May 23, 2011 (FCC Broadband Reports)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, MAY 23, 2011
Health, Spectrum and Taxes on today's agenda http://benton.org/calendar/2011-05-23/
INTERNET/BROADBAND
FCC to Congress: 26 Million Americans Don't Have Access to Broadband - press release
FCC Releases 2nd International Broadband Report - press release
North Carolina broadband law to go into effect
See also:An Open Letter to North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue: Support Community Broadband - op-ed [links to web]
Community Fiber Networks Succeed Through Marketing [links to web]
FCC Holds Final USF Reform Workshop in Nebraska
North Korea's Internet domain is in new hands [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Chilling Echoes From Sept. 11 - editorial
FCC Wants More Info from AT&T, QUALCOMM; Seeks Impact of T-Mobile Deal on QUALCOMM Deal
Sprint Wants States to Review AT&T’s Proposed T-Mobile Buy
CenturyLink stands tall
Chairman Genachowski Done With Spectrum Crunch Debate [links to web]
Broadcasting's Future is All About Mobile - editorial [links to web]
FCC Seeks Input on Terrestrial Mobile Broadband Services
33 Senators Ask FCC to Revoke LightSquared Waiver
LOBBYING
Chairman Issa questions FCC on Baker departure to Comcast
FCC commissioner's move to Comcast shows the revolving door is still spinning - editorial
Shameless - editorial [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Strategic Implications of the Microsoft/Skype Deal - analysis [links to web]
Reel Grrls rejects Comcast funding after Twitter spat
Skype cancels IPO to clear way for Microsoft sale [links to web]
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
Comcast executive hosts Obama fundraiser in June [links to web]
PRIVACY
Consumers Union pushes Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg to do more to keep out underage users, protect teens
Wall Street Journal Reporter Takes Heat Over Tone Of Privacy Series
May 14 - May 20: Lots of Smoke, But Where's the Fire in Privacy Debate? - analysis
The Privacy Challenge in Online Prize Contests [links to web]
Social-networking sites must protect privacy - editorial [links to web]
India data privacy rules may be too strict for some US companies [links to web]
Why Google Hasn't Implemented A ‘Do Not Track’ Feature [links to web]
Internet Privacy and Security [links to web]
CONTENT
When the Internet Thinks It Knows You - op-ed
On Copyright, Eric Schmidt Is Right and Britain Is Wrong - analysis [links to web]
Wikipedia: Worthy Online Resource, but Global Cultural Treasure? [links to web]
Free Speech on Twitter Faces Test [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Cybersecurity strategy boosts commitment to Internet freedom, experts say
The U.S. Draws a Line in the Silicon - editorial
Seeking to Disrupt Protesters, Syria Cracks Down on Social Media
Suit Claims Cisco Helped China Pursue Falun Gong [links to web]
France Puts Internet on G-8's Agenda
State Wants to Expand Use of Mobile Devices [links to web]
From Data to Apps: Putting Government Information to Work for You [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
New Legislative Affairs Staff at FCC - press release [links to web]
TELEVISION
Burdened by PBS Dues, Stations Consider Withdrawing
TV Justice Thrives on Fear - analysis [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
NEW FCC BROADBAND REPORT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The latest Broadband Progress Report to Congress from the Federal Communications Commission reveals that approximately 26 million Americans, mostly in rural communities located in every region of the country, are denied access to the jobs and economic opportunity made possible by broadband.
While the infrastructure of high-speed Internet is unavailable to those Americans, the FCC report also finds that approximately one-third of Americans do not subscribe to broadband, even when it’s available. This suggests that barriers to adoption – such as cost, low digital literacy, and concerns about privacy – remain too high. The Report also notes limited broadband capacity for schools and libraries as a further indicator that broadband is not being reasonably and timely deployed and is not available to all Americans.
Without action by the FCC in partnership with the states and the private sector, prospects for broadband service in many of the areas cited in the Report will remain unacceptably low. The Report finds the problem especially acute among low-income Americans, African-Americans, Hispanics, seniors, and residents of Tribal areas. Congress recognized the importance of broadband in Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which directs the FCC to take immediate action to accelerate broadband deployment when it is not “reasonable and timely.”
benton.org/node/66140 | Federal Communications Commission | read the report | Chairman Genachowski | Commissioner Copps | Commissioner McDowell | Commissioner Clyburn
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INTERNATIONAL BUREAU RELEASES SECOND INTERNATIONAL BROADBAND DATA REPORT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission International Bureau released its second International Broadband Data Report presenting comparative data international broadband capability. The report presents, for the first time, econometric analyses of how population size, population density, income, and education affect broadband adoption at a sub-national or “community” level.
The report provides staff-gathered data on broadband service plans and pricing in 38 countries (including the United States), representing a broad range of broadband markets, including countries of various sizes and population densities. The dataset includes information on bundle pricing and advertised monthly recurring charges and nonrecurring charges such as connection and modem fees. The Bureau is making this dataset openly available so that interested parties can perform further research and analysis.
The report finds:
Broadband adoption linked to population size, density and income: The results suggest a correlation between broadband adoption and (1) communities with larger populations, (2) communities with higher population density, and (3) communities with higher income. The analysis, however, does not detect a statistically significant relationship between education and broadband adoption.
Download Speeds in Some European and Asian Cities Have Edge Over Comparable U.S. Cities: The data on average actual download speeds reported by consumers in U.S. and foreign cities show that some large European and Asian cities exhibit a significant edge over comparable U.S. cities in reported download speeds. Reported speeds for some other international cities, however, are roughly comparable to speeds in many U.S. cities.
benton.org/node/66138 | Federal Communications Commission | read the report | Broadband Price Dataset | Broadband HH percentages
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NC BROADBAND LAW
[SOURCE: Salisbury Post, AUTHOR: Emily Ford]
Gov. Bev Perdue (D-NC) will neither sign nor veto a controversial broadband bill, meaning it will become law without her signature. Gov Perdue on May 20 issued a statement critical of House Bill 129 but said the state needs “rules to prevent cities and towns from having an unfair advantage over providers in the private sector.” A veto would have been difficult to sustain in the Republican-controlled General Assembly. Salisbury won exemption for Fibrant from the legislation, which will limit how cities can operate and fund broadband systems in competition with private companies. Cable and phone companies worked for four years to pass the legislation. Gov Perdue issued her statement on the final day of her deliberation, after fielding thousands of pleas to veto or sign House Bill 129. The veto effort was largely a fight for towns like Chapel Hill and Fayetteville, which have spent money putting fiber in the ground but are not operational yet. In her statement, Gov Perdue said every school, household and business in North Carolina — no matter where they are — should have access to efficient and affordable broadband services. “My concern with House Bill 129 is that the restrictions the General Assembly has imposed on cities and towns who want to offer broadband services may have the effect of decreasing the number of choices available to their citizens,” Gov Perdue said. “For these reasons, I will neither sign nor veto this bill. “Instead, I call on the General Assembly to revisit this issue and adopt rules that not only promote fairness but also allow for the greatest number of high quality and affordable broadband options for consumers.”
benton.org/node/66131 | Salisbury Post | Multichannel News
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USF REFORM WORKSHOP
[SOURCE: BroadbandBreakfast.com, AUTHOR: Rahul Gaitonde]
The Federal Communications Commission held its final in a series of Universal Service Fund reform workshops, featuring key industry officials in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19.
One of the key reforms that the FCC has proposed in its USF reform proposal is the use of reverse auctions as a new mechanism for the distribution of funds. The reverse auction proposal would limit government funding to a single entity that would provide service to the entire service area. Providers would enter into an auction wherein the company that could provide the service with the lowest level of government funding would win funding.
The proposal has received a mixed reaction by the telecommunications industry.
“Reverse auctions will result in what amounts to a government-sanctioned monopoly for the auction winner. Lack of competition in turn leads to higher prices, more regulation and less buildout in rural America,” said Johnie Johnson, CEO of Nex-Tech Wireless. “The one-time funding decisions that reverse auctions would entail would not promote competition over time, leaving customers with substandard broadband service.” Johnson proposes that instead of funding the companies the USF should provide customers with funding to select their choice of providers. By funding consumers Johnson believes that rural providers would have to compete with each other on a continuous basis thus ensuring innovation and network improvements.
Wendy Fast, owner of Consolidated Telephone Company, said that reverse auctions would leave the losers with large stranded investments in infrastructure they have built out, but would no longer use. Fast claims that with only a single provider, service quality would drop. Also, if the auction winner were to go bankrupt, customers would face serious problems. Instead of reverse auctions, Fast suggested that the Commission uses rate of return regulation. According to Fast 92 percent of companies that are on rate of return regulation rules have deployed broadband.
benton.org/node/66091 | BroadbandBreakfast.com
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
PUBLIC SAFETY NETWORK
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] As the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania draws near, one of the main recommendations of the 9/11 Commission remains unfulfilled: the creation of a common communications system that lets emergency responders talk to one another across jurisdictions. Congress should be haunted by the threat of new disasters finding rescue workers still incommunicado. Responsible lawmakers can mark the 10th anniversary by passing legislation to finally create a national public safety communications network. How many warnings does Congress need? How many more people will be endangered because of bureaucratic wrangling or political inertia? “Further delay is intolerable,” the commission’s leaders, Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, declared earlier this year. They are right.
benton.org/node/66164 | New York Times
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AT&T-QUALCOMM TRANSACTION UPDATE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Ruth Milkman]
In its ongoing review of AT&T's proposed purchase of spectrum licenses from QUALCOMM, the Federal Communications Commission has a few -- OK, 36 -- questions for the two companies. FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman has written both companies with requests for additional information. Throughout the letter to AT&T, the FCC asks what impact its proposed purchase of T-Mobile will have on its wireless plans. QUALCOMM is asked about its FLO TV service. The FCC has requested replies from the companies by June 3, 2011.
benton.org/node/66136 | Federal Communications Commission | Questions for AT&T | Letter to QUALCOMM | Questions for QUALCOMM
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SPRINT WANTS STATE AT&T/T-MOBILE REVIEW
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Todd Shields, Greg Bensinger]
Sprint Nextel said it wants state agencies in California and West Virginia to follow Louisiana in scrutinizing AT&T’s proposed purchase of T- Mobile. Sprint filed a request with the California Public Utilities Commission requesting an investigation into the $39 billion transaction. On May 17, the Louisiana Public Service Commission voted 4- 1 to open an inquiry. States can keep companies from transferring assets within their borders, a possibility that can lead to concessions by companies, said Rebecca Arbogast, a Washington-based analyst with Stifel Nicolaus. States haven't blocked past deals, she said.
benton.org/node/66134 | Bloomberg
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CENTURYLINK STANDS TALL
[SOURCE: News-Star, AUTHOR: Greg Hilburn]
CenturyLink Chief Executive Glen Post told shareholders the company's two most recent monster acquisitions and a third one pending give the Monroe company the breadth and depth to compete with anyone in the telecommunications industry. CenturyLink, the largest company headquartered in Louisiana, became the second largest telecommunications company in the U.S. behind only AT&T following it acquisitions of Embarq and Qwest Communications, and last month CenturyLink announced it will buy Savvis Inc. in a $3.2 billion deal. After the Savvis deal closes sometime during the second half of this year, CenturyLink will generate about $20 billion in annual revenues. Will CenturyLink buy Sprint as some have speculated? "Our focus now is on the integration of Qwest and the acquisition of Savvis," Post said following the shareholders meeting. "We're not looking to go after anything big right now."
benton.org/node/66083 | News-Star | Fierce
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TERRESTRIAL MOBILE BROADBAND SERVICES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission's Spectrum Task Force invites technical input on approaches to encourage the growth of terrestrial mobile broadband services in the 2 GHz spectrum range that is allocated for fixed and mobile use. The FCC seeks information on developing a cohesive approach that maximizes the terrestrial mobile broadband potential of this spectrum. Specifically, the FCC encourages focus on bands co-allocated for Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) at 2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz (“2 GHz MSS band” or “S Band”), as well as bands, or portions of bands, designated for Advanced Wireless Service (AWS), including: AWS-2 upper “H” block spectrum at 1995-2000 MHz; AWS-2 paired “J” block spectrum at 2020-2025 MHz and 2175-2180 MHz; and AWS-3 spectrum at 2155-2175 MHz. This Public Notice will inform the FCC’s ongoing assessment of spectrum suitable for mobile broadband use by gathering information about one possible approach to facilitating terrestrial operations in the 2 GHz range.
Comments are due June 17, 2011; reply comments are due July 1, 2011.
benton.org/node/66095 | Federal Communications Commission
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SENATORS' LIGHTSQUARED LETTER
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Josh Smith]
LightSquared's plan to build a wholesale broadband network is facing increasing skepticism from members of Congress who worry that interference from the system could be a safety risk. On May 19, 33 senators signed a letter asking the Federal Communications Commission to revoke a waiver granted to LightSquared. "We have substantial concerns that LightSquared's proposal places an unacceptable risk to public safety through interferences with GPS receivers necessary for aviation, first responders, agriculture, construction, maritime navigation, E-911, and national defense systems," the letter states. The lawmakers call on the FCC to make LightSquared prove its system won't cause interference before it can start operating.
benton.org/node/66115 | National Journal
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LOBBYING
CONGRESS QUESTIONS FCC COMMISSIONER'S DEPARTURE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) wants details on the upcoming departure of Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker. He asked for the FCC to brief his staff on the events and acknowledged that Baker appears to have followed all the relevant ethics rules. Chairman Issa said that "because only a short time has passed since the Comcast-NBC Universal merger, it is imperative that the public can trust the integrity of the process."
He asked FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski five questions: which regulations apply to Baker's departure; what actions did Baker take to ensure the rules were followed; on what date did Baker notify the FCC's general counsel's office about her prospective employment; when did she recuse herself from FCC proceedings; and from which matters is she currently recused?
Answers are due by May 31.
benton.org/node/66130 | Hill, The | ars technica
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FCC REVOLVING DOOR
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Michael Hiltzik]
[Commentary] No political adage gets a more vigorous workout than the one about how the real scandal in Washington isn't what's illegal, but what's legal. Case in point: Meredith Attwell Baker's announcement that she will be stepping down as a Federal Communications Commission member in June to join Comcast-NBCUniversal. Baker's new employer, of course, is the huge entity whose merger was blessed by the FCC only in January, after a year of scrutiny. Baker voted in favor. "The system is fundamentally flawed," says Andrew Schwartzman, policy director of the Washington-based Media Access Project. Thanks to the revolving door, "People attain expertise which is extremely valuable to the regulated companies and turn around and make that expertise available to them at the expense of the public." The incredible speed with which Baker is transforming herself from federal regulator back into corporate lobbyist underscores why regulation in Washington has become such a spavined, toothless beast. To be fair, Baker was not a monochromatically conservative regulator. Schwartzman says she bucked Republican orthodoxy on issues such as the development of low-power FM broadcasting and public access to unused TV broadcasting spectrum. But on more momentous issues she carried water for big business, often maintaining that regulators shouldn't do much regulating. Washington has always brimmed with young lawyers who take jobs with consumer regulatory agencies to gain a little training and seasoning before launching lucrative careers in corporate law. The only way to keep these ambitious greenhorns focused on the obligations of enforcement while they're in public service is for the leaders of their agencies to take those obligations seriously. When leaders like Baker signal that it's acceptable to cash in without even waiting for a decent interval, what hope is there that government will serve the public interest, not the corporate interest?
benton.org/node/66126 | Los Angeles Times
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OWNERSHIP
REEL GRRLS REJECT COMCAST FUNDING
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Emily Cahn]
The Seattle-based nonprofit Reel Grrls is rejecting funding from Comcast after a spat over a tweet that was critical of the company. A Comcast official in Washington state told Reel Grrls it would lose its $18,000 in funding after the group sent out a negative tweet about the company's decision to hire someone away from the Federal Communications Commission. The tweet questioned Comcast's decision to hire FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker, who voted to allow the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal earlier this year. Comcast apologized for the official's statement to the group and said on Thursday that it wanted to continue sponsoring it. But Reel Grrls spokeswoman Teresa Mozur on Friday said the nonprofit would not accept Comcast's donation and will be looking elsewhere for funds. "We appreciate Comcast’s desire to rectify this situation and hope to encourage them to craft a corporate policy that clearly defends freedom of expression in order to ensure that this situation does not arise again," Mozur said.
benton.org/node/66123 | Hill, The
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PRIVACY
FACEBOOK AND PRIVACY
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jim Puzzanghera]
Consumers Union called on Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg to do more to keep underage users off the site after a recent survey showed that as many as 7.5 million children under the age of 13 had accounts on the social network. The nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, which conducted the survey, also said that company needed to be "more diligent and effective" in protecting the privacy of the estimated 20 million people less than 18 years old who actively used Facebook over the past year. "We urge Facebook to strengthen its efforts to identify and terminate the accounts of users under 13 years of age, and also to implement more effective age verification methods for users signing up for new accounts," Ioana Rusu, the regulatory counsel for Consumers Union, wrote in a letter Friday to Zuckerberg. "Facebook should also be more transparent about its current strategies to prevent preteens from accessing the site, as well as its efforts to seek out and terminate underage user accounts," she said.
Fortune magazine posted an interview with Zuckerberg on Friday in which he said that children under 13 years old should be allowed to use Facebook because of the educational opportunities the site could offer. He said he wants to change the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act to allow it. "That will be a fight we take on at some point," Zuckerberg said. "My philosophy is that for education you need to start at a really, really young age." He said that because of federal restrictions Facebook hasn't looked at how younger children would use the site. "If they're lifted, then we'd start to learn what works. We'd take a lot of precautions to make sure that they [younger kids] are safe."]
Consumers Union said the privacy problems go beyond preteens. A phone survey it conducted in May found that 73% of respondents supported tougher protections for teens' online data. The group said that it believes many minors don't understand the implications of all the information they are sharing on Facebook. A recent example took place in New Hampshire, where a 13-year-old middle school student was suspended for a Facebook post in which she wished Osama bin Laden had killed her math teacher. Consumers Union said Facebook's default privacy setting for minors should be to share information with "friends only" instead of "friends of friends" -- a category that publicizes the average users information to 16,900 people. The group also called for Facebook to create an "eraser button" that would allow users to delete all potentially embarrassing information posted about them on the site when they were minors.
benton.org/node/66102 | Los Angeles Times | Fortune
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WSJ PRIVACY SERIES
[SOURCE: paidContent.org, AUTHOR: Joe Mullin]
In many ways, the series of articles about online privacy that the Wall Street Journal began publishing last year has set the tone for the privacy debate nationally -- but not everyone is thrilled about that. During a discussion about personal information and privacy at the pii2011 conference, Evidon CEO Scott Meyer suggested that the tone of the WSJ series about digital privacy, called “What They Know,” was over the top and inflammatory. “When you use words like ‘surveillance’ and ‘spying,’ it freaks people out,” Meyer said to Julia Angwin, one of the WSJ reporters who has worked on the series. “If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be here,” he said, referring to the panel of behavioral advertising companies that he was on, which Angwin was moderating. A questioner from the audience, Morgan Reed of the Association for Competitive Technology, agreed, noting that the WSJ series had directly influenced the comments made by Congressional representatives. “The question addressed to me [by Congress] was, ‘Look at these apps the Wall Street Journal found—so you, app developer, tell us why we shouldn't be afraid of these,” said Reed.
“What we’re doing is reporting the facts,” Angwin responded. “The fact is, we tested a bunch of apps, and this is the data they were sending,” she said. “And this is pretty revolutionary in the news business.” (Laughter in the audience.) “Most often, data written about in the newspaper is provided to them, as in, ‘a Brooking Institution report says this.’ We decided to test things ourselves. It was expensive, it was difficult. And it turns out, we now have the best data available about what apps are doing. It’s hard to replicate that study. You have to hack the phones, and measure the traffic.” She continued: “There are some loaded words in those stories, I agree. But I also think that this is actually what is happening -- you are being tracked,” she said. “How did this all get turned onto me?”
benton.org/node/66107 | paidContent.org
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THERE'S SMOKE, BUT ANY FIRE IN PRIVACY DEBATE?
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
Just last month we were writing about how privacy is seen as a bipartisan issue in Washington and an area this Congress may take action. Well, maybe not so much. Yes, there's lots of talk -- and SOME action (bills introduced, hearings held) -- but the prospects for a major piece of legislation becoming law seem dimmer and dimmer.
On May 19, Politico's Tony Romm gave readers a peak behind the curtain, exposing some Congressional turf wars. You see, although there may be support among both Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate, there's still lots of politics to sort through. Which Congressional committee will be the primary mover for a bill? And which of many, many proposals will be the legislation that moves through Congress?
Romm notes the current tension between Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and the Senate Judiciary Committee headed by Patrick Leahy (D-VT). John Eggerton first raised the issue in Multichannel News back in March. Then, Commerce Committee leadership wrote Chairman Leahy saying his newly-created Privacy, Technology & Law Subcommittee appeared to exceed judiciary's scope and overlaps with legislative matters "squarely within the jurisdiction of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee." Now, in the wake of a May 10 mobile privacy hearing held by the Judiciary Committee's new subcommittee, Chairman Rockefeller 1) released his own online-tracking bill and 2) had his Committee's Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Insurance Subcommittee hold a hearing on mobile privacy.
http://benton.org/node/66041
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CONTENT
INTERNET THINKS IT KNOWS YOU
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Eli Pariser]
[Commentary] Today’s Internet giants — Google, Facebook, Yahoo and Microsoft — see the remarkable rise of available information as an opportunity. If they can provide services that sift though the data and supply us with the most personally relevant and appealing results, they'll get the most users and the most ad views. As a result, they’re racing to offer personalized filters that show us the Internet that they think we want to see. These filters, in effect, control and limit the information that reaches our screens. There’s no going back to the old system of gatekeepers, nor should there be. But if algorithms are taking over the editing function and determining what we see, we need to make sure they weigh variables beyond a narrow “relevance.” They need to show us Afghanistan and Libya as well as Apple and Kanye.
Companies that make use of these algorithms must take this curative responsibility far more seriously than they have to date. They need to give us control over what we see — making it clear when they are personalizing, and allowing us to shape and adjust our own filters. We citizens need to uphold our end, too — developing the “filter literacy” needed to use these tools well and demanding content that broadens our horizons even when it’s uncomfortable. It is in our collective interest to ensure that the Internet lives up to its potential as a revolutionary connective medium. This won't happen if we’re all sealed off in our own personalized online worlds.
benton.org/node/66165 | New York Times
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
CYBERSECURITY AND INTERNET FREEDOM
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Joseph Marks]
A promise the White House made in the cyberspace strategy released May 16 encouraging "people all over the world to use digital media to . . . share information . . . [and] expose corruption" indicates the ascendancy of a camp inside the Obama administration that favors making a priority of Internet freedom, experts say.
President Barack Obama reiterated some of those points in a speech May 19 about U.S. policy in the Middle East, saying the United States will support "open access to the Internet, and the right of journalists to be heard -- whether it's a big news organization or a blogger." There's been long-standing tension in U.S. foreign policy between officials who see the Internet primarily as a tool for promoting government accountability and an active civil society abroad and those who see it as a threat to other U.S. interests such as a stable copyright regime, according to Robert Guerra, director of the advocacy group Freedom House's Project on Internet Freedom.
Proponents of an open Internet, mostly at the State Department, see it as a tool dissidents can use to organize protests, publicize their missions and communicate with the outside world, Guerra said. That position was reinforced by the recent uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa that were aided by social media. Critics of pure openness, many of them at the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, are concerned that an open Internet will undermine intellectual property protections and hamper U.S. exports of items such as DVDs and software, he said.
The problem with that position, Guerra and other Internet freedom advocates say, is that the tools U.S. businesses and others use to prevent would-be infringers from posting copyrighted material online are often the same tools repressive governments use to identify, track, shut down and sometimes arrest and imprison anti-government bloggers and activists.
benton.org/node/66087 | nextgov
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CYBERSECURITY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: L Gordon Crovitz]
[Commentary] We know all about defending real-world treasure, but we are only beginning to understand threats to the 1s and 0s of the digital era. Vastly more capital and valuable information now flow digitally than through the real world, but Internet security is an afterthought. This month the White House issued a pair of reports on the problem, both years in the making. One includes proposals for new domestic rules to protect infrastructure and to give companies immunity for sharing information about data breaches with local and federal authorities. The other report, "U.S. International Strategy for Cyberspace," is a warning shot directed at rogue countries and cyber terrorists. Released at an event with four cabinet secretaries present, the study defines the benefits of the Web as "prosperity, security and openness in a networked world." It warns countries that cut off their own citizens from the Web or use cyber weaponry against the U.S. or its allies. The goal is to make the Web secure "without crippling innovation, suppressing freedom of expression or association, or impeding global interoperability." The report says that "hostile acts in cyberspace" are as much a threat as physical acts. "We reserve the right to use all necessary means," including military, to "defend our nation, our allies, our partners and our interests." It adds, "Certain hostile acts conducted through cyberspace could compel actions under the commitments we have with our military treaty partners." Protecting the Web will never be as straightforward as dispatching tanks to protect gold bars. But it's progress for the U.S. to draw a line in the silicon warning enemies that digital attacks may be result in real-world responses.
benton.org/node/66156 | Wall Street Journal
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SYRIA CRACKS DOWN ON SOCIAL MEDIA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jennifer Preston]
The Syrian government is cracking down on protesters’ use of social media and the Internet to promote their rebellion just three months after allowing citizens to have open access to Facebook and YouTube, according to Syrian activists and digital privacy experts. Security officials are moving on multiple fronts — demanding dissidents turn over their Facebook passwords and switching off the 3G mobile network at times, sharply limiting the ability of dissidents to upload videos of protests to YouTube, according to several activists in Syria. And supporters of President Bashar al-Assad, calling themselves the Syrian Electronic Army, are using the same tools to try to discredit dissidents. In contrast to the Mubarak government in Egypt, which tried to quash dissent by shutting down the country’s entire Internet, the Syrian government is taking a more strategic approach, turning off electricity and telephone service in neighborhoods with the most unrest, activists say.
benton.org/node/66150 | New York Times
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E-G8
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Max Colchester, Ruth Bender]
While touting the online economy's benefits, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's government in recent years has moved to protect France's music and publishing companies from online rivals, tax online advertisers and punish online intellectual-property thieves. Now, with an election looming next year, President Sarkozy is looking to build bridges to the online community and take the question of Internet governance to an international level. On May 24 and 25, President Sarkozy will host executives from large Internet, telecommunications and media companies at a conference to discuss how governments can boost growth of the online economy while simultaneously regulating it. Those scheduled to attend, including Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google Inc. Chairman Eric Schmidt and Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, are expected to weigh issues ranging from taxation to intellectual-property protection. The conclusions of the conference, which has been dubbed the e-G8, will be presented later in the week to heads of government at the summit of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations in Deauville, France.
benton.org/node/66148 | Wall Street Journal
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TELEVISION
STATIONS CONSIDER LEAVING PBS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Elizabeth Jensen]
Public television executives trying to fashion a plan to keep public television programming on the air in Orlando (FL) after June 30, when WMFE — the city’s major public broadcaster — ends its contract with PBS. The station is being taken over by the founders of a religious programmer, Daystar Television. WMFE announced in April that it was selling its TV station (it will keep an NPR-affiliated public radio station) because it was unable to pay its PBS dues of just under $1 million annually. José A. Fajardo, the station’s president, said that the public television model was no longer viable because of decreased donations, including a 34 percent drop in pledge contributions from viewers. And WMFE is not alone. In this financially troubled time, some PBS stations are questioning whether they can continue to find a way to make the PBS business model work. In Chicago, as in Los Angeles and Orlando, one crucial issue is that there are simply too many places to see PBS programs; each of those cities has more than one PBS station. The biggest station pays the highest amount of PBS dues and gets rights to all of PBS’s marquee shows, like “Masterpiece Theater” and “PBS NewsHour”; smaller stations pay less but can still broadcast some of the most popular shows, as long as they wait eight days.
benton.org/node/66167 | New York Times
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