October 2014

Netflix’s Chief Executive Pushes Net Neutrality in Europe

Speaking at a conference in Brussels, Netflix’s Reed Hastings -- who has been a vocal critic of plans that would allow Internet service providers to charge extra for faster connections on their networks -- laid out again why he opposed such deals.

“We shouldn’t have to pay for your network if you don’t have to pay for our content,” he told a conference audience filled with many of Europe’s largest telecommunications and broadband providers. “Why are so many people attracted to the concept of net neutrality? Because they fear the loss of the digital commons,” Hastings added. He said that no company should be “held hostage” by Internet service providers.

In Europe, opposition to paid access for improved Internet performance has been equally vocal. But in contrast to American policy makers, the European Parliament passed rules this year that outlawed efforts by Internet service providers to charge for better access to their networks. Final rules will be completed sometime next year, though analysts say the telecommunications industry is hoping to water down the current proposals.

FCC Launches Financial Pitch For Incentive Auction

The Federal Communications Commission has begun sending out information packets to broadcasters making the financial case for why broadcasters should participate in the incentive auction. That includes breakdowns of what a station in each market, in an ideal scenario, could be paid for its spectrum, plus the median price in each market.

The packets were prepared by FCC staffers in conjunction with investment banker Greenhill & Co., which the FCC turned to help turn policy into a financial case for giving up spectrum. FCC staffers will also be making road trips to talk to broadcasters about the info and the auction opportunities. A high-end estimate of revenues from the incentive auction could mean as much as $38 billion to compensate broadcasters for giving up spectrum for that auction.

Gigabit Availability = $1.4 Billion in GDP

A new study finds that communities with widely available gigabit access have per capita GDP that is 1.1 percent higher than communities with little to no availability of gigabit services.

The study examined 55 communities in 9 states, finding a positive impact on economic activity in the 14 communities where gigabit services are widely available. The study, conducted by the economic, financial and strategy firm Analysis Group found widespread gigabit availability contributes to the economies of communities in multiple ways, including through the direct effect of infrastructure investment and increased expenditures, as well as shifts in economic activity (e.g. job creation and occupational changes) and productivity gains. Communities with widely available gigabit access are gaining control over the factors that shape the lives of their residents, businesses and institutions. Conversely, the 41 communities in the study that didn’t have widely available gigabit broadband likely experienced forgone GDP in 2012 of as much as $3.3 billion.

How We Solve the Tech Industry’s Gender Gap

[Commentary] It seems impossible to address diversity in the tech workforce without addressing it earlier, in the education pipeline of potential employees. Over the past decades, countless organizations in the computer science community have worked on this problem.

This work has recently hit an inflection point, with two major changes happening to computer science education in our public schools: 1) Computer science is expanding to more schools and 2) Computer science is taught younger -- in elementary and middle schools. It takes time, it takes cooperation, but by working together, change is possible.

Over the next three months, an even larger coalition of partners is aiming to more than double the reach of the Hour of Code campaign, to 100 million students. The faces of coding and computer science are increasingly female. The stereotype is breaking, and it’s time the world starts paying attention.

[Partovi is a co-founder of Code.org]

Doctors Find Barriers to Sharing Digital Medical Records

Doctors and hospital executives across the country say they are distressed that the expensive electronic health record systems they installed in the hopes of reducing costs and improving the coordination of patient care -- a major goal of the Affordable Care Act -- simply do not share information with competing systems. The issue is especially critical now as many hospitals and doctors scramble to install the latest versions of their digital record systems to demonstrate to regulators starting Oct 1 that they can share some patient data. Those who cannot will face reductions in Medicare reimbursements down the road.

Members of Congress Seek GAO Study of Auction Impact on LPTV, Translators

Reps Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Joe Barton (R-TX) have asked the Government Accountability Office to study the impact of the Federal Communications Commission's incentive auction on low-power TV stations and translators.

They asked the GAO for:

The total number of LPTV stations that provide original programming or broadcast local news and information, especially those serving racial and ethnic minority communities
The total number of TV translator stations that rebroadcast local news and information programming of a full-power TV broadcast station
A projection of the number of such LPTV stations and TV translator stations that will be unable to locate to or operate on replacement channels after the auction
A projection of the number of viewers that will lose over-the-air access to at least one such local LPTV station that provide local news and information, especially to underserved communities of interest
A projection of the number of such LPTV stations and TV translator stations that will be unable to locate to or operate on replacement channels after the auction
A projection of the number of viewers that will lose over-the-air access to at least one such local LPTV station that provide local news and information, especially to underserved communities of interest
A projection of the number of viewers that will lose over-the-air access via such TV translator stations to at least one of the signals of the regional affiliates of the major commercial or noncommercial educational television broadcast networks
Recommendations to the FCC and Congress on ways to remedy adverse impacts of the auction on LPTV stations and TV translator stations and, most importantly, their viewers.

FCC’s Pai: Government shouldn’t ban ‘Redskins’ name

Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai cast doubts on any FCC effort to police the controversial name of the Washington football team.

A petition has been filed with the agency alleging the name is profane, and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler indicated Sept 30 that the panel would consider the complaint and deal “with that issue on the merits, and we will be responding to it.” On Oct 1, Commissioner Pai said, “For my own part, as a supporter of the First Amendment, I don’t think the government should ban the use of the ‘Washington Redskins’ team name from the airwaves. But we will see what the agency proposes to do in the near future.”

Akamai: Average US Broadband Speed Jumps to 11.4 Mbps

The average US broadband speed reached 11.4 Mbps in the second quarter of 2014, according to the latest Akamai State of the Internet report. That’s an increase of 8.9% over first quarter of 2014, which saw a 9% speed increase over the last quarter of 2013.

The 11.4 Mbps average broadband speed represented a 39% increase over the same period in 2013. The jump in average connection speed was not high enough to put the U.S. back in the top 10 countries measured by that metric, however. After finding itself in the top 10 for quarter after quarter, the U.S. fell off the top 10 list in the first quarter of 2014. As usual, the 10 US states with the highest average connection speeds were primarily in the East. All states in the top 10 had average broadband connection speeds of at least 12.8 Mbps.

Fiber is coming: Seattle City Council strikes down restrictive rule

The Seattle City Council unanimously removed a rule that put heavy restrictions on companies that wanted to implement fiber broadband access in the city.

The so-called “SDOT Director’s Rule” required utility companies to get permission from about 60 percent of nearby neighbors before it could place a telecommunications cabinet that enabled the fiber to work. That high bar made the city an unattractive destination for companies that wanted to offer services in Seattle. Some even suggest it's one of the reasons Google Fiber passed on setting up a service in Seattle. Different neighborhood groups have sprung up to try to get high-speed internet access to underserved areas such as Beacon Hill and the Central District.

How Much of Your Data Would You Trade for a Free Cookie?

In a highly unscientific but delicious experiment, 380 New Yorkers gave up sensitive personal information -- from fingerprints to partial Social Security numbers -- for a cookie.

"It is crazy what people were willing to give me," said artist Risa Puno, who conducted the experiment, which she called "Please Enable Cookies," at a Brooklyn arts festival. The cookies -- actual cookies -- came in flavors such as "Chocolate Chili Fleur de Sel" and "Pink Pistachio Peppercorn." To get a cookie, people had to turn over personal data that could include their address, driver's license number, phone number and mother's maiden name. More than half of the people allowed Puno to take their photographs. Just under half -- or 162 people -- gave what they said were the last four digits of their Social Security numbers. And about one-third -- 117 people -- allowed her to take their fingerprints. She examined people's driver's licenses to verify some of the information they provided. When people asked Puno what she was going to do with their information, she refused to say. Instead, she referred them to her terms of service, a full page of legal boilerplate displayed in tiny print, which gives her the right to display the information and share it with others.

Benton

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