May 13, 2013 (POTS-To-IP Trials; Network Neutrality)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, MAY 13, 2013
The U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet will hold a hearing on Tuesday, May 14, 2013 at 10:30 a.m. titled "State of Video." http://benton.org/calendar/2013-05-12--P1W/
INTERNET/TELECOM
Levin: Competition, Local Leadership Needed to Secure America’s Broadband Future - analysis
Technology Transitions Policy Task Force Seeks Comment on Potential Trials - public notice
Verizon's wireless plan will hurt, union says
After Sandy's destruction, Verizon switches to all-wireless service in Mantoloking
United Nations Agency to Discuss Internet Governance Again
House to reaffirm need to keep Internet free of government control
AT&T's Smith: Our Austin 1 Gbps plan is not a response to Google Fiber [links to web]
CYBERSECURITY
Cyberattacks Against US Corporations Are on the Rise [links to web]
Legal Showdown on Cybersecurity
Should Companies Be Required to Meet Certain Minimum Cybersecurity Protections? - op-ed [links to web]
'Cyberwar games' used more by companies to thwart hackers [links to web]
CONTENT
A mobile internet subsidized by content providers: ESPN might want it but you shouldn’t - analysis
FCC: This is What a Net Neutrality Violation Looks Like - analysis
Should Congress Overturn the Network Neutrality Rules? - op-ed
Local TV Viewers Crazy For Social Media, Newspapers Generate More Tweets [links to web]
Toward Rivals, It's Craigslitigious - editorial [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Broadcasting Bigness Raises Big Questions - editorial
Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon are Trying to Turn Into the Same Uber-Company - analysis
Sprint's Clearwire Bid Gets Mixed Reviews [links to web]
Google’s Offer to Europe - editorial [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
MMTC: FCC Should Seek Data on Mobile Marketplace Diversity
Sprint's Clearwire Bid Gets Mixed Reviews [links to web]
Facebook teams up with Cisco to offer free Wi-Fi at shops, eateries [links to web]
New York State to Ask Smartphone Makers to Help Prevent Thefts [links to web]
BROADCASTING/CABLE
Broadcasting Bigness Raises Big Questions - editorial
As TV Ratings and Profits Fall, Networks Face a Cliffhanger
FCC Extends Pleading Cycle For Indecency Cases Policy [links to web]
4 Things John McCain's Cable Bill Would Mean for Subscribers - analysis [links to web]
Media Analyst Cautions Broadcasters About Aereo Stance [links to web]
NCTA's Powell To Senate: Biggest Subscription Video Provider is Netflix, Not Cable [links to web]
Pittsburgh Tops Major TV Viewing Cities [links to web]
PRIVACY
Digital privacy gets push from the right
JOURNALISM
Newspaper Monopoly That Lost Its Grip - analysis
ACCESSIBILITY
Advocates for Blind: Hollywood lobbying threatens deal for accessible books [links to web]
RESEARCH
Proposed bill that would regulate NSF research funding faces backlash [links to web]
LOBBYING
Two tech executives quit Mark Zuckerberg's Fwd.us political group [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
What the Obama Campaign's Chief Data Scientist Is Up to Now [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
Telecommuting: Steady growth in work-at-home culture - analysis [links to web]
INTERNET/TELECOM
COMPETITION, LOCAL LEADERSHIP NEEDED TO SECURE AMERICA’S BROADBAND FUTURE
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
[Commentary] This month, we’ve seen lots of opinion and analysis of President Barack Obama’s decision to nominate Tom Wheeler to be the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. In a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed this week, National Broadband Plan architect Blair Levin, instead of joining the arguments over Wheeler’s qualifications, identifies the key question for the next FCC chair: what kinds of networks will our communities - our innovators, entrepreneurs and businesses - need to be competitive in the global economy? Last week, we looked at President Obama’s priorities with his introduction of new FCC leadership: “giving businesses and workers the tools they need to compete in the 21st century economy, and making sure we’re staying at the cutting edge of an industry that again and again we’ve revolutionized here in America. And as technology continues to shape the way that we do business and communicate and transform the world, we want to make sure that it’s American ingenuity, American innovation, and that we’re setting up legal structures and regulatory structures that facilitate this continued growth and expansion that can create good jobs and continue to grow our economy.” This week, Blair Levin helps us flesh that out.
http://benton.org/node/151618
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
TECHNOLOGY TRANSITIONS POLICY TASK FORCE SEEKS COMMENT ON POTENTIAL TRIALS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
The Federal Communications Commission’s Technology Transitions Policy Task Force proposes to move forward with real-world trials to obtain data that will be helpful to the FCC. The goal of any trials would be to gather a factual record to help determine what policies are appropriate to promote investment and innovation while protecting consumers, promoting competition, and ensuring that emerging all-Internet Protocol (IP) networks remain resilient. The FCC seeks comment on several potential trials relating to the ongoing transitions from copper to fiber, from wireline to wireless, and from time-division multiplexing (TDM) to IP. The FCC has a long history of using trials and pilot programs to help answer questions regarding technical concerns and to gather data and develop appropriate policy recommendations. Indeed, the FCC recently unanimously authorized a 6-month trial to examine providing interconnected VoIP providers direct access to telephone numbers. Stakeholders have also requested that the FCC initiate trials to explore technology transition issues. In the spirit of these prior initiatives, the FCC seeks comment on a set of potential trials to assist the FCC in ensuring that policy decisions related to ongoing technology transitions are grounded in sound data.
First, as we move from TDM to all-IP networks, providers are migrating to voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) interconnection. VoIP interconnection should be more efficient and has the potential to unleash new, innovative services and features. The FCC seeks comment on a VoIP interconnection trial that would gather data to determine whether there are technical issues that need to be addressed and gather information relevant to the appropriate policy framework.
Second, as we transition away from TDM, the nation’s emergency calling (911) system must also migrate to Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG911). Although there is broad consensus regarding the benefits and potential of NG911, when these new capabilities will be introduced is less certain. The FCC seeks comment on a trial that will assist the Commission, state, local and Tribal governments, and Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) in a few geographic areas to answer important technical and policy questions to accelerate the transition. Beyond NG911, the FCC also seeks comment on how a trial could elicit data on the impact of network resiliency and public safety more broadly as consumers migrate to wireless and IP-based services that are dependent on commercial power.
Third, at least one provider has proposed serving consumers with wireless service in place of wireline service in certain geographic areas. The seeks comment on a trial that would analyze the impact of doing so and, in particular, focus on the consumer experience and ensure that consumers have the ability to move back to a wireline product during the trial.
[GN Docket No. 13-5]
benton.org/node/151670 | Federal Communications Commission | Chairman Genachowski | Commissioner Clyburn | Commissioner Rosenworcel | Commissioner Pai | FCC blog | B&C | AT&T’s response | Response from Public Knowledge
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
VERIZON’S WIRELESS PLAN
[SOURCE: Albany Times Union, AUTHOR: Larry Rulison]
The union representing Verizon workers said the planned transition of the company's phone service from traditional copper wiring to wireless technologies will be bad news for both consumers and businesses. A lot more is lost in the proposed switch to Verizon's wireless landline alternative, Voice Link, including DSL Internet service, said Pete Sikora, legislative director and research economist for CWA District 1, representing Verizon workers. During major disasters like Superstorm Sandy with long power outages, the cellular systems tend to get overloaded, and cell towers can run out of power, he said. By abandoning landline DSL service, Verizon will be leaving customers to fend for themselves with the cable companies, who won't face any more competition for Internet service, he said.
benton.org/node/151668 | Albany Times Union
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
ALL-WIRELESS SERVICE IN MANTOLOKING
[SOURCE: Asbury Park Press, AUTHOR: David Willis]
Devastated and wiped out by superstorm Sandy, Verizon has no plans to rebuild its copper-line telephone network in Mantoloking (NJ). Instead, Verizon says Mantoloking is the first town in New Jersey, and one of the few areas in the country, to have a new service called Verizon Voice Link. Essentially, it connects your home’s wired and cordless telephones to the Verizon Wireless network. The company actively is marketing the service and has signed up about 30 customers so far. Verizon has its fiber-optic network in other parts of Ocean County’s barrier peninsula hit hard by Sandy, including Ortley Beach, Normandy Beach and Brick. There are no plans to bring fiber to Mantoloking.
benton.org/node/151667 | Asbury Park Press
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
ITU TO DISCUSS INTERNET GOVERANCE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Eric Pfanner]
Only five months ago, at a treaty conference convened by a United Nations agency called the International Telecommunication Union, the U.S. delegation stormed out, refusing to sign the proposed document, saying it posed a threat to the current, decentralized Internet governance system. Several dozen other countries joined the boycott. The telecommunication union has always insisted that the treaty, which it is still lobbying holdout governments to sign, had nothing to do with the Internet, even though pretty much everyone else in Dubai seemed to think it did. Beginning May 13, the agency can make no such protestations about a meeting it is convening in Geneva. The stated topic of the World Telecommunication Policy Forum is, yes, Internet governance. On the agenda are issues like the expansion of broadband access and the adoption of the IPv6 protocol for Internet addresses. But it doesn’t look like the telecommunications union is planning an Internet land grab; one of six draft “opinions” prepared for the meeting urges support for “multistakeholderism in Internet governance.” That is jargon for the current sharing of duties among a variety of acronym-rich groups with representation from government, the private sector and non-governmental organizations. This time around there will be no treaty, but the opinions are intended to help set the agenda for a plenipotentiary meeting of the telecommunications union next year — which, given the fireworks in Dubai, promises to be a doozy.
benton.org/node/151666 | New York Times | NTIA | ITU
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
HOUSE TO REAFFIRM KEEPING INTERNET FREE OF GOVERNMENT CONTROL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Pete Kasperowicz]
Apparently, the House will pass legislation reaffirming that it is U.S. policy to keep the government out of the business of managing the Internet. Early in the week of May 13, members will vote on H.R. 1580, which states simply that the policy of the U.S. is to "preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the Internet." The bill, from Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), finds that the Internet must be secure and free from government control. It also opposes international attempts to go in the opposite direction. Republicans are bringing up the bill under a suspension of House rules, which will require a two-thirds majority vote for passage.
benton.org/node/151664 | Hill, The
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
CYBERSECURITY
LEGAL SHOWDOWN ON CYBERSECURITY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Brent Kendall]
When hackers broke into computer systems at Wyndham Worldwide and several of its hotels, they allegedly stole payment-card numbers for hundreds of thousands of consumer accounts. They also sparked a high-stakes legal battle over whether a federal agency can use its consumer-protection powers to police cybersecurity practices at American companies. The Federal Trade Commission sued Wyndham and three subsidiaries in the wake of the data breaches, alleging that the hotelier followed lax data-security practices that unnecessarily exposed customers' data to theft. It is asking a federal court to require Wyndham to do better—and to "redress injury" caused by the hacking, which took place from 2008 to early 2010. Wyndham has asked Judge Esther Salas at the U.S. District Court in Newark (NJ) to throw out the agency's complaint, saying the lawsuit amounts to an unprecedented power grab in which the FTC is seeking to hold businesses responsible for hacking, rather than the hackers themselves.
benton.org/node/151693 | Wall Street Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
CONTENT
WHY YOU SHOULDN’T LIKE PROPOSED MOBILE ESPN DEAL
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
For the last year mobile carriers have entertained a strange notion: content providers should pay for the mobile data their customers consume on operators’ networks. At first, the big internet players seemed to shrug off the suggestion, but carriers may have found their first taker in sports entertainment giant ESPN. Mobile operators have chipping away at the principle of network neutrality for years, banning certain apps here and restricting competing over-the-top services there. In Europe, carriers are battling with Google over carriage fees. But in this case, a carrier appears to be challenging network neutrality with the complicity of a content provider. But there are enormous consequences to such a deal. The biggest and most obvious consequence is that it favors one provider’s content over another. If all access is created equal, then no content has an inherent advantage over another — which is the whole idea behind the wireline network neutrality rules the FCC established in 2010. But if consumers know they can get ESPN’s content without incurring any additional charge, they’ll naturally gravitate toward that content. There’s an even bigger risk that ESPN’s competitors won’t just get penalized in the eyes of the consumer. Their traffic flow could be penalized as well.
benton.org/node/151647 | GigaOm
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
THIS IS WAHTA A NETWORK NEUTRALITY VIOLATION LOOKS LIKE
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Michael Weinberg]
[Commentary] At its core, network neutrality is all about making sure that the company that connects you to the internet does not get to control what you do on the internet. Imposing data caps on consumers and then allowing wealthy content holders to buy their way around them is a recipe for stagnation online. In its Open Internet Order, the Federal Communications Commission provided us with a taste of what may happen (“edge providers” are anyone who creates content like ESPN, Facebook, local governments, and personal websites):
“a broadband provider may act to benefit edge providers that have paid it to exclude rivals”
“broadband providers may have incentives to increase revenues by charging edge providers, who already pay for their own connections to the Internet, for access or prioritized access to end users.”
“Broadband providers would be expected to set inefficiently high fees to edge providers because they receive the benefits of those fees but are unlikely to fully account of the detrimental impact on edge providers’ ability and incentive to innovate and invest, including the possibility that some edge providers might exit or decline to enter the market.”
“Fees for access or prioritized access could trigger an ‘arms race’ within a given edge market segment. If one edge provider pays for access or prioritized access to end users, subscribers may tend to favor that provider’s services, and competing edge providers may feel that they must respond by paying too.”
“Fees for access or prioritization to end users could reduce the potential profits that an edge provider would expect to earn from developing new offerings, and thereby reducing edge providers’ incentives to invest and innovate.”
“if broadband providers can profitably charge edge providers for prioritized access to end users, they will have an incentive to degrade or decline to increase the quality of the service they provide to non-prioritized traffic.”
benton.org/node/151645 | Public Knowledge
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
OVERTURN NETWORK NEUTRALITY?
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Thomas Hazlett, Gigi Sohn]
In December 2010, the Federal Communications Commission voted to approve a framework for rules enforcing "network neutrality," in effect saying that Internet service providers must treat all Internet traffic equally, and that they can't deliberately block or slow traffic depending on the company that created it or where the traffic is going. In January 2011, Verizon Communications filed a lawsuit attempting to overturn those rules, saying the FCC had overstepped its bounds. The suit, along with a similar one by MetroPCS Communications, was dismissed a few months later, on grounds that its objections were premature: The FCC rules weren't even officially in place at the time. The companies refiled their lawsuits, however, and Verizon's challenge is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. If the court rules in Verizon's favor, the FCC's efforts to police Internet providers would disintegrate. That would likely prompt Congress to look at changing the rules. What's at stake, some argue, is the future of innovation on the Internet. Arguing against the network neutrality rules is Thomas W. Hazlett, professor of law and economics at George Mason University in Fairfax County (VA), where he directs the Information Economy Project. Dr. Hazlett previously served as chief economist of the Federal Communications Commission. Taking a stance in favor of the network neutrality rules is Gigi Sohn, president and chief executive of Public Knowledge, an open-Internet advocacy group based in Washington (DC).
benton.org/node/151695 | Wall Street Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
OWNERSHIP
BROADCASTING BIGNESS
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
[Commentary] The broadcasting industry is consolidating at what appears to be an accelerating pace as a result of sharply rising retrans revenue, cheap money and a permissive government. That's good because station groups need bulk to deal effectively with networks and cable and satellite operators. But consolidation may work against broadcasters who choose to stay small, industry vendors and the public. To a large degree, whether consolidation is good for the public will depend on who is doing the consolidating.
benton.org/node/151653 | TVNewsCheck
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
APPLE, GOOGLE, FACEBOOK AND AMAZON ARE TRYING TO TURN INTO THE SAME ÜBER-COMPANY
[SOURCE: Quartz, AUTHOR: Christopher Mims]
Who will be the sole provider of all that you desire? Which company’s services will you “hire” to address your every internet-enabled whim? It sounds absurd, but this is the essence of the battle between the big four tech giants—oh and Microsoft too, but these days Microsoft is mostly an enterprise company. Amazon is apparently working on two different smartphones, one of which has a 3D screen. The company is also supposedly developing an audio-only streaming device and a set-top box for your television, according to the latest Wall Street Journal report. That’s an awful lot for a company that only announced its first tablet fewer than two years ago. Take a step back—in the flurry of recent announcements from all US tech giants, what is the one thing tying them together? Arguably, it’s a shared vision. They all want to be the uber-company. That is, a company which has a complete user experience with the following elements:
Hardware — mobile device(s)
An app ecosystem
Streaming media
Cloud services—at the least, as a delivery mechanism for the above
benton.org/node/151636 | Quartz
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
MOBILE MARKETPLACE DIVERSITY
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council has asked the Federal Communications Commission to start including requests for data on diversity when it asks for info for the next report on the competiveness of the mobile wireless marketplace. In a letter to Ruth Milkman, who heads the FCC's Wireless Bureau, MMTC pointed out that in two recent notices seeking information, requests for data on minorities and women-owned businesses were not included. MMTC says the FCC should include questions about "size and race/ethnicity, MWBE contracting and procurement opportunities, and participation data and trends, in all notices issued for the upcoming mobile wireless competition report."
benton.org/node/151648 | Multichannel News
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
BROADCASTING
NETWORKS FACE CLIFFHANGER
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Stelter]
As the major television networks prepare to unveil their new fall lineups in New York this week, they face threats from seemingly every corner. Prime-time ratings for the Big Four broadcasters — ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox — together are dropping more precipitously than ever. Advertisers are moving more cash to cable, cutting into the networks’ quarterly profits. New technologies are making it easier to skip those ads, anyway. That’s not all: there are more outlets for programming cropping up all the time, with Netflix and Amazon and dozens of cable channels competing for actors, producers and, most important, viewers. Government regulators want to take back some of the spectrum allotted to local television stations. And start-ups like Aereo are threatening to deprive the stations of subscription revenue, causing some broadcasters to talk of options that were unthinkable a few short years ago. Some have warned they might go off the air entirely. The many pressures bearing down on the industry are casting a shadow over this week’s upfronts, an annual tradition in New York in which the new sitcoms, dramas and reality shows are previewed at splashy, open-bar events and the networks try to capture their portion of an estimated $9 billion in advertising commitments.
benton.org/node/151697 | New York Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
PRIVACY
PRIVACY PUSH FROM RIGHT
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Alex Byers]
Momentum to update the nation’s antiquated e-mail privacy laws is again coursing through the Capitol — and this time, movement is coming from the right. Republicans have been increasingly attaching their names to reforming the Electronic Communications Privacy Act — an issue where Democrats have traditionally taken the lead. Four Republican congressmen introduced a pair of bills that would require government investigators to score a warrant before obtaining someone’s e-mail content. Reps. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) and Trent Franks (R-AZ) are partnering on a House version of Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) reform; Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-KS) and Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) are teaming up on the Email Privacy Act. Both bills are companion measures to legislation from Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Mike Lee (R-UT) that cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee last month. Sen Leahy has long been pushing to update the rules. The Republican bills were an exclamation point after Sen Lee officially signed on to Leahy’s push and Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) joined an ECPA reform measure by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA).
benton.org/node/151641 | Politico
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
JOURNALISM
NEWSPAPER MONOPOLY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Carr]
[Commentary] The much ballyhooed unmaking of daily newspapering seems to be unmaking itself, and there’s a reason for that. Most newspapers have hung onto the ancient practice of embedding prose on a page and throwing it in people’s yards because that’s where the money and the customers are for the time being. The industry tried chasing clicks for a while to win back fleeing advertisers, decided it was a fool’s errand and is now turning to customers for revenue. But in order to charge people for news, you have to prosecute journalism. The belief that historic monopolies will hold together just on the basis of inertia has proved to be wrong. Newspapers that have cut their operations beyond usefulness or quit delivering a daily print presence have suffered. The audience has to be earned every day. Newspaper publishing will never return to the 30 percent plus margins it once had, but some people believe there is a business model. Warren E. Buffett thinks that a 10 percent return is reasonable, now that sale prices have sunk. Clearly, commanding a market to change on a dime because it suits your business plan does not mean readers will obey.
benton.org/node/151687 | New York Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top