Benton RSS Feed
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) posted a copy of a draft bill to social news website Reddit that would modify a computer hacking law in the wake of Internet activist Aaron Swartz's death.
She plans to seek co-sponsors for the bill in the "coming days" and asked Reddit users to submit their feedback on her draft bill. Rep Lofgren said the government was able to levy "such disproportionate charges" against Swartz because of "the broad scope of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and the wire fraud statute." Lofgren's draft bill, which she hopes to name "Aaron's Law," would amend these measures so they exclude terms of service violations.
Rep Lofgren to introduce bill amending hacking law in honor of Swartz Congresswoman to Propose Computer Crimes Amendment in Wake of Activist’s Death (WSJ)
[Commentary] Congratulations, CBS. You have earned yourself a place in the curriculum of journalism classes for the next couple of decades. And not in a good way. CBS will be studied for as blatant a violation of journalism ethics as you can imagine. Of course ethics can be an ethereal, subjective topic. Let's talk something more concrete -- money. The company over the course of a couple of days also managed to trash sizable part of a $1.8 billion investment. All in all, not a bad weekend's work, CBS. The question now is: how do you dig yourself out of a big hole, assuming you even want to? CBS News has a complex heritage. It likes to think of itself as a broadcast news pioneer, going back to World War II and Edward R. Murrow. At the same time, it's worth remembering all the internal harassment Murrow had to put up with until he was driven out of the company. Now is the time for the company to decide by which part of its heritage it wants to be known.
Crisis Communications Advice for CBS: Fix Your CNET Mess. Now.
Looking for a public toilet using the new Inauguration smartphone app? That might just land you on left-leaning email lists or solicited in coming years to be a Democratic campaign donor.
Thousands have downloaded the free program since its release by the official Presidential Inaugural Committee, but few are likely to notice that the terms-of-service and privacy statement — aka the fine print — give the committee permission to share their data “with candidates, organizations, groups or causes that we believe have similar political viewpoints, principles or objectives.” Users at various places in the app and on the PIC’s website are asked for their mobile phone numbers, email and home addresses, as well as permission to locate devices by GPS. Not all of that is required to use some of the functions of the app. The legalistic language also gives the PIC use of any activity, postings or comments made via the app or the 2013pic.org website "without limitation in advertising, fundraising and other communications in support of PIC and the principles of the Democratic party, without any right of compensation or attribution."
How Obama's inaugural app mines data for Dems
Rocky Mountain PBS signed a merger agreement with the investigative reporting service I-News and with public radio station KUVO (89.3 FM), designed to "redefine public media" in Colorado, RMPBS president and CEO Doug Price said.
The three organizations will share newsgathering and other resources. While the state's largest public TV entity had previous partnerships with KUVO and I-News, this merger formalizes the relationship and extends the reach of each across TV, radio and online platforms. For the public, the result is expected to be three to five deeply researched journalism projects a year, Price said. For the I-News Network, the merger means a ready infrastructure at RMPBS so the reporting team can focus on journalism, rather than the business model, said I-News executive director Laura Frank. For jazz, blues, news station KUVO, the merger means access to the business acumen of RMPBS, already evident in clearing hurdles to technical improvements for the station, and stability in an uncertain era for terrestrial radio. For RMPBS, the deal provides access via KUVO to the growing Latino audience, and a weightier newsroom with the five I-News staffers.
RMPBS, KUVO and I-News merge, redefining Colorado public media
Like waistlines in many prosperous countries, cellphones are going XXL and some of their owners are struggling to tuck them in. After years of evolution from brick-size monstrosities into slim pocket devices, cellphones are going in reverse.
South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. is credited—or blamed—with bringing big phones back into the mainstream with devices like the original 5.3-inch Note, introduced outside the U.S. in late 2011. Shipments of smartphones with screens 4.6 inches or larger grew to 82.7 million units last year from 1.8 million units in 2011, says New York-based market-research firm ABI Research. While some users can't imagine going small again, the phablet has drawbacks, including strange stares and tight squeezes in handbags and slacks.
Phones Are a Big-Screen Hit but a Bit of a Fashion Challenge
[Commentary] When journalists at the Southern Weekly newspaper in China's Guangdong province went on strike last week against a local censor, Chinese citizens and the international media alike sat up and took notice. Microblogs amplified the journalists' demands and helped make the incident a national topic of debate. Foreign commentators drew parallels to 1989, suggesting this could be the start of bigger protests. But the deal quickly reached between Communist Party officials and the striking journalists shows that the system of media control is still very resilient. The reporters agreed to go back to work, and in exchange they received promises that their work wouldn't be censored as heavily. The local propaganda chief wasn't sacked, however, as they had demanded. In other words, Southern Weekly was simply negotiating the boundaries for permissible reporting. Chinese journalists from the more outspoken outlets, like the business publications Caijing and Caixin and including Southern Weekly, have long done so. These negotiations are usually handled out of public view.
[Repnikova is a doctoral candidate in politics at Oxford University]
China's Journalists Are No Revolutionaries
France’s competition watchdog has publicly opposed consolidation in the country’s telecoms sector, which has been thrown into turmoil since the launch a year ago of Free, an ultra-low-cost, fourth mobile phone operator. In a blunt statement, Bruno Lasserre, chairman of the Autorité de Concurrence, told the Le Figaro newspaper: “A return to three operators is not desirable . . . I would be wary of such mergers.” The comments come as debate continues in Europe over how its telecoms markets can be structured both to preserve competition in national markets and encourage further investment by telecoms operators in next-generation networks.
French telecoms mergers face opposition
On this date in 1938… a sharp reprimand to the National Broadcasting Company for presenting a skit called “Adam and Eve,” in which Mae West played the part of Eve, was delivered today [Jan. 15] in a letter from Frank R. McNinch, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The program provoked widespread criticism from listeners when it was given on December 12. Mr. McNinch said the commission had received letters criticizing the program as “profane,” “obscene,” “indecent,” “vulgar,” “filthy,” “sexy,” and “insulting to the American public.”
NBC Rebuked for Skit Listen Mae West Adam and Eve 12-12-37 (Listen to the program)
First the threshold for the White House to respond to “We The People” petitions was 5,000 signatures, then 25,000. Starting Jan 15, petitions must receive 100,000 signatures in 30 days in order to receive an official response from the Obama Administration.
This new threshold applies only to petitions created from this point forward and is not retroactively applied to ones that already exist. In the last two months of 2012, use of We the People more than doubled. In just that time roughly 2.4 million new users joined the system, 73,000 petitions were created and 4.9 million signatures were registered. As we’ve seen overall use skyrocket, more petitions are crossing the threshold — and doing so much more quickly.
Why We’re Raising the Signature Threshold for We the People
[Commentary] Even though current Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has not announced that he is leaving, there is still much talk about who is being considered to be his successor. But this focus on names is premature. Before we talk about who will be the next FCC Chair, there needs to be a conversation on the qualities the ideal candidate should possess. Because the issues and controversies that will come before the Commission over the next four years will be no less contentious than in the previous four.
The next Chair will preside over matters such as the transition to all IP networks, finalizing the incentive auction and spectrum screen proceedings, figuring out how to promote broadband competition, and, of course, how to reinstate the agency’s authority (and indeed its relevance) should it lose the legal challenge to the open Internet rules. This is in addition to whatever transactions the Commission may be asked to decide by industry.
The next FCC Chair should:
- Be Comfortable as a Regulator
- Understand the Role of Congress
- Seek Greater Public Input
- Be Dedicated to the Institution's Role as Defender of the Public Interest
The Next FCC Chair: Decisive Protector of the Public Interest