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The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has awarded a $7 million grant to the Digital Convergence Alliance (DCA), comprising 11 public television stations that serve communities in Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Illinois, to combine their operations into a single master control location.
Specifically, CPB’s grant will allow the DCA to establish a Network Operating Center, resulting in lower direct costs and a projected savings of more than $20 million over 10 years. The members of the Digital Convergence Alliance currently include: WJCT (Jacksonville, Fla.); WFSU (Tallahassee, Fla.); WEDU (Tampa, Fla.); WUCF (Orlando, Fla.); WBCC (Cocoa Beach, Fla.); WFSG (Panama City, Fla.); WPBT (Miami, Fla.); WPBA (Atlanta, Ga.); WTTW (Chicago, Ill.); WILL (Urbana, Ill.); and KERA (Dallas, Texas). The DCA selected Jacksonville, Florida, as the location for the Network Operating Center and contracted with JCT Services, Inc. to manage the operation.
Public Television Stations to Consolidate Broadcasting Operations
Recently, there has been some opining regarding Verizon New York and New Jersey’s deployment of Verizon Voice Link services to Fire Island and parts of New Jersey, where our communications network suffered devastating damage.
In addition to unlimited nationwide calling, Verizon Voice Link also offers key features like Call Waiting, Call Forwarding (includes no answer/busy transfer), 3-Way Calling, Voice Mail (*86), 411, Caller ID (with Return Call *69), and Caller ID Block. More importantly Verizon Voice Link offers the same E911 capabilities as traditional wireline service. All of this is offered at a price no higher than what customers were paying for their wireline service. Sandy was a terrible tragedy. Our managers and technicians worked tirelessly and expeditiously to ensure that we restored communications capabilities to our customers in a timely and efficient manner. We will continue our efforts to provide all of our customers with superior service and the best technologies. To be clear, since the immediate aftermath of the storm, Verizon has communicated regularly with its customers, as well as local, state and federal policymakers regarding our restoration plans. We have attended many civic meetings and have installed Verizon Voice Link demonstration units for customers to try. Our decision to deploy this innovative solution has been well communicated both through these meetings as well as in the media. In addition, as part of our ongoing communications with the Federal Communications Commission, we have been working with the FCC for some time on filing the appropriate discontinuance filings and other notices for the affected services.
The Fire Island Voice Link Solution
As social media sites pursue advertising in a bid for new revenue, they are finding that they must simultaneously create a safe space for the advertisers they attract. With the money, they are discovering, comes responsibility.
Facebook learned that the hard way last week. After failed attempts to get the social network to remove pages glorifying violence against women, feminist activists waged a digital media campaign that highlighted marketers whose ads were found alongside those pages. Nissan and several smaller advertisers temporarily removed their ads from the site. Amid mounting public pressure, Facebook acknowledged that its systems to identify and remove such content had not worked effectively and promised to improve those processes. The company began removing the pages in question. The episode underscored a conundrum for social media sites forged from the philosophy that free speech should thrive on the Internet: will they be able control content created by their users, so that advertisers are not embarrassed by material beyond their control?
As Social Media Sites Thrive, Advertisers Seek More Control of Their Brand
Should governments block websites that spread hardline ideology but don’t explicitly advocate violence—like the ones likely read by the Tsarnaev brothers, the alleged Boston Marathon bombers, or the two men being held for allegedly attacking a British soldier in Woolrich?
This is an idea that Theresa May, Britain’s home secretary, has floated in the wake of the fatal knife and machete attack earlier this month on off-duty soldier Lee Rigby, and it’s an idea under serious consideration by a task force headed by Prime Minister David Cameron. “There is no doubt that people are able to watch things through the Internet which can lead to radicalization,” May told the BBC. ”We need to see if we should be doing more; we need to see if there are additional steps we should be taking to prevent radicalization.” Her suggested remedy is a three-pronged approach: ban more organizations and Muslim schools that the government believes are inciting hate; block extremist websites, and revive the Communications Data Bill, which would which would require Internet service providers and mobile companies to keep records of every user’s browsing activities, email correspondences, and texts for 12 months.
UK considers stepping up Internet blocking
Apple and major publishers conspired in a scheme to fix prices on e-books, costing consumers hundreds of millions of dollars, a U.S. Justice Department attorney argued during the first day of a marquee antitrust trial.
In April 2010, when Apple launched its online bookstore, prices jumped 50%, Justice Department lawyer Lawrence Buterman said during his opening statement for the government. "This dramatic price increase was no accident," Buterman said. "Apple knowingly and actively participated in a scheme to raise e-book prices." Apple's attorney, however, launched into a vigorous defense, saying the government was drawing "sinister inferences" from out-of-context, misquoted e-mail excerpts. Orin Snyder, said Apple merely helped bring innovation to a broken e-book market, and engaged in no conspiracy to fix prices. Consumers ultimately benefited, he said.
Government says Apple conspiracy raised prices Apple e-book trial begins with focus on Jobs’s role (Washington Post) Apple Says DOJ Is Trying to “Reverse Engineer a Conspiracy” in E-Books Case (WSJ) US Cites Phone Calls in Apple Pricing Case (NYTimes) Apple denies conspiracy in e-book pricing trial: “Publishers fought (us) tooth and nail” (paidContent.org) Apple denies charges over ebook prices (Financial Times) Apple characterized as bully in opening of e-books trial (AP) Apple Battles E-Books Pricing Claims in Antitrust Trial (Bloomberg)
The volume of malware targeted at mobile devices surged nearly 40% in the first quarter of 2013, according to researchers at security solutions provider McAfee.
Although the growth rate dropped slightly from the previous two quarters, McAfee researchers said the number of mobile attacks remained on course to top 2012 numbers. The company’s quarterly threat report also noted that mobile malware had spread to countries such as South Korea and India. South Koreans were targeted by an app that forwarded and deleted text messages. It was disguised as an app to receive mobile coupons for a coffee chain. Overall malware growth across all computing devices totaled about 15 million new pieces of malicious attacks entering McAfee’s “zoo” in the first three months of 2013.
Hackers are increasingly targeting Android devices, McAfee warns
South Carolina Republican legislators -- Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott and Reps. Joe Wilson, Jeff Duncan, Trey Gowdy, Mick Mulvaney and Tom Rice -- have written to Acting Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn to say that the FCC should be able to repack TV stations after the incentive auctions using the $1.75 billion set aside for the move by Congress.
Broadcasters are concerned that rather than budgeting the money to cover all the moves, the FCC might run out and then put the cost on broadcasters. "The $1.75 billion figure should give the Commission all the flexibility it needs to repack hundreds of stations, if necessary, while working with those broadcasters who elect to continue to serve their local communities, especially outlying rural areas. The FCC is targeting urban areas where spectrum is in greater demand, so rural areas are more likely not be asked -- or allowed, in some cases -- to put up spectrum for auction," the legislators said. The legislators also asked the FCC to limit the number of stations repacked and perhaps even save excess money from that $1.75 billion to return to the Federal Treasury.
South Carolina Republican Legislators Ask FCC to Stick to Repacking Budget
If the Department of Energy insists on regulating set-top box energy efficiency standards, it would foreclose innovation and "sabotage" a voluntary agreement among equipment manufacturers and the top pay-TV operators.
In a joint Consumer Electronics Association/National Cable and Telecommunications Association letter, the two lobbying groups point out that while they continue to fight each other over set-tops at the FCC (the CableCARD vs. downloadable security issue notably), they were speaking with one voice on the issue of DOE, and that was a request that it put its regulatory proceeding on pause once again to see how the industry pledge to adhere to Energy Star ratings played out.
NCTA, CEA Say DOE Should Pause Set-Top Regulation Effort
The Jordanian government has blocked local access to about 300 news Web sites under a new law that the sites’ editors and international journalism experts have derided as dangerous censorship aimed at quelling criticism of King Abdullah II.
The law, enacted last September as the opposition to King Abdullah grew more outspoken, requires news sites in the country to register with the government, pay $1,400 in licensing fees and hire unionized journalists as editors, steps that the site operators say they cannot afford. The law also makes editors legally responsible not only for the content of articles they publish but also for comments posted by readers, many of them anonymous. Access to roughly 300 sites was blocked starting on June 2, when Jordanian news outlets were highlighting a paper issued by the king titled “Towards Democratic Empowerment and Active Citizenship.” About 80 people demonstrated in protest outside the journalists’ union on June 3, carrying signs saying, “No to the muzzling of online media.” There were plans for another demonstration outside Parliament on June 6.
Jordan Blocks Local Access to 300 News Web Sites
France finally put an end to the most extreme measure of its famous “three strikes” anti-piracy regime: no one will face being cut off from the Internet.
The law is better known by its French acronym, Hadopi. In the last few years under the law, the Hadopi agency famously set up a system with graduating levels of warnings and fines. The threat of being cut off entirely from the Internet was the highest degree, but that penalty was never actually put into place. “Getting rid of the cut-offs and those damned winged elephants is a good thing. They're very costly,” said Joe McNamee of European Digital Rights.
France removes Internet cut-off threat from its anti-piracy law