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January 25, 2013
Source 
Government Technology
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Now that President Obama's second term is under way, the IT community is looking to federal CIO Steven VanRoekel to shed some light on technology policy for the next four years.

At a Jan. 22 hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, VanRoekel spoke on the topic of "Wasting Information Technology Dollars: How can the Federal Government Reform its IT Investment Strategy?" VanRoekel's testimony represented a continuation of priorities set when he first assumed his position in 2011, following the departure of Vivek Kundra. The top three IT priorities of the Obama administration are to innovate in service of the public good, maximize the return from investment in IT and focus on cybersecurity.

Federal IT Priorities in Obama's Second Term

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January 25, 2013
Source 
Washington Post
Author 
Craig Timberg
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

The push for strict new limits on how Internet companies collect and use consumer data in Europe has hit stiff resistance from U.S. industry groups and the Obama administration, dimming hopes that the effort could lead to expanded privacy safeguards for users worldwide.

Privacy advocates have embraced a bill before the European Parliament as their best chance to win a range of protections that have failed to gain political traction in Washington. The sprawling nature of the information economy means that standards imposed in Europe likely would affect consumers everywhere, possibly giving them new power to block collection of their personal information and demand that it be deleted from existing files. But officials from the Commerce Department and the U.S. Mission to the European Union have largely echoed industry concerns that the bill could hinder innovation and economic growth worldwide while also hurting the ability of multinational corporations and governments to work across borders.

US firms, officials resisting Europe’s push for stronger digital privacy rules

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Alliance for Excellent Education
February 6, 2013
http://www.digitallearningday.org

is a national campaign that celebrates teachers and shines a spotlight on successful instructional practice and effective use of technology in classrooms across the country.

Submitted on January 25, 2013

No Single Person Can Build the Roads and Networks…

The single biggest story this week, of course, is the story you already know: On January 21, 2013, at 11:55 AM Eastern Time, President Barack Obama delivered his Second Inaugural Address from the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The address called on the nation to work together to meet the challenges we all face -- the cost of health care and the size of our deficit, climate change and transitioning to sustainable energy sources, ending wars and winning the peace, ensuring civil rights and personal safety, and creating a path to citizenship for new Americans. But our focus today are a few lines that perked the ears of many an observer of our nation’s telecommunications policy and the technology sector.

Back in early November, we looked at election results and the agenda moving forward. On Election Night, the President identified immigration and American leadership in technology and discovery and innovation as two key issues for the nation. This week, President Obama made a brief mention about the need for high-skilled immigration reform during his address, arguing that foreign-born engineers and graduates with advanced degrees should be able to stay in the U.S. and join the workforce rather than be forced to return to their home countries. "Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country," President Obama said.

The issue is a cornerstone policy priority for technology companies, which argue that they struggle to fill positions for engineering and research jobs because most applicants don't have the requisite skills for these positions. These companies also argue that they want to keep this talent in the U.S. rather than lose it to competitors abroad.

The technology community was quick to praise the President. "From innovation to immigration, from the power of technology to transform our society to the power of our imagination to find solutions to long-standing challenges, the President’s inaugural address spoke to the heart of our sector’s shared priorities," said Tom Gavin, vice president of external affairs at the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI). The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) lauded Obama for promoting tech initiatives over the years and said Obama's inaugural address aligned with its policy agenda for the year. TIA President Grant Seiffert said the President indicated that "he is committed to using technology to remake government, reform education and empower citizens." "He deserves praise for advancing this commitment and recognizing the incredible economic and societal value of technology," Seiffert said. "Many of the goals he expressed today are shared in our own innovation agenda, and we look forward to working closely with the Obama administration over the next four years."

Writing in the New York Times on January 24, former-White House aide Susan Crawford also applauded the President for recognizing that digital communication networks — especially— can be a powerful economic engine. The President said:

No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores.

For telecom policy wonks, the inclusion of the word “networks” is key. But, as Crawford points out, we are far away from being able to realize the vision of high-capacity fiber networks reaching American homes and businesses. She warns that the U.S. is ceding the advantage such technology offers to other countries. Crawford lays out the problem:

  • Both the wireless and wired markets for high-speed Internet access have become heavily concentrated,
  • Neither market is subject to substantial competition nor oversight,
  • Too few powerful companies wield enormous influence over policy making, and
  • These companies prevent local officials from encouraging competition.

Headlines’ favorite Stacey Higginbotham wrote this week about the latest State of the Internet report from Akamai. She notes that we may not be a gigabit nation yet, but the latest data from Akamai shows that the number of broadband connections over 10 Mbps — what Akamai dubs “high broadband” -- has grown by 73 percent from the third quarter of 2011 to the third quarter of 2012. The country has also seen a 20 percent overall increase in average speed to 7.2 Mbps over the past year. But the number of people who have adopted broadband (measured at anything above 4 Mbps) is just 62 percent, which puts the U.S. at No. 12 in the worldwide rankings when it comes to adoption and No. 9 when it comes to average speeds.

Moreover, Higginbotham points out, the Akamai report shows how much difference there can be in broadband quality even within countries. It also illustrates the difference in speeds between wireline and mobile connection (only seven mobile carriers even provide Akamai’s 4 Mbps definition of broadband – and none of them are doing so in the U.S.). As our own country attempts to build out gigabit cities near universities – or at least one city in every state – it’s worth pointing out that the future is clearly here in terms of faster broadband, but it’s unevenly distributed among the types of broadband and within countries.

Crawford says that if the U.S. is to have reasonably priced, globally competitive, ubiquitous communications infrastructure so that Americans can compete and innovate, we need to pursue three goals:

  1. We must remove barriers to investment in local fiber networks. Nineteen states have enacted laws sponsored by incumbent network operators that raise barriers for cities wanting to foster competitive networks. Congress must act to restore local communities’ right to self-determination by pre-empting these unfair and anticompetitive state laws. We must also create infrastructure banks that provide long-term, low-interest financing to support the initial costs of building these networks.
  2. The Federal Communications Commission must make reasonably priced high-speed access available to everyone. We need to make sure that subsidies are available for competitive companies willing to extend world-class service to more Americans.
  3. The FCC must foster more competition by changing the rules that keep the status quo in place, rules incumbents use to restrict access to programming and to telephone poles.

[Readers may also be in this op-ed Crawford penned for Bloomberg this week: How to Give the U.S. Ultrafast Internet]

At the FCC on January 18, Chairman Julius Genachowski called for at least one gigabit community in all 50 states by 2015. Speeds of one gigabit per second are approximately 100 times faster than the average fixed high-speed Internet connection. At gigabit speeds, connections can handle multiple streams of large-format, high-definition content like online video calls, movies, and immersive educational experiences. Networks cease to be hurdles to applications, so it no longer matters whether medical data, high-definition video, or online services are in the same building or miles away across the state.

To help communities meet the Gigabit City Challenge, Chairman Genachowski announced plans to create a new online clearinghouse of best practices to collect and disseminate information about how to lower the costs and increase the speed of broadband deployment nationwide, including to create gigabit communities. Chairman Genachowski also announced that the FCC will hold workshops on gigabit communities. The workshops will convene leaders from the gigabit community ecosystem—including broadband providers, and state and municipal leaders— to evaluate barriers, increase incentives, and lower the costs of speeding gigabit network deployment.

Communities across the country are already taking action to seize the opportunities of gigabit broadband for their local economies and bring superfast broadband to homes. In Chattanooga, Tennessee, a local utility deployed a fiber network to 170,000 homes. Thanks to the city’s investment in broadband infrastructure, companies like Volkswagen and Amazon have created more than 3,700 new jobs over the past three years in Chattanooga. [See Benton’s “Broadband At the Speed of Light: How Three Communities Built Next-Generation Networks” for more] On January 23, Gov Pat Quinn (D-IL) was joined by leaders from the City of Evanston (IL) and Northwestern University to announce a $1 million state investment to help the city become an Illinois Gigabit Community, bringing ultra-high speed Internet to one of the nation’s top universities and the surrounding area, home to more than 160 start-ups.

The Gig.U initiative has already catalyzed $200 million in private investment to build ultra-high-speed hubs in the communities of many leading research universities, including a recent joint venture with the University of Washington and a private ISP to deliver gigabit service to a dozen area neighborhoods in Seattle. The Gigabit City Challenge is designed to drive a critical mass of gigabit communities like these, creating new markets for 21st century services, promoting competition, spurring innovation, and driving economic growth nationwide.

In Forbes, Chairman Genachowski wrote, “We need more of these gigabit testbeds to ensure there is a sufficient market in the U.S. for super-high-bandwidth applications and services. A critical mass of gigabit communities will spur innovation and investment.”

But Christopher Mitchell, Telecom Director at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, thinks Chairman Genachowski doesn’t understand what is preventing us from building those networks: “little incentive for massive, established cable monopolies to invest in networks when they are harvesting record profits and subscribers have no other choices.” He says the FCC needs to wrestle with the real problem: “far too much of our essential telecommunications infrastructure is controlled by de facto monopolies unaccountable to the communities that depend upon them.”

Circling back to the Inauguration, Mitchell’s assessment contrasts with President Obama’s reminder that “Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.” As noted above, “No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores.” The President went on to say, “Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation and one people.”

At the Benton Foundation, through Headlines, we seek and report upon the policy solutions that support the values of access, diversity and equity, and demonstrate the value of media and telecommunications for improving the quality of life for all. The President’s words on January 21 ring in our ears and we look forward to the work needed to make them reality in the coming years.

January 25, 2013 (How to Give the US Ultrafast Internet)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2013

A look ahead to next week http://benton.org/calendar/2013-01-27--P1W/


AGENDA
   FCC To Hold Open Commission Meeting, Thursday, January 31, 2013 - public notice
   Prospects for the 113th Congress - analysis [links to web]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   How to Give the US Ultrafast Internet - op-ed
   Access to broadband internet is the new access to ports, rail, and electricity
   FCC Denies Request to Rescind Comment on Unserved Areas
   The US Needs Smarter Technology Policies - analysis
   US homeland chief: cyber 9/11 could happen "imminently" [links to web]

VIOLENCE AND MEDIA
   VP Biden calls for studies on video games, possible links to gun violence
   Sen Rockefeller reintroduces bill to study video game violence

SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
   NAB, Wireless Agree on Band Plan 'Core' Principles
   More than 700 Million Smartphones Shipped in 2012 as Apple, Samsung Dominate [links to web]

COMMUNITY AND INFORMATION
   Technology Promises a Better Informed Society, But Information Must Flow Freely - op-ed

CONTENT
   Here’s how much in content sales turn Kindle Fire into a money maker
   Macmillan to launch two-year e-book library lending pilot [links to web]
   A Free Database of the Entire Web May Spawn the Next Google [links to web]
   How Some Men Harass Women Online and What Other Men Can Do to Stop It [links to web]

OWNERSHIP
   FCC Chairman’s Legacy: Ignoring Diversity - op-ed

LABOR
   Bipartisan group of senators to introduce high-skilled immigration bill [links to web]
   Apple Names Product Assemblers in Boost to Supplier Transparency

PRIVACY
   Letter From Forty-Four Digital Rights Groups Demands Skype Detail Its Surveillance Practices
   Rep Markey concerned over Disney plan to track kids with bracelets [links to web]

ENERGY
   Recovery Act Money for Smart Grid was Mismanaged, IG Says [links to web]

ELECTIONS & MEDIA
   Facebook CEO to Host Christie Fundraiser [links to web]

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   We The People Petitioners Typically Wait Three Months for a Reply - analysis [links to web]

POLICYMAKERS
   FCC Chairman’s Legacy: Ignoring Diversity - op-ed
   Benton Foundation’s Henry Rivera Named a “Game Changer” by Politic365 [links to web]

COMPANY NEWS
   AT&T Earnings: $3.8 Billion Net Loss, $32.6 Billion in Revenue, 1.1 Million New Wireless Customers [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Superfast Internet benefit in UK put at £20 billion
   German court rules Internet "essential" [links to web]
   Break a wall of silence on cyberattacks - analysis [links to web]
   UK fines Sony for lapses at games network [links to web]
   France seeking back tax from big Web firms: minister [links to web]
   French court says Twitter must identify racist tweeters [links to web]

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AGENDA

FCC AGENDA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Thursday, January 31, 2013. Here’s the agenda; the FCC will consider:
A Report and Order to revise and streamline its rules to modernize the Experimental Radio Service by creating a more flexible environment to accelerate innovation and promote the introduction of new products, including medical devices, to the marketplace.
The FCC will hear a presentation on the agency’s ongoing work to expand broadband access and spectrum availability for health care uses.
benton.org/node/144064 | Federal Communications Commission
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

HOW TO GIVE THE US ULTRAFAST INTERNET
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Susan Crawford]
[Commentary] Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, made an important speech last week calling for at least one “gigabit city” in all 50 states by 2015. For the U.S. to maintain its leadership in innovation, he said, a critical mass of communities must have networks capable of ultrahigh Internet-access speeds. His point is welcome. The question is whether fair rules are in place that will allow the improvements he seeks. Fiber-optic connections would allow for equally fast uploads and downloads, and they are almost infinitely upgradeable. This is why some cities have moved to install competitive fiber networks on their own. In many cases, however, they have been impeded by state laws that foreclose competition. In 2011, after years of lobbying by large cable and telephone companies, the North Carolina legislature passed a law making it almost impossible for cities to operate high-speed Internet- access networks.
benton.org/node/144063 | Bloomberg
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COMPARING INTERNET TO PORTS, RAIL AND ELECTRICITY
[SOURCE: Quartz, AUTHOR: Christopher Mims]
In the 21st century, a small business in Kansas City, Missouri, has at least one very important thing in common with a small business in Seoul, Korea: Both have access to ultra high-speed internet—Kansas City via Google Fiber and Seoul on account of its government championing the rollout of fiber optic internet for over a decade. That’s one way to look at Akamai’s quarterly “state of the internet” report, in which the content serving company samples requests to its own servers to reveal internet connectivity speeds all over the world. As Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, emphasized to me the last time we spoke, the one reason a country as small as Sweden has a disproportionate share of successful internet startups is that Swedish teenagers grow up taking gigabit internet connections for granted. And it’s not just traditional web startups and IT giants that need fast internet connectivity. Arguably, as businesses move more functions to the cloud and mobile becomes increasingly important, everyone needs fast internet connectivity. Whether you’re a manufacturer who has to conduct remote meetings with suppliers in distant countries or a sales department that requires its cloud-based customer relations management software to be fast and responsive, fast broadband internet is now a core infrastructure requirement not unlike reliable transportation and energy.
benton.org/node/144029 | Quartz
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FCC DENIES MOTION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission has dismissed a request by wireless Internet service providers that it rescind its notice seeking comment on a list of census blocks in price cap territories that are unserved by fixed broadband, a list based on the National Broadband Map. The FCC said that the request from the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) was not "ripe" for a decision because the notice was not a final action, but instead a request for info that could inform that final action, which is the dispensation of more broadband subsidy money as the FCC migrates traditional phone subsidies to broadband. Cable operators want the opportunity to weigh in and correct what they see as inaccuracies in the map that show served areas to be unserved. Areas identified as unserved will be eligible for Universal Service Fund subsidies for competing broadband providers, including wireless, which cable ops don't want to be used to overbuild their existing wired service.
benton.org/node/144025 | Broadcasting&Cable
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TECHNOLOGY POLICY
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Darrell West]
[Commentary] The industrial-based economy has given way to a post-industrial order, making the Internet a crucial platform for commerce and communications. It is vital, especially with our economy experiencing weak growth, that leaders pursue pro-innovation policies that improve productivity and entrepreneurship. Along these lines, Brookings released last week a paper by myself and my Brookings colleagues Allan Friedman and Walter Valdivia that outlined a robust domestic tech policy agenda for 2013 and beyond, which offered ideas for reforming our economy, improving public sector performance, and training people for 21st century jobs.
benton.org/node/144014 | Brookings | read the paper
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VIOLENCE AND MEDIA

BIDENS CALL FOR RESEARCH
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
Vice President Joe Biden called for additional studies to be conducted on violent video games and possible links to real-life violence during a Google Plus Hangout. VP Biden said the Administration wants to collect the facts on violent video games and their effect on children, then let those findings determine what the government's path forward should be. He criticized some interest groups for discouraging further studies on the causes of gun violence. VP Biden noted that there's a lack of studies on video games and possible links to violence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is prohibited from conducting research on gun violence because of a congressional ban that bars it from using funds on studies that may advocate or promote gun control. While there's currently "no hard data" that links violent video games to antisocial behavior in kids, VP Biden said further research should be conducted on the issue. During the video chat, he cited a study conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics that found that some children who played multiple hours of video games a day were more prone to aggressive behavior, but he noted that it did not look into whether video games led to violence. "There is no hard data as to whether or not these excessively violent video games in fact cause people to engage in behavior that is antisocial, including using guns," he said. "Let these people go out and look at the pathology that's behind this, if there is a pathology related to gun violence," VP Biden said. "We shouldn't be afraid of the facts."
benton.org/node/144062 | Hill, The | B&C
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VIOLENT VIDEO GAME RESEARCH
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso, Jennifer Martinez]
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced legislation that would require the National Academy of Sciences to study the impact of violent video games and other content on children. He introduced the same bill at the end of the last Congress, but there wasn't enough time for a floor vote. This time, his bill has bipartisan support from Sens. Mike Johanns (R-NE), Dean Heller (R-NE), Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). Sen Rockefeller said the bill would lay the groundwork for Congress to consider new regulations of violent entertainment content.
benton.org/node/144061 | Hill, The
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS

BROADCASTERS AND WIRELESS AGREEMENT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Verizon, AT&T, the National Association of Broadcasters and others sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission making some key recommendations and offering a new band plan idea for reorganizing the broadcast/broadband band after the FCC's reverse incentive auctions to reclaim broadcast spectrum for wireless. The band plan is only one part of the incentive auction process, but an important one for broadcasters who will have to share their former spectrum digs with wireless. According to a copy of the letter, broadcasters and wireless companies have come to consensus on a "core set of band plan principles" that they want the FCC to adopt. Those include:
Adopt a contiguous "down from TV 51" approach with uplink at the top;
Maximize the amount of paired spectrum above TV 37 (rely on supplemental downlink configurations where spectrum is cleared but pairing options are not viable);
Rely upon 5 MHz spectrum blocks as building blocks for the band plan;
Incorporate a "duplex gap" or spacing between uplink (mobile transmit) and downlink (base transmit) of a minimum of 10 MHz, but no larger than technically necessary;
Avoid broadcast television stations in the duplex gap;
Preclude any operations in the duplex gap or guard bands that would result in harmful interference to adjacent licensed services;
Provide guard bands that are, consistent with the statute, "no larger than is technically reasonable" to guard against harmful interference between adjacent operations;
Provide a guard band between a high power broadcaster and mobile downlink that is sufficient to protect the wireless service from interference, which will likely be larger than the 6 MHz proposed by the FCC;
Permit existing operations in TV 37 to remain;
Facilitate international harmonization, prioritizing harmonization across North America and move forward expeditiously to coordinate with Canada and Mexico for new broadcast assignments."
benton.org/node/144060 | Broadcasting&Cable
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COMMUNITY AND INFORMATION

INFORMATION MUST FLOW FREELY
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Don Tapscott]
[Commentary] An informed society is one where citizens have the resources, education and skills to access and participate in the free flow of reliable and pertinent information. They do this through a diverse range of platforms and media organizations that empower them to make considered decisions about their economic, social and political lives. And we take it as a given that in a knowledge economy and an age of networked intelligence, better-informed societies are more successful. But this is a time of information turmoil. Many traditional media organizations are struggling. Scores of newspapers have gone out of business in the United States alone in the last decade. Magazines, radio, non-fiction book publishing and even television are all in various stages of upheaval. The media of the industrial age is changing. Allowed to flourish, new media technologies offer the promise for societies to be better informed, more open and more successful than their industrial age counterparts. A World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Informed Societies will be encouraging governments to adopt a code of conduct to ensure their societies are informed. This code includes:
Access: Government should take all steps possible to ensure that their citizens have access to both old and new media. Governments should enact policies that protect media freedom and the openness of the Internet.
Education: Education is a right and requirement for every citizen. In a world of growing resources and tools it is a disgrace that the quality of education is declining in many parts of the world.
Media literacy: Governments should ensure that citizens have access to complete, reliable and pertinent information, and know how to use it. Governments should not censor, but instead create an environment in which ideas can be exchanged freely both on and off the Internet.
Transparency: Governments should embrace transparency and freedom of information. This may include legislation, regulation, education and partnering with public and private sector organizations to encourage openness. Media organizations should act in a manner that is responsible, transparent and accountable.
Privacy: It is inevitable that the data available about each of us will continue to grow. Governments and business should understand that the need for security and profit must be tempered by the need for freedom, rooted in individual privacy. Governments should help educate citizens about the right to privacy.
benton.org/node/144028 | Huffington Post, The | World Economic Forum
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CONTENT

KINDLE FIRE CONTENT
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Tofel]
How much in content sales does it take for Amazon to earn a 20 percent profit margin on its Kindle Fire hardware? About $10 per month, which generates $3 once Amazon takes its 30 percent cut. Senior analyst at ABI Research, Aapo Markkanen, estimated by doing the math last week, saying this incremental $3 revenue would be required over the life of the hardware to maintain such a profit margin. This turns the Kindle Fire into a potentially lucrative product for Amazon, even though most believe it sells the Kindle Fire products near cost, if not below it. Even better: The combination of decreasing hardware prices over time and a rise in content sales — think apps, movies, books, music — will help the product line even more.
benton.org/node/144023 | GigaOm
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OWNERSHIP

IGNORING DIVERSITY
[SOURCE: New America Media, AUTHOR: Joseph Torres]
[Commentary] Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski’s plan to allow greater media consolidation in local markets could wipe out many of the remaining TV station owners of color left in the country. According to the latest data, people of color own just over 3 percent of all full-power TV stations — just 43 of the nation’s 1,348 stations — despite making up close to 40 percent of the U.S. population. African Americans own just five stations. That’s only 0.4 percent of all commercial TV stations. And Latinos own 1.6 percent of all TV stations, despite making up close to 17 percent of the U.S. population. But the FCC chairman doesn’t plan to deal with this media inequality. Instead, he wants to adopt rules that will make things worse. His refusal to deal with diversity is all the more inexplicable given that just a couple of months ago voters of color played a primary role in President Obama’s re-election — an election that allowed Chairman Genachowski to keep his job. Though perhaps the chairman is more concerned about his next job, as numerous press reports indicate Genachowski plans to leave the FCC soon.
[Torres is the senior external affairs director at Free Press]
benton.org/node/144017 | New America Media
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LABOR
   Bipartisan group of senators to introduce high-skilled immigration bill [links to web]
   Apple Names Product Assemblers in Boost to Supplier Transparency

APPLE SUPPLIERS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Tim Culpan]
Apple named the final assemblers of each of its products as the world’s most valuable company boosts the transparency of its global supply chain. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics, was identified as making iPads, iPhones, iPods, Macs and accessories at seven locations globally, including Jundiai in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state. Apple and Quanta Computer assemble Macs in Ireland and Fremont, California. The decision to publish names and addresses of the top 200 materials, components and final-assembly suppliers expands on Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook’s moves last year to loosen the secrecy surrounding production and conditions linked to the Cupertino, California-based company. The list was published on Apple’s website as its annual Supplier Responsibility Report outlines moves to raise labor and environmental standards.
Apple also stepped up audits of working conditions at major suppliers last year, discovering multiple cases of underage workers, discrimination and wage problems. While child labor reflected a small percentage of the workforce, Apple is now investigating its smaller suppliers - which typically supply parts to larger suppliers and hence face less oversight on such issues - to bring them into compliance, sometimes even firing them.
benton.org/node/144070 | Bloomberg | Reuters
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PRIVACY

SKYPE AND SURVEILLANCE
[SOURCE: Forbes, AUTHOR: Andy Greenberg]
Skype has long been a stubborn whipping boy for the privacy community–one that not only refuses to make promises about protecting user data from government surveillance, but won’t even reveal basic facts about how and when it hands user conversations over to the government. Now, eight months after the voice-over-IP company was officially integrated into Microsoft, a critical mass of privacy activists are demanding answers. A group of 44 privacy and free expression groups along with 61 individual academics, activists and entrepreneurs signed their names to an open letter to Microsoft, demanding that its Skype division detail its government surveillance policies and practices. The petition, which includes everyone from Reporters Without Borders and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to the Tibet Action Network and the hacktivist group Telecomix, calls on Skype to release a “regularly updated Transparency Report” that reveals what data it retains about individuals and for how long, as well as how and when it hands over user data to government agencies.
benton.org/node/144007 | Forbes
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

SUPERFAST INTERNET IN THE UK
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Daniel Thomas]
The launch of superfast mobile broadband will benefit the public by £20 billion during the next decade, according to Ofcom, the UK’s communications watchdog. The auction for the spectrum to run 4G services formally began on Jan 30, with confirmation that seven companies would compete for the scarce bandwidth necessary to carry fast mobile internet services over mobile phones. Ofcom calculates that £20bn benefit will come in the form of the saving consumers will make by having access to superfast mobile services. The regulator said the advantage to the public and the economy would “very significantly” exceed the immediate financial windfall raised by the auction.
benton.org/node/144069 | Financial Times
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January 25, 2013
Source 
Wall Street Journal
Author 
Ina Fried
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

A record 700 million smartphones were shipped in 2012, with more than half of those coming from industry leaders Samsung and Apple.

Samsung shipped an estimated 213 million smartphones, or roughly 30 percent of the market, according to Strategy Analytics. Apple, meanwhile, saw its shipments rise 46 percent, to 135.8 million giving the company roughly the same 19 percent of the market it had a year earlier. In all, smartphone shipments globally were up 43 percent from 2011, the research firm said.

More than 700 Million Smartphones Shipped in 2012 as Apple, Samsung Dominate The Samsung juggernaut widens its lead over Apple (GigaOm)

Topics

Related Headlines

January 25, 2013
Source 
Hill, The
Author 
Jennifer Martinez
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

A bipartisan group of senators is poised to introduce a high-skilled immigration bill next week that would significantly increase the number of H-1B visas available to skilled foreign-born workers, such as engineers and computer programmers. A current draft of the bill proposes to increase the cap for H-1B visas to 115,000 from the current cap of 65,000. It would also create a "market-based H-1B escalator" that would allow for additional visas to be made available to foreign workers if the cap is hit early during a particular year—though it can only hit a ceiling of 300,000 visas. The escalator would adjust up or down, depending on the demands of the market. Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chris Coons (D-DE) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) are co-sponsors of the bill.

Bipartisan group of senators to introduce high-skilled immigration bill

Topics

Related Headlines

January 25, 2013
Source 
Politic365
Author 
Elesha Barnette
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

The Hon. Henry Rivera is an internationally recognized communications expert, author, speaker and conference leader in the communications field.

As a former and the first Latino Federal Communications Commission Commissioner, this highly experienced practitioner has been named one of the District of Columbia’s “Super Lawyers” and among The Best Lawyers in America in Communications Law. He has also been singled out as a “Leading Lawyer” by Chambers USA and named among the top 12 Telecom experts in the U.S. by Legal Media Group’s Best of the Best. Throughout his career Rivera has held numerous professional roles including, but not limited to partner at Wiley Rein, LLP, Co-head of the Agency Review Team for the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team, Chair and member of the FCC’s Federal Advisory Committee on Diversity in the Digital Age, and a member of the Federal Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy at the U.S. Department of State. He is also the vice-chairman of the Emma Bowen Foundation for Minority Interests in Media, General Counsel of the Benton Foundation, former president of the Federal Communications Bar Association and a current Board of Trustee, as well as chairman emeritus of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council.

Benton Foundation’s Henry Rivera Named a “Game Changer” by Politic365

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January 25, 2013
Source 
Bloomberg
Author 
Tim Culpan
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Apple named the final assemblers of each of its products as the world’s most valuable company boosts the transparency of its global supply chain. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics, was identified as making iPads, iPhones, iPods, Macs and accessories at seven locations globally, including Jundiai in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state. Apple and Quanta Computer assemble Macs in Ireland and Fremont, California. The decision to publish names and addresses of the top 200 materials, components and final-assembly suppliers expands on Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook’s moves last year to loosen the secrecy surrounding production and conditions linked to the Cupertino, California-based company. The list was published on Apple’s website as its annual Supplier Responsibility Report outlines moves to raise labor and environmental standards.

Apple also stepped up audits of working conditions at major suppliers last year, discovering multiple cases of underage workers, discrimination and wage problems. While child labor reflected a small percentage of the workforce, Apple is now investigating its smaller suppliers - which typically supply parts to larger suppliers and hence face less oversight on such issues - to bring them into compliance, sometimes even firing them.

Apple Names Product Assemblers in Boost to Supplier Transparency Apple steps up labor audits, finds underage workers (Reuters)

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January 25, 2013
Source 
Financial Times
Author 
Daniel Thomas
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

The launch of superfast mobile broadband will benefit the public by £20 billion during the next decade, according to Ofcom, the UK’s communications watchdog.

The auction for the spectrum to run 4G services formally began on Jan 30, with confirmation that seven companies would compete for the scarce bandwidth necessary to carry fast mobile internet services over mobile phones. Ofcom calculates that £20bn benefit will come in the form of the saving consumers will make by having access to superfast mobile services. The regulator said the advantage to the public and the economy would “very significantly” exceed the immediate financial windfall raised by the auction.

Superfast Internet benefit put at £20 billion

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