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So now we have it: what appears to be hard, irrefutable evidence of Rupert Murdoch's ultimate and most audacious attempt – thwarted, thankfully, by circumstance – to hijack America's democratic institutions on a scale equal to his success in kidnapping and corrupting the essential democratic institutions of Great Britain through money, influence and wholesale abuse of the privileges of a free press.
In the American instance, Murdoch's goal seems to have been nothing less than using his media empire – notably Fox News – to stealthily recruit, bankroll and support the presidential candidacy of General David Petraeus in the 2012 election. All this was revealed in a tape recording of Petraeus's meeting with McFarland obtained by Bob Woodward, whose account of their discussion, accompanied online by audio of the tape, was published in the Washington Post – distressingly, in its style section, and not on page one, where it belonged – and, under the style logo, online on December 3. Indeed, almost as dismaying as Ailes' and Murdoch's disdain for an independent and truly free and honest press, and as remarkable as the obsequious eagerness of their messenger to convey their extraordinary presidential draft and promise of on-air Fox support to Petraeus, has been the ho-hum response to the story by the American press and the country's political establishment, whether out of fear of Murdoch, Ailes and Fox – or, perhaps, lack of surprise at Murdoch's, Ailes' and Fox's contempt for decent journalistic values or a transparent electoral process. The tone of the media's reaction was set from the beginning by the Post's own tin-eared treatment of this huge story: relegating it, like any other juicy tidbit of inside-the-beltway media gossip, to the section of the newspaper and its website that focuses on entertainment, gossip, cultural and personality-driven news, instead of the front page.
Why the US media ignored Murdoch's brazen bid to hijack the presidency
The population of e-book readers is growing. In the past year, the number of those who read e-books increased from 16% of all Americans ages 16 and older to 23%. At the same time, the number of those who read printed books in the previous 12 months fell from 72% of the population ages 16 and older to 67%.
Overall, the number of book readers in late 2012 was 75% of the population ages 16 and older, a small and statistically insignificant decline from 78% in late 2011. The move toward e-book reading coincides with an increase in ownership of electronic book reading devices. In all, the number of owners of either a tablet computer or e-book reading device such as a Kindle or Nook grew from 18% in late 2011 to 33% in late 2012. As of November 2012, some 25% of Americans ages 16 and older own tablet computers such as iPads or Kindle Fires, up from 10% who owned tablets in late 2011. And in late 2012 19% of Americans ages 16 and older own e-book reading devices such as Kindles and Nooks, compared with 10% who owned such devices at the same time last year. This move toward e-books has also affected libraries. The share of recent library users who have borrowed an e-book from a library has increased from 3% last year to 5% this year. Moreover, awareness of e-book lending by libraries is growing. The share of those in the overall population who are aware that libraries offer e-books has jumped from 24% late last year to 31% now.
E-book Reading Jumps; Print Book Reading Declines
Some 13% of those ages 16 and older have visited library websites or otherwise accessed library services by mobile device.
This is the first reading in a national survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project on this subject. An earlier survey in 2009 by scholars at the University of Washington found that 6% of Americans ages 16 and older had used a mobile device to connect to a library site, so the incidence of this activity has doubled since then. Those who are most likely to have connected to a library site include parents of minor children, women, and those with at least some college education. In all, the Pew Internet Project survey finds that 39% of Americans ages 16 and older have gone to a library website at one time or another and, of them, 64% visited a library site in the previous 12 months. That translates into 25% of all Americans ages 16+ who visited a library website in the past year. Those who are most likely to have visited library websites are parents of minors, women, those with college educations, those under age 50, and people living in households earning $75,000 or more.
Mobile Connections to Libraries
[Commentary] Every so often in human history, something new comes along that warrants a celebration, and that deserves its own holiday. That’s why I propose we celebrate “Internet Freedom Day” later this month.
We already know there’s pent-up demand for holidays, typified by the number of official – and unofficial – holidays out there. Take Super Bowl Sunday, which is more widely celebrated than most official holidays. Take Black Friday, our post-holiday celebration of another contact sport, of sorts: shopping. Take April Fool’s Day, a celebration of pranks and human gullibility. And then there’s Pi Day (March 14, or 3.14 – get it?), a celebration of circumferences, math, and store-bought cherry pie. So it’s shocking that we don’t already have an unofficial Internet Freedom Day, or even an official holiday like we do for the Fourth of July, given that the internet is one of the most revolutionary technologies the world has ever known. It has given us an entire universe of information in our pockets. It may connect us to spammers in Nigeria and cat videos, but it also connects us to our loved ones and people we only know from Twitter. To honor this #InternetFreedomDay, I hope people will write blog posts, make videos, and throw flash mob parties. Most Wired readers probably don’t need anyone to tell them to – or suggest how to – celebrate internet freedom. You’re probably the kind of person who edits your own encyclopedia, creates your own how-to videos, and 3-D prints your own paraphernalia. But please tell others — including your grandparents on Facebook — to join in a celebration of their daily freedom. If nothing else, you should call your representatives in Congress on January 18 to remind them that you still care about internet freedom. Let’s spread the message in true Internet Style.
The Internet Deserves Its Own Holiday
A quick look at some of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s major accomplishments in 2012.
- Internet/Broadband: On the Internet policy front, we focused on facilitating multistakeholder work on how mobile applications handle consumer data privacy. On the broadband front, our $4 billion in Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and State Broadband Initiatives projects tallied up very impressive numbers in 2012. These projects cumulatively deployed or upgraded 78,000 miles of infrastructure, connected more than 11,200 community anchor institutions, installed more than 38,600 computer workstations, and generated over 500,000 new broadband subscribers. NTIA updated the National Broadband Map twice in 2012, each time increasing the functionalities and focusing more clearly on the broadband picture throughout the United States.
- Spectrum: NTIA has identified 210 megahertz of federal spectrum for potential commercial use on a shared basis. Adding to the 115 megahertz from the 1695-1710 MHz band and the 3.5 GHz band from our October 2010 “Fast-Track” report, in March of this year, NTIA issued a report evaluating 95 megahertz of prime spectrum in the 1755-1850 MHz band for potential commercial broadband use.
- Public Safety: We spent much of 2012 implementing the key spectrum and FirstNet provisions from the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, which President Obama signed into law in February. Creating an independent authority charged with establishing a nationwide wireless broadband public safety network is certainly uncharted territory.
NTIA Recap of 2012 and Look Ahead to 2013
The year 2012 started off with one of the most dramatic developments in Internet policy to date: the total implosion of the Stop Online Piracy Act and Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act in mid-January. Of all the stories we covered this year, there's little question the outcry over SOPA most changed the debate in Washington. Congressional representatives were deluged by a record amount of public outcry, getting eight million e-mails from regular Internet users within a few days.
Here’s the major stories ars technica covered:
- LightSquared fails as FCC shows its muscle
- Oracle v. Google
- Judges turn against porn trolls
- Growing criticism of an out-of-balance patent system
- Government setbacks on seizures and extraditions
- Stronger rights to record police activities
- Megaupload shut down after unprecedented raid
- Apple v. Samsung
- The Internet stops the Stop Online Piracy Act
Beyond SOPA: the top nine tech policy stories of 2012
Chicago-area newspaper publishers are retrenching as the year draws to a close, with major cost-cutting initiatives from Sun-Times Media.
Most recently, Sun-Times Media announced that it will close six of its suburban newsrooms with an eye to consolidating all editorial and production activities in the company’s main Sun-Times building in downtown Chicago. Sun-Times Media will close suburban newsrooms in Aurora, Glenview, Gurnee, Joliet, Tinely Park and Merrillville, Indiana, and relocate about 70 employees, including editors and production personnel, to the Sun-Times headquarters building. Suburban reporters will work from the field or from home via laptops and mobile devices. Some workers involved in production may be laid off. In addition to saving money on rent and streamlining production, Sun-Times execs said the moves are part of a push to transition to a “digital first” company.
Sun-Times Media Will Close Suburban Newsrooms
Emergency Access Advisory Committee
Federal Communications Commission
January 11, 2013
10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (EST)
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2012/db1221/DA-1...
The agenda for the January 2013 EAAC meeting will include discussion of final reports from the EAAC subcommittees and other activities needed to ensure access to 911 by individuals with disabilities.
On December 19, the Federal Trade Commission adopted and unveiled final amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule in order to strengthen kids’ privacy protections and give parents greater control over the personal information that websites and online services may collect from children under 13. The COPPA Rule was mandated when Congress passed the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998. The amendments to the Final Rule will go into effect on July 1, 2013.