches record levels, incumbents should be racing for more open government. According to a Pew research poll released yesterday, citizens are far happier with their local government in areas with more accessible government information. And yet, groaning reports from Capitol Hill reveal politicians' reluctance about transparency, especially social media. Instead of seeing open government as a chore, they might be wise to think about it as strategic campaign move. In a three-city study that included Silicon Valley, Pew found that "if people believe their local government shares information well, they also feel good about their town and its civic institutions." The report continues, "Those who are avid information consumers from news media and online sources are more likely to be involved and feel they have impact." Citizens who felt the government did a "very" or "pretty" good job of sharing information were three times more likely (38%) to be satisfied with city government.
benton.org/node/51784 | Fast Company
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ACCESSIBILITY

NEW FCC PROCEEDING ON ACCESSIBILITY
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
On March 2, the Federal Communications Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks comment on rules implementing provisions of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA). The NPRM proposes rules requiring providers of advanced communications services and manufacturers of equipment used for those services to make their products accessible to people with disabilities. This had been an item on the FCC's march 3 meeting agenda.
benton.org/node/51833 | Federal Communications Commission
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