July 2011

Ofcom warns on broadband speed advert claims

The Internet speeds promised by UK broadband providers are diverging further from the reality that their services deliver to the average customer, according to a study by Ofcom.

The media and communications regulator found that although the average UK broadband speed increased by 10 per cent to 6.8 megabits per second between December 2010 and May 2011, the gap between advertised and actual speeds widened. It said average speeds were 8.2 Mbps lower than the 15 Mbps average maximum advertised during the period, compared with 7.6 Mbps lower six months earlier. Consumer Focus, the consumer advocacy group, said the trend was “worrying.”

Cyber-attacks on US grow, experts say

A panel of government experts once again warned lawmakers that cyber-attacks against the nation’s computer networks are growing more frequent and increasingly sophisticated, while the U.S. has lagged behind on implementing the necessary protections.

The House Commerce Committee's subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held the first in a series of hearings on cybersecurity and securing the nation’s critical infrastructure featuring two representatives from the Department of Homeland Security’s cyberdivision. In their opening statements, Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-FL) both argued that the committee should play a significant role in the upcoming debate over comprehensive cybersecurity legislation.

“In the face of cyberthreats that are both more frequent and more sophisticated, this committee is well-positioned to play an important role in any comprehensive cybersecurity legislation that moves through the House,” Chairman Upton said.

A turf battle between two Senate committees -- Commerce vs Homeland Security -- delayed comprehensive cybersecurity legislation in the upper chamber for the better part of a year. Both committees sought jurisdiction over federal cybersecurity standards for private networks deemed critical infrastructure.
Gregory Wilshusen, director of information technology for the Government Accountability Office, told lawmakers the Administration has implemented only two of 24 recommendations generated by the president’s cyberspace policy review to improve security. Officials told the GAO that progress has been slower than expected because agencies lack cybersecurity officials with defined roles and responsibilities, Wilshusen said in his opening statement. He added that the DHS team in charge of responding to attacks must improve its analysis and warning capabilities. “In summary, the threats to information systems are evolving and growing, and systems supporting our nation’s critical infrastructure are not sufficiently protected to consistently thwart the threats.” Wilshusen said.

Under threat of regulation, tech industry takes on challenge of Internet privacy

The federal government has put Google, Microsoft, Apple and other technology companies on notice: Give consumers a way prevent advertisers from tracking their movements across the Web — or face regulation.

Yet for all its innovative know-how and entrepreneurial spirit, the technology industry has yet to agree on a simple, meaningful solution to protect consumer privacy on the Internet. So privacy watchdogs and lawmakers are stepping up the pressure, calling for laws that would require companies to stop the digital surveillance of consumers who don't want to be tracked. They argue that effective privacy tools are long overdue from an industry that typically moves at breakneck speed.

ABC News, NBC News Snipe Over Paying Sources

As ABC News moves away from checkbook journalism, its competitors are starting to gloat -- and distance themselves from similar practices.

“We were happy to hear about this change in ABC News policy," a spokesperson for NBC News said. “We agree that their recent activity has been bad for journalism and the news industry. And we welcome them back to the practices that we work hard to uphold.” An ABC News insider, flabbergasted by the NBC comment, fired back saying, "NBC News lies about its practices, does not disclose the habitual payments it makes for interviews, and then has the gall to get up on a high horse. Someone ought to remind NBC News that the higher they get up on that horse, the farther they will fall as their rank and recurring hypocrisy is exposed."

PTC Asks NBC Affiliates Not To Air ‘Playboy Club'

The Parents Television Council says it has sent letters to every NBC affiliate asking the television stations not to air The Playboy Club, NBC's fall drama set against the backdrop of Hugh Hefner's famed Playboy Club in Chicago during the 1960s.

According to a copy of the letter obtained by Multichannel News, the organization's president, Tim Winter, told the stations that the show was putting a "veneer of sophistication" on the pornography industry. "I am writing to urge you, on behalf of the Parents Television Council's 1.3 million members, to preempt the program in your community," wrote Winter. He said individual members asking stations about the show had received what he called "canned responses" in support of "a sophisticated series about the transitional times of the early 1960s and the complex lives of a group of working-class women." Winter also warned stations that if they did air the show, PTC would be watching and would urge members to file complaints with the FCC if anything was indecent.

14 Recommendations for Federal Cloud Adoption

A new report is providing federal government leaders with strategies on how to encourage cloud adoption and keep the U.S. at the forefront of the cloud computing movement.

“Cloud First, Cloud Fast: Recommendations for Innovation, Leadership and Job Creation,” was released by the TechAmerica Foundation’s Commission on the Leadership Opportunity in U.S. Deployment of the Cloud (Cloud2 Commission) on July 26 and features 14 recommendations that attempt to further the Obama administration’s “Cloud First” policy. The 30-page guidance document has a variety of suggestions arranged in four category areas — Trust, Transnational Data Flows, Transparency and Transformation — for both top-level U.S. government officials and for federal agency CIOs.

White House recharges effort to help people with disabilities use government technology

On the 21st anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act, the White House announced that federal agencies must make technology more accessible for people with disabilities.

The Obama Administration announced it is creating a strategy to achieve this goal by improving compliance with Section 508, a technology-oriented 1998 amendment to the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. Section 508 requires federal agencies' electronic and information technology to be accessible to employees and members of the public with disabilities. The Administration said increased access to technology, including government websites, will allow more people with disabilities to apply for federal jobs and obtain government services and information. More access also could help current federal employees with disabilities perform their duties with greater ease.

Financial analysts: Large carriers will recommend cost model for broadband Universal Service program

A broadband universal service reform proposal from six of the nation’s largest telcos expected later this week will recommend using a cost model to determine the maximum level of support for high-cost areas, said Stifel Nicolaus analysts. The proposal also envisions the use of a reverse auction to award funding, but only if the incumbent carrier declines to provide broadband service at the calculated support level.

Other key elements of the expected proposal, according to the Stifel Nicolaus analysts, include:

Reducing terminating intrastate access charges over the next two years to interstate levels and then reducing terminating charges to $.0007 per minute over the following three years.
Assessing access charges on VoIP calls at the level of interstate access charges or reciprocal compensation rates “depending on the carrier and/or the circumstances” before being reduced to $.0007 along with other voice traffic.
Creating an access charge replacement mechanism for rural telcos, in part by enabling local phone service rates to rise to $25- $30 a month, by increasing the subscriber line charge, and from additional USF support. Verizon and AT&T (and perhaps some other large carriers) would not receive the additional USF support, nor would CLECs or wireless carriers.
Keeping high-cost USF at current levels, including keeping rate-of-return carriers at their current levels.
Phasing out high-cost support for wireless carriers and shifting much of that funding toward high-cost areas where the incumbent is one of the larger telcos.
The proposal is expected to have the backing of Verizon, AT&T, CenturyLink, Frontier, Windstream and FairPoint, the Stifel Nicolaus analysts said. The US Telecom Association also was involved in creating the proposal, according to the analysts.

FCC reform disastrous for rural broadband

[Commentary] Kansas will lose out if rules currently under consideration by the Federal Communications Commission are enacted.

At issue is an effort by the government agency to "reform" a telecommunications fund that Kansas residents and businesses rely on to the tune of nearly $143 million annually to connect their rural areas to the world. Unfortunately, this so-called reform of the federal Universal Service Fund looks like it could be more of a grand experiment than a focused effort to update and fine-tune a system that has worked well. It will mean that Kansans may need to say goodbye to broadband Internet access in some of the state's more remote corners. Indeed, unless the FCC reforms this fund in the right way, millions of rural Americans could be left behind.

I was among nine Kansas RLEC chief executives who went to Washington, D.C., earlier this month to tell the FCC and Congress how this so-called reform proposal will harm thousands of Kansans. Rural broadband is a part of our state's critical infrastructure. It has played a vital role in equipping Kansas first responders and health care providers with information that has been used to save and enhance the lives of Kansans. It has helped small communities by attracting businesses. Broadband enables rural Kansas residents to gain employment with companies far from home, through the ability to "telework." Eliminate the support for these networks, and the networks and the benefits they deliver will go away. The reforms being considered are a recipe for rural devastation. The FCC needs to proceed with deliberate caution.

[Foster is the CEO of Twin Valley Telephone in Miltonvale (KS]

Sen Franken Urges Rejection of AT&T/T-Mobile

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) told federal regulators that they should deny AT&T's request to acquire T-Mobile because the merger would drive up prices for wireless customers and likely cost thousands of jobs.

In a filing sent to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Sen. Franken said the merger would be a bad deal for consumers, noting that some analysts predict that wireless costs could go up by as much as 25 percent as a result. He also said that the merger would further stifle competition in an already-concentrated wireless market and would allow only two companies-AT&T and Verizon-to control more than 80 percent of the market.

"This transaction is not in the public interest," Sen. Franken said in his filing. "If approved, it would result in greatly reduced competition, the potential loss of thousands of jobs, higher consumer prices, and less innovation in technology. I urge the FCC and the DOJ to deny AT&T's application for approval of its acquisition of T-Mobile."

Benton

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