May 2013

University of Florida embraces Internet2′s 100-gigabit network, launches new supercomputer

Universities have been pioneer participants in developing and using the internet since its inception. Now, the consortium of education and research institutions known as Internet2 has reached another milestone, with the announcement that the University of Florida has implemented Internet2’s next-gen computing architecture, the Innovation Platform.

The platform should bring superfast connections and software-defined networking (SDN) to campuses across the country. The 300 or so universities and government labs that belong to Internet2 have been able to access a 100Gb network backbone since its launch in 2006. But on Tuesday UF became only the fourth university to roll out a full 100Gbps connection to Internet2 and the only school so far to fulfill the other two Innovation Platform requirements: SDN and a Science DMZ, a kind of buffer between the campus network and the wider internet that lets research computing move freely without firewalls.

SoftBank to meet Sprint investors, many eye higher bid

SoftBank Corp President Masayoshi Son may get a frosty reception when he comes to the United States to meet Sprint Nextel's major shareholders, as he tries to drum up support for the Japanese company's proposed takeover of the No. 3 U.S. wireless service provider. He will discuss the deal with shareholders in a bid to fight off rival Dish Network, a U.S. satellite TV provider. He may have a tough time selling the deal, as several shareholders have told Reuters that SoftBank would need to raise its bid in order to win their vote at Sprint's June 12 shareholder meeting. Two big Sprint shareholders, Paulson & Co and Omega Advisors, have publicly said the Dish offer looks better than SoftBank's. Other shareholders said that they would go to meet Son during his trip but they were skeptical about his arguments against Dish.

Bill Would Pull Licenses Over Move to Cable

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is drafting legislation that would require the Federal Communications Commission to yank the TV license of any broadcaster that shifts their TV programming to cable, according to industry lobbyists.

The lawmaker’s bill, which could be introduced as soon as May 9, also would require cable and satellite operators to offer programming to their customers on an a la carte basis — or lose the compulsory copyright license that currently allows them to carry broadcast programming without having to negotiate for each broadcast program’s rights individually, the lobbyists said. In addition, the draft bill, as described by the senator’s staff in briefings with industry lobbyists, would eliminate the sports blackout rule, which currently allows the NFL and other sports leagues to black out local TV sports programming to protect stadium attendance. Industry lobbyists said that the McCain bill has little chance of passing. Sen McCain, who previously chaired the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees media industry issues, is no longer even a member of the committee.

Deletion of Agenda Item from May 9, 2013 Open Meeting

The following item has been adopted by the Federal Communications Commission and deleted from the list of agenda items scheduled for consideration at the Thursday, May 9, 2013, Open Meeting.

A Report and Order requiring CMRS providers and providers of interconnected text messaging services to provide consumers with an automatic bounce-back message if the consumer attempts to text 911 where that capability is unavailable. (PS Docket Nos. 11-153; 10-255)

Bipartisan Group of Senators Introduces Legislation to Combat Cyber Theft

The United States would take aggressive new steps against computer espionage and theft of valuable commercial data under bipartisan legislation introduced by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-WV) and Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI), John McCain (R-AZ), and Tom Coburn (R-OK).

The Deter Cyber Theft Act would combat what National Security Agency head and U.S. Cyber Command commander Gen. Keith Alexander recently called “the greatest transfer of wealth in history” – the theft of valuable intellectual property from U.S. companies, which invest billions every year in research and development, only to be targeted by foreign countries and companies that illegally access valuable data and then use it to compete against American companies and workers.

The Deter Cyber Theft Act would require the Director of National Intelligence to compile an annual report on foreign economic and industrial espionage that includes:

A list of foreign countries that engage in economic or industrial espionage in cyberspace against U.S. firms or individuals, including a priority watch list of the worst offenders;
A list of U.S. technologies or proprietary information targeted by such espionage, and, to the extent possible, a list of such information that has been stolen;
A list of items produced using such stolen information;
A list of foreign companies, including state-owned firms, that benefit from such theft;
Details of the espionage activities of foreign countries; and
Actions taken by the DNI and other federal agencies to combat industrial or economic espionage in cyberspace.

The legislation would also require the president to block import of products containing stolen U.S. technology; products made by state-owned enterprises of nations on the DNI’s priority watch list that are similar to items identified in the DNI’s report as stolen or targeted U.S. technology; or made by a company the DNI identifies as having benefited from theft of U.S. technology or proprietary information.

PTC, Morality in Media press Congress over FCC indecency rules

Angry about a proposal to relax the Federal Communications Commission's rules regulating indecent content on broadcast television and radio, the Parents Television Council and Morality in Media are pressing Congress to stop the regulatory agency in its tracks.

"We urgently request that you do all you can to stop the proposed enforcement standard, including opposing any nominee to the Federal Communications Commission who supports changing the current standard," wrote PTC President Tim Winter and Morality in Media President Patrick Trueman in a letter to the House and Senate Commerce Committees. At issue is the FCC's April notice seeking comments from the industry and consumers about raising the bar for indecency notices and fines for so-called indecent content. The PTC's Winter said that the FCC's proposal to change its indecency regulations is "absurd, and it must be defeated." Morality in Media's Trueman added, "Congress is more responsive to the public than the unelected five-member FCC commission and many in Congress will act to stop the FCC." The letter from the pair was co-signed by more than 75 groups and individuals.

Coalition Protests Tribune Sale to 'Radical Right Wing' Koch Brothers

Common Cause, Daily Kos, Free Press and Courage Campaign are among the groups protesting the sale of the Tribune Company’s newspapers to the Koch brothers, the conservative financiers, calling them "radical right wing ideologues."

A sale of the company is considered imminent. The group said that ownership by the Koch brothers would undermine public access to trustworthy news. It warned that ownership by "two of the most influential and radical right wing ideologues in the country will skew trusted news sources to further their interests and debase our democracy." It further said that "intensely partisan activists could not be trusted to provide an honest account of a wide variety of issues that are of vital importance to the public." Tribune Co.'s eight newspapers include the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and Orlando Sentinel in addition to the L.A. Times.

FBI Documents Suggest Feds Read Emails Without a Warrant

New documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Attorneys’ offices paint a troubling picture of the government’s e-mail surveillance practices.

Not only does the FBI claim it can read e-mails and other electronic communications without a warrant—even after a federal appeals court ruled that doing so violates the Fourth Amendment—but the documents strongly suggest that different U.S. Attorneys’ offices around the country are applying conflicting standards to access communications content.

Internet back up in Syria after 20-hour outage

Syria suffered another Internet and mobile communications outage that lasted for about 20 hours. Service was restored May 8.

The Syrian government blamed the Internet blackout, which had gone into its second day, on a "malfunction in an optic cable," according to a report in the country's state-run Syrian Arab News Agency. The report also said engineers were working to repair it. The same news agency reported that Internet services in Syria, which is embroiled in civil war, were back up after repairs were made on the optic cable.

Bowie Video Is Restored to YouTube

Even in 2013 David Bowie can shock people.

The singer’s latest video, featuring women in stripper costumes cavorting in a bar with priests, was briefly pulled from YouTube on May 8, then returned with an adults-only label. The video for “The Next Day” disappeared temporarily from YouTube and was replaced with a note saying it had been removed because its content violated YouTube’s terms of service, the singer’s representative, Elizabeth Lutz, said. A spokeswoman for YouTube told Reuters that the video was returned to the Web site with a restriction for viewers aged 18 and above after complaints. “With the massive volume of videos on our site, sometimes we make the wrong call. When it’s brought to our attention that a video has been removed mistakenly, we act quickly to reinstate it,” said the spokeswoman.

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