1. Monthly archive
  2. November 2013

November 2013

White House backs spectrum caps

Tom Power, the Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Telecommunications in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, urged the Federal Communications Commission to consider limiting the ability of Verizon and AT&T to bid in an upcoming auction of airwave licenses.

Speaking at an event on Capitol Hill, Power dismissed that there was ever a question about where the Obama Administration stood on the issue. He noted that the Justice Department's Antitrust Division submitted a letter to the FCC arguing that caps may be necessary to preserve competition in the wireless industry. Verizon, AT&T and Republican lawmakers argue that the FCC should hold an unrestricted auction that allows all carriers to fully participate. They argue that caps or limits on the largest carriers would suppress government revenue and unfairly favor the smaller carriers. But citing DOJ's analysis, Power warned that the largest carriers may be willing to pay a premium for spectrum -- the wireless frequencies that carry cellphone signals -- in order to block their competitors and suppress competition. Weaker competition would lead to higher prices for consumers, he said.

(Nov 21)

FEC: No bitcoins in federal campaigns

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) deadlocked on a proposal to allow donations involving bitcoin in political campaigns, dealing a significant setback for proponents of emerging virtual currencies. The six-member body split 3-3 on the proposal. “They didn’t say no,” said Dan Backer, who filed the request on behalf of the Conservative Action Fund (CAF) PAC. “They decided they’re not ready to say yes.” Backer argued that virtual currency is “just another form of in-kind contribution,” already allowed by the FEC.

(Nov 21)

Senators ask DOJ to come clean on Supreme Court surveillance case

A group of senators asked the Department of Justice to come clean to the Supreme Court about statements it made in a case concerning US surveillance programs.

The department should clarify any misleading statements it made when the court was considering Clapper v. Amnesty International, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mark Udall (D-CO) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) said in a letter to US Solicitor General Donald Verrilli. Due to disclosures in recent months, it “is now public, although not widely understood” that the law “has been secretly interpreted to authorize the collection of communications that are merely about a targeted overseas foreigner.” Still, the government’s potentially misleading statements to the Supreme Court “have not yet been acknowledged or corrected,” the senators wrote.

(Nov 21)

House panel approves spying bill, targets leaks

The House Intelligence Committee approved legislation to re-authorize the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies. The bill includes an additional $75 million to combat insider threats following the leaks of classified information by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The committee approved two amendments from Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI), one to support improve cybersecurity education and one to crack down on leaks.

(Nov 21)

Can These Entrepreneurs Solve The Intractable Problems Of City Government?

In case the recent Obamacare debacle didn't make it clear enough, the government has some serious problems getting technology to work correctly. T

his is something that President Barack Obama has recognized in the past. In July, he made this statement: "I’m going to be asking more people around the country -- more inventors and entrepreneurs and visionaries -- to sign up to serve. We’ve got to have the brightest minds to help solve our biggest challenges."

In San Francisco, that request has been taken on by the newly minted Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) program -- the first ever government-run program that helps startups to develop technologies that can be used to deal with pressing government issues. It's kind of like a government startup incubator. The EIR program announced 11 finalists for the program, which received 200 applications from startups across the world. Three to five startups will ultimately be chosen for the opportunity. Rahul Mewawalla, an entrepreneur who has also worked at big companies like Nokia and Comcast, took on a role as Senior Advisor to the San Francisco Mayor's Office on Innovation after a stint working with the White House. "The idea was to get someone like me [from the private sector], and pair me with Mayor Lee in San Francisco to see what could come together," he says. "One thing we realized is that as you think about government, it has a number of pain points--health care, energy, conservation, public safety. We thought, 'Let's bring in startups that historically focused on the private sector into the public sector -- to have the FedEx's and Walmarts of the world give help to public transit.'"

(Nov 20)

We are becoming police states. Everyone OK with that?

[Commentary] We are becoming technologically-enabled police states. That’s a reasonable analysis of a situation where the average citizen is investigated as a matter of course, their lives recorded on the basis that they, or someone they know, or someone that person knows, is a “person of interest.” We are treating this as an unstoppable development, with a variety of justifications. The intelligence services are building this future because they can, technologically and politically speaking. Politicians mostly don’t understand the technology and above all fear being accused of being soft on terrorism, or pedophilia, or whatever the panic of the day may be. They also know that information is power. Technologists recognize the power and pervasiveness of this constant surveillance better than most, but are mostly reluctant to countenance the idea of moderating or regulating progress. And the average citizen either doesn’t realize what western societies are becoming, or feels powerless to shape that trajectory.

(Nov 21)

Southwest to Be First With Gate-to-Gate Wi-Fi Service

Southwest Airlines is the first US airline (and likely the only one for some time) to provide the option of gate-to-gate Wi-Fi Internet service. That’s because it uses a satellite technology that differs from the air-to-ground technology used by Gogo, which powers the inflight Wi-Fi for most other airlines.

(Nov 20)

Corporation for Public Broadcasting Awards Emergency Alert and Communication Grants to Five Public Media Stations

In a recognition of the value of broadcast emergency communications, the government is funding expansion of some public broadcasting efforts in that area.

The $1 million grant recipients, WSKG (New York), Maine Public Broadcasting Network, Vegas PBS (Nevada), WGBH (Massachusetts), and Twin Cities Public Television (Minnesota), will work with community partners and other public media stations in their regions to acquire or develop digital wireless technology and capabilities that will significantly enhance their support to first responders, emergency management agencies, and the public in times of natural or man-made disasters and emergencies.

(Nov 21)

State Broadcasters Ask FCC to Defer Political File Posting Deadline

State broadcast associations have told the Federal Communications Commission that unless it imposes online political file requirements on cable and satellite operators, it should not do so on them.

Starting in August 2012, the FCC required the top for network affiliated stations in the top 50 markets to post their political files online and set a July 1, 2014 date for the rest of the nation's TV stations to follow suit, pending its review of comments on how the top-50 requirement was working out. The FCC is now collecting and reviewing those comments. The state associations, in a filing at the commission, said the FCC should defer that July 2014 deadline until it applies the requirement to cable and satellite, and repeal the requirement for the top 50 stations in the interim as well.

(Nov 21)

Sen. Schumer to FCC: Don't Limit Wireless Bidders

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) has urged the Federal Communications Commission not to adopt any incentive auction rules that would limit the participation of "certain wireless carriers." The statement came in a letter on Nov. 20, 2013 to new FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

Sen. Schumer did not name them, but the "certain carriers" are primarily Verizon and AT&T, who have been battling an effort by Sprint and T-Mobile to potentially limit their ability to participate by limiting the amount of low-band, beachfront spectrum holdings in any single market or letting smaller carriers bid first for some spectrum and allow the larger ones -- AT&T and Verizon -- to bid if a benchmark price Is not met. Sprint and T-Mobile argue that, given how much low-band spectrum the top two largest companies already own, it's incumbent upon the FCC to impose "reasonable" limits. Chairman Wheeler said the principal purpose of the auction should be to pay for FirstNet, a first-responder broadband network, and the secondary purpose is to free up spectrum "not being used to its fullest potential."

(Nov 21)

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