May 2014

Satellite Rescue Network Gets Space Technology Hall Of Fame Recognition

Since 1982, 37,000 people, including 7,000 Americans, survived potentially disastrous incidents because of the COSPAS-SARSAT rescue network. That record earned the satellite system an induction into the Space Technology Hall of Fame.

The honor recognizes technologies originally developed for space applications that ultimately improve live on Earth, and few technologies rival COSPAS-SARSAT in life-preserving metrics.

In 2013 alone, COSPAS-SARSAT’s network of satellites that detect and locate distress signals from emergency beacons led to the rescue of 253 people from potentially deadly situations. The network involves numerous satellites, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites. Altogether the program comprises 43 countries and organizations.

How The Right People Analyzing The Best Data Are Transforming Government

Analytics is often touted as a new weapon in the technology arsenal of bleeding-edge organizations willing to spend lots of money to combat problems. In reality, that’s not the case at all.

Certainly, there are complex big data analytics tools that will analyze massive data sets to look for the proverbial needle in a haystack, but analytics 101 also includes smarter ways to look at existing data sets.

In this arena, government is making serious strides, according to Kathryn Stack, advisor for evidence-based innovation at the Office of Management and Budget. Interestingly, the first step has nothing to do with technology and everything to do with people. Get “the right people in the room,” Stack said, and make sure they value learning.

Finally, Stack said it’s common for agencies to tackle analytics problems by acquisition. That’s a backwards approach in which the only guarantee is that your agency is going to spend money. Instead, Stack recommended agencies “think about contractors less,” and focus first on reaching out to academic researchers, nonprofits and foundations. Don’t sleep on government peers from other agencies, either.

The Open Internet and the Digital Divide

[Commentary] At a May 20 House oversight hearing, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler emphatically defended the Commission’s latest open Internet proposal saying, “There is one Internet. Everybody ought to have open, equal access to the capacity delivered by the Internet." But what is the impact of open Internet policies on the digital divide?

Since May 15, Washington has been abuzz with addressing a fundamental question posed by the Federal Communications Commission: “What is the right public policy to ensure that the Internet remains open?”

At the Benton Foundation, we’ve been particularly interested in how the FCC made it a point to highlight that its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeks comment on questions designed to consider the impact of the open Internet on ensuring broadband access for all communities.

In particular, the FCC highlights, the NPRM: 1) asks whether any parts of the nation are being left behind in the deployment of new broadband networks, including rural America and parts of urban America; and 2) considers the impact of the proposals on groups who disproportionately use mobile broadband service.

Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Microsoft say government has no right to suppress data request disclosures

Unsealed court documents show Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and Microsoft are arguing that government gag orders that stop them from disclosing the number of national security requests they receive violate the companies' First Amendment right to free speech.

Leaks by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that revealed how the government uses tech firms in its surveillance efforts have damaged their bottom lines and public reputations -- particularly overseas.

The companies have begun to push back against some government orders to stay silent. The gag orders, called "national security letters," compel Web and telecommunication companies to share information with the government while simultaneously prohibiting them from speaking about the request. Since the Snowden leaks, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and Microsoft have fought to include more information about national security requests in regular reports they release on how much data the government requests from their servers.

In the court documents, filed in April with the 9th Circuit Court in California, the tech giants argue that the government is infringing on their First Amendment rights -- a form of prior restraint. The government has argued that companies have no First Amendment right to share information gained from participation in a secret government investigation, according to the filing. The case is now on appeal.

Senate Antitrust Leaders Advise Consumer-Focused AT&T/DirecTV Review

Senate Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Subcommittee Chairman Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Ranking Member Mike Lee (R-UT) are urging the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department to focus on consumers -- including price, choice, quality and innovation – when reviewing AT&T’s proposed acquisition of DirecTV.

Justice will review for antitrust issues, while the FCC's review extends to public interest benefits as well as harms.

Analyst: Comcast could make a bid for T-Mobile to bolster wireless strategy

The deal-making chess pieces are being moved around in the telecom industry, and one financial analyst thinks the next move might be for Comcast to make a bid for T-Mobile US.

According to a research note from UBS analyst John Hodulik, AT&T's proposed deal to buy DirecTV for $49 billion, and the implications that has for mobile video delivery, "could be the final straw that draws Comcast into the wireless mix."

Hodulik notes that Comcast's current wireless strategy leverages Wi-Fi deployments and a Verizon Wireless resale deal.

"While this may be a capital-efficient way to put a toe in the water, we believe it is not a long term strategy," he wrote. "In our opinion, this could eventually lead to the acquisition of T-Mobile -- if it is still independent. Initial moves to execute on a Wi-Fi-MVNO strategy will inevitably spark the speculation that Comcast will indeed need to go further and put a still-independent T-Mobile back on the merger target list were the SoftBank deal to be rejected."

Lawmakers want to sanction people who profit from economic cyberspying

Days after the Department of Justice announced the indictment of five Chinese military employees for crimes related to economic cyber-espionage, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation that would punish the people that benefit from such spying where it hurts: In the pocketbook.

The Deter Cyber Theft Act -- introduced by Sens Carl Levin (D-MI), John McCain (R-AZ), John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) -- is a revised version of a proposal introduced in 2013. Foreign companies and individuals would be subject to a new category of sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The bill also would require the director of national intelligence to publish an annual report of which foreign nations are contributing to commercial cyberspying against the United States -- be it by actively engaging in the practice themselves or by failing to prosecute it domestically. The report would include a watch list of countries actively using the Internet for economic or industrial espionage and identify which US technologies or trade secrets are being targeted by hackers among other things.

Tenth Circuit Won't Review FCC Intercarrier Comp Challenges

The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has rejected a challenge by NTCA: The Rural Broadband Association and others to the Federal Communications Commission’s intercarrier compensation changes in the commission's Universal Service Reforms.

They had taken issue with portions of the 2011 USF reform order revising how the funds were allocated and employed.

The order was part of the FCC's shift of funds from traditional phone service to broadband.

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said, “After years of good faith efforts faltered, voting to approve the comprehensive reform of universal service and intercarrier compensation continues to be one of my proudest moments at the Federal Communications Commission. The reforms are changing the lives of millions of Americans who will receive broadband for the first time. I am extremely pleased that the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the FCC’s decision. I look forward to working with the Chairman and my colleagues as we tackle the next steps of reform.”

FCC Announces Tentative Agenda For June Open Meeting

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that the following items will be on the tentative agenda for the next open meeting scheduled for June 13, 2014.
Technology Transitions Presentation: The Commission will hear a presentation with an update on the efforts to transition circuit-switched networks to Internet Protocol (IP) networks. The presentation will include a status report on the voluntary experiments proposed by AT&T designed to assess how the transition to IP networks affects users.
Expanding Community Access to Radio: The Commission will hear a presentation with an update on the continuing efforts to launch new and diverse voices to the American public via increased access to Low Power FM radio stations

Independent Music Labels Are in a Battle With YouTube

YouTube’s plans for a subscription music service have stalled over a dispute with independent record labels, which contend that the online video giant has offered unfair licensing terms and threatened to block their music from the site.

Members of the Worldwide Independent Network, an umbrella for various trade groups around the world, complained that the contracts YouTube had offered independents are “out of step with the marketplace for streaming,” and less favorable than those that have apparently been agreed to by the three major labels -- Universal, Sony and Warner.

Negotiations between independents and YouTube, which is owned by Google, have dragged on for months. But according to several people with direct knowledge of the talks, the indies’ decision to speak out was driven by a recent warning that if labels failed to agree to YouTube’s licensing terms, music on the indies’ official YouTube channels would be blocked.

In addition, those labels would be unable to collect advertising revenue from user-uploaded videos that included their music. In response, a YouTube spokesman said, “We have successful deals in place with hundreds of independent and major labels around the world; however, we don’t comment on ongoing negotiations.”

Benton

Search