May 2014

Net Neutrality's Death Could Spark Populist Revolt

[Commentary] In the Gilded Age, wrenching economic and technological change hardened life for the vast majority of Americans while an elite few prospered.

Innovators like John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and Cornelius Vanderbilt disrupted old industries, creating news ones, and cemented their fortunes via government-approved monopolies. The most pernicious of these were railroad trusts.

In our times, wrenching economic and technological change hardens life for the vast majority of Americans while an elite few prosper. Innovators like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg disrupt old industries, create news ones and … We know how the Gilded Age ended -- in a populist uprising against monopolies, sparked by muckraking journalists and harnessed by a trust-busting president named Teddy Roosevelt.

Who will be our era's TR? Well, a leader needs a cause. A better question might be, what will be the modern-day trust -- a force so destructive and distant and deeply engrained that a sleepy public is stirred to revolt?

If history is a guide, our generation's Standard Oil, the populists' boogeyman, may be Comcast, Verizon and/or AT&T -- the sprawling Internet providers who, like Rockefeller and his railroad co-conspirators, could monopolize the price and quality of indispensable goods. Yes, network neutrality could be the issue that inspires a Tech Age political revolution.

No Fast Lanes For The Few

[Commentary] Just about everybody understands the Internet to be the most opportunity-creating tool of our time. The question now is opportunity for whom? Is the Net going to be the tool of the many that helps us all live better -- or will it be the playground of the privileged few that only widens the many divides that are creating a shamefully stratified and unequal America?

Are we heading toward an online future with fast lanes for the 1% and slow lanes for the 99%?

The first step on the road to an online future that serves us all is for the Federal Communications Commission to get its pending proposals right. Classify broadband for the Title II communications it obviously is and prohibit fast-lane, slow-lane divides created for the commercial enrichment of a few.

At the same time, the Commission must step up to the plate and use the authority it has to preempt state laws that prohibit communities and municipalities from building their own broadband infrastructure instead of relying on Internet service providers (ISPs) that cherry-pick the country when they decide where to build and not build.

And let’s go on from there to demand that the FCC finally finds the wisdom and the guts to say “No!” to all these never-ending mergers and acquisitions that are monopolizing the market, disadvantaging consumers, and short-circuiting our democratic discourse.

But the first step won’t be taken by the Commission unless you take a step first. The FCC needs to hear from you. It plans to make its proposal public on May 15th. Here are some action ideas. Contact the agency now and tell it that you expect a Net-friendly proposal going in. You can also sign the Common Cause petition calling for the Title II reclassification of broadband. Then there will be a period after the formal May 15 launch of the proceeding for the public to comment on it. So you can contact the FCC again after May 15 with comments and suggestions on the handiwork they actually propose and these will become part of the official record of the proceeding.

Don’t leave these things for others for do. It’s up to each and every one of us. You depend more and more on the Net. Now the Net is depending on you.

[Copps served as a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission from May 2001 to December 2011 and was the FCC's Acting Chairman from January to June 2009]

Global flows in a digital age

This report examines the inflows and outflows of goods, services, finance, and people, as well as the data and communication flows that underlie them all, for 195 countries around the world.

Our research finds that such flows matter for global GDP growth. Today, we estimate, they add between $250 billion and $450 billion to it every year, or 15 to 25 percent of the total. In addition, we find that countries with a larger number of connections in the global network of flows increase their GDP growth by up to 40 percent more than less connected countries do.

The penalty for being left behind is rising. MGI’s new Connectedness Index ranks 131 countries on total flows of goods, services, finance, people, and data and communication, adjusting for country size. The index shows that developed economies remain more connected than emerging ones: Germany tops the list, followed by Hong Kong and the United States. Emerging economies are less connected to global flows, but some are climbing up the ranks rapidly: Morocco and Mauritius gained 26 places and 28 places, respectively, between 1995 and 2012 -- the largest increases in our index. Saudi Arabia rose 19 places, reflecting the rising value of oil exports and the recycling of oil wealth into global financial markets. India gained 16 places in this period, thanks to growth in services flows, and Brazil jumped 15 on the strength of expanding services and financial flows.

T-Mobile: FCC auction rules that limit AT&T, Verizon will be a boon for competition

The lobbying fight is heating up over whether the Federal Communications Commission will approve rules that could limit how much spectrum Verizon Wireless and AT&T can bid on in the 2015 incentive auction of 600 MHz broadband spectrum.

T-Mobile US has fired the latest salvo, arguing that the FCC has the authority to issue such rules and that they will enhance competition, not lead to the failure of the auction. Verizon and AT&T have said in their recent filings to the commission that they are going to fight any rules that could restrict their bidding.

In its own filing to the FCC summarizing meetings its executives had with FCC officials, T-Mobile noted that Congress vested the FCC with authority to set auction rules and that it is "not required to allow every carrier to bid for every megahertz of a spectrum band that is made available for auction.” T-Mobile argued that "access to low-band spectrum and the economies of scale that greater access would enable represent two of the most pressing needs T-Mobile must satisfy if the company is to continue to play as disruptive a role in the market for the benefit of consumers as it has played over the last two years."

In discussing the proposed rules, T-Mobile wrote that "the prospect of having more demand than supply should come as welcome news to anyone concerned about generating sufficient auction revenues or generating large payments to broadcast licensees." In the filing, T-Mobile argued that more competitive bidding "not only increases revenue, but it will encourage AT&T and Verizon to increase overall bidding in order to clear more spectrum and avoid a lack of supply. This not only increases the amount paid to broadcasters, but increases the number of broadcasters that receive payment."

Is Television Dead?

While synonymous with the search business, perhaps Google's most significant legacy will be its organizational obsession with data-driven decision making. Google's intellectual and strategic impact has encouraged the measurement of -- well -- everything.

Consider how Nielsen, among the world's oldest media companies, has changed. Long known as the official ratings firm, companies and careers have lived or died based on Nielsen's ratings.

First, Nielsen created deep data partnerships with Facebook, Twitter and Experian to make their panel reporting considerably more accurate. Second, Nielsen is nearing the conclusion of a 4-year odyssey to set measurement standards for video -- a kind of Gross Rating Point (GRP) across all media and devices that measures the size and engagement of the viewing audience. Now Google, Netflix, Apple and others have a stake in how video GRP will be calculated. Nielsen has reinvented the GRP, a standard that has been the source of much of the television market's hegemony in media.

In partnering with an array of digital data providers, Nielsen looks, feels, and acts more and more like an Internet company that measures with substantially increased precision.

In this exponentially fractured media landscape, television audiences will likely get smaller (they have been for decades). Marketers will struggle to justify their upfront advertising purchases because content will be consumed at time-shifted moments using panoply of devices and distribution services.

Cable forces more channels down unwilling viewers’ throats

It's become a cliché: "Why am I forced to buy more cable channels I never watch?"

Now, new data show the common consumer complaint is true.

In 2013, US cable subscribers got a record average of 189 channels in prepackaged bundles but watched only 17 of those channels, according to a report by Nielsen. And the appetite to view more channels, even when offered vastly more television content, hasn't changed much in years.

In five years, cable companies added 60 more channels for the typical subscriber, but viewers haven't increased their consumption of new content. They have consistently watched an average of 17 channels.

"This data is significant in that it substantiates the notion that more content does not necessarily equate to more channel consumption," the Nielsen report said. "And that means quality is imperative — for both content creators and advertisers. So the best way to reach consumers in a world with myriad options is to be the best option."

Public Service Recognition Week 2014

We had an “all-hands” meeting of Federal Communications Commission staff to talk about the agency’s priorities and to provide an update on the Commission’s recent activities.

But the most important message I wanted to convey to FCC staff at this meeting was “thank you.” The public servants of the FCC -- and across government at all levels -- work every day on behalf of the American people with little or no fanfare.

The week is dedicated to making sure public servants across the country get the recognition they deserve. That’s because this is Public Service Recognition Week -- an annual celebration of the men and women who serve the United States as federal, state, county and local government employees.

FCC Protests Over Net Neutrality Rule Planned

Civil disobedience Web site popularresistance.org was calling for picketers to meet at the Federal Communications Commission from noon to 5 p.m. to protest what they said was FCC Chairman Wheeler's effort to end network neutrality, with a rally at 5 p.m.

Appearing in a YouTube video, Sen Al Franken (D-MN) said that net neutrality is "under threat as it never has been" because he says Chairman Wheeler's new rule proposal would "permit a fast lane for content providers who are willing and able to pay for it."

He said that would mean big corporations would be even more dominant over mom and pop stores and that "big media companies will be able to get their version of the news to consumers faster." Sen Franken said it was time to rise up and save net neutrality so that it would not be taken away.

3 trends driving digital learning today

Three trends are changing the way education is perceived in the US, and learning outcomes are improving with more modern approaches: The expansion of digital content, mass distribution, and personalized learning.

Why GigaOm thinks it’s time to reinvent the Internet

[Commentary] One of the founding principles of GigaOm is that connectivity is the lifeblood of the tech industry, and over the years we’ve tried to shape our coverage as much around that topic as possible.

It has become increasingly clear to us that the Internet is under siege from for-profit business interests, aging and outdated laws and policies, and the ever-growing demands that we place on its infrastructure.

We thought it was time to take a look at the current state of the Internet and outline our proposals for how we think the Internet -- including everything from last-mile broadband to wireless spectrum to movies and TV -- might be reinvented if it were being conceived in 2014, knowing what we now know about its evolution and the world’s reaction to its expansion.

We have five pieces to this special report:

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