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This report identifies 15 megahertz of spectrum between 1675 MHz and 1710 MHz for reallocation from federal use to non-federal use. Specifically, the Secretary of Commerce, through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), recommends that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reallocate the 1695-1710 MHz band for commercial use. This recommendation reaffirms NTIA’s January 2011 conclusion that the FCC should repurpose the 1695-1710 MHz band for wireless broadband use on a shared basis, as NTIA identified in its Fast Track Report.
Report to the President: Identification of 15 MHz of Spectrum Between 1675 MHz and 1710 MHz for Reallocation
Apparently, the Federal Communications Commission has granted Cunningham Broadcasting's WNUV-TV Baltimore (MD) a six-month experimental broadcast license to use the CW affiliate as a test bed for a "next-generation" broadcast standard that the station argues could help broadcasters be a player in the mobile, multiplatform and ultra-high definition of the video future.
The company says other broadcasters, vendors and trade associations will participate in the WNUV test, according to the original petition for testing authority. WNUV has six months to test from Feb. 15, when the authorization was granted, though it can seek a renewal. The FCC's Media Bureau, which granted the experimental temporary authority, makes it clear that only a small number of test devices can be used and no commercial application is allowed, both of which WNUV itself offered up as conditions of the experimental license. WNUV will conduct its test mostly in overnight hours (1 a.m. to 5 a.m.). Between those hours, it will replace its ATSC signal with the test OFDM DVB-T2 signal, receivable by only a handful of devices. WNUV has promised to make a feed of CW programming that would have aired on WNUV during those times available to cable operators and other MVPDs. It also will broadcast that programming on a digital subchannel of Sinclair's Baltimore Fox affiliate, WBFF, which operates WNUV under the LMA.
FCC OKs Test of New TV Transmission Standard
Former Federal Communications Commission chair and Wiley Rein partner Dick Wiley said that as primarily a one-channel service in a multichannel universe, broadcasters need some deregulatory help from the Federal Communications Commission.
That came at a Hudson Institute forum on the once and future FCC. He was being interviewed by former FCC commissioner and Hudson senior fellow Harold Furchtgott-Roth. Wiley said he understood the FCC's focus on broadband, rather than broadcasting, but also said that broadcasting remained an important service that needs both a change to local ownership and cross-ownership limits, and preferably no change to retransmission consent rules he says are working.
Dick Wiley Says Broadcasters Need Deregulation Help
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) released a National Sciences Foundation advisory committee report that identified violent media as one of three major risk factors associated with mass shootings.
Rep Wolf is chairman of the Commerce-Justice-Science subcommittee, which requested the report, essentially a review of existing research, following the Sandy Hook shootings. The report was prepared by the Subcommittee on Youth violence of the Advisory Committee to the Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate of NSF. Even so, the report also makes clear that it does not necessarily reflect the view of the NSF. Rep Wolf has said he believes such mass killings are the result of a combination of factors including access to mental health, access to firearms (the two other major risk factors identified in the report) and access to violent media, including video games.
Report Includes Violent Media as Mass Shooting Risk Factor
Hoping to tap into a new customer segment, Comcast is testing a relatively low-speed prepaid Internet service -- starting at $69.95 for a kit that includes a cable modem and 30 days of access -- in the greater Philadelphia region.
Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas said the company currently has no plans to expand the test beyond the Philadelphia metro area, which includes parts of New Jersey and Delaware. The MSO initiated the test last fall. “It’s something we’re trying to learn from,” Douglas said. The service offers up to 3 Megabits per second download and up to 768 Kbps of upload speed. That’s compared with 6 Mbps down for Comcast's entry-level Performance Starter tier, priced at $49.95 per month. After purchase of the initial kit, service costs $15 for seven days or $45 for 30 days of additional access. According to Comcast, the advantage of the prepaid service is that it doesn’t require an annual contract or a credit check, and offers pay-as-you-go pricing.
Comcast Kicks Tires on Prepaid Internet
T-Mobile USA, the No. 4 U.S. mobile provider, launched GoSmart Mobile, a nationwide prepaid wireless brand that will sell cellphone services to customers who want to pay for calls in advance.
The wireless operator, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG, has agreed to merge with smaller rival MetroPCS Communications. It is hoping to benefit from growth in the prepaid market to regain customers lost to rivals. The company said it has been testing its new prepaid service in nine markets since early December and has already signed up "tens of thousands" of customers in just over two months. GoSmart services, which will be available at more than 3,000 wireless reseller stores around the country beginning on February 19, will start at $30 a month for unlimited talk time and texting services, but no mobile Internet services. A $35 per month plan includes mobile Internet access on its slower network while a $45 plan offers higher speeds.
T-Mobile USA hopes for prepaid growth with GoSmart brand
A Q&A with Susan Crawford, a law professor who served as special assistant to President Obama for science, technology and innovation policy.
Using the Internet or a cellphone keeps getting more expensive. But for network providers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless, new technologies have made services cheaper to deliver. So why the higher costs? In her new book “Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age,” Crawford says mergers in the American broadband and wireless industries have stifled competition, which hurts the consumer in the end.
One on One: Susan P. Crawford, Author of ‘Captive Audience’
Researchers from Humboldt University and Darmstadt Technical University have recently published a study on Facebook’s role in our own unhappiness.
Their findings are staggering: Over a third of people reported being unhappy following their most recent experience on Facebook. When later asked why users might feel frustrated or exhausted after using Facebook, almost a third of people responded “envy.” Furthermore, of all envy a person experiences in their entire lives, users report that Facebook is causing about 20% of it, serving as what researchers call a “breeding ground” for these feelings. In other words, Facebook causes envy because we’re jealous of one another’s travels. But it’s not just on us. Researchers find that the design of Facebook itself can actually play a role in feeding unpleasant parts of our social psyche.
Why Checking Facebook Makes Us Feel Bad About Ourselves
Google's latest privacy policy could land it with a fine of up to $1 billion under a new law allowing Europe-wide challenges to U.S.-based Internet giants, Europe's top justice official said.
Viviane Reding, the European Union's commissioner for justice, said rules being finalized by the European parliament and EU countries would allow a single EU data regulator to fine companies on behalf of all national watchdogs. "The one-stop-shop regulator could threaten a company which does not obey the rules with a fine of up to two percent of global turnover," Reding told journalists. Asked what kind of offence would receive the full two percent fine Reding pointed to Google. "The test case (Google) is a clear one."
Google risks huge fine under new EU data rules: top official
China fought back against a U.S. computer-security firm's accusations that a Chinese military group stole large amounts of data from U.S. companies.
Speaking at a daily news briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei denied the accusations. "Cyberattacks are anonymous and transnational, and it is hard to trace the origin of attacks, so I don't know how the findings of the report are credible," Mr. Hong said. At the same time, Mr. Hong said China has been a frequent victim of cyberattacks, and he added that the U.S. has been the top source of such attacks. China has suffered virus attacks, and Chinese personal computers have come under control by foreign Internet addresses, he said. When asked if China believed that the U.S. government is behind the attacks, Mr. Hong said "we can only say they originated in the U.S.," which he said was "entirely different from media reports that the Chinese government or the Chinese military are responsible" for the attacks detailed in the U.S. computer security firm's report. He cited research by a Chinese computer emergency response center affiliated China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
China Lashes Back at Hacking Claims