October 2014

New chips will “power the gigabit era of DSL,” Broadcom claims

Broadcom unveiled DSL chips that use the new G.fast standard to deliver up to 1Gbps broadband over copper phone lines.

That doesn't mean everyone who has DSL will suddenly get a huge speed upgrade. G.fast, a standard from the International Telecommunication Union, is intended for fiber-and-copper networks in which fiber delivers data close to homes and copper takes it the rest of the way. These networks are cheaper to build than fiber-to-the-home because they reuse existing copper, but thus far they haven't been able to match the gigabit speeds of fiber-only service.

Sen Hatch outlines GOP's tech agenda

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) outlined his priorities for technology legislation in the next Congress -- keying in on patent and immigration reform, as well as updates to e-mail privacy protections.

Sen Hatch, the chairman of the GOP's High-Tech Task Force, delivered remarks at the Overstock.com corporate office in his home state, arguing the United States must create a legal framework to stay ahead of other global competitors. “Government’s proper role is to act as a facilitator, creating an environment that encourages research and development to drive our prosperity and quality of life in the decades to come,” warning against “heavy-handed” regulation.

FCC warns campaigns about robocalls

Two weeks before Election Day, the Federal Communications Commission wants campaigns to know not to abuse voters with robocalls.

The agency issued an advisory noting the “clear limits” on campaigns’ use of prerecorded, autodialed calls and text messages, and noted that campaigns may be on the hook for millions of dollars if they cross those lines. The FCC is “closely monitoring this space and will not hesitate to act to protect consumer privacy and their freedom from the nuisance of unwanted calls,” the agency said in its notice. “We expect that this Advisory will lead to greater compliance with the law and rules by senders of political prerecorded voice messages and autodialed calls, and we again warn those who choose to use these tools to strictly observe their legal limits,” it added.

Political ads flood Pandora before mid-terms

In an era of data-driven marketing and money rapidly shifting from old media to the Web, few companies are as favorably situated as Pandora is to take advantage of the transition, particularly when it comes to the advertising dollars that flood US elections.

According to consulting firm Borrell Associates, political ad spending this year will reach $8.3 billion, with half of that coming in August, September and October. Here's why Pandora is a treasure trove for politicos: The service had 76.4 million active users listening to 5 billion hours of radio, mostly on mobile devices, in the second quarter. When consumers sign up, they hand over their ZIP code, age and gender. In August, Pandora had more than six times the number of listening sessions as its closest online competitor, iHeartMedia, according to Triton Digital.

Who's Catching Your Cellphone Conversations?

With the right equipment, people can hijack your cellphone, listen to your calls and read your texts, alarming privacy rights advocates and tech experts alike. We know the eavesdropping is happening, but we don't know much about who's doing the listening.

The police and other law enforcement agencies do it, but they have been restricted by the FBI from telling us about it. Beyond the police, the listeners could be the U.S. government, corporate spies or even foreign intelligence agencies. The devices, known as IMSI catchers or by a brand name, Stingray, used to be expensive, bulky and hard to purchase. Now they can be bought online for as little as $1,800 and can be as small as a briefcase.

Verizon Reports Higher Profit During a Price-Cutting War

Amid a price-cutting war in the American wireless industry, the Verizon juggernaut keeps growing, even though its prices are generally higher.

Verizon Communications said it had added about 1.5 million new wireless customers. Most of those new customers were tablet owners signing up for Verizon’s data plans. The company reported third-quarter earnings of 89 cents a share on revenue of $31.6 billion, just barely missing analyst expectations of 90 cents a share on revenue of $31.6 billion. Over all, Verizon reported profit of $3.7 billion, a sharp increase from the $2.2 billion in profit it reported in the quarter last year. In other words, while other carriers like Sprint and T-Mobile have been aggressively cutting prices to steal each other’s customers, Verizon, the No. 1 wireless phone carrier, has mostly stuck to its strategy of offering a superior wireless service for slightly higher prices. And Verizon has not only been unfazed by the price cuts. it continues to grow at a healthy rate.

Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board on Defining Privacy

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board will conduct a public meeting with industry representatives, academics, technologists, government personnel, and members of the advocacy community, on the topic: ‘‘Defining Privacy.’’

While the Board will address the definition of privacy in the context of government counterterrorism programs, it is also interested in what conceptual interests are involved in the protection of privacy, how the impact of technology has affected privacy, what privacy interests have been identified by government privacy officials, what lessons have been learned in the private sector, and what the best way is for government to address privacy concerns. Interested parties are encouraged to attend and to submit comments. The meeting and comments will inform the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board’s approach to privacy issues within its statutory purview.

Federal Trade Commission Appoints Ashkan Soltani as Chief Technologist

Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez has appointed Ashkan Soltani as the agency’s Chief Technologist, succeeding Dr. Latanya Sweeney, who is returning to Harvard University, where she founded and directs Harvard’s Data Privacy Lab.

Soltani will join the FTC in November and advise the FTC on evolving technology and policy issues. He is a technology consultant and researcher whose work has focused on privacy and security issues for more than 20 years. Soltani has previously served as a technical expert for the FTC, and worked at the FTC between 2010 and 2011 as a staff technologist. Soltani has worked as a technical expert for multiple state attorneys general. He has also worked as an investigative reporter for The Washington Post, sharing with his co-authors in a 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, and The Wall Street Journal, and as a researcher for The New York Times. Earlier in his career, Soltani was employed as a manager and consultant for two security technology companies including Sophos.

Soltani earned a master’s degree in Information Management and Systems from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science from the University of California, San Diego.

Marc Andreessen wants the AT&T-DirecTV deal to go through

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen is urging federal regulators to approve AT&T's massive, $49 billion bid for DirecTV, arguing it would help push "both broadband and video to a larger portion of the country."

In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, Andreessen said the deal would help promote the rollout of broadband infrastructure, which would help the economy. "The merger will result in a much broader, rural wireless footprint," Andreessen wrote, "as well as deeper fiber penetration." It's an argument that could resonate with the FCC, which has actively looked for ways to press for more broadband. In places that are poorly served by Internet providers, for example, the agency wants to help cities build their own high-speed data networks. Its net neutrality efforts are predicated on the idea of a "virtuous circle" of investment and rising demand for Internet applications. Andreessen clearly thinks the AT&T-DirecTV deal is consistent with those interests. But consumer advocates warn that it isn't so simple.

Dish and Turner’s Fight Reminds Us That TV Still Hasn’t Changed

[Commentary] One day, the TV business may look radically different than it does today. For now, it looks a lot like it has for many years: TV networks sell big bundles of programming to pay TV distributors, who make bigger bundles and sell those to pay TV subscribers. For a good reminder of the way things work today, see the old-fashioned dispute between Dish Network and Time Warner’s Turner Networks, which has resulted in channels like CNN going off the air for Dish’s 14 million subscribers.

Benton

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