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Pakistani censorship issues that have been dogging firms such as YouTube and Facebook over the past few years may soon be a thing of the past, says the country's leader. Pervez Ashraf has promised that the ban, which has affected YouTube--although the censors did lift the veil on the video-sharing site for a few minutes at the end of last year--will eventually be lifted. "We believe in access to free information," the Prime Minister said. "The only reason not to unblock YouTube is the presence of blasphemous material on it. We will open it as soon as we have a filtration mechanism." The block has been in place since September 2012.
Pakistan Authorities Promise To Lift YouTube Ban Once Firewall Is In Place
Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR) is working on legislation with Sen Al Franken (D-MN) that would stiffen antitrust laws so major Internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon are prevented from discriminating against Web content that competes with their own services. Speaking at the International CES show in Las Vegas, Sen Wyden said the bulk of consumers only have one or two Internet service providers (ISPs) to choose from and the market lacks competition. The Federal Communications Commissions' network neutrality order that was adopted last year did not go far enough, he argued, because wireless Internet connections are not fully subject to the rules. Sen Wyden also called on Congress to do an analysis on software patents' contribution to the economy. He said software changes too rapidly to put a patent on it for 20 years¬ — a lifetime by Silicon Valley standards. Also on Wyden's policy roadmap for the year: He plans to push his legislation on broadband data caps. He also called for a rewrite of privacy rules that govern online communications, adding that the documents people leave laying on their tables at home have more privacy protections than the ones they store in the cloud.
Sen Wyden lays out tech policy roadmap for 2013 – Freedom to Compete The Freedom to Compete (Sen Wyden) Internet Policy's Rock Star Addresses CES (AdWeek) Wyden Calls for Copyright Reform at CES (Public Knowledge)
[Commentary] Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR) unveiled his Freedom to Compete agenda. This is an important step towards protecting and encouraging competition online. While there are many encouraging parts of the Senator’s speech, this post will focus on one: data caps. Public Knowledge has been concerned about data caps for some time. Fundamentally, these concerns flow from the fact that data caps incentivize ISPs to monetize scarcity, can be used anti-competitively, discourage experimentation online, and can cause users to over-pay and under-use their internet connection. While there are certainly ways that data caps could be implemented reasonably, thus far we have not seen very much evidence of that type of implementation.
We are glad to see Senator Wyden recognize that data caps impose costs on consumers and innovators. Their benefits are much harder to nail down. Monthly caps are an extraordinarily inefficient way to handle momentary network congestion (assuming that congestion exists at all). They are a similarly opaque way to implement a price discrimination strategy that actually helps consumers understand their connection needs. Data caps can also create a disincentive for ISPs to invest in their networks. The assumption at the core of data caps is that bits are in dangerously short supply. Every dollar invested in the network increases its capacity and undermines the structure of the cap. Robust networks are expensive to build and can easily support high caps (if they are justified at all). Aging networks have already been paid for and may only be able to support low caps. An ISP with low caps and an aging network has little incentive to pay to invest in a network that will also undermine profits flowing from low caps. Caps also increase the cost of experimentation online, thereby chilling innovation and disadvantaging new entrants. When sent a link to a new video, app, or online experience, a capped user must ask herself “do I have space under my cap?” before clicking. Oftentimes, this question will also be “what am I doing now that I am willing to forgo in order to try this new thing?” If the answer is “No” and “Nothing,” as it often will be, the link will go unclicked and the user will not have a chance to try the new thing. This is not a recipe for online innovation and change. Finally, data caps are a recipe for over-payment and under-use.
Data Caps Undermine the Freedom to Compete The Freedom to Compete (Sen Wyden)
It was a bit of a head-scratcher to see former president Bill Clinton on the Samsung keynote roster at CES 2013. Obviously it had to do with star power and pulling in audience attention, but I was curious to see how Samsung would tie in the president’s cameo. Surprise — part of his appearance actually made sense.
Since leaving office, Clinton has been a major proponent of aiding the developing world, especially in disaster- and poverty-stricken nations like Haiti. That’s where the Samsung pairing comes in. The South Korean conglomerate sells hundreds of millions of smartphones globally each year and has been one of the leaders in the race to dominate the low end of Android-powered mobile devices. Efforts to get those phones into the hands of people in impoverished rural areas, Clinton said, should be a priority in world humanitarian efforts. For many, the cellphone is the first — and only — point of entry to having a bank account, or to standardize commodity food prices across their particular region.
President Clinton at CES: The World Needs More Smartphones And Fewer Guns
The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau seeks comment on a petition that urges the FCC to alter policies in response to the ongoing technological transition of voice networks. On December 19, 2012, the United States Telecom Association filed a petition requesting that the FCC declare that incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) “are no longer presumptively dominant when providing interstate mass market and enterprise switched access services.”
Comments are due February 25, 2013; reply comments are due March 12, 2013. All pleadings are to reference WC Docket No. 13-3.
USTA Petition: Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers are Non-Dominant in the Provision of Switched Access Services
The White House has responded to a petition calling for CNN host Piers Morgan to be deported for criticizing U.S. gun policy, and long story short: Morgan isn't going anywhere.
In a post entitled, "When Discussing the Second Amendment, Keep the First in Mind Too," White House press secretary Jay Carney tactfully tells Morgan's critics that the U.S. doesn't plan to act on their petition. "Let’s not let arguments over the Constitution’s Second Amendment violate the spirit of its First. President Obama believes that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. However, the Constitution not only guarantees an individual right to bear arms, but also enshrines the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press -- fundamental principles that are essential to our democracy," Carney writes.
White House Responds to Petition to Deport Piers Morgan
Less than a month after a horrific elementary school shooting, the White House is fighting to keep the momentum for new gun legislation amid signs it's losing ground in Congress to other pressing issues. Among White House meetings planned for this week is one on Jan 10 during which Vice President Joe Biden will meet with representatives from the entertainment industry, including National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith, National Cable and Telecommunications Association President Michael Powell, Motion Picture Association of America President Chris Dodd, Comcast EVP David Cohen and representatives of the National Association of Theatre Owners and the Directors Guild of America.
On Jan 9, Vice President Biden heard personal stories of gun violence from representatives of victims groups and gun-safety organizations as he drafts the Obama administration's response to the shooting at a Connecticut elementary school. He pledged that action would be taken. President Barack Obama wants Vice President Biden to deliver policy proposals by the end of the month. President Obama has vowed to move swiftly on the package, which is expected to include legislative proposals and executive action.
NAB, NCTA in White House Violence Talks
FX president John Landgraf says he is very interested in learning more about any links between onscreen and real-life violence, but said access to guns is the main reason violence is so prevalent in the United States. He also said he is wary of first-person shooter games and doesn't allow them in his home.
Landgraf spoke at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, where for the last several days critics have peppered networks with questions about whether they will change their programming in light of the mass shootings in Newtown (CT) and elsewhere. The National Rifle Association has said violence in movies and videogames is a large reason for the killings. All executives and producers have said at TCA that they are conscious and careful about the violence they present. But Landgraf went into the most detail about what he sees as the causes of gun violence.
FX President Calls for More Gun Control, Calls Out First-Person Shooter Games
The Business Roundtable, which represents the chief executives of top U.S. companies, unveiled a proposal that's aimed at boosting the security of American companies' computer infrastructure against cyberattacks from hackers.
The group is calling for Congress to pass legislation aimed at improving the sharing of information about malicious source code and other cyber threats between government and industry so companies can thwart cyberattacks in real-time. Business Roundtable President John Engler said improving information-sharing — rather than implementing top-down regulations — is key to preventing hackers from siphoning companies' valuable intellectual property or attacking their computer systems. The trade association stresses that information-sharing legislation needs to include liability protection for companies so they're protected from legal action after sharing cyber-threat data with the government. The legislative framework also needs to include antitrust and freedom of information protections for businesses so they don't suffer legal and financial repercussions for sharing cyber-threat data with the government and their corporate peers.
Business leaders press for better information-sharing about cyber threats
The 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas may have only kicked off this week, but chances are there are already some people who are sick of hearing about every new gadget that may, possibly, hit the market in the next decade. Yes, CES gets a bad rap these days — and there are a lot of reasons why.
Major companies pull out of the show to set their own announcement agendas (see: Apple, Microsoft). And many of the show’s “hot products” of the year don’t always pan out in the real world (see: ultrabooks), have super limited appeal, or simply never come out at all. In many ways, CES has earned its reputation as a disconnected confab and echo chamber. So, why bother with it at all? It’s not an easy answer, particularly if you’re not one of those people who fall in love with a new gadget every month. But CES, with all its flaws, is still a bellwether for the technology industry and worth watching , particularly as personal technology becomes more important in daily life. On a high level, the very criticisms of CES — that it’s a hardware show in a software world, that it needs star companies to make it interesting— are indicative of shifts in the industry at large.
Why you should care about CES — even if you don’t want to