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LightSquared's latest proposal before the Federal Communications Commission to salvage its dreams for a wholesale LTE network has drawn a range of comments, many falling into predictable camps of opposition and support. However, it is unclear if or when the FCC will act on the plan.
LightSquared wants to share spectrum that is currently set aside for weather balloons used by the federal government. In exchange, LightSquared said it would permanently relinquish its 10 MHz of spectrum that is directly adjacent to the frequencies used by GPS receivers. The FCC set an initial deadline for comments of Dec. 17 and a raft of them flooded in.
LightSquared's plan to share spectrum with weather balloons draws cheers, jeers
A large group of Silicon Valley and New York tech leaders signed a full-page advertisement in the New York Times for Demand A Plan, a mayor’s organization pressing for gun safety in the wake of the recent tragic school shooting in Connecticut. “It’s Time. Demand a Plan to End Gun Violence,” reads the ad, which was signed by a plethora of major digital players. They include, in part: SV Angel’s Ron Conway, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, Skype’s President Tony Bates, Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff, advisor Bill Campbell, Flipboard CEO Mike McCue, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, Foursquare’s Dennis Crowley, Findery’s Caterina Fake, Emerson Collective’s Laurene Jobs, Code Advisors’ Quincy Smith, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, and Zuckerberg Media’s Randi Zuckerberg.
Demand A Plan: Tech Leaders Sign On to Mayors’ Effort to End Gun Violence
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced a bill that would require the National Academy of Sciences to study the impact of violent video games and other content on children.
Chairman Rockefeller said the bill would lay the groundwork for Congress to consider new regulations of violent entertainment content. The bill would require the National Academy of Sciences to examine whether violent video games and programming cause children to act aggressively or otherwise hurt their well-being. The academy would look at whether the interactive nature and vivid way violence is portrayed in video games has a unique impact on children. In a statement, Rockefeller also called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to expand their work in overseeing violent content.
Sen. Rockefeller introduces bill to study effect of video-game violence on children Rockefeller Introduces Violence Bill Draft (B&C)
As the world continues to react to the horrific school shooting in Connecticut, many people are grasping for potential social explanations for mass shootings. As usual, violent video games are being offered as a scapegoat in some corners, with everyone from Fox News pundits and bottom-feeding attorney Jack Thompson to the NRA and Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod suggesting that the popularity of virtual violence may lead to more real-world violence in some way. Unfortunately for these talking heads, the data just doesn't seem to support their assertion. Max Fisher at The Washington Post helpfully compiled a graph mapping the per-capita spending on video games in the top ten national markets on one axis and the per-capita gun-related murders in those countries on the other. Far from showing a strong link between the two statistics, the graph actually shows a small negative correlation—as video game spending goes up, gun-related murders tend to go down.
Data helps rebut the “violent video games cause shootings” argument Ten-country comparison suggests there’s little or no link between video games and gun murders (Washington Post)
Cable channel Nickelodeon said its "SpongeBob Diner Dash" mobile game app will be resubmitted to Apple's App Store after concluding that it did not collect kids' names, email addresses and other personal information.
The popular kids-focused channel temporarily pulled the "SpongeBob" app from the App Store after a privacy watchdog group, the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), charged that it violated children's online privacy laws in a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission. After investigating the claims, the Viacom-owned channel said it found that the app did not violate the Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA). There is a prompt in the app where players can input their email address so they can receive a newsletter. The CDD took issue with the email prompt in its complaint, but Nickelodeon countered that it was "a template function from the developer that was never operational in this app, and no emails or personally identifiable information were collected." Nickelodeon also denied that it collected the names that players typed into the app. The company said the names were stored locally on the players' mobile phones and were never sent to any outside server. Nickelodeon also argued that the app's push notifications "are within the current COPPA guidelines" and informed players about new features or levels within the game.
Laura Moy, an attorney at Georgetown Law's Institute for Public Representation, said the app is collecting online contact information in order to send kids push notifications. "There is no question that push notifications come from the app operator's server over the Internet to the device," said Moy, who prepared the complaint on behalf of the CDD.
Nickelodeon plans to resubmit "SpongeBob" game app to App Store Nickelodeon: 'SpongeBob' Squares With Privacy Protections (B&C)
Former Federal Communications Commission member and Rural Utilities Service director Jonathan Adelstein has been named the Rural Broadband Alliance's first American Rural Champion. The coalition of rural telecom carriers singled Adelstein out for helping incorporate rural issues in the 1996 Telecom Act while a Senate staffer and championing rural broadband as an FCC commissioner as well as heading up the RUS' broadband stimulus loan program since being named to head RUS in 2009.
Adelstein Saluted for Commitment to Rural Telecom
AT&T won permission from the Federal Communications Commission to acquire airwaves from four companies: Comcast, San Diego Gas & Electric Co, Horizon Wi-Com LLC and NextWave Wireless.
AT&T, the second-largest U.S. wireless operator, has proposed at least 24 deals this year to acquire frequencies as it seeks to catch up with top mobile carrier Verizon Wireless, which is ahead in the race to stockpile the industry’s most precious asset. The companies involved told the FCC the spectrum is currently underutilized, the agency said. Transferring the airwaves to Dallas-based AT&T will help boost mobile high-speed Internet use, the FCC said in its order. San Diego Gas & Electric had acquired the airwaves for smart grid use, the agency said.
GigaOm reports that the licenses cover 82 percent of the U.S. population in the contiguous 48 states, and, combined with AT&T’s current extensive WCS holdings, would give AT&T control over most of the band. There are only a handful of other WCS holders of any note – Sprint being one – but you can expect AT&T to approach those operators in coming months because gaining complete control of the band is core to AT&T’s plans.
AT&T Wins FCC Permission to Buy Airwaves From Comcast FCC Signs off on AT&T’s massive 4G Spectrum Buy (GigaOm)
‘Tis the season to complain -- in the U.K., at least. The Advertising Standards Authority, Britain's independent industry regulatory body, has over the past month fielded grievances regarding ads that suggest mothers (and not fathers) do Christmas shopping and car ads that promote reckless driving. The objections, however ridiculous they might seem, indicate a broader trend in Britain: complaints about ads are on the rise.
In 2011, the ASA received and dealt with a record-breaking 31,000 complaints and handled more than 22,000 cases -- a 25% bump from 2010. Of those, it investigated 4,417 cases, either through informal resolution or an actual investigative process. And in the first three quarters of 2012, it has put away almost 24,000 complaints, which means 2012 could top even 2011 by the time it's over. What's with the spike in Britons' issues with advertising? One explanation is that the ASA recently expanded its realm to include the digital and online space. However, complaints in non-online categories are also rising.
No Stiff Upper Lip as Brits Cry Foul Over Ads
[Commentary] In 2013, roll-out of LTE services will have limited immediate economic impact, social media giants look set to stir up IP-based messaging services and smartphone penetration growth rates will slow considerably, according to Analysys Mason’s top telecoms predictions for the next 12 months. The technology, media and telecommunications consulting and research company also predicts that Apple will continue to lose market share in the tablet space and the VoLTE investment case will come into the spotlight for operators.
- LTE arrives, but with limited immediate impact:
- The ‘big switch-off’ will accelerate
- Social media giants to further shake up IP-based messaging
- VoLTE investment case to come into the spotlight
- Smartphone penetration growth rate to slow markedly
- Apple to fall below 50% market share for tablet sales
- Multi-device subscription pricing to emerge
- Traditional TV under more pressure
- Wi-Fi to the rescue
- Operators in emerging markets come of age
2013 Telecom Predictions from Analysys Mason: LTE Limited, Social Media Shakeup of Instant Messaging, Slower Smartphone Growth
Telephone companies say they are no longer your father's monopoly and have asked to get out from under decades of voice service regulations. USTelecom asked the Federal Communications Commission for a declaratory ruling that incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) are no longer the dominant providers by virtue of their switched-access services, pointing to new IP nets and service provided by competitors, like cable operators now bundling voice service into their offerings. Such a determination would get them out from under tariffs but not obligations like 911, privacy and disability access they point out in the filing. USTelecom president Walter McCormick said the petition was meant to be the beginning of a dialog about moving his industry closer to parity with its competition.
ILECs Ask FCC to Deregulate Voice Service