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A German court ruled that people have the right to claim compensation from service providers if their Internet access is disrupted, because the Internet is an "essential" part of life.
The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe made the ruling after hearing the case of a man who was unable to use his DSL connection, which also offered a telephone and fax line, for two months from late 2008 to early 2009. He had already received compensation for the cost of having to use a mobile phone, but wanted to be compensated for not being able to use the Internet. Under German law the loss of use of essential material items can be compensated.
German court rules Internet "essential"
[Commentary] In recent months, some companies (such as HSBC, Wells Fargo or Lockheed) have been forced to admit to suffering cyberattacks, after the penetration has become visible. But this is just the tip of a vast iceberg, and the overwhelming majority of companies today are terrified of talking too publicly about the issue, for fear of suffering stigma or sparking panic.
That means it is tough for any outsider to get precise information about the overall scale of attacks. It is even tougher for shareholders to work out the degree to which individual companies are being targeted. The crucial point is this: even if some companies are on top of the issue, others are not, and without more public debate, it will be tough to get corporate boards to act. Without more disclosure it will also be difficult for investors to start pricing in these risks. So, at the very least, it is high time shareholders began demanding more information from individual companies about the issue – not just about the scale of the cyberattacks, but also the moves being taken to fend them off. And if companies refuse to answer those questions, then shareholders – or the government – should ask them why. After all, if there is one thing we learnt from 2007, it is that maintaining an embarrassed silence about risks does not usually make them go away; least of all when there is potential damage to consumers (and investors) as well as the companies under attack.
Break a wall of silence on cyberattacks
Sony’s European subsidiary has been fined by a UK watchdog and criticized for failing to properly secure customer data before hackers attacked its PlayStation Network in 2011.
The Information Commissioner’s Office fined the Japanese electronics maker £250,000 for the breach, in which names, addresses, email addresses, dates of birth and passwords for millions of customers were accessed by hackers. The commissioner’s office said payment card details were also at risk. The fine against Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is the third-largest imposed by the ICO, which is charged with enforcing the Data Protection Act in the UK but cannot issue penalties of more than £500,000. The two larger fines were both handed to local authorities. Sony can pay a lower amount of £200,000 if it settles the fine by February 13, a standard incentive for ICO fines.
UK fines Sony for lapses at games network
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Media and Technology Institute
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
8:30 am
Telephone companies are in the process of replacing their copper-wire plant with fiber or wireless plant for delivering signals to customers. These changes promise a higher capacity and more efficient communications network, one connected using Internet protocols, better known as IP. While a strong communications network is undoubtedly positive, this transition challenges traditional telecommunications regulation, much of which is grounded in authority that does not extend to an IP-based world.
To better understand the challenges with this transition, the Joint Center invites you to a special presentation by Jim Cicconi, Esq., Senior Executive Vice President at AT&T. Mr. Cicconi’s keynote talk will be followed by a panel of telecommunications leaders, policy experts, and advocates for a discussion on the new, digital communications system, its effects on communities of color, and the policy needed to make it work.
The impacts of the change to all-IP communications will be far reaching and will touch programs that have been especially important to communities of color, such as the Universal Service Fund. It is crucial to ensure that the views of these communities are part of the debate on the copper-to-fiber transition.
Introductory Remarks:
Ralph B. Everett, Esq., President and CEO, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
Keynote Remarks:
Jim Cicconi, Esq., Senior Executive Vice President – External and Legislative Affairs, AT&T Services, Inc.
Panel Discussion:
- Telecommunications Leaders, Policy Experts, and Advocates moderated by
- John B. Horrigan, Ph.D., Vice President and Director, Media and Technology Institute, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
RSVP at JCIPBroadband.eventbrite.com by February 11, 2013.
For questions, please contact Alicia Durfee at (202) 789-3507
or adurfee@jointcenter.org
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.
FCC To Hold Open Commission Meeting, Thursday, January 31, 2013
[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.
How to Give the US Ultrafast Internet
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."
VP Biden calls for studies on video games, possible links to gun violence Joe Biden: President Feels 'Very Strongly' About Research Into Violent Media (B&C)
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.
Sen Rockefeller reintroduces bill to study video game violence
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."
NAB, Wireless Agree on Band Plan 'Core' Principles
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned that a major cyberattack is a looming threat and could have the same sort of impact as last year's Superstorm Sandy, which knocked out electricity in a large swathe of the Northeast.
Sec Napolitano said a "cyber 9/11" could happen "imminently" and that critical infrastructure - including water, electricity and gas - was very vulnerable to such a strike. "We shouldn't wait until there is a 9/11 in the cyber world. There are things we can and should be doing right now that, if not prevent, would mitigate the extent of damage," said Napolitano, speaking at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington and referring to the September 11, 2001 attacks. She urged Congress to pass legislation governing cyber security so the government could share information with the private sector to prevent an attack on infrastructure, much of which is privately owned.
US homeland chief: cyber 9/11 could happen "imminently"