April 2011

Book bind: Public libraries across the US feel strain of budget cuts

They're the lone source of free computer and Internet access in most communities, allowing the unemployed to search for jobs, learn computer skills and spruce up their resumes. Millions use them to stay in touch with relatives, apply for government services or to seek health information. But public libraries' critical role as neighborhood information hubs hasn't shielded the nearly 17,000 of them across the country from budget scalpels. After spurring a surge in public library use nationwide, the tough economy is forcing many branches to cut staff, hours and programs right when many cash-strapped people need them most.

Library offers computer classes

Area residents looking to get back into the workforce can sharpen the computer skills needed to find and apply for the right job through a series of computer classes offered free of charge through the Taylor Public Library. "These classes were developed specifically for those re-entering the workforce and need to brush up on computer skills, set up e-mail accounts, and learn how to use the Internet to find and apply for jobs," said Library Director Karen Ellis. The classes - offered each Thursday for five weeks in Taylor - are funded by a grant managed in part by the Central Texas Library System, of which the Taylor Public Library is a member. The opportunity for libraries in smaller communities, with a smaller staff and fewer resources, to offer these classes under this grant program is a big benefit.

The Influence Industry: New Republicans play an old fundraising game

Many of the Republican freshmen in the House won election vowing to shake up Washington, so it’s a little surprising that many of them seem to be playing an old Washington game: raising much of their campaign money from corporate political action committees.

More than 50 members of the class of 87 GOP freshmen took in more than $50,000 from PACs during the first quarter of 2011, according to new campaign disclosure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. Eighteen of the lawmakers took in more than $100,000. Overall, fundraising among the large GOP freshman class is below the average raised by new Democratic members in the first quarters of 2007 and 2009, after elections when liberals won big gains in Congress. Two years ago, Democratic freshmen raised $287,000 on average, while the figure this year for the new GOP lawmakers was $176,000.

AT&T, Facebook Ramp Up Washington Spending

AT&T spent more than $6.8 million in the first three months of 2011. The telecom giant weighed in on a variety of issues beyond its purchase of T-Mobile, including network neutrality, patent reform, spectrum auctions, and broadband, as well as basic big-business items like health care. For its part, T-Mobile spent $690,000 so far in 2011, down from $903,000 in the same period last year.

Sprint also reported a drop in spending, with $583,000 going to telecom issues, including opposing the AT&T/T-Mobile deal.

Meanwhile, Facebook, a relative newcomer to the Washington scene, spent five times as much as it did in the same time last year. The social media company has shelled out $230,000 as it ramps up its DC operation. Facebook lobbied on a range of issues, including privacy, cybersecurity, and international Internet freedom.
Google's lobbying spending increased by just $100,000 in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. The Internet giant spent $1.48 million lobbying on such issues as online privacy, copyright and trademark issues, cloud computing and reform of the H-1B visa program for skilled foreign workers.
Other top tech companies that have filed so far include the lobbying juggernauts Verizon ($4,680,000) and Microsoft ($1,720,000).

Free Press triples lobbying expenditures

Free Press spent more on lobbying this quarter than ever before; it tripled its lobbying spending for the first quarter of the year ($25,903) compared to the same period last year ($7,399). The top lobbyist at Free Press, Joel Kelsey, met with members this quarter to argue against the AT&T merger with T-Mobile, according to disclosure forms. He also worked on issues including public broadcasting, net neutrality and retransmission consent, universal service reform and spectrum.

Even in an era of budget cuts, these government programs won't die

The programs sound innocuous enough: One spends federal money to store cotton bales. Another offers scholars a chance to study Asian-American relations. Two others pay to market U.S. oranges in Asia and clean up abandoned coal mines. But in Washington’s wonkier circles, these are the federal budget’s equivalent of Jason Voorhees, the hockey-masked movie villain who could take an ax in the skull and come back for the sequel. They are the Line Items That Won't Die. In recent years, leaders in both parties — including, in some cases, presidents from both parties — have singled out these four programs, worth a total of about $337 million, to either be eliminated or lose millions in funding. But they have survived, again and again, thanks to powerful lobbies or high-placed patrons in Congress. Even this year, after Congress cut $38 billion from the budget, they live on. Now, in the lull before the next budget battle, watchdog groups say these often-criticized programs show the difficulty of the task ahead. “This is why Ronald Reagan said that a government program is the closest thing to eternal life that we've ever seen on Earth,” said Brian Riedl of the conservative Heritage Foundation. “If lawmakers can't cut programs that cost a few million, how are they going to cut deficits that are going to be in the trillions?”

With Google-ITA merger, Justice Department continues to expand monitoring of firms

The Justice Department recently concluded that a deal by Google to buy a travel search firm would “substantially” reduce competition, stifle innovation and leave consumers with fewer choices. Then it approved the merger — after adding limits on Google’s behavior that will require years of monitoring by the department’s antitrust division. In two other high-profile mergers, involving Comcast and Ticketmaster, the government threatened to take the cases to court but instead greenlighted the deals after laying out rules for the companies, which the Justice Department will now have to watch. Not since antitrust officials took on Microsoft in the 1990s has the department taken on this much responsibility enforcing restrictions on some of America’s most dominant companies. Some experts worry that the agency, now reviewing the blockbuster deal between AT&T and T-Mobile, is trying to regulate complex businesses when it should instead be blocking controversial mergers in court.

Public safety group stages recess lobbying blitz

The Public Safety Alliance (PSA) held a series of meetings this week at district offices to advocate for the organization's top telecom goal: Reallocation of the D Block of airwaves to public safety agencies.

That's their position on how the government should build a broadband network for emergency agencies, a goal with virtually universal support that has spawned polarized views on how it should be funded. This week, PSA met with House Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), as well as Reps John Shimkus (R-IL), John Dingell (D-MI) Mike Rogers (R-MI), Sandy Adams (R-FL), and House Homeland Security Communications subcommittee Chairman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL). Sean Kirkendall, spokesman for PSA, said the meeting blitz comes ahead of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. He said the group is reaching out to members to "provide the facts, answer their questions and ultimately secure their support for legislation."

Is there Competition in the Video Delivery Market?

The Federal Communications Commission seeks data, information, and comment on the state of competition in the delivery of video programming for the Commission's Fourteenth Report on Competition in the Market for the Delivery of Video Programming.

Using the information collected pursuant to this Further Notice, we seek to enhance our analysis of competitive conditions, better understand the implications for the American consumer, and provide a solid foundation for Commission policy making with respect to the delivery of video programming to consumers. Under a new analytic framework, the FCC first will categorize entities that deliver video programming into one of three groups: multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs), broadcast television stations, and online video distributors (OVDs).

Second, the FCC will examine industry structure, conduct, and performance, considering factors such as:

Structure: The number and size of firms in each group, horizontal and vertical integration, merger and acquisition activity, and conditions affecting entry and the ability to compete.
Conduct: The business models and competitive strategies used by firms that directly compete as video programming distributors, including product differentiation, advertising and marketing, and pricing.
Performance: The quantity and picture quality of programming, prices charged for delivered video programming, financial indicators (e.g., revenue and profit margins), and investment and innovation activities.

Third, the FCC will look upstream and downstream to examine the influence of industry inputs and consumer behavior on the delivery of video programming. The FCC expects to discuss three key upstream industry inputs: video content creators, video content aggregators, and consumer premises equipment.
Comments in the proceeding are due June 8, 2011. Reply comments are due July 8, 2011.

Congressional Eyes on Apple Tracking

Twenty-four hours after researchers provided a new open-source tool for iPhone users to view their phone's logged location history, Sen Al Franken (D-MN) and Rep Ed Markey (D-MA) have both issued sets of questions for Apple CEO Steve Jobs. While Franken's letter requests a "prompt" response, Rep Markey wants answers "within fifteen business days."

Rep Markey has long been a leading voice on tech questions, and has previously chaired key committees related to tech issues, so his letter was hardly a surprise. Indeed, in June 2010, Markey co-authored another set of questions for Steve Jobs on the issues of privacy and location-based services. Markey's new letter asks many of the same questions his old letter did, including one about whether Apple complies with Section 222 of the Communications Act, which "requires express prior customer authorization for the use, disclosure of, or access to the customer's location information for commercial purposes." Apple responded to this issue last year, saying that Apple is not subject to Section 222 but that "the privacy protections described in detail in this letter are consistent with the intent of Section 222." Rep Markey also wants to know if iPhone users can really disable the cell tower and WiFi logging, and he follows Franken's lead in asking about widespread use of iPhone and iPads by minors. "Is Apple concerned that the wide array of precise location data logged by these devices can be used to track minors, exposing them to potential harm?" he asks.

Sen Franken's letter includes this list of questions:

Why does Apple collect and compile this location data? Why did Apple choose to initiate tracking this data in its iOS 4 operating system?
Does Apple collect and compile this location data for laptops?
How is this data generated? (GPS, cell tower triangulation, Wi-Fi triangulation, etc.)
How frequently is a user's location recorded? What triggers the creation of a record of someone's location?
How precise is this location data? Can it track the users location to 50 m, 100 m, etc.?
Why is this data not encrypted? What steps will Apple take to encrypt the data?
Why were Apple consumers never affirmatively informed of the collection and retention of their location data in this manner? Why did Apple not seek affirmative consent before doing so?
Does Apple believe that this conduct is permissible under the terms of its privacy policy?
To whom, if anyone, including Apple, has this data been disclosed? When and why were these disclosures made?

Benton

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