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June 2, 2013
Source 
Broadcasting&Cable
Author 
John Eggerton
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Television stations may want to re-read their retransmission contracts to see whether they, too, could be subject to distant signal importations. The U.S. Court of Appeals has denied motions for a stay and injunction against Time Warner Cable for retransmitting Nexstar distant signals, agreeing with a Texas district court that Nexstar is not likely to succeed on the merits of its breach of contract claim against Time Warner Cable. Nexstar said that the language in its retrans consent agreement (RCA) did not apply to delivering signals outside a market, while TWC said it granted broad carriage rights. The Texas district court, in denying to enjoin Nexstar, agreed with TWC that the contract provided those broad rights and the Fifth Circuit affirmed that decision.

Appeals Court Affirms Decision to Deny Nexstar Injunction Against Time Warner Cable

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June 2, 2013
Source 
GigaOm
Author 
Kevin Fitchard
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Huawei has done quite well for itself without landing a single major U.S. infrastructure deal. Domestic operators may have resisted Huawei’s allure, but carriers in Canada, Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa certainly haven’t. By some measurements, Huawei has already surpassed Ericsson as the largest telecom vendor in the world. Huawei may not need the U.S. to be successful, but the U.S. needs Huawei if it wants to keep the telecom equipment market competitive.

Why the US needs Huawei more than Huawei needs the US

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June 2, 2013
Source 
GigaOm
Author 
Kevin Fitchard
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

For $20 a month U.S. Cellular will sell you a home phone line starting June 7. No, U.S. Cellular isn’t becoming a local phone company. It’s using its CDMA cellular network instead of copper wires to deliver calls to wired and cordless phones. Simply called Home Phone, the service is the same as Verizon’s Home Phone Connect or Sprint’s Connect 2 – a way of squeezing whatever life is left out of the home voice market. As more and more traffic migrates over to data networks, carriers are finding they have a lot of excess space on their voice networks. Why not put that capacity to use in the residential market?

US Cellular to start selling a home phone service that still uses the mobile network

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June 2, 2013
Source 
MediaPost
Author 
Gavin O'Malley
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

CBS has acquired full ownership of TV Guide Digital, including TVGuide.com and all TV Guide Mobile apps. In March, CBS and Lionsgate each acquired a 50% stake in TV Guide Digital from One Equity Partners for a reported $100 million.

CBS Gains Full Ownership Of TV Guide Digital

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June 2, 2013
Source 
telecompetitor
Author 
Andrew Burger
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Americans spend an average 58 minutes each day using their smartphones – 26% of the time talking, 20% texting, 16% on social networks and 14% browsing the mobile Web, according to new data from Experian Marketing Services’ Simmons Connect mobile and digital panel.

E-mailing and playing games took up around 9% and 8%, respectively, of the time Americans spent using their smartphones, while using smartphone cameras and GPS each accounted for another 2% of usage time, Experian found. Experian also found “clear differences” in usage patterns between different mobile operating systems (OS). For instance, iPhone users spend 75 minutes each day using their devices, “a full 26 minutes more than the typical Android phone owner.”

Report: Americans Spend Almost an Hour a Day Using Smartphones

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June 2, 2013
Source 
IDG News Service
Author 
John Ribeiro
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

The US government has lifted sanctions on the export of a variety of consumer communications devices, software, and services including mobile phones to Iran ahead of elections in that country.

The US Department of the Treasury, in consultation with the U.S. Department of State, has issued a license authorizing the export to Iran of certain personal communications services, software, and hardware. Exports of the devices to Iran had been blocked since the 1990s, but the U.S. government now holds that the new license aims to empower the Iranian people as their government intensifies its efforts to stifle their access to information. The export of the equipment to the Iranian government or to any individual or entity on a Specially Designated Nationals list continued to be prohibited. "As the Iranian government attempts to silence its people by cutting off their communication with each other and the rest of the world, the United States will continue to take action to help the Iranian people exercise their universal human rights, including the right to freedom of expression," according to a statement by the two U.S. departments. The license, which came into effect May 30, allows for the export and re-export from the U.S. of fee-based services, software and hardware required for personal communications over the Internet, including instant messaging, email, chat, social networking, sharing of photos and movies, web browsing and blogging.

US allows export of communication devices, software, and services to Iran

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June 2, 2013
Source 
Free Press
Author 
Derek Turner
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Consumers aren’t the only ones who are force-fed bundles of pay-TV channels they don’t want just to get the ones they are interested in. Cable providers are in the exact same position.

Consider, for example, the recent dispute between Cablevision and Viacom. Cablevision wanted to carry Viacom’s popular “must-have” channels aimed at children (Nickelodeon), young adults (MTV), African-American audiences (BET) and comedy audiences (Comedy Central). Viacom told Cablevision that to get these channels it also had to purchase and place on its entry-level tier more than a dozen unpopular channels (such as CMT Pure Country, TeenNick, and VH1 Soul). Viacom doesn’t care that VH1 Soul’s ratings declined by 75 percent from 2010–2012. Viacom simply told Cablevision that if it wanted only the popular channels, it could have them — for one billion dollars more than the price of the entire bundle. The cable industry calls this practice “wholesale bundling.” But antitrust law has another term for it: illegal product tying. It’s easy to see why large programmers like Viacom are so enamored of the wholesale bundling model. Because its fees are not directly related to the size of each channel’s viewing audience, programmers can earn healthy profit margins simply by repackaging low-cost content and forcing distributors to carry these low-demand channels on their entry-level tier.

Broadcast, Broadband and Bundle Bloat

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Submitted on May 31, 2013

On July 11, 1934, Eugene O. Sykes became the first chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He held the post until March 8, 1935 when Anning S. Prall rose to be chair. Since then, each succeeding FCC chair has been a man – that is, until May 20, 2013, when Mignon Clyburn became the Acting Chairwoman of the commission.

Chairwoman Clyburn becomes the third FCC chair of the Obama presidency after Acting Chairman Michael Copps and Julius Genachowski. Chairwoman Clyburn began her service at the FCC in August, 2009, after spending 11 years as a member of the sixth district on the Public Service Commission (PSC) of South Carolina. She served as its chair from July 2002 through June 2004. Prior to her service on the PSC, Clyburn was the publisher and general manager of The Coastal Times, a Charleston-based weekly newspaper that focused primarily on issues affecting the African American community. She co-owned and operated the family-founded newspaper for 14 years. Chairwoman Clyburn is the daughter of Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), the Assistant Democratic Leader and third-ranking Democrat in the House behind House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD).

As Commissioner Clyburn assumed the FCC chairmanship, The Hill said she “is known as a liberal on the five-member commission and is a vocal advocate for media diversity and the commission's social welfare programs.” Joseph Torres, the senior external affairs director of Free Press, noted that as a commissioner, Clyburn has defended the Lifeline program — which provides access to basic phone service for poor households — against political attacks. And she’s spoken out against the unlawful practice of charging predatory rates for phone calls that prisoners make to families and friends.

Even though her chairmanship may be just a few months long as the Senate considers the nomination of Tom Wheeler, Washington watchers are wondering what Chairwoman Clyburn’s agenda will be.

On May 20, in a statement to the FCC staff, Chairwoman Clyburn indicated what her priorities are: “continuity and progress.” She described herself as a member of a relay team -- "My job is to build on forward momentum, give the next teammate a running start, an improved position, and no matter what, my goal is not to drop the baton.” Fellow commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai saluted Chairwoman Clyburn’s commitment to the public interest and pledged to work with her in the coming months.

In accordance with Murphy’s Law, Chairwoman Clyburn was not in complete control of FCC-related news on her first day. In what is perhaps a good omen, Chairwoman Clyburn got to comment on good news for the FCC when the Supreme Court ruled in the commission’s favor in City of Arlington (TX) v. FCC. The FCC’s high-profile attempt to defend its network neutrality rules against a court challenge got major support, court observers say, as the Court ruled that regulatory agencies should usually be granted deference in interpreting their own jurisdictions. In a 6-to-3 decision, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that in cases where Congress has left ambiguous the outlines of a regulatory agency’s jurisdiction, “the court must defer to the administering agency’s construction of the statute so long as it is permissible.” Chairwoman Clyburn said, “I am pleased that, as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision today, one of the Commission’s major achievements in promoting broadband access will continue to protect consumers and drive investment. Removing obstacles to the timely build-out of wireless broadband services remains a key priority.” The ruling could have big implications for Verizon v. FCC, in which Verizon challenged the FCC’s Open Internet Order, its rules on network neutrality. Those rules say that an Internet service provider must treat all traffic on its system roughly equally, not giving priority to any one type of data or application as it moves through the provider’s Internet pipes. That case is pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

On May 21, Chairwoman Clyburn was in Las Vegas to give her first address as FCC chair. “They say the first rule of being an Acting Chair, is not to take unnecessary gambles or risks. So on my first full day, what do I do? Hop on a plane for Las Vegas,” she joked to attendees of CTIA 2013, a wireless industry conference. The speech, The Verge noted, however, definitely wasn't taking big risks, staying unwaveringly on-message with the speeches that just-departed Chairman Genachowski delivered at CTIA and elsewhere in years past. She noted that 97 percent of American wireless consumers now receive usage alerts to mitigate bill shock, for example. She noted that the wireless incentive auction — intended to pay television broadcasters for spectrum that can be reused for broadband — is on track for 2014. The take-home quote for many: “We have taken a light regulatory touch, but have ‘touched’ when necessary to ensure clear rules of the road and fair play.” She stressed that the FCC will continue to “work hard to ensure that all Americans are served and are served by a competitive and fair environment.”

The relay race metaphor is apropos for a couple of recent announcements from the FCC about continuing work in universal service reform and meeting the information needs of communities.

  • On May 22, Chairwoman Clyburn announced a public-private effort to connect hundreds of thousands of Americans to high-speed broadband as a result of the second release of Phase I funds of the Connect America Fund. The fund will offer up to $485 million to expand fixed broadband in rural America. The additional investment will leverage millions in additional private investment to quickly serve rural areas currently lacking access to high-speed broadband. This additional investment comes as the FCC moves into Phase II of the Connect America Fund, created in the historic overhaul and reform of the FCC’s traditional universal service program for rural voice service. Phase II will provide ongoing annual support of $1.8 billion for both voice and broadband service, all without increasing growth in the fund. Any funding not accepted in Phase 1 will be used to connect unserved communities in Phase II. Total FCC investment in expansion and support of rural fixed and mobile broadband and voice through universal service is budgeted at $4.5 billion. Chairwoman Clyburn said, “We take significant steps to connect these unserved communities and consumers today, and in so doing are moving another step closer to fulfilling goals set forth in our historical overhaul of the high-cost Universal Service Fund: to ensure that all Americans have access to voice and broadband services. Comprehensive reforms made this Order possible, and I want to thank former Chairman Genachowski for his leadership on these issues.”
  • On May 24, the FCC’s Office of Communications Business Opportunities (OCBO) released the Research Design for the Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs. To develop policies that ensure that the critical informational needs of Americans are being met and that would advance the goal of diversity, including the promotion of greater women and minority participation in media, the FCC needs to conduct or commission research that illuminates the diversity of views available to local communities, the diversity of sources in local markets and the diversity of critical information needs of the American public, including women and minorities. This Research Design provides the commission with a research tool to examine in a variety of markets how the public acquires critical information, how the media eco-system operates to provide critical information, and what barriers exist to participation. The Research Design and subsequent studies are intended to inform the Commission’s 2012 report to Congress on barriers to participation, also known as the Section 257 Report. Section 257 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, requires that the Commission review and report to Congress on: (1) regulations prescribed to eliminate market entry barriers for entrepreneurs and other small businesses in the provision and ownership of telecommunications and information services or in the provision of parts or services to providers of those services and that can be prescribed consistent with the public interest, convenience and necessity; and (2) proposals to eliminate statutory barriers to market entry by those entities, consistent with the public interest, convenience, and necessity. Although it was commissioned pursuant to Section 257, analysis resulting from the University of Southern California (USC) Literature Review and the Critical Information Needs Studies will be relevant to the commission’s future analysis of broadcast ownership issues in upcoming Quadrennial Reviews, including issues related to minority and female ownership. With the release, Chairwoman Clyburn said, “The FCC has a duty to make sure that the industries it regulates serve the needs of the American public no matter where they live or what financial resources they have. The research design we announce today is an important next step in understanding what those needs are, how Americans obtain the information critical to their daily lives in a dynamic technological environment, and what barriers exist in our media ecologies to providing and accessing this information.”

Finally, we share with you a quick look at Chairwoman Clyburn’s new staff – announced on May 30. Chairman Clyburn appointed P. Michele Ellison, currently chief of the Enforcement Bureau, as Chief of Staff. Dave Grimaldi will serve as Chief Counsel and Senior Legal Advisor. She also named legal advisors, including Louis Peraertz for wireless, international, and public safety issues; Rebekah Goodheart for wireline issues; and Sarah Whitesell, currently Deputy Bureau Chief of the Media Bureau, for media issues. Drema Johnson will serve as Confidential Assistant. Dorothy Givens-Terry will serve as Special Assistant. Carol Lott and DeeAnn Smith will serve as Staff Assistants.

  • Ellison previously served as Chief of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, which is responsible for effectively carrying out the agency’s rules and orders. Previously, Ellison was Acting General Counsel of the agency, where she served as primary legal counsel to the Commission and prior to that, she served as Deputy General Counsel for twelve years. She has counseled the Commissioners and other senior staff on legal issues related to the regulation of the various communications industries, including advising on litigation risks associated with rulemaking and adjudicatory decisions.
  • Grimaldi previously served as Chief of Staff in then Commissioner Clyburn’s office after serving as Senior Counsel to House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC) on technology and telecommunications, foreign affairs, and financial services regulation. He previously counseled corporate, financial and non-profit clients as Senior Counsel at The Raben Group and served as Legislative Counsel to Representative Ed Towns (D-NY), on the House Commerce Committee and its Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.
  • Peraertz joined then Commissioner Clyburn’s staff in October 2009. Prior to this, he served as Special Counsel in the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau focusing on competition, spectrum allocation, and infrastructure policy issues. Peraertz began his communications career in the Office of General Counsel where, among other things, he represented the Commission in several cases before courts of appeal.
  • Goodheart has worked at the Commission since January 2008. She served as Deputy Director of the Technology Transitions Policy Task Force and Associate Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau. Goodheart previously served as a Senior Policy Advisor for the Omnibus Broadband Initiative, developing many of the recommendations in National Broadband Plan. She also served as Assistant Division Chief in the Industry Analysis Division of the Media Bureau.
  • Whitesell previously served as Deputy Bureau Chief of the Media Bureau, where she shaped policies for the media marketplace on broadcast ownership, children's issues, and media transactions, among other matters. Prior to joining the Bureau in 2005, she served as Associate Chief of the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis, Associate Chief of the Cable Bureau, Acting Legal Advisor to Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein on media issues and Legal Advisor to Commissioner Gloria Tristani for common carrier issues. Whitesell has also served as a member of the Telecommunications Task Force for the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division.
  • Johnson is responsible for managing the office as well as the Acting Chairwoman’s personal schedule and travel arrangements. She previously served as Special Assistant to former House Speaker Thomas S. Foley and as Confidential Assistant to former FCC Chairman William Kennard.
  • Smith joined the agency in 2009 and will continue to assist in carrying out the mission of the Clyburn office and the agency. She has an extensive administrative background, including experience in the legal and marketing industries.
  • Terry is an experienced researcher, interviewer, reporter and entrepreneur. She spent a number of years at Pepco Holdings, Inc., Computing Technologies, on the Hill and in the newsrooms of two daily papers.
  • Carol Lott brings more than 26 years of administrative and office management experience to the Acting Chief of Staff as a Special Assistant. The Administrative Management Specialist in the Enforcement Bureau previously served as a senior staff assistant in the Chairman’s office, the Executive Administrator and Office Manager for Temple Strategies and an Executive Assistant in the Office of General Counsel.

The “glass ceiling” is a concept that betrays America’s most cherished principles. It is the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to positions of leadership, regardless of their qualifications or achievements. Sadly, it took nearly 79 years for a woman to become chair of the FCC and this first chairwoman has "Acting" in front of her title. Nevertheless, the move suggests progress and we are excited to track Chairwoman Clyburn’s record. In the meantime, we’ll see you in the Headlines.

May 31, 2013 (AG Holder Pledges Shifts on Media)

Sorry we're late this morning.

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2013

A look at events on the June calendar http://benton.org/calendar/2013-06/


GOVERNMENT & COMMUNINICATIONS
   AG Holder Pledges Shifts on Media
   A Double-Trouble Scandal for Obama - editorial
   Shielding journalists, by law - editorial

OWNERSHIP
   Broadcasters: Impact of Cross-Ownership on Minority/Female Ownership 'Probably Negligible'
   Warren Buffett's newspaper group to buy The Roanoke Times [links to web]
   Chicago Sun-Times cuts entire photography staff [links to web]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Dish Makes a Play For Clearwire That May Stymie Sprint
   What’s Behind Dish’s Higher Bid for Clearwire? - analysis
   House panel to take up cellphone unlocking bill [links to web]
   NAB/CEA Urge FCC to Create Spectrum Coordination Task Force [links to web]
   US Cellular spectrum partner bewails absence of Band 12 in Apple's iPhone [links to web]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   FCC Refutes Verizon Network Neutrality Argument
   The Industrial Internet: The next great economic revolution [links to web]
   Internet cafes in Ohio face ban [links to web]

CONTENT
   Hate Speech on Facebook - editorial
   YouTube runs a reform school for copyright violations [links to web]
   Netflix wants to spend up to 15 percent of its content cash on originals [links to web]

TELEVISION
   NAB Defends Joint Retransmission Negotiations [links to web]
   Fanhattan unveils radically different approach to cable boxes [links to web]

CYBERSECURITY
   Why cyberwarfare is the great equalizer - op-ed [links to web]
   The Human Side of Cyber Threats - op-ed [links to web]

ACCESSIBILITY
   National Federation of the Blind, MPAA join forces to back book treaty [links to web]

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
   Adding Insult to Injury for Sandy Victims: 911 Calls May Not Go Through on New Verizon Phone Service - analysis
   New York City’s 911 Operators Use Pen and Paper as Computers Fail [links to web]

POLICYMAKERS
   FCC Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn Makes Staff Announcements - press release [links to web]
   Rand Paul Seeks Silicon Valley Funds [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Is Venezuela's opposition TV channel bowing to government pressure? [links to web]
   Telecom Italia agrees to separate fixed-line network [links to web]

MORE ONLINE
   Google's Eric Schmidt Invests in Obama's Big Data Brains [links to web]
   All Your Worst Fears About Google Glass Are Coming True, and It's All Your Fault - analysis [links to web]

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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNINICATIONS

AG HOLDER PLEDGES SHIFT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Devlin Barrett]
Attorney General Eric Holder told news editors in a private meeting that he is committed to changing Justice Department guidelines on investigations involving journalists, in the wake of recent controversies over the seizure of reporters' phone and email records. AG Holder and aides said they were open to changing the guidelines the department uses to broaden the circle of officials who have to agree that subpoenas are justified as a last resort. The officials also said they were open to annual reviews with news organizations, according to a Wall Street Journal editor who attended the meeting. Those in attendance at the meeting included editors from The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Daily News, Politico and the New Yorker. The Justice officials said further discussions would be held with other editors, reporters, media attorneys and academics. AG Holder and the other Justice officials told the editors they were committed to protecting the role journalists play in reporting on the government. The department's guidelines haven't been revised in more than two decades, and the officials said they needed to be updated to deal with significant changes in news gathering that have occurred in that time. AG Holder and his aides also said the administration would throw its weight behind an effort to pass a federal media shield law, though such legislation would likely have little impact on the two cases at the center of the current controversy.
benton.org/node/152886 | Wall Street Journal
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DOUBLE-TROUBLE SCANDAL
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Kimberley Strassel]
[Commentary] The facts of the Department of Justice’s press intrusions are clear and uncontested. We know Justice has seized records of reporters, that Attorney General Eric Holder himself signed onto a warrant that suggested a journalist was a "co-conspirator" in a national-security leak. We also know that government has violated its own guidelines on probing journalists. So this is a scandal that can't be ignored or dismissed as a Republican witch hunt. Moreover, it is a scandal that has, for once, outraged two groups that President Barack Obama deeply depends on for his political success: the press and liberal activists. Since the AP story broke, the Beltway media have been doing a passable impression of a credible Fourth Estate. White House press secretary Jay Carney's daily briefings now resemble "Survivor" episodes, with journalists firing off questions, rejecting answers, and even rolling their eyes at responses. The White House's evasiveness on the press scandal has suddenly got the press corps wondering what else this administration isn't being straight on. Will it last? That may depend on how many more revelations about press intrusions come to light. But the notable thing is that President Obama has lost the media's loyalty at this critical moment of his presidency, as other scandals over the IRS and Benghazi continue to swirl. The left and the press have always been with President Obama when it really mattered, and that may well remain the case. The particular significance of Justice's press scandal is that it has deprived Mr. Obama of support at a time when he is vulnerable on so much else. Who knows what will come of that?
benton.org/node/152885 | Wall Street Journal
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SHIELDING JOURNALISTS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] After a firestorm of criticism, the Obama administration is suggesting that it will make amends for its aggressive pursuit of journalists suspected of receiving leaks of classified information. But airy affirmations of the importance of a free press and vague promises of a new look at Justice Department regulations aren't enough. The administration needs to commit itself in specific terms to stronger protections for news gathering that will be embodied in a federal statute. Previous administrations have recognized that the 1st Amendment contemplates a division of labor in which government may seek to keep information secret while the press sets out to uncover secrets in its efforts to keep the public informed about the actions of its leaders. In its zeal to plug leaks of classified information, the Obama administration upended that traditional understanding. It must show by deeds as well as words that it recognizes where it went wrong.
benton.org/node/152884 | Los Angeles Times
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OWNERSHIP

MMTC STUDY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In a study submitted to the Federal Communications Commission, the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council and BIA/Kelsey conclude that it appears that “cross-media interests' impact on minority and women broadcast ownership is not sufficiently material to be a material justification for tightening or retaining the [cross-ownership] rules.” "The results of this study, while not dispositive, do provide evidence that the impact of cross-media ownership on minority and women broadcast ownership is probably negligible," said BIA/Kelsey. One reason they were not dispositive was that the survey was based on only 14 respondents (representing 31 stations) in markets with grandfathered cross-ownership combos and with stations owned by minorities and/or women. BIA/Kelsey conceded more responses would have been preferable, but argued that it was never meant to be a comprehensive, random sample survey of all cross-media combos in markets with minority and women owners. It said the answers it did get were "sufficiently compelling and unambiguous" to support its conclusion of, essentially, no harm, no foul. But there were caveats. MMTC President David Honig pointed out in a letter to the FCC that there was one market in which all the respondents mentioned cross-media interests as having a competitive impact. That came in a medium market with a combination of the only daily newspaper, a full-power TV station and radio stations. A second caveat was that the study only looked at the impact of cross-ownership on diverse ownership.
"MMTC based its conclusions on an opinion survey of existing media owners," said Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood. "This qualitative approach might have yielded some interesting anecdotes, but it's not a substitute for real analysis of likely outcomes from the disastrous rule changes pushed by former [FCC] Chairman [Julius] Genachowski. We'll review the survey, and take part if and when the FCC seeks comment on it. But there's nothing surprising about the fact that MMTC -- a group on the record as supporting more media consolidation -- would design and produce a survey claiming that no harm results from consolidation."
benton.org/node/152873 | Broadcasting&Cable | TVNewsCheck
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

DISH-CLEARWIRE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Thomas Gryta, Shalini Ramachandran, Anton Troianovski]
Dish Network launched a tender for shares of Clearwire, throwing a wrench into a planned purchase of the broadband company by Sprint Nextel. The last-minute move complicates a three-way merger aimed at turning Sprint into a stronger competitor in the U.S. wireless market. Sprint, which agreed to buy the roughly 50% of Clearwire it doesn't already own, also agreed to be bought for $20 billion by SoftBank of Japan. Clearwire delayed its shareholder vote as a result of the bid until June 13, while Sprint's shareholders will vote on the deal with SoftBank on June 12. While Dish stands little chance of taking over Clearwire given Sprint's big shareholdings, it could in theory win enough of a minority stake to create unwanted headaches for Sprint and SoftBank as they try to knit the companies together.
benton.org/node/152883 | Wall Street Journal
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DISH-CLEARWIRE
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
Is Clearwire a diamond in the rough, making it the real prize? Or is Dish just trying to mess with Sprint? Perhaps if Dish’s offer gains strong interest from Clearwire, Dish can use it as a bargaining chip in its efforts to obtain Sprint. Dish’s motivation could be a combination of those two factors. Dish knew when it made its initial offers for Clearwire and Sprint that it faced a huge struggle to obtain either company, as Sprint has many contractual locks on Clearwire — just as Softbank has on Sprint. So it’s not surprising that Dish is trying a wide range of tactics to gain the additional spectrum and expertise it needs — and perhaps those tactics include upping its Clearwire bid as a negotiation ploy with Sprint. But although Clearwire initially may not seem like much of a prize, it has huge spectrum holdings. And even though that spectrum in some markets currently supports WiMax, a technology that didn’t gain much traction in the U.S., concerns such as those are becoming less and less important nowadays. As bandwidth demand continues to climb and with few new sources of spectrum likely to become available any time soon, it’s important not to underestimate the value of Clearwire’s spectrum holdings – even if some of that spectrum would have to be repurposed.
benton.org/node/152864 | telecompetitor
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

NET NEUTRALITY ARGUMENTS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit May 30 that a court decision Verizon presented to the circuit recently to buttress its challenge of network neutrality rules is not on point. In a January filing to the court, the FCC said that Verizon and other broadband providers "do not engage in speech; they transport the speech of others, as a messenger delivers documents containing speech." It drew the distinction between that and "cable systems, newspapers and other curated media," saying that broadband providers "do not exercise editorial discretion." In a filing with the court last week, attorneys for Verizon pointed to National Association of Manufacturers [NAM], et al. v. National Labor Relations Board [NLRB], decided by the D.C. Circuit May 7, to argue that the FCC was wrong. In that decision, the court pointed to what it said were "some firmly established principles of free speech law," including the fact that "the dissemination of messages others have created is entitled to the same level of protection as the 'creation' of messages." In its response, the FCC said that Open Internet rules do not resemble the regulation in the NLRB case, which was a requirement that employers post notices of collective bargaining rights. "The notice was written by the government, with a list of required statements in a specified format," said the FCC, which the court concluded was compelled speech "like a compulsory flag salute or the mandatory display of a license-plate motto." "The Open Internet rules do not resemble that regulation," the FCC said. "Broadband providers need not convey any specific message, let alone a government-designated one. Providers must only refrain from blocking access to web sites of their customers' choice. Indeed, because Internet access service serves principally as a conduit for Internet content, broadband providers are not speakers at all... The Open Internet rules thus affect only the conduct of Internet service providers, not their speech."
benton.org/node/152881 | Broadcasting&Cable
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CONTENT

HATE SPEECH ON FACEBOOK
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Facebook belatedly moved to further restrict hate speech that glorified violence against women after an organized social media campaign caused some companies like Nissan, the automaker, to withhold advertising from the site. The companies said they acted after they became aware that their ads might have appeared next to the offensive content. It was only after advocacy groups like Women, Action & the Media and The Everyday Sexism Project mounted a campaign, sending 5,000 e-mails to Facebook advertisers and coordinating petitions signed by more than 200,000 people, that the company reacted publicly. The company’s slow response may be indicative of a deeper problem in technology and Internet-based companies — most of them are primarily run by men. Facebook is, of course, a notable exception in that its chief operating officer is Sheryl Sandberg, who recently wrote the book “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead.” This episode shows that sexism is a deeply entrenched problem that society has to battle collectively because individual voices far too often go unheeded.
benton.org/node/152879 | New York Times
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

VOICE LINK AND 911
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Jodie Griffin]
[Commentary] Months after Hurricane Sandy damaged Verizon’s traditional copper phone network in Fire Island, NY, Verizon has made it clear that it does not intend to repair its infrastructure in the recovering community. Instead, Verizon has announced plans to replace its wireline service in Fire Island and other hurricane-ravaged communities with an untested fixed wireless service called Voice Link. Verizon has been eager to tell subscribers that Voice Link offers “the same 911 support” and “many of the same voice features and functions” as their old landline phones did. In New Jersey, Verizon even sent around a mailer saying “Our technicians connect Voice Link into the telephone lines in your home, allowing you to use your home telephones to make and receive calls just like you did before.” But Verizon’s frequent public pronouncements that its Voice Link service is basically the same as its former copper network service is belied by a filing the New York Public Service Commission required Verizon to submit last week. In that filing, Verizon revealed that Voice Link service will be significantly limited compared to the wireline service Fire Island residents were used to.
benton.org/node/152865 | Public Knowledge
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May 31, 2013
Source 
Wall Street Journal
Author 
Devlin Barrett
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Attorney General Eric Holder told news editors in a private meeting that he is committed to changing Justice Department guidelines on investigations involving journalists, in the wake of recent controversies over the seizure of reporters' phone and email records.

AG Holder and aides said they were open to changing the guidelines the department uses to broaden the circle of officials who have to agree that subpoenas are justified as a last resort. The officials also said they were open to annual reviews with news organizations, according to a Wall Street Journal editor who attended the meeting. Those in attendance at the meeting included editors from The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Daily News, Politico and the New Yorker. The Justice officials said further discussions would be held with other editors, reporters, media attorneys and academics. AG Holder and the other Justice officials told the editors they were committed to protecting the role journalists play in reporting on the government. The department's guidelines haven't been revised in more than two decades, and the officials said they needed to be updated to deal with significant changes in news gathering that have occurred in that time. AG Holder and his aides also said the administration would throw its weight behind an effort to pass a federal media shield law, though such legislation would likely have little impact on the two cases at the center of the current controversy.

AG Holder Pledges Shifts on Media

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