February 2012

Microsoft, others complain to EU about Google+, report says

Microsoft and other firms have reportedly filed a complaint with the European Union over Google+, Google’s social networking site.

The nature of the complaint was not immediately clear, but unnamed people “familiar with the situation” told Reuters that the move could expand the European Union’s current investigation into Google. The two tech giants have been in a few public conflicts in recent months. Microsoft publicly criticized Google for its privacy policy, and even went so far as to create a short video slamming the reliability of Google Docs. The video, oddly enough, was posted on YouTube, which is owned by Google.

What should Apple do with its cash?

Not only is Apple soaring in the stock market, the company is also sitting on $98 billion in cash — a sum that even chief executive Tim Cook said was “more than we need to run the company” — and has faced several calls to issue a dividend to its shareholders.

Before noting, sensibly, that a dividend would be a good idea, Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu suggested that Apple might want to make its products a little more accessible to the general public. It's no secret that Apple products aren't exactly the cheapest out there, Wu said, so maybe Apple could use that cushion of cash to price their products a little lower. Advisor Jeff Fischer seemed to be thinking like Wu: he said Apple should subsidize the cost of technology to schools in poorer areas of the country or the world, and set up a grant program for future tech geniuses.

Google: Android has 450k apps, 850k activations a day

Google's Android operating system, which has been the most popular mobile OS in the world for more than a year, is continuing to grow.

Andy Rubin, the Google senior vice president who oversees Android, tweeted: "At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Enjoying watching the ecosystem at work. 850k activations a day now!" In December, Google was at a pace of about 700,000 Android activations a day. That's up from 500,000 activations a day in June 2011 and 300,000 a day in December 2010. Rubin offered more numbers on Android's growth in a company blog post, stating that the software, which is given away free to hardware makers, had a "year-on-year growth rate of more than 250%." More than 300 million Android devices have been activated since the operating system's launch in 2008 and more than 800 models of phones and tablets have been built running Android as well, Rubin said. At the annual Mobile World Congress event, hardware makers are showing off more than 100 Android devices, he said.

Mobile wallet competition heats up

A mountain of issues must be solved before mobile payments take off in a major way, not the least of which is the very real challenge of getting consumers accustomed to paying with cash or plastic to buy into the idea.

Merchants, banks and other financial institutions, wireless providers, handset makers, and technology infrastructure companies all have to come together. Many of these companies are weighing in at Mobile World Congress this week, each tackling the problem from their own unique perspectives. Brand-name companies at the massive trade show include Google, Visa and eBay (PayPal). But there were also little known startups such as Boku, a venture-backed online mobile payments technology company that has just struck a deal with MasterCard.

Lawmakers fear power grid could fall to cyber attack

House lawmakers said at a hearing that they are worried that the country's electrical grid is vulnerable to a crippling cyberattack.

"Ask any expert in the national security field and see what keeps them up at night. They would probably tell you, as they tell me, that it is the increased possibility of a devastating cyberattack," said Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), the chairman of the House Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations subcommittee. "Imagine the impact of a cyberattack to the electrical grid: How many days could hospitals operate with on-site electricity generation? How would metro rail systems operate, if at all? How would we recharge our smartphones or access the internet?" he said. Many electrical networks now operate on "smart grid" technology, which relies on computers to determine electrical needs. The technology is more energy efficient, but makes the systems vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Comcast Files First NBCU Condition Compliance Report

Comcast filed its first annual report on its compliance with conditions in the NBCUniversal deal, its first of six such annual reports it must file, also as a condition of the deal.

According to executive VP David Cohen, those conditions have become business as usual for the company. "[O]ur commitments and the conditions, though extensive, have been incorporated into our business activities and become part of the company's 'DNA,'" he wrote in a blog posting. Cohen said the company has, in many cases, gone beyond the commitments to realize the public interest benefits it pledged as part of the deal and the competitive safeguards the Federal Communications Commission sought. Among the companies first-year actions, he pointed out, were committing to launch new, diverse, independent cable channels, expanding carriage of diverse programming, increasing local news, and boosting broadband adoption for low income families-Comcast's Internet Essentials, which the FCC used as a model for a wider adoption effort.

FCC Seeks Nominations for Membership on the Technical Advisory Board for First Responder Interoperability

The Federal Communications Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau seeks nominations for membership on the Technical Advisory Board for First Responder Interoperability (Interoperability Board). The Interoperability Board is established within the Commission under the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Spectrum Act) for the purpose of “develop[ing] recommended minimum technical requirements to ensure a nationwide level of interoperability for the nationwide public safety broadband network.” The Act directs the Commission to appoint fourteen voting members to the Interoperability Board within thirty days of the Act’s enactment, which is no later than March 23, 2012. All voting members appointed to the Interoperability Board “shall have specific expertise necessary to developing technical requirements” for nationwide interoperability. This expertise may include “technical expertise, public safety communications expertise, and commercial network experience.”

Additionally, the voting members of the Interoperability Board must each fit within a statutorily prescribed category:

Four members must represent “wireless providers.” Of these four, two members must represent “national wireless providers,” one must represent “regional wireless providers,” and one must represent “rural wireless providers.”
Three members must represent “equipment manufacturers.”
Four members must represent “public safety entities.” Of these four, at least one member must represent “management level employees of public safety entities” and one must represent “employees of public safety entities.”
Three members must represent “State and local governments.” These three members must be “chosen to reflect geographic and population density differences across the United States.”

FCC Terminates Two Advisory Committees

The Federal Communications Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau terminates the authority of and dissolves the Emergency Response Interoperability Center Public Safety Advisory Committee (“PSAC”). The bureau also terminates the authority of and dissolves the Emergency Response Interoperability Center Technical Advisory Committee (“TAC”).

Established on August 6, 2010, the PSAC, formed in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, was charged with making recommendations to assist the FCC’s
Emergency Response Interoperability Center in developing a technical framework and requirements for interoperability to ensure that the public safety wireless broadband network is interoperable on a nationwide basis. On February 22, 2012, the President of the United States signed into law the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Spectrum Legislation). Among other things, this new law establishes the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and directs the Commission to reallocate the 700 MHz D block spectrum and existing public safety broadband spectrum to FirstNet. FirstNet is charged with ensuring the building, deployment, and operation of the nationwide public safety broadband network,” and must establish a new “standing public safety advisory committee” to assist it.
Established on June 6, 2010, the TAC was charged with making recommendations to the Commission and the Emergency Response Interoperability Center regarding the Commission’s development of policies and rules concerning the nationwide interoperable public safety broadband network. On February 22, 2012, the President of the United States signed into law the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Spectrum Legislation). Among other things, this new law establishes the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and directs the Commission to reallocate the 700 MHz D block spectrum and existing public safety broadband spectrum to FirstNet. FirstNet is charged with ensuring “the building, deployment, and operation of the nationwide public safety broadband network,” and must establish a new “standing public safety advisory committee” to assist it.

Identity Theft Once Again Tops List of FTC Complaints

The Federal Trade Commission released its list of top consumer complaints received by the agency in 2011. For the 12th year in a row, identity theft complaints topped the list.

Of more than 1.8 million complaints filed in 2011, 279,156 or 15 percent, were identity theft complaints. Nearly 25 percent of the identity theft complaints related to tax- or wage-related fraud. The report breaks out complaint data on a state-by-state basis and also contains data about the 50 metropolitan areas reporting the highest per capita incidence of fraud and other complaints. In addition, the 50 metropolitan areas reporting the highest incidence of identity theft are noted.

The next nine complaint categories are: Debt Collection Complaints; Prizes, Sweepstakes, and Lotteries; Shop-at-Home and Catalog Sales; Banks and Lenders; Internet Services; Auto Related Complaints; Imposter Scams; Telephone and Mobile Services; and Advance-Fee Loans and Credit Protection/Repair.

House Commerce Committee GOP Leaders Request Information on LightSquared and GPS Interference

Leaders of the House Commerce Committee requested additional information regarding the interference dispute between LightSquared and GPS and the actions taken by federal agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission, in approving LightSquared’s terrestrial network without better addressing potentially serious interference concerns.

As the committee with jurisdiction over federal communications policy, committee members have been monitoring the progress of the proposed deployment of the broadband network. However, with the recent tentative decision to limit LightSquared’s license to satellite-based service, there remain many unanswered questions, particularly whether the processes used by the FCC, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and the interagency National Executive Committee for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing were appropriate. The issues underlying the dispute also have broader implications for spectrum management generally.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-FL) sent letters to the FCC, NTIA, and PNT ExCom Co-Chairs requesting all written and electronic communications from April 2009 to present between any individual associated with LightSquared, Harbinger Capital Partners, SkyTerra Communications, GPS manufacturers, and PNT ExCom regarding the process used to evaluate the proposed spectrum license transfer, testing, and potential interference.

Benton

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