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Benton Foundation Statement on Genachowski departure

Submitted by jeremy on Fri, 03/22/2013 - 16:09

The following statement can be attributed to Charles Benton, Chairman of the Benton Foundation.

The Benton Foundation places a high value on pragmatic government policies that ensure affordable broadband networks are available to all, especially those with the greatest need. While we may not have always agreed with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, we do appreciate his commitment to ensuring that all Americans, regardless of age, income or geographic location, have access to affordable and robust broadband. Under his leadership, the National Broadband Plan is taking the first steps to achieve this goal. The transition of the Universal Service Fund to include broadband also promises to move the ball forward on this front. We encourage the Obama Administration to fill the chairman's position with a person fully equipped and committed to finishing this very important process.
_____

The Benton Foundation (benton.org) works to realize the social benefits made possible by the public interest use of communications. Bridging the worlds of philanthropy, public policy, and community action, Benton seeks to shape the emerging communications environment and to demonstrate the value of communications for solving social problems. This statement reflects the institutional view of the Foundation and, unless obvious from the text, is not intended to reflect the views of individual Foundation officers, directors, or advisors.

Submitted on March 22, 2013

Our big news this week, obviously, was the big announcement from the Federal Communications Commission’s meeting March 20 that Robert McDowell, the current commissioner with the most tenure, is stepping down from the FCC. “[I]t is time to turn more of my energies towards an even higher calling: serving my family,” Commissioner McDowell said. He indicated that he would leave the FCC in a few weeks. Well, that WAS the big story right up to the moment we started penning this round-up and then heard that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski would announce his departure from the FCC on March 22.

Commissioner McDowell had hardly finished his announcement before observers said that move makes it easier for Chairman Genachowski to soon follow him to the doors. The pair’s departure means Democrats will still have a 2-1 voting advantage until new commissioners are nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the US Senate. The Senate also seems to like to confirm commissioners in Republican-Democrat pairs, so this could help move that process along.

While much of the recent talk has been about Genachowski’s eventual replacement, there appears to be no leading candidate to succeed Commissioner McDowell. The most often mentioned include Ray Baum, a senior aide to House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), and Neil Fried, senior telecommunications counsel to the House Commerce Committee.

The National Journal’s Brian Fung considered Commissioner’s legacy and pointed to these three “moments”:

  1. Commissioner McDowell wanted to review every FCC regulation on the books. The commission rulebook is over 3,695 pages long, McDowell complained in 2011. The commissioner said the collection was “mind-numbing” and vowed to go through the whole thing, recommending cuts as he went.
  2. Public clash with Chairman Genachowski. As the FCC was debating network neutrality -- the regulation prohibiting Internet service providers from giving certain kinds of Web traffic priority over others – Commissioner McDowell took on the Chairman for not making the draft order available to the public for review. “Openness used to be standard operating procedure for the FCC,” he said. “But the commission's transparency has become more opaque in recent years."
  3. Commissioner McDowell sounded the alarm on Internet freedom. Commissioner McDowell was one of the first policymakers to warn that regulatory proposals from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) would upend the Internet's flourishing regime.

But more than particular policies, however, most of the praise heaped on McDowell focused on his congenial nature and “an abiding adherence to his regulatory principles, rather than to reaching a particular result,” as Scott Flick pointed out. “While I suspect he might bristle at being described as a ‘rational regulator,’ preferring instead to be known as a ‘devoted deregulator,’ Commissioner McDowell represented a common-sense approach to the communications industry and the business of regulating it,” Flick wrote.

The first reaction we saw to the Genachowski news came from Free Press. President and CEO Craig Aaron said, “Though President Obama promised his FCC chairman would not continue the Bush administration’s failed media ownership policies, Genachowski offered the exact same broken ideas that Bush’s two chairmen pushed. He never faced the public and ignored the overwhelming opposition to his plans. Genachowski claimed broadband was his agency's top priority, but he stood by as prices rose and competition dwindled. He claimed to be a staunch defender of the open Internet, but his Net Neutrality policies are full of loopholes and offer no guarantee that the FCC will be able to protect consumers from corporate abuse in the future. While there were a few bright moments during the Genachowski years — including the agency’s opposition to the AT&T/T-Mobile merger and the push for more online transparency from broadcasters — the chairman squandered many more opportunities at critical junctures. We urge President Obama to nominate a successor who will enact policies that foster real competition, protect diversity and amplify local voices.”

There will be lots more reaction on March 22 and in the days to come. Much of the reaction is likely to focus on Genachowski’s efforts to increase broadband deployment and adoption and especially the FCC’s efforts to write the National Broadband Plan as mandated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. (Ironically, the Plan’s third anniversary passed in the last week with no mention in the press.) The chairman is also likely to remembered for trying to increase the amount of spectrum available for wireless broadband – although he departs as the FCC tries to craft one of the most complex spectrum auctions ever: actions that are meant to entice current television broadcasters to give up the airwaves they use to transmit their signals.

But more than legacy, Washington observers will be focused on what’s next – or, more precisely, who’s next. Writing in the Washington Post on March 16, Emily Heil reported that the White House seems to have settled on a handful of potential FCC chairs:

Writing for Benton’s The Digital Beat recently, former FCC Chairman Michael Copps warned that the “name game” is nowhere near as important as “obtaining clear public policy commitments, from both the Administration and the eventual FCC nominee, on a priority list of telecommunications and media challenges that confront the nation.” It is, Copps argues, the priorities a President lays out when he makes a nomination that are hugely important.

If the President is really going to push to bring high-speed broadband to all Americans—no matter who they are, where they live, or the particular circumstances of their individual lives—that mission goes beyond the FCC, yet FCC policies would be critical to its accomplishment. If the President is serious about moving against the excessive media industry consolidation that he discussed as a Senator, and about reasserting the public interest in media policy that he also talked and wrote about as a candidate, he needs to give the new FCC Chair an explicit charge to use the laws on the books to make these things happen.

So, yes, this week brings big changes to the FCC. New faces are important (and we shared news last month about what goes into the decision) – but more important are the changes, if any, in priorities the new commissioners will bring with them.

Headlines staff will be on the road for the next couple of weeks, so you’ll next see us Friday, April 12. But, ‘til then, we’ll see you in the Headlines.

March 22, 2013
Source 
Benton Foundation
Author 
Kevin Taglang
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Headlines staff are fleeing Winter’s cold next week. We will return Monday, April 1, 2013.

Topics

Related Headlines

March 22, 2013 (Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes at the FCC)

Headlines staff are fleeing Winter’s cold next week. We will return Monday, April 1, 2013

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2013

Next week’s light agenda http://benton.org/calendar/2013-03-24--P1W/


POLICYMAKERS
   Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes - analysis
   FCC Chairman Genachowski to Step Down
   Memorable Moments from a Departing Telecom Regulator
   A Farewell to Commissioner McDowell and a Nod to the "Rational Regulator" - editorial
   Sen Rubio Says Court Should Overturn Network Neutrality Rules

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   FCC Adopts the 16th Mobile Competition Report - research
   T-Mobile USA Merger With MetroPCS Clears Last Regulatory Hurdle [links to web]
   FCC: Sprint buyout decision likely on track for late May [links to web]
   FCC Moving Forward on Sept 2014 Auction
   Sen Thune Calls for More Cleared Wireless Spectrum - press release [links to web]
   Why cell phone unlocking bills fall short - op-ed [links to web]
   Unlocking cellphones vs. wireless carriers - editorial [links to web]
   Europe Weighs iPhone Sale Deals With Carriers for Antitrust Abuse

INTERNET
   Higher Rural Broadband Adoption Linked with Economic Health
   Promoting the Benefits of Digital Literacy - press release [links to web]
   Deaf, Blind Sue Over Web Shopping
   Senators warn against sales tax vote [links to web]
   AT&T Told to Pay $27.5 Million After Losing Two-Way Trial [links to web]

CYBERSECURITY
   Yes, Cyberattacks are perfectly Legal Under the Laws of War
   Hackers can be battlefield targets, says NATO report
   Weapons in Cyberattack on South Korea Killed Targeted PCs [links to web]
   House GOP members criticize administration's response to cyber theft [links to web]

CONTENT
   Web Money Gets Laundering Rule
   Supreme Court Copyright Decision May Spur Congress to Revise Laws
   Judge: AP news can't be used for free
   People will give up their personal info if you give them a good reason [links to web]
   Simon & Schuster will give authors direct access to piracy data for their books [links to web]
   The limits of copyright law - editorial [links to web]
   Advertisers tune in to YouTube ‘Generation C’ [links to web]

TELEVISION
   Free State Panelists Free to Hammer Retransmission [links to web]
   NAB: OET-69 Changes Violate Law [links to web]
   CNN, MSNBC Criticized Over Lack Of Diversity In Recent Reshuffles [links to web]
   Nielsen Finds Twitter Can Boost TV Ratings [links to web]
   Pay TV Will Have to Keep Paying [links to web]

HEALTH
   FDA: No ‘iPhone tax’ from health law [links to web]

EDUCATION
   School Districts Seek Faster Internet Connections

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   US cyber plan calls for more scanning of private Web traffic
   How hard should it be for the government to read your e-mail? - analysis [links to web]
   Lawmakers push bill to limit GPS tracking [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Executives Press European Antitrust Chief on Google
   Europe Weighs iPhone Sale Deals With Carriers for Antitrust Abuse
   Mexico telecoms bill approved
   How telecom reform in Mexico could impact U.S. immigration [links to web]
   9 fascinating facts about how the world uses social networks [links to web]

MORE ONLINE
   Congress to force Postal Service to keep Saturday delivery [links to web]
   6 Lessons Hollywood Is Learning From Silicon Valley - analysis [links to web]
   MPAA Report: Global Box Office Breaks Records, China Becomes 2nd Largest Market [links to web]
   Google’s trust problem [links to web]

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POLICYMAKERS

BIG CHANGES AT THE FCC
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
[Commentary] Our big news this week, obviously, was the big announcement from the Federal Communications Commission’s meeting March 20 that Robert McDowell, the current commissioner with the most tenure, is stepping down from the FCC. “[I]t is time to turn more of my energies towards an even higher calling: serving my family,” Commissioner McDowell said. He indicated that he would leave the FCC in a few weeks. Well, that WAS the big story right up to the moment we started penning this round-up and then heard that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski would announce his departure from the FCC on March 22.
http://benton.org/node/148494
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GENACHOWSKI TO ANNOUNCE DEPARTURE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Danny Yadron]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, the top regulator of U.S. telecom companies, is set to announce March 22 that he will step down, an FCC official and an industry official said. The chairman's departure will make the FCC short one Democrat and one Republican after Robert McDowell, the senior Republican on the five-member commission, announced he was stepping down this week. Their replacements require Senate confirmation.
benton.org/node/148493 | Wall Street Journal | GigaOM
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MEMORABLE MOMENTS FROM A DEPARTING TELECOM REGULATOR
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
After his seven-year stint regulating the nation’s communications industry, Federal Communications Commission member Robert McDowell had his share of colorful moments and exchanges with lasting impacts. Take these, for example:
Commissioner McDowell wanted to review every FCC regulation on the books.
He sometimes clashed publicly with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.
Commissioner McDowell sounded the alarm on Internet freedom.
benton.org/node/148477 | National Journal
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THE RATIONAL REGULATOR
[SOURCE: CommLawCenter, AUTHOR: Scott Flick]
[Commentary] While in the works for a while, today's formal announcement by Federal Communications Commissioner member Robert McDowell that he will be departing the FCC leaves a hole in the FCC's ranks that will be difficult to fill. In many regards, Commissioner McDowell was a throwback to an earlier time, both at the FCC and in Washington, in that his tenure was distinguished not just by his congenial nature, but by an abiding adherence to his regulatory principles, rather than to reaching a particular result. While I suspect he might bristle at being described as a "rational regulator," preferring instead to be known as a "devoted deregulator," Commissioner McDowell represented a common-sense approach to the communications industry and the business of regulating it.
benton.org/node/148433 | CommLawCenter
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RUBIO’S COMMUNICATIONS PRIORITIES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In a speech outlining his communications priorities, Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL) told a Free State Foundation forum audience that he hopes the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality rules are overturned and warned against classifying Internet access under Title II as a backstop. He said they were chiefly keeping the Internet free of regulation foreign and domestic, making sure enough spectrum was being freed up, and FCC process reform. All that came under a philosophical umbrella of light-touch regulation that spurs investment in the economy. He criticized legacy regulations unsuited to a digital world, saying the market had moved past brick-sized phones and giant desk-top computers and that it was time Congress moved past the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
benton.org/node/148492 | Broadcasting&Cable
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

FCC ADOPTS THE 16TH MOBILE COMPETITION REPORT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission is required to report annually to Congress on the state of competition in the mobile services marketplace. In June 2011, the FCC released the Fifteenth Report, which provided an analysis of mobile wireless market conditions during 2009 and, to the extent data were available, 2010. This year’s sixteenth Mobile Wireless Competition Report updates the data and analysis presented in the Fifteenth Report, and analyzes mobile wireless service market conditions during 2010 and 2011, as well as during 2012 to the extent data are available. The analysis includes “competitive market conditions with respect to commercial mobile services.” Like the Fifteenth Report, the Sixteenth Report presents a multitude of industry data on various aspects of mobile wireless competition. Consistent with the FCC’s first seven Annual Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) Competition Reports, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Reports did not reach an overall conclusion regarding whether or not the CMRS marketplace was effectively competitive, but provided an analysis and description of the CMRS industry’s competitive metrics and trends. The Sixteenth Report follows the same analytical framework used in the Fifteenth and Fourteenth Reports, with certain improvements based on responses to those Reports. The Sixteenth Report also makes no formal finding as to whether there is, or is not, effective competition in the industry. Rather, given the complexity of the various inter-related segments and services within the mobile wireless ecosystem, the Report focuses on presenting the best data available on competition throughout this sector of the economy and highlighting several key trends in the mobile wireless industry.
benton.org/node/148502 | Federal Communications Commission | Chairman Genachowski | Commissioner McDowell | Commissioner Clyburn | Commissioner Pai
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AUCTION TARGETED FOR SEPT 2014
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski]
The Federal Communications Commission notified the National Telecommunications and Information Administration that it plans to commence the auction of licenses in the 1695-1710 MHz band and the 1755-1780 MHz band as early as September 2014. FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai congratulated FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski for the move. “This is the first step in what will be an important process, and I look forward to working with my FCC colleagues, NTIA, and other stakeholders to help American consumers and the economy benefit from this spectrum as quickly as possible. In particular, I continue to believe that we should aim to clear and reallocate the 1755–1780 MHz band rather than forcing federal users and commercial operators to undertake the complicated, untested task of spectrum sharing,” said Commissioner Pai.
benton.org/node/148445 | Federal Communications Commission | Commissioner Pai
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INTERNET

BROADBAND ADOPTION AND ECONOMIC HEALTH
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
Higher rural broadband adoption rates are directly linked with economic health, according to new research. “Broadband adoption does have an impact on household income and employment,” said Sharon Stover of the University of Texas, on a webcast yesterday to present the findings. Stover is one of three people – including Brian Whitacre of Oklahoma State University and Roberto Gallardo of Mississippi State University – who conducted the research. The researchers measured economic health based on seven factors – including median household income, the percentage of people in poverty, the total people employed, non-farm proprietor income, the number of firms with paid employees, the percentage of non-farm proprietors and the percentage of employees classified as “creative class.” The research looked at the impact of broadband availability, download speeds, adoption rates and the number of broadband providers on the seven economic factors using three different modeling techniques. “If there were a lot of people without broadband available or not a lot of providers, it negatively impacts all seven economic measures,” said Whitacre. Depending on the modeling technique used, high broadband adoption rates (above 60%) positively impacted the total number of jobs and firms, median household income, poverty rates and unemployment rates, the researchers found. Interestingly, at least two of the modeling techniques showed that broadband adoption had a greater positive impact than broadband availability. While noting that “you can’t have adoption without availability,” Stover said the results suggest that policymakers “need to attend to the demand side.”
benton.org/node/148458 | telecompetitor | National Agricultural & Rural Development Policy Center
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WEB SHOPPING AND ACCESSIBILITY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Joe Palazzolo]
Commerce has moved online. Now, the disability lawsuits are following. Advocates for disabled Americans have declared that companies have a legal obligation to make their websites as accessible as their stores, and they've filed suits across the country to force them to install the digital version of wheelchair ramps and self-opening doors. Their theory that the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act applies to the modern Internet has been dismissed by several courts. Still, the National Federation of the Blind and the National Association of the Deaf have won legal victories against companies such as Target and Netflix. Both companies settled the cases after federal judges rejected arguments that their websites were beyond the scope of the ADA. "It's what I call 'eat your spinach' litigation," said Daniel F. Goldstein, a Baltimore lawyer who represents the NFB. "The market share you gain is more than the costs of making your site accessible."
benton.org/node/148500 | Wall Street Journal
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CYBERSECURITY

YES, CYBERATTACKS ARE PERFECTLY LEGAL UNDER THE LAWS OF WAR
[SOURCE: Government Executive, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
What’s the fastest way to annoy someone who works in national security? Just say "cyberwarfare" and watch them combust. The term is meaningless in the worst way -- it puts the imagination into paranoid overdrive and is not limited by any legal definitions. All the rules we’ve got on armed conflict today apply to ye olde bombs and bullets, not viruses and botnets. This makes a recent study from a group of NATO experts very, very welcome. Called the Tallinn Manual, it seeks to adapt the existing laws of war to cyberspace, laying down 95 new ideas over 282 pages. Many of them are just common-sense extensions of current international principles: According to one rule, cyberwarriors must take care not to hit the same targets that are off-limits to conventional forces. These include civilians, albeit with a crucial caveat: If you’re a civilian who’s decided to join the fight, you become a legitimate target even if you aren’t affiliated with a government or a military.
benton.org/node/148468 | Government Executive
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HACKERS AS TARGETS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Carlo Muñoz]
Hackers who carry out cyberattacks as part of a coordinated military campaign can be targeted as legitimate combatants, even if those individuals are civilian, according to a new NATO cyber warfare handbook. Targeting of civilian hackers is one of many recommended mandates in the handbook, which also outlines specific rules of engagement for offensive and defensive cyber warfare missions. The handbook, first reported by The Guardian, was commissioned by the alliance's Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence and included input from U.S. Cyber Command and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The NATO-commissioned handbook is the first major attempt to codify how alliance members will leverage cyber warfare capabilities in the field during future conflicts.
benton.org/node/148467 | Hill, The
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CONTENT

WEB MONEY GETS LAUNDERING RULE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jeffrey Sparshott]
The U.S. is applying money-laundering rules to "virtual currencies," amid growing concern that new forms of cash bought on the Internet are being used to fund illicit activities. The move means that firms that issue or exchange the increasingly popular online cash will now be regulated in a similar manner as traditional money-order providers such as Western Union. They would have new bookkeeping requirements and mandatory reporting for transactions of more than $10,000. Moreover, firms that receive legal tender in exchange for online currencies or anyone conducting a transaction on someone else's behalf would be subject to new scrutiny, said proponents of Internet currencies.
benton.org/node/148499 | Wall Street Journal
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COPYRIGHT DECISION
[SOURCE: The Wrap, AUTHOR: Ira Teinowitz]
A day after a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowed books and movies bought legally abroad to be resold in the U.S., members of House Judiciary Committee raised the possibility that the decision's biggest impact could be to spur Congress to revamp the nation’s copyright laws. Already examining those laws because of concerns that digital technology has left them badly outdated, members of the House Intellectual Property and Internet Subcommittee suggested the high court decision provides one more reason to act. “Yesterday’s opinion raises some concerns,” said Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA). Rep. George Holding (R-NC) repeatedly questioned Registrar of Copyrights Maria Pallante about the effect of the court decision.
benton.org/node/148435 | Wrap, The
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MELTWATER DECISION
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Larry Neumeister]
A company that relays excerpts of Internet news articles to its customers violates copyright laws, a judge said in a decision that gave The Associated Press a victory in its attempts to protect its online news content. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote rejected claims by Meltwater U.S. Holdings and its Meltwater News Service that its use of Web stories plucked from a scan of 162,000 news websites from more than 190 countries is a fair use of copyright-protected material. "Investigating and writing about newsworthy events occurring around the globe is an expensive undertaking and enforcement of the copyright laws permits AP to earn the revenue that underwrites that work," Judge Cote wrote. "Permitting Meltwater to take the fruit of AP's labor for its own profit, without compensating AP, injures AP's ability to perform this essential function of democracy." The judge noted that commercial Internet news clipping services like Meltwater perform an important function for their customers, but that "does not outweigh the strong public interest in the enforcement of the copyright laws or justify allowing Meltwater to free ride on the costly news gathering and coverage work performed by other organizations. Moreover, permitting Meltwater to avoid paying licensing fees gives it an unwarranted advantage over its competitors who do pay licensing fees."
benton.org/node/148486 | Associated Press
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EDUCATION

SCHOOLS AND INTERNET CONNECTIONS
[SOURCE: Education Week, AUTHOR: Michelle Davis]
Teachers across the country want to personalize learning through technology, districts are putting 1-to-1 computing initiatives in place, tablet devices are flooding into classrooms, and the 2014-15 deadline for online testing under the Common Core State Standards is drawing near. But none of those approaches or plans is possible without high-speed broadband connections. The Federal Communications Commission has made it a priority to get such fast, reliable connections to every school. It released a national broadband plan in 2010 with recommendations to achieve that goal, and it is slowly modernizing regulations for the federal E-rate program, which reimburses districts for many connectivity expenses. Though nearly every school is connected to the Internet, not all of them have the kind of connections that allow teachers and students to make full use of digital tools. Schools should have at least 100 megabits per second for their broadband connections by 2014-15, says a report issued last year by the State Educational Technology Directors Association, referring to the speed at which information is delivered to a computer. That's the same speed that the assessment coalitions behind online testing of the common-core standards suggest. But many schools do not have such high-speed connections, says Douglas Levin, the executive director of the Glen Burnie, Md.-based SETDA. Even worse, he says, some think they do—and are paying for such service—without really having it available.
benton.org/node/148431 | Education Week
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

SCANNING PRIVATE WEB TRAFFIC
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Joseph Menn, Deborah Charles]
The U.S. government is expanding a cybersecurity program that scans Internet traffic headed into and out of defense contractors to include far more of the country's private, civilian-run infrastructure. As a result, more private sector employees than ever before, including those at big banks, utilities and key transportation companies, will have their e-mails and Web surfing scanned as a precaution against cyberattacks. Under last month's White House executive order on cybersecurity, the scans will be driven by classified information provided by U.S. intelligence agencies - including data from the National Security Agency (NSA) - on new or especially serious espionage threats and other hacking attempts. U.S. spy chiefs said on March 12 that cyberattacks have supplanted terrorism as the top threat to the country. The Department of Homeland Security will gather the secret data and pass it to a small group of telecommunication companies and cybersecurity providers that have employees holding security clearances, government and industry officials said. Those companies will then offer to process email and other Internet transmissions for critical infrastructure customers that choose to participate in the program. By using DHS as the middleman, the Obama administration hopes to bring the formidable overseas intelligence-gathering of the NSA closer to ordinary U.S. residents without triggering an outcry from privacy advocates who have long been leery of the spy agency's eavesdropping.
benton.org/node/148469 | Reuters
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

EXECUTIVES PRESS EUROPEANS ON GOOGLE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Kevin O’Brien]
With the European inquiry into Google’s search engine practices entering a third year, a group of 11 web businesses sent a joint letter to Europe’s top antitrust official, asking him to compel Google to change its business practices to ensure that smaller rivals are not unfairly harmed. The letter, organized by one of the original complainants in the case, a British online shopping service called Foundem, asked the European competition commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, to take a hard line in ongoing negotiations with Google to produce “effective and future-proof” concessions that will protect small European competitors. “We are becoming increasingly concerned that effective and future-proof remedies might not emerge through settlement discussions alone,” the letter signed by the group stated. “In addition to materially degrading the user experience and limiting consumer choice, Google’s search manipulation practices lay waste to entire classes of competitors in every sector where Google chooses to deploy them.”
benton.org/node/148428 | New York Times
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EUROPE WEIGHS IPHONE SALE DEALS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Chen, Nick Wingfield, Kevin O’Brien]
European Union regulators are examining the contracts Apple strikes with cellphone carriers that sell its iPhone for possible antitrust violations after several carriers complained that the deals throttled competition. Although they have not filed formal complaints, a group of European wireless carriers recently submitted information about their contracts with Apple to the European Commission, according to a person briefed on the communications with the carriers who asked not to be identified. This person said the accusations focused on Apple’s contracts with French carriers, though other countries may also be involved. In a statement, the European Commission, the union’s administrative arm, which oversees antitrust enforcement in the 27-nation bloc, confirmed that it was examining Apple’s carrier deals. But it said it had not begun a formal antitrust investigation. The commission is not obligated to act until it receives a formal complaint of anticompetitive behavior. That it is already examining the contracts suggests that it is taking the carriers’ concerns seriously.
benton.org/node/148501 | New York Times
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MEXICO TELECOMS BILL APPROVED
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Adam Thomson]
Mexico’s lower house of Congress gave overwhelming general approval to a telecoms bill that seeks to curb the power of some of the country’s most powerful businessmen. The approval, by 414 votes to just 50 against, marks the first big step towards introducing more competition into telecoms and television as part of a wider push to make Latin America’s second-largest economy more competitive and grow faster. Introduced by centrist President Enrique Peña Nieto, who took office just three months ago, the bill proposes the creation of a tough industry regulator able to label as “dominant” any company with more than 50 per cent of the telecoms or television markets. It could then impose a series of measures – ranging from asymmetric tariff structures all the way to forcing asset sales – to limit those companies’ power and to make it easier for new entrants to compete more effectively. At the same time, the bill proposes to raise the legal maximum shareholding of foreign investors in companies operating in the sectors – to 49 per cent in the case of television and to 100 per cent in the case of telecoms. Analysts say that the two companies most affected would be América Móvil, the pan-American telecoms company controlled by Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, and Televisa, the Mexican broadcaster.
benton.org/node/148495 | Financial Times
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March 22, 2013
Source 
Benton Foundation
Author 
Kevin Taglang
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

[Commentary] Our big news this week, obviously, was the big announcement from the Federal Communications Commission’s meeting March 20 that Robert McDowell, the current commissioner with the most tenure, is stepping down from the FCC. “[I]t is time to turn more of my energies towards an even higher calling: serving my family,” Commissioner McDowell said. He indicated that he would leave the FCC in a few weeks. Well, that WAS the big story right up to the moment we started penning this round-up and then heard that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski would announce his departure from the FCC on March 22.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

Topics

Related Headlines

March 22, 2013
Source 
Federal Communications Commission
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

The Federal Communications Commission is required to report annually to Congress on the state of competition in the mobile services marketplace. In June 2011, the FCC released the Fifteenth Report, which provided an analysis of mobile wireless market conditions during 2009 and, to the extent data were available, 2010. This year’s sixteenth Mobile Wireless Competition Report updates the data and analysis presented in the Fifteenth Report, and analyzes mobile wireless service market conditions during 2010 and 2011, as well as during 2012 to the extent data are available.

The analysis includes “competitive market conditions with respect to commercial mobile services.” Like the Fifteenth Report, the Sixteenth Report presents a multitude of industry data on various aspects of mobile wireless competition. Consistent with the FCC’s first seven Annual Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) Competition Reports, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Reports did not reach an overall conclusion regarding whether or not the CMRS marketplace was effectively competitive, but provided an analysis and description of the CMRS industry’s competitive metrics and trends. The Sixteenth Report follows the same analytical framework used in the Fifteenth and Fourteenth Reports, with certain improvements based on responses to those Reports. The Sixteenth Report also makes no formal finding as to whether there is, or is not, effective competition in the industry. Rather, given the complexity of the various inter-related segments and services within the mobile wireless ecosystem, the Report focuses on presenting the best data available on competition throughout this sector of the economy and highlighting several key trends in the mobile wireless industry.

FCC Adopts the 16th Mobile Competition Report Statement (Chairman Genachowski) Statement (Commissioner McDowell) Statement (Commissioner Clyburn) Statement (Commissioner Pai)

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March 22, 2013
Source 
New York Times
Author 
Nick Wingfield
Brian Chen
Kevin O’Brien
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

European Union regulators are examining the contracts Apple strikes with cellphone carriers that sell its iPhone for possible antitrust violations after several carriers complained that the deals throttled competition.

Although they have not filed formal complaints, a group of European wireless carriers recently submitted information about their contracts with Apple to the European Commission, according to a person briefed on the communications with the carriers who asked not to be identified. This person said the accusations focused on Apple’s contracts with French carriers, though other countries may also be involved. In a statement, the European Commission, the union’s administrative arm, which oversees antitrust enforcement in the 27-nation bloc, confirmed that it was examining Apple’s carrier deals. But it said it had not begun a formal antitrust investigation. The commission is not obligated to act until it receives a formal complaint of anticompetitive behavior. That it is already examining the contracts suggests that it is taking the carriers’ concerns seriously.

Europe Weighs iPhone Sale Deals With Carriers for Antitrust Abuse

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March 22, 2013
Source 
Wall Street Journal
Author 
Joe Palazzolo
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Commerce has moved online. Now, the disability lawsuits are following.

Advocates for disabled Americans have declared that companies have a legal obligation to make their websites as accessible as their stores, and they've filed suits across the country to force them to install the digital version of wheelchair ramps and self-opening doors. Their theory that the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act applies to the modern Internet has been dismissed by several courts. Still, the National Federation of the Blind and the National Association of the Deaf have won legal victories against companies such as Target and Netflix. Both companies settled the cases after federal judges rejected arguments that their websites were beyond the scope of the ADA. "It's what I call 'eat your spinach' litigation," said Daniel F. Goldstein, a Baltimore lawyer who represents the NFB. "The market share you gain is more than the costs of making your site accessible."

Deaf, Blind Sue Over Web Shopping

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March 22, 2013
Source 
Wall Street Journal
Author 
Jeffrey Sparshott
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

The U.S. is applying money-laundering rules to "virtual currencies," amid growing concern that new forms of cash bought on the Internet are being used to fund illicit activities.

The move means that firms that issue or exchange the increasingly popular online cash will now be regulated in a similar manner as traditional money-order providers such as Western Union. They would have new bookkeeping requirements and mandatory reporting for transactions of more than $10,000. Moreover, firms that receive legal tender in exchange for online currencies or anyone conducting a transaction on someone else's behalf would be subject to new scrutiny, said proponents of Internet currencies.

Web Money Gets Laundering Rule

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March 22, 2013
Source 
Wall Street Journal
Author 
Miriam Gottfried
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Pay TV wants to put its foot down on rising content costs. But it may find content providers are inured to its stomping.

A number of major pay-TV providers have publicly joined the chorus in recent weeks, protesting programming costs that are rising faster than the companies can raise their own prices. Time Warner Cable has threatened to drop smaller channels. Last month, Cablevision sued Viacom, alleging that its practice of bundling channels violated antitrust laws. Comcast, for its part, opted for an early buyout of NBCUniversal to hedge against escalating programming costs. The latter were about $32 per video subscriber in 2012, according to Janney Capital Markets. This year, the brokerage firm estimates, those costs will rise 12.6%, with the prices Comcast charges its video subscribers rising only 4.3%. In the latest protest, Verizon Communications is proposing that its FiOS TV division pay networks based on the number of people who watch their channels. Verizon's plan wouldn't necessarily lower bills for FiOS subscribers. But it might help to slow the sharp step-ups in programming costs. Of course, ESPN and other networks would likely insist on higher per-subscriber rates to ensure they cover their costs. But even if ESPN charged $10 a subscriber per month, Verizon would only pay $9.4 million in fees if, say, 20% of FiOS's 4.7 million subscribers watched ESPN that month. Right now, Verizon pays roughly $24 million a month no matter who watches.

Pay TV Will Have to Keep Paying

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