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Sprint Nextel raised objections over Dish Network's tender offer to acquire Clearwire, saying the bid is "not actionable", continuing the complicated drama over control of the mobile broadband provider that is majority-owned by Sprint.
In a letter to Clearwire's board, Sprint said Dish's bid of $4.40 a share for Clearwire last week—made just before a planned shareholder vote on a buyout by Sprint—isn't workable without Sprint's approval. Sprint, which has had disagreements with network partner Clearwire, says that Dish is requesting certain governance rights from Clearwire that can't be legally handed over without consent of Sprint and some other shareholders. "Sprint will enforce its legal and contractual rights. Thus, the Dish proposal is not actionable," the letter, signed by Sprint Chief Executive Dan Hesse, says. A Clearwire spokeswoman said a special committee of the company's board is continuing its review of the Dish bid and hasn't yet made a determination to change its recommendation for the Sprint deal. Clearwire won't make further comments until the review is complete, she said. In its letter, Sprint seemed to be reminding Clearwire of their relationship, noting that Clearwire cannot "simply take away those rights when convenient to benefit a minority stockholder that finds such bargained-for rights inconvenient or limiting to its desire to extract extra gain."
Sprint Questions Dish-Clearwire Bid Sprint says Dish’s offer for Clearwire is illegal (GigaOm)
Apple’s showdown with the Justice Department on alleged price-fixing of e-books begins June 3, in a case closely watched across media and entertainment industries grappling with their transitions to digital businesses.
It is rare for a Justice antitrust suit to go to court; the five major publishing houses that were sued along with Apple have all settled with the government. The government’s suit, filed one year ago, has not significantly altered prices of e-books for consumers so far. But analysts say the case is significant because it shows federal officials are stepping up their patrol of the largely unregulated digital economy. As opening arguments take place in the no-technology Manhattan courtroom of the U.S. District Court, here are five key things to watch from the first day of trial: Witnesses, Apple on Amazon, Schedule and more witnesses, Dirty laundry and secrets, and Future.
Apple e-book trial: 5 things to watch for Justice Department releases slides showing alleged Apple e-book conspiracy (paidContent.org)
Julius Genachowski, the former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, believes his agency should not back down from regulating new technologies.
"The world isn't slowing down and waiting for debates about authority to get resolved," Genachowski said on an episode of C-SPAN's "The Communicators" over the weekend. "I think it would be a mistake for the U.S. economy, a mistake for our global competitiveness, for the FCC to slow down."
Genachowski: Mistake to slow down regulations
Comcast senior VP Thomas Nagel plans to tell a Senate Communications Subcommittee panel that getting more unlicensed spectrum is crucial to cable and the country.
"Further growth in data consumption via unlicensed technologies simply cannot occur unless service providers have access to more unlicensed spectrum," he says, according to a copy of his testimony for a June 4 hearing on the State of Wireless Communications. Nagel argues that setting aside more unlicensed wireless or loosening the regulations on unlicensed "does not mean undermining licensed technologies." He praises the Federal Communications Commission's proposals to make it easier to deploy next-generation unlicensed technology in the 5 GHz band, and the incentive auction proposal that includes unlicensed set-asides.
Comcast: Crucial for Government to Free Up More Unlicensed Wireless
Sixteen projects funded through NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) will be honored tonight for being selected as 2013 Computerworld Honor Laureates.
In its 25th year, the Computerworld Honors Program recognizes achievements in 11 award categories. The Recovery Act-funded BTOP and State Broadband Initiative (SBI) grant recipients selected as Laureates are honored in seven of these categories: Collaboration, Economic Development, Emerging Technology, Human Services, Innovation, Mobile Access, and Philanthropy. This year, 22 judges selected 269 Laureates from more than 700 nominations, representing 29 countries. Recognition by the Computerworld Honors Program emphasizes the impact NTIA’s broadband programs are already having in communities across the country. Our award recipients are bridging the digital divide and their long-term impacts are undeniable. It is our hope that the grants will continue to empower and enable our recipients to move broadband forward through increased access to computers and broadband services.
16 BTOP Projects Honored as Broadband “Heroes”
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issues this Notice on behalf of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) as part of its annual process to seek expressions of interest from individuals who would like to serve on the FirstNet Board.
When the Acting Secretary of Commerce made the initial appointments to the Board last August 20, 2012, by law, four of the 12 appointments of nonpermanent members were for one-year terms. While the Secretary of Commerce has the discretion to reappoint individuals to serve on the FirstNet Board provided they have not served two consecutive full three-year terms,3 NTIA issues this Notice in case the Secretary will need to fill any vacancies on the Board at the time the one-year terms expire on August 19, 2013. Expressions of interest for appointment to the FirstNet Board will be accepted until June 14, 2013.
Recruitment of First Responder Network Authority Board of Directors
Despite some concerns regarding former ties between some appointed board members of the First Responder Network Authority and leading U.S. mobile operators, a FirstNet spokeswoman says there are no conflicts of interest that might impact development of the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN).
Some observers allege that a cozy relationship exists between certain FirstNet board members representing telecom interests and mobile carriers, particularly Verizon Wireless, and that a secret plan has been drawn up under which the NPSBN will be built out using Verizon's network resources. During a regional meeting held in Denver during late May, FirstNet board member Jeff Johnson denied that the authority has already created a business plan or has decided upon the network design. "You'll know when we have a plan when we vote on it," he said. However, FirstNet Chairman Sam Ginn's financial history with AirTouch Communications continues to fuel rumors of potential conflicts. AirTouch eventually morphed into what is now Verizon Wireless.
FirstNet claims Verizon ties are not influencing its plans
SAG-AFTRA members overwhelmingly approved new, three-year contracts negotiated with the advertising industry covering commercials.
The 2013 SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract and 2013 SAG-AFTRA Radio Recorded Commercials Contract are the first major contracts negotiated by SAG-AFTRA as one union since merger in March 2012. The contracts cover performers working in commercials made for and reused on television, radio, the Internet and new media, and will result in wage increases and other payments totaling $238 million for all categories of performers, improvements in cable use fees, increases in payments for work on the Internet and new media platforms, an increase in the late payment fee, and an increase in contributions to the health and pension/retirement plans. The approved agreements also achieved recognition for the new union, merged the previous SAG and AFTRA television contracts into a single contract, and renamed the radio contract as a SAG-AFTRA contract. Overall, the membership of SAG-AFTRA voted 96 percent in favor of the new agreements. Integrity Voting Systems, an impartial election service based in Everett, Wash., facilitated the voting and certified the final count today. The new contracts go into effect immediately, retroactive to April 1, 2013, and remain in force until June 30, 2016.
SAG-AFTRA Members Approve New Commercials Contract
Cable One said that it will eliminate data plans with overage fees as of June 10 as it launches two new higher speed cable modem tiers and raises the ceiling on monthly consumption limits.
In 2011, Cable One introduced a policy that charged 50 cents per Gigabyte when customers used more than their monthly allotment of 100 GB per month for the MSO's 50 Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 high-speed Internet That fee-based policy goes away next week as Cable One expands its monthly usage cap to 300GB for its 50 Meg service. In tandem, the MSO is also launching two new tiers that offer downstream speeds up to 60 Mbps and 70 Mbps and are paired with higher monthly usage ceilings. The 60 Mbps comes with a monthly ceiling of 400 GB, while customers who sign up for the 70 Mbps service get a monthly limit of 500 GB, a company spokeswoman said. Under the new, fee-free policy, if a customer exceeds the monthly usage ceiling “they will receive multiple notices letting them know they’ve gone over as well as tools and tips to monitor their usage,” the Cable One spokeswoman said via email. “If they continue to go over, we’ll invite them to move to a plan with a bigger data guideline.”
Cable One Eliminates Broadband Overage Fees
In the last presidential race, Obama for America 2012 campaign workers had an idea for an email initiative. They wanted to send supporters emails that would include other people's names and phone numbers, with instructions to call them and make sure they went to the polls. The campaign believed that doing so would have been legal, but nonetheless decided against it, according to Rayid Ghani, chief scientist of the Obama for America 2012 campaign. Speaking at a conference on Friday about data and political campaigns, Ghana said that campaigns, in some respects, “stay far away from the boundary” of what might offend voters, or draw criticisms in the press. “We couldn't do the whole experiment we wanted to do, because people were really worried about sending out personal information over e-mail,” he said.
Political Consultants: Campaigns Stay Clear Of Privacy Pitfalls