BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013
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OWNERSHIP
Life On The Cliff - op-ed
Media consolidation - a panacea that may not be good for journalism
Sony and BMG Are Said to Team Up on Bid for EMI [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Democrats urge FCC to mandate interoperable cellphone networks
FCC Says Court's Data Roaming Call Buttresses Open Internet Order
Clearwire Investor Will Ask FCC to Block Sprint Deals
Satellite Internet: 15Mbps, no matter where you live in the US [links to web]
DARPA Eyes Radio Networks with Fiber Optic Speeds [links to web]
Building a better smartphone for blind users [links to web]
MetroPCS Bleeding Subscribers as It Waits for the T-Mobile Ambulance [links to web]
Google gives Moto space, but how about its mojo? [links to web]
New tech and government regulations: A glaring divide
Mobile Apps Drive Rapid Change in Searches
Smartphones wrest control from PCs, other gadgets [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
France's second-largest ISP suspends ad blocking for now
Landlords Are Blocking Rewiring of Cable After Hurricane, Verizon Says
Nations prepare for cyber war [links to web]
TELEVISION
The Future of Cable’s Independent Voices - op-ed
Why Intel's New IPTV Service Will Do What Google, Apple, and Microsoft Can't
Media Companies Counting on New Measurement [links to web]
Obama's ad team used cable TV to outplay Romney
Cable Spiffs Up Web Ties [links to web]
CONTENT
Pandora reports 41 percent increase in US audience in one year [links to web]
PATENTS
Microsoft Contends FTC-Google Deal Kills Pending Motorola Patent Cases
HEALTH
$400 Million Healthcare Connect Fund to Create & Expand Telemedicine Networks - press release
2013
2013: The end of the iPod, digital camera and DVD player? [links to web]
iPhones And Americans: How Consumer Electronics Became A Trillion-Dollar Business [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Rep Issa urges FTC to smoke out Google tipsters
LOBBYING
New Internet Association Has a Message for Congress [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
President Obama looks to fill out cabinet
Jordan Usdan, Acting Director of Public-Private Initiatives to Step Down - press release [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Protest Grows Over Censoring of China Paper
Online Artists Share Work—Tyrants Would Prefer They Share a Cell - op-ed
The Superfast and the Furious: Priorities for the future of UK broadband policy - research
France's second-largest ISP suspends ad blocking for now
OWNERSHIP
LIFE ON THE CLIFF
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Michael Copps]
[Commentary] We begin the new year with a public totally turned off by Capitol Hill’s embarrassing holiday antics over the fiscal cliff. Sadder still, more cliffs are on the way. It is difficult to see how Congress will find time for anything other than debt limit extensions, budget sequesters, continuing resolutions, government shut-downs and other assorted near-death experiences in the year ahead. We could be free-falling off cliffs all year long! It’s actually worse than being on a roller-coaster, because a roller-coaster goes up as well as down. Isn’t the year following a national election supposed to be open, at least for six months or so, to something approaching cooperative work and tackling tough problems that no one is willing to take on during campaign season? Shouldn’t we be discussing wide-ranging proposals to tackle the many challenges that beset America instead of marking do-or-die cliff dates on our political calendars? America needs to be climbing mountains instead of falling off cliffs. I end where I so often begin these writings. Until we have media that invest in real news, that dig for facts instead of just loud-mouthing opinions, that sustain resource-intensive investigative journalism, that analyze truly complex national issues and national choices, that hold the powerful accountable—until then, we will not have media that truly serve the public interest.
http://benton.org/node/142474
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MEDIA CONSOLIDATION NOT GOOD FOR JOURNALISM
[SOURCE: The Guardian, AUTHOR: Roy Greenslade]
Greater media consolidation is generally considered by owners in both Britain and the United States to offer a way out of the current crisis. But an American commentator, Josh Stearns, believes that we should think again about acceding to such a plan. He argues that "media consolidation is largely what got us into this mess in the first place." After pointing out a truth that some publishers would prefer we didn't notice - that they are still making reasonable profits - Stearns takes issue with the commercial strategy they employed in the days when they made bumper profits. Instead of investing in journalism and the web, he says "they went on a buying spree" which meant that many of the biggest among them "got over-leveraged with debt as they gobbled up competitors." He is writing about the US experience. But that remark about indebtedness certainly applies in the UK too, particularly at Johnston Press (which makes good money but must service an intolerable debt burden due to its former acquisition spree).
benton.org/node/142478 | Guardian, The
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
INTEROPERABLE CELLPHONE NETWORKS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Four House Democrats sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, urging the agency to enact interoperability requirements for cellphone networks. Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Edward Markey (D-MA), Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Doris Matsui (D-CA), all members of the House Commerce Committee, said that interoperability requirements in the lower 700 MHz band of radio spectrum is fundamental for ensuring "continued growth, innovation, rural deployment and robust competition." The FCC is currently exploring whether to mandate a single technology in the 700 MHz band. AT&T's cell towers use a different technology in the frequency band, meaning their network is not interoperable with many devices. The lack of interoperability makes it difficult for small and medium-sized carriers to buy access to AT&T's network when their customers travel outside the range of their own towers. The lawmakers argued that consumers would benefit from interoperability requirements by gaining "greater choice of high-quality mobile devices at affordable prices." The lawmakers wrote that interoperable networks would also help support the planned nationwide wireless network for first responders. "As build-out of 4G LTE mobile broadband networks continues, the Commission should move quickly to ensure interoperability in the lower 700 MHz band," they wrote. "This will provide for a healthier wireless market to the benefit of all consumers, and will lower costs and increase access to wireless broadband services for public safety."
benton.org/node/142509 | Hill, The | AT&T
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FCC’S NETWORK NEUTRALITY BRIEF
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission says that it was well within its authority to impose a "no blocking" network neutrality regulation on wireless carriers in its Open Internet order, and, as expected, is pointing to a recent (Dec. 4) data roaming court case (Cellco Partnership v. FCC) to buttress its defense of the rules. In a brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the FCC pointed to that same court's conclusion that the FCC had the authority to require data roaming stemming from its authority to "'[p]rescribe the nature of the service to be rendered' by the holders of FCC-issued spectrum licenses." Verizon had challenged that decision as well. The FCC rule in question required mobile data providers to offer roaming agreements to competitors on "commercially reasonable" terms, one of many FCC actions to try and spur mobile broadband. Verizon challenged the requirement, saying the FCC lacked the authority to issue that mandate. The court did not agree, which decision became fodder for the FCC in the Open Internet order challenge by Verizon and MetroPCS.
benton.org/node/142508 | Broadcasting&Cable
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CREST FINANCIAL
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Scott Moritz]
Clearwire investor Crest Financial will ask the Federal Communications Commission to block Sprint’s takeover of the company, as well as a separate deal between Sprint and Softbank, saying they undermine the value of Clearwire’s airwaves. The firm plans to file its complaint with the FCC before the Jan. 28 comment deadline on the two transactions, David Schumacher, general counsel for Houston-based Crest Financial, said on a conference call with reporters today. The low price Sprint is getting for Clearwire’s spectrum could hurt the value of other airwaves, making it a concern for the FCC, he said. “I doubt this kind of complaint from Crest is likely to derail the Sprint-Clearwire or Sprint-Softbank deals,” said Jeffrey Silva, a Washington-based analyst with Medley Global Advisors. “Third-party concerns about the impact on shareholder value is unlikely to move the needle much relative to the agency’s overall evaluation of the deals.”
benton.org/node/142485 | Bloomberg
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NEW TECH AND REGULATIONS
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Tony Romm]
Stuffed into the seemingly endless Las Vegas Convention Center isn’t just a raft of new hi-def televisions, cutting-edge tablets and more — but a sea of federal lawmakers and regulators, many of whom return home leery to learn there’s a gap between the new tech on display and the laws that are supposed to govern their use. The in-car computers populating the show floor may woo audiences. But they also should remind regulators there’s work to do to ensure the old rules of the road — literally — apply to cars that are as much computers as they are engines. And the explosion of startups — many of which aren’t device manufacturers but app makers — represents the front lines of many debates over spectrum, e-health policy, venture capital and more now happening on Capitol Hill. It’s in some ways the battlefield in the implicit war between Silicon Valley and Washington over the need for new regulation in the digital age — a fight that often can have serious political consequences.
benton.org/node/142514 | Politico
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MOBILE APPS AND SEARCH
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Claire Can Miller]
When the Federal Trade Commission decided to close its antitrust investigation of Google without charges, one important factor, though hardly mentioned, was just beneath the surface: the mobile revolution. Google has repeatedly made the argument — and the FTC agreed — that the speed of change in the technology industry made it impossible for regulators to impose restrictions without stalling future innovations. Exhibit A is the mobile device. Nowhere has technology changed as rapidly and consumer behavior as broadly. As people abandon desktop computers for mobile ones, existing tech companies’ business models are being upended and new companies are blooming. When the FTC began its investigation 19 months ago, for instance, the iPhone did not have the Siri voice search, Apple did not have its own mapping service and Yelp’s mobile apps had no ads. By the time the inquiry concluded, all of that had changed. Google had new competitors on all sides trying to chip away at its hold on the mobile search and advertising market. Still, Google is even more dominant on mobile phones than on desktop computers. It has 96 percent of the world’s mobile search market, according to StatCounter, which tracks Web use. It collects 57 percent of mobile ad revenue in the United States, while Facebook, its nearest competitor, gets just 9 percent, according to eMarketer. But, analysts say, as people change their search habits on mobile devices — bypassing Google to go straight to apps like Yelp’s, for example — that dominance could wane, or a competitor could swoop in and knock Google off its perch.
benton.org/node/142513 | New York Times
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
FREE AND AD BLOCKING
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Cyrus Farivar]
After turning on an Internet service provider (ISP)-level ad blocking option by default—and after meeting Jan 7 with French government officials—France’s second-largest ISP decided to temporarily suspend its controversial move for “two to three weeks” until it’s able to reach a revenue agreement with Google. Last week, Free quietly released a new update to its router (known as a Freebox) firmware, which installed an ad blocking feature. While many users use ad blocking on their own browsers or computers, this marked the first time any major ISP, anywhere, installed ad blocking at the ISP level. The move was quickly dubbed “AdGate” by the French media, and it appears to have stemmed from a revenue dispute between Free and Google. In France, like in many places, ISPs have been getting upset with the search giant driving large amounts of traffic (most notably, YouTube) over their networks.
benton.org/node/142492 | Ars Technica
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LANDLORDS AND VERIZON
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Patrick McGeehan]
Rewiring all of Lower Manhattan with fiber-optic cable after Hurricane Sandy would be hard enough without landlords blocking the way with their palms open. But that is what Verizon alleges some are doing. Verizon, whose copper wires under the streets of the financial district were ruined by the storm’s floodwaters, complained last week that “many building owners in Lower Manhattan” had barred their doors. Some have simply refused to let the company in, but others have demanded exorbitant fees for access, the company said in a petition to state regulators. “In some of these cases, building owners have demanded excessive compensation from Verizon to permit the installation of fiber-optic-facilities,” a Verizon lawyer wrote to the state’s Public Service Commission. Verizon named six downtown buildings in its petition. A Verizon spokesman, John Bonomo, declined to say how much the landlords asked for, but cable-industry executives said building owners have sought as much as $150 per apartment in what are known as door fees. For a building like 11 Maiden Lane, that could translate to more than $10,000.
benton.org/node/142515 | New York Times
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TELEVISION
OVATION, TWC AND DIVERSITY
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Chad Gutstein]
[Commentary] On Jan. 1, Time Warner Cable rang in the New Year by dropping our network, Ovation, from its channel lineup. Other independent networks may face the same fate. This is not an isolated incident, but the disturbing result of years of consolidation in the pay TV industry, with a small number of dominant carriers offering the networks of a small number of media conglomerates. The result is the homogenization of cable TV and the betrayal of cable’s promise to deliver diversity. Policy makers, concerned citizens and industry leaders need to understand and seek to arrest this trend before it is too late. The way to salvage this year is to use this event and others like it to begin a real conversation about how we are going to ensure independent networks have a place on the cable dial. If we don’t do it now, by next New Year’s there may be little diversity left to save. [Gutstein is a partner in and chief operating officer of Ovation.]
benton.org/node/142493 | Multichannel News
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INTEL’S IPTV
[SOURCE: Forbes, AUTHOR: Kelly Clay]
Apple and Google have been attempting for years to entice customers to ditch cable television for set top boxes that deliver TV shows, movies and more via the internet. For the past year or so, Intel has also quietly been working on a top-secret set-top box that could not only be better than what Apple, Google, and even Microsoft offer today, but also kill the cable industry as we know it. This set-top box, said by industry insiders to be available to a limited beta of customers in March, will offer cable channels delivered “over the top” to televisions anywhere there is an Internet connection regardless of provider. For the first time, consumers will be able to subscribe to content per channel, unlike bundled cable services, and you may also be able to subscribe per show as well. Intel’s set-top box will also have access to Intel’s already existing app marketplace for apps, casual games, and video on demand. Leveraging the speed of current broadband, and the vast shared resources of the cloud, Intel plans to give customers the ability to use “Cloud DVR”, a feature intended to allow users to watch any past TV show at any time, without the need to record it ahead of time, pause live TV, and rewind shows in progress.
benton.org/node/142481 | Forbes
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OBAMA’S CABLE ADS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Marcus Stern, Tim McLaughlin]
As political experts assess Republican Mitt Romney's failed U.S. presidential bid, an analysis of how his campaign and President Barack Obama's winning team used cable TV to target ads at specific groups of voters may offer some valuable tips for the future. During the final weeks before the November 6 election, with polls showing a tight race, Obama's campaign exploited cable TV's diverse lineup to target women on channels such as Food Network and Lifetime and men on networks such as ESPN. The Obama team used the fragmentation of cable TV's audience to its fullest advantage to target tailored messages to voters in battleground states. Meanwhile, Romney's campaign relied on a more traditional mass saturation of broadcast TV. The Romney camp was entirely dark on cable TV for two of the campaign's last seven days. The race had narrowed to key counties in several battleground states, the kind of isolation ideally suited for cable's geographical targeting and niche-marketing capabilities.
benton.org/node/142507 | Reuters
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PATENTS
MOTOROLA AND PATENT CASES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Liz Gannes]
Though the agreement Google reached with the Federal Trade Commission was in many ways expected, there’s one issue that really doesn’t seem to be clear. That is: What is Google required to do with the existing standards-essential patent cases it is currently fighting on behalf of its Motorola subsidiary against Microsoft and Apple? The FTC got Google to sign a consent decree saying it wouldn’t seek injunctions over its SEPs — patents that contribute to foundational parts of smartphones and other devices across the industry — as long as other companies were willing to license them. But what happens to existing cases — for instance, one involving Motorola patents on the video compression standard H.264, which Microsoft wants to license for Xbox but not on Google’s proposed royalty terms? FTC spokesman Peter Kaplan said, “The answer is that under the order they do not have to drop their appeals of SEP cases, but at the same time they cannot obtain or enforce any SEP exclusion orders or injunctions.” But Microsoft pointed out, in a filing released by the U.S. International Trade Commission, that the FTC said in multiple parts of the published agreements and public statements that Google had to withdraw all its related SEP claims.
benton.org/node/142497 | Wall Street Journal
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HEALTH
$400 MILLION HEALTHCARE CONNECT FUND TO CREATE & EXPAND TELEMEDICINE NETWORKS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
At the Oakland Children’s Hospital & Research Center, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Genachowski was joined by the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency, the California Telehealth Network, and the Juvenile Justice Center to announce that up to $400 million in annual funding will be made available to healthcare providers as part of the FCC’s new Healthcare Connect Fund. Beginning in 2013, the FCC’s new Healthcare Connect Fund will spur the development of broadband networks to support modern telemedicine, which will link urban medical centers to rural clinics or provide instant access to health records. The Fund, which expands the FCC's health care broadband initiative from pilot to program, will allow thousands of new providers across the country to share in the benefits of connectivity and dramatically cut costs for both hospitals and the Universal Service Fund. These transformational changes build on major FCC reforms across the universal service system. The FCC will begin accepting applications for the Healthcare Connect Fund beginning in late summer of 2013.
benton.org/node/142506 | Federal Communications Commission
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
FTC MEDIA LEAKS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate leaks to the media about its probe of Google. He sent a letter dated Jan. 3 to Scott Wilson, the FTC's inspector general, urging him to find out which FTC officials provided nonpublic information about the Google case to media outlets. Rep Issa noted that any leaks ahead of the announcement were illegal and said they were counterproductive to the investigative process.
benton.org/node/142486 | Hill, The
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POLICYMAKERS
THE NEW CABINET
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Justin Sink]
With nominations for a new defense and foreign policy team set, President Barack Obama can now focus on revamping the rest of his second-term cabinet. Major changes are in store for Obama’s economic and energy teams as well as a host of other cabinet-level positions, with more announcements coming as early as this week. Finding a successor for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner remains the final marquee appointment, and President Obama is reportedly torn between two possible candidates: Jack Lew, Obama's current chief-of-staff, and American Express chief executive Kenneth Chenault is also under consideration. The President could also look to appoint a female chief of staff — a historic pick. Deputy chiefs of staff Nancy-Ann DeParle and Alyssa Mastromonaco both are thought to have the trust and admiration of the president, and could be frontrunners for the post. The Commerce Department has been led by Rebecca Blank on an acting basis since last summer, when John Bryson resigned following a seizure that resulted in two hit-and-run accidents. Xerox chief executive Ursula Burns, who like Chenault is thought to be under consideration and could be a particularly attractive pick if the president is concerned about diversity. Other possibilities for the post include Ron Kirk, the current U.S. Trade Representative and former Dallas mayor; and Fred Hochberg, the director of the Export-Import Bank. The President may also be filling top positions at the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation, and Department of Energy.
benton.org/node/142510 | Hill, The
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
PROTEST IN CHINA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Edward Wong]
Hundreds of people gathered outside the headquarters of a newspaper company in southern China on Jan 7, intensifying a battle over media censorship that poses a test of the willingness of China’s new leadership to tolerate calls for change. The demonstration was an outpouring of support for journalists at the relatively liberal newspaper Southern Weekend, who erupted in fury late last week over what they called overbearing interference by local propaganda officials. At the same time, the embattled newsroom received backing on the Internet from celebrities and other prominent commentators that turned what began as a local censorship dispute into a national display of solidarity. Disputes between media organizations and local party leaders over the limits of reporting and expressions of opinion are common in China, but rarely emerge into public view. This time, calls to support the frustrated journalists spread quickly in Chinese online forums over the weekend, and those who showed up outside the media offices in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, ran the gamut from high school and university students to retirees.
benton.org/node/142517 | New York Times | WSJ | CSM
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CREATIVE COMMONS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Lawrence Lessig]
[Commentary] It has been a decade since lawyers and technologists formed the nonprofit corporation Creative Commons to help artists and authors share their work with each other and the world. Creative Commons offered free copyright licenses, tied to underlying computer code that made it simpler for artists and authors to signal the freedoms they want their creativity to carry to prospective users and the world. Very quickly, a wide range of creators, including scientists, scholars, educators, musicians, bloggers, photographers and filmmakers began using these licenses to make their works more freely available—legally, and within the protective contours of traditional copyright. The resulting explosion of shared material today includes hundreds of millions of photos on Flickr, tens of thousands of "open access" scholarly articles, thousands of videos on YouTube and Blip.tv, and the heart of all free culture, Wikipedia. For most of us in the West, this movement has supported a new era of creative excitement and intellectual freedom. In some parts of the world, however, the cost of supporting this movement to share information has been high.
benton.org/node/142516 | Wall Street Journal
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SUPERFAST AND THE FURIOUS
[SOURCE: Policy Exchange, AUTHOR: Sarah Fink, Chris Yu]
The Superfast and the Furious argues that politicians have become overly focused on broadband speeds. The internet is central to modern life, and next generation fixed and mobile broadband are unquestionably vitally important for the economy. But the case for spending any more taxpayers' money to subsidize very fast connectivity is weak. The report suggests an end to government subsidies for broadband infrastructure once current commitments are reached in 2015. Instead the government should focus on helping the 10.8 million people not online - half of whom are over 65 - and do more to help small businesses make the most of the opportunities presented by the internet. New polling of 2,000 people and 500 businesses by Ipsos MORI for Policy Exchange found:
Only a third of people (31%) are confident they could choose the best broadband deal for their household. Overall, price and reliability matter to people as much as speed
Two thirds of people (64%) think that good basic broadband coverage for the whole country is more important than chasing very fast speeds in some areas at the expense of others
Four in five people (79%) think that every household should be able to have access to the internet, but only a quarter (24%) think it is fair for people in remote areas to pay more
People are split (49% vs. 49%) on whether it is more important to invest in connectivity, even if it means more masts and street cabinets, or to preserve neighborhoods and the environment, even if this constrains broadband speeds and coverage
The vast majority of small businesses have a web presence (79%) but still only a minority are ready to take bookings (34%) or accept payments (36%) online
The report says that the government should see out its current spending plans to extend superfast fixed broadband to 90 per cent of the country, to accelerate the roll out of 4G wireless networks, and to deliver on the 2Mbps universal service commitment for 2015. However, once this program is completed, the priority for any further use of taxpayers' money must be on empowering consumers and businesses to make best use of the internet. Combined with a relentless focus on effective, sustainable competition, this will ensure that supply and demand are free to drive the private sector broadband investment and innovation that people want.
benton.org/node/142479 | Policy Exchange
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