October 2014

Prices Add Up With a la Carte TV

A future where television viewers subscribe to each channel individually could be cheaper for young people who only watch two or three channels, industry executives said. But analysts say that for households filled with people of differing tastes or fans of many channels, this future could make the average cable TV bill -- which hovers at around $90 -- seem like a bargain.

Laura Martin, an analyst at Needham & Co., estimates that unbundling would drain half of the revenue, or $70 billion, out of the television industry. Moreover, today’s hundreds of channels would shrink down to about 20, she wrote. That is because advertising would decrease substantially on channels with reduced audience reach, forcing consumers to pay the entire cost of running the channels, instead of splitting that cost with advertisers, as is done in basic cable. Sports networks could be most at risk in an unbundled world.

President Obama nominates former Google exec to lead US Patent Office

President Barack Obama will nominate former Google lawyer Michelle K. Lee to lead the US Patent and Trademark Office, potentially handing Silicon Valley a key victory and ending a two-year tussle for the agency's leadership. Lee has been managing the 10,000-employee Patent Office day-to-day since being appointed deputy director in January. But efforts to permanently elevate her to director have been stymied by powerful outside groups --particularly pharmaceutical companies, which backed an industry insider for the job. The position, which has been vacant for two years, is central to a simmering debate over which US industry -- technology or pharmaceuticals -- will set the country's patent agenda.

2C or not 2C isn’t the question

[Commentary] Have you moved to Longmont yet?” Susan Wisecup, business manager for Longmont Power and Communications, is really asking. She’s ecstatic about the century-old public utility in Longmont building Colorado’s most cutting-edge Internet project. With upload and download speeds of 1 gigabit per second for around $50 per month, soon Longmont residents will be able to download entire HD movies in 10 seconds while paying the best price in the state. Construction began in August and customers can begin signing up for Longmont’s new service in November. The utility plans to connect 25 percent of the city within a year and all of Longmont by 2017. Boulder Chamber of Commerce Public Affairs Director Angelique Espinoza concurs that relocating from Boulder to Longmont is a conceivable choice businesses may make in the coming years. That’s why she and the Chamber are leading a low-key coalition of local business and public interest groups supporting ballot issue 2C, which seeks to affirm the City of Boulder’s right to be proactive about improving Internet access within city limits.

Deletion Of Agenda Item And Consent Agenda From October 17, 2014 Open Meeting

The Federal Communications Commission deleted the consent agenda from its October 17 agenda. In addition, this item was adopted by the FCC and dropped from the meeting agenda:

A Second Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to address aggregate broadcaster-to-broadcaster interference and the methodology for predicting interference between broadcast and wireless operations in the same or adjacent channels in nearby markets during and following the Incentive Auction.

Today's Quote 10.16.2014

“President Ronald Reagan wisely said that the ‘government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.’ Unfortunately, I’m worried that’s where the [Federal Communications Commission] might be headed when it comes to the Internet.”
- FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai

AT&T/DirecTV to FCC: Critics Are Off Base; OK Deal 'Swiftly'

In joint comments at the Federal Communications Commission, AT&T and DirecTV have asked the FCC to reject petitions to deny their proposed deal and approve the merger ASAP.

They also argue that AT&T’s $48.5 billion bid to buy DirecTV is distinctly different from other major media mergers, especially Comcast’s planned merger with Time Warner Cable. Evidence that AT&T will lead to lower TV bills for consumers and lead to more competition in the arena “sets this transaction apart.”

FBI Warns Tech Companies of State-Sponsored China Hackers

Hackers affiliated with the Chinese government have heavily targeted makers of microchips, computer networking equipment and data storage services to steal company secrets, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said. The FBI sent a warning to companies, telling them that “these state-sponsored hackers are exceedingly stealthy and agile” and have used customized malicious code that was undetected by security researchers and law enforcement.

FBI Director: Actually, We Do Sometimes Spy Without a Warrant

FBI Director James Comey clarified a statement he made earlier that the FBI never conducts electronic surveillance without a court order, saying, "There are exceptions" to the warrant-first rule. "It remains true in the over-, over- overwhelming number of our cases -- we have court authority to collect the content of emails or telephones," Director Comey said. "But there are exceptions to the warrant requirement. " He gave two examples when the FBI is able to conduct surveillance without a warrant: when consent is obtained, and during surveillance of foreign suspects under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

FBI Director Calls on “Good People” of Apple, Google to Dump New Encryption

New encryption technologies on smartphones will make it harder for law enforcement to solve crimes or stop terrorists, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said in a speech asking companies including Google and Apple to reverse course.

“The FBI has a sworn duty to keep every American safe from crime and terrorism, and technology has become the tool of choice for some very dangerous people,” he said. Federal and local law enforcement “aren’t always able to access the evidence we need to prosecute crime and prevent terrorism. We have the legal authority to intercept and access communications and information pursuant to court order, but we often lack the technical ability to do so.” Director Comey didn’t just ask Apple and Google to reverse their decision to bake tougher encryption technologies into the iPhone and Android operating systems. He also said it’s time to update existing laws to allow for federal wiretapping over a broader set of newer Internet-based technologies.

In Defense of iPhones the FBI Can't Search

The benefits of secure encryption far outweigh the costs of devices that "go dark" even when authorities have a lawful warrant.

Benton

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