Benton RSS Feed
The Federal Communications Commission has released its Report of the top subject areas of consumer inquiries and informal complaints received and processed by the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) during the fourth quarter of calendar year 2012.
During the fourth quarter of 2012, the overall number of inquiries for the top four reported inquiry categories increased by nearly 1% from the number received and processed by CGB during the previous quarter, from 13,074 during the third quarter of 2012, to 13,190, as described below. The number of Cable and Satellite Services inquiries decreased by more than 15%, from 1,661 to 1,400, due to a decrease in inquiries regarding Service, Satellite Television Extension & Localism Act, Over-the-Air Reception Devices, Programming, and Billing and Rates issues. Inquiries regarding Billing and Rates issues constituted more than 34% of the inquiries in this category during the fourth quarter. The number of Radio and Television Broadcasting inquiries decreased by more than 12%, from 2,608 to 2,271, primarily due to a decrease in inquiries concerning Digital Television issues. Wireless Telecommunications inquiries increased by more than 19%, from 1,720 to 2,059, with an increase in the number of inquiries regarding License Information, Tower, and Service issues. Wireline Telecommunications inquiries increased by more than 5%, from 7,085 to 7,460, with Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) matters constituting more than 58% of the fourth quarter inquiries in this category.
During the fourth quarter of 2012, the overall number of informal complaints in the top five reported categories increased by more than 4% from those received and processed during the third quarter of 2012, from 75,453 to 78,608. Bundled and VoIP Service-related complaints decreased by more than 9% this quarter, from 1,931 to 1,747. Cable & Satellite Services complaints increased by more than 67%, from 1,675 to 2,799, primarily due to an increase in complaints regarding Programming issues. The number of Radio and Television Broadcasting complaints increased by more than 104%, from 2,714 to 5,544, due to an increase in complaints regarding Programming – General Criticism issues. Wireless Telecommunications complaints increased by nearly 3%, from 29,221 to 30,090, with TCPA-related complaints comprising the bulk of the complaints in this category. Wireline Telecommunications complaints decreased by more than 3%, from 39,912 to 38,428, with TCPA-Other Issues, Do Not Call List and Unsolicited Faxes constituting the top categories of such complaints. These three subcategories, combined, constituted over 94% of the Wireline complaints in the reported subcategories during the fourth quarter.
Quarterly Report of Consumer Inquiries and Informal Complaints for Fourth Quarter of Calendar Year 2012 Released Top Consumer Issues (Subject Category Reference Guide) FCC (Summary of Top Five Consumer Informal Complaint Subjects) FCC (Summary of Top Four Consumer Inquiry Subjects)
We’ve been building a YouTube partner program since 2007 that enables content creators to earn revenue for their creativity. We’ve watched them build amazing channels that have made YouTube into a news, education and entertainment destination 1 billion people around the world cannot do without. Today, there are more than 1 million channels generating revenue on YouTube, and one of the most frequent requests we hear from these creators behind them is for more flexibility in monetizing and distributing content. We’ve been working on that and wanted to fill you in on what to expect.
Starting today, we’re launching a pilot program for a small group of partners that will offer paid channels on YouTube with subscription fees starting at $0.99 per month. Every channel has a 14-day free trial, and many offer discounted yearly rates. For example, Sesame Street will be offering full episodes on their paid channel when it launches. And UFC fans can see classic fights, like a full version of their first event from UFC’s new channel. You might run into more of these channels across YouTube, or look here for a list of pilot channels. Once you subscribe from a computer, you’ll be able to watch paid channels on your computer, phone, tablet and TV, and soon you’ll be able to subscribe to them from more devices. This is just the beginning. We’ll be rolling paid channels out more broadly in the coming weeks as a self-service feature for qualifying partners. And as new channels appear, we'll be making sure you can discover them, just as we've been helping you find and subscribe to all the channels you love across YouTube. Just as the partner program empowered creators to take their channels to the next level, we look forward to seeing how this great community of creators moves ahead with a new way to reach the fan communities that made their channels a hit. You’ll be hearing more from us, and them, as we get creator and user feedback and build out this exciting offering.
New ways to support great content on YouTube YouTube’s Pay Channels Include ‘Sesame Street’ and Mixed Martial Arts (NY Times) YouTube launches its paid subscription channels with select partners (paidContent.org) YouTube, World's Largest Video Portal, Launches Paid Channels (The Wrap) YouTube Launches Subscription Offering (AdWeek)
Responding to a Pentagon report, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) said the White House should put China's alleged cyberattacks against U.S. government computer systems first on the list of issues to discuss in its next bilateral meeting with Beijing.
"We should make this a bilateral issue between us and China, and in any discussion moving forward we should have three issues we talk about with them before we talk the first trade issue: [It] should be cyber, cyber, and cyber and that's where we need to go," Chairman Rogers said. "If we don't elevate this problem, they're going to continue their bad behavior because to date there's been no consequence." He said the Pentagon report's findings "may be the biggest open secret in the world, but it clearly shows the aggressiveness and sophistication of nation-state hackers and it is concerning."
House Intel chairman urges White House to elevate cyber talks with China
Sen. John McCain (R-AR) introduced legislation, the Television Consumer Freedom Act, aimed at pressuring cable and satellite TV providers to allow their customers to pick and choose the channels they pay for.
Cable companies usually require customers to purchase a tier or bundle of channels. The system means that consumers often have to pay for dozens of channels just to gain access to the few they watch. “This is unfair and wrong — especially when you consider how the regulatory deck is stacked in favor of industry and against the American consumer," Sen McCain said. The legislation would void a copyright benefit for cable providers that insist on bundling their channels. The punishment would create legal headaches for cable companies when they try to offer local broadcast stations. The bill would also put regulatory pressure on media companies to grant cable providers the right to offer their programming "a la carte." McCain's legislation would repeal the sports blackout rule for events that take place in publicly financed stadiums. Leagues use the rule to block viewers from watching their local team on TV to encourage them to buy tickets to see the game live. His bill would pull the broadcast licenses of TV stations that move their programming to cable channels.
Sen McCain takes aim at 'unfair' cable TV bundles Sources: A La Carte Bill Includes Aereo-Friendly Provision (B&C) Congress eyes rising cable TV prices (The Hill)
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), the Ranking member of the House Communications Subcommittee, has asked the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study of usage-based wired and wireless broadband pricing.
Rep Eshoo wants to know how widespread usage-based pricing is, the rationale behind imposing data caps, how tier prices are determined, how they change in response to Internet usage, how much data the average wired and wireline customer uses monthly, how they are notified about usage, whether prices vary according to competition, the cost difference between the amount of downloads and what complaints the FCC and FTC have received about usage-based pricing.
Rep Eshoo Seeks GAO Study of Usage-Based Pricing
Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen said he could end up putting the entire satellite TV company up for sale if he lost his battle with Japan's SoftBank Corp to buy Sprint Nextel Corp. Or he could take on a bidding partner or even sell some non-core Dish assets to pay down debt if a bidding war with Softbank became too pricey.
Ergen could end up selling Dish if he doesn't win Sprint
Charlie Ergen, the mercurial chairman of satellite TV provider Dish Network, said that he would prefer to work with incumbent televisions players to continue a dual-stream revenue model rather than striking up a new partnership with upstart mobile-TV company Aereo.
“We admire what [Aereo is] doing. We indirectly get a benefit as it puts downward pressure on retransmission consent fees. But all things being equal, we’d prefer to work with the broadcasters,” he said. “The broadcasters are equipped to do something themselves. We’re more likely to work with existing partners.” The rhetoric is part of a complicated dance between pay TV providers, including Dish, and content owners over the spiraling cost of programming; in this struggle, services like the Hopper and Aereo have become a source of leverage for Dish. Ergen repeated his call for smaller cable “bundles” and more a la carte offerings.
Dish’s Ergen: we prefer working with broadcasters over Aereo
Reps Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Jared Polis (D-CO) have introduced the Unlocking Technology Act of 2013, a bill that would explicitly legalize cell phone unlocking as well as modify the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to clarify that unlocking copy-protected content is only illegal if it's done in order to "facilitate the infringement of a copyright." If a circumvention technology is "primarily designed or produced for the purpose of facilitating noninfringing uses," that would not be a violation of copyright. Lofgren's bill attracted enthusiastic support from activists and advocacy groups.
Members of Congress finally introduce serious DMCA reform
While tech gadgets have been touted to make the workforce more flexible and collaborative, they also may be contributing to a decline in workplace etiquette, a new survey suggests.
A survey of more than 2,300 CIOs in the United States by Robert Half Technology found that 64 percent believe the greater use of mobile tools such as cell phones and tablets has led to more breaches in workplace etiquette over the last three years. That’s up from 51 percent from 2010, the last time Robert Half conducted the survey.
Are Tech Gadgets Killing Workplace Etiquette?
[Commentary] Today, the U.S. labor movement is at a critical crossroads, presented with opportunities to elevate local and national workers' fights. In several recent moments of struggle in the United States, collaborations between the labor movement and the media justice movement - independent journalists, policy advocates, and grassroots organizers have begun to emerge. But recent experiences have made clear that these collaborations need to deepen for both movements to grow stronger.
On a teleconference panel hosted by Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net) and the Media Mobilizing Project this past February labor organizers in union and nonunion workplaces, media producers, and media policy experts shared recent organizing experiences like Wisconsin with each other. A conclusion from the call we could not ignore is that the larger labor movement is facing an unprecedented attack to roll back the gains and victories that have improved the lives of working people in exchange for deeper corporate profits. To fight back this corporate agenda, which has used the U.S. media system as a central pillar, the labor movement can and must challenge, transform and wield the media system and media policy to advance the struggle for working-class people's dignity and rights. This includes building community-owned media alternatives, such community broadband networks, low power FM radio stations, or public access TV stations. Outlets such as these allow organized labor to bypass the corporate media system, allowing their rank-and-file members to communicate directly with the community and build real solidarity through deepening communications strategy. Beyond this, organized labor has an immediate stake in winning media policies that close the digital divide, keep the Internet open and broaden access to the communication platforms that allow workers to organize and exchange ideas.
Toward a New Front of Labor Struggle: Media Rights and Access for a 21st Century Labor Movement