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As scrutiny of the Newtown (CT) massacre continued on Capitol Hill, Democratic lawmakers pointed fingers at another culprit in addition to the nation’s gun laws: Violent video games.
Reports that school shooter Adam Lanza played such video games as "Call of Duty" and "Starcraft" led some members of Congress to call for more scrutiny of an entertainment culture they say glorifies violence, as one prominent gamer called for a national day of “ceasefire” for those who play online shooting games. “I think we need to do everything possible we can to prevent such tragedies, including addressing the culture of violence that may be spawned by video games,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). From the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), meanwhile, called for a national commission on violence that looks not only at gun laws but the entertainment industry to examine the underlying reasons behind shootings such as those in Newtown.
Hill eyes video game use by shooter
Google once was seen as such a ripe target for investigation that the nation’s antitrust enforcers battled over the right to claim it as their own, as a potential high-tech pelt to be posted on the wall alongside Microsoft and AT&T. Yet after nearly two years of a high-profile probe, Google is preparing to emerge with a negotiated settlement that many observers call a slap on the wrist. And the agency that claimed the case in 2011, the Federal Trade Commission, is facing withering criticism for delivering little after raising expectations so high.
Some critics have suggested that the FTC has weakened its credibility as an antitrust enforcer while also tarnishing its hard-won reputation as the nation’s most ardent overseer of the bustling, multibillion-dollar technology industry at a time when its products are increasingly pervasive — some say intrusive — parts of Americans’ lives. “From the perspective of the Federal Trade Commission, I think it’s devastating for the whole enterprise,” said Silicon Valley lawyer Gary Reback, who represents companies seeking aggressive action against Google for allegedly manipulating its search results to gain business advantages. “It’s not like the problem goes away. It’s more likely that the Federal Trade Commission goes away.”
FTC under fire for passing on Google’s search practices, critics say
This being the Age of Social Media, the extraordinary user revolt against photo-sharing site Instagram was perhaps most easily viewed on Twitter, where shock and outrage mixed with occasional bursts of dark humor. The explosion of Instagram bashing — which echoed previous bash-fests aimed at its new corporate parent, Facebook — was over a planned policy change that appeared to give the photo-sharing site new latitude to sell images uploaded by users, without permission and without compensation. Many users say that, based on the new “Terms of Use” Instagram, they fear they could find themselves — or their friends, or even their children, if they were captured in uploaded photos — in advertisements created by the company or by Facebook.
Instagram, Facebook stirs online protests for privacy policy change
The House approved a bill that would make it easier for people to share their favorite movie and television show rentals online. By voice vote, members approved H.R. 6671, which would allow video rental companies to get online consent from their customers in order to share their rental preferences on the Internet. It would relax current law — the Video Privacy Protection Act — that now prevents any sharing of information related to video rental history without written consent.
The VPPA was passed in 1988 after a list of videos rented by Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork were published, which led to quick demands for greater privacy. But in light of new technological developments over the last few decades, companies like Netflix have said the law makes it hard for people to voluntarily share their rental choices with friends online. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), who sponsored the bill, said allowing customers to approve sharing their rental lists online is a reasonable step in light of the speed at which people want to share this information.
House vote updates Bork-era video rental privacy law
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nutrition watchdog, urged Beyoncé Knowles to rethink her $50 million deal with Pepsi as the soft drink's "brand ambassador."
In a letter to the pop star, the Center for Science in the Public Interest told Knowles that by lending her name and image to the product, she is linking her "positive attributes with a product that is quite literally sickening Americans" and is associated with weight gain, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Along with offering Knowles a raft of statistics linking sugary drinks to disease, the CSPI also made the argument that almost all of obesity-related health problems have a disproportionate impact on low-income, African-American and Hispanic communities. If Knowles goes ahead with the deal (it is after all, a nice chunk of change), then Michael Jacobson, CSPI's executive director, suggested that she "consider donating your proceeds to a hospital, diabetes organization, or another reputable charity involved in the prevention or treatment of soda-related diseases."
Nutrition Watchdog Urges Beyoncé To Drop Pepsi Deal
In this Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Federal Communications Commission continues the process of reviewing its special access rules to ensure that they reflect the state of competition today and promote competition, investment, and access to dedicated communications services businesses across the country rely on every day to deliver their products and services to American consumers.
Specifically, the FCC initiates a comprehensive data collection and seek comment on a proposal to use the data to evaluate competition in the market for special access services. Special access services encompass all services that do not use local switches; these include services that employ dedicated facilities that run directly between the end user and an interexchange carrier’s (IXC) point of presence, where an IXC connects its network with the local exchange carrier’s (LEC) network, or between two discrete end user locations.
FCC Initiates Comprehensive Special Access Data Collection
[Commentary] The year 2012 has provided significant progress in broadband within the United States. Whether through policy developments, or through technologies advancing the rate of internet speeds, the business case for making use of those higher speeds is also progressing in a meaningful way. It’s almost as if the presidential and other federal elections – dominated as they were by issues other than broadband and technology – allowed the breathing room for practitioners, in Washington and outside of Washington, to make progress on bringing the nation better broadband.
Here’s the list of the 10 most significant events for broadband.
- Revisions to the Universal Service Fund.
- LTE Reaches the Mass Market.
- Gigabit Fiber Initiatives at the Local Level.
- DOCSIS 3.0 Rolls Out Nationwide.
- Gig.U. and Gigabit Squared Strike Deals.
- Google Fiber Goes Live.
- U.S. IGNITE Catches Fire.
- Connect2Compete Gets Real.
- Exede Excedes Expectations.
- The Chicago Broadband Challenge.
The Year in Broadband, 2012
Time Warner Cable's new tough stance on network carriage has claimed its first victim.
The cable operator plans to drop arts network Ovation at year-end, several weeks after TWC CEO Glenn Britt came down hard on networks he said drive up costs but don't pull their weight with viewers. Ovation said it would be yanked off Time Warner systems when its carriage contract expires at midnight on Dec. 31. "Such an action by Time Warner Cable would negatively impact millions of Time Warner Cable customers who will no longer have access to Ovation's unique arts programming," it said. "Our plan has been to grow Ovation as fast as possible in all key metrics," said CEO Charles Segars. "In a few short years since taking over the network, we have achieved that plan." Ovation is in 55 million homes with total day household ratings up 55% year over year. Brad Samuels, Ovation's exec VP of content distribution, said Time Warner is investing heavily in sports but TW Cable execs have "chosen to limit their customers' viewing options by cutting the only arts network in their lineup… For pennies a month, TWC can continue to offer its customers the only network dedicated to the arts and continue to take part in vital arts and arts education programs for the communities they serve."
Time Warner Cable to drop Ovation
Federal agents acted in good faith in relying on court orders and not a warrant to obtain cell phone tower data associated with the target of a drug trafficking probe, a federal judge in Washington said in a ruling that marked a win for the Justice Department.
Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle of Washington federal district court skirted issuing a ruling on the underlying debate playing out in courts across the country: whether the authorities should be required, under the Fourth Amendment, to first get a warrant to access the location information that mobile phones transmit to towers. Judge Huvelle said in her ruling that she "need not resolve this vexing question of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, since it concludes that the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies." Numerous judges, Judge Huvelle said, have allowed agents to review historical cell-site data via a court order and not a warrant. In the case against Antoine Jones, authorities relied on court orders in 2005 to retrieve prospective data. At the time, Huvelle said, "the state of the law was completely uncharted."
Judge Rules for DOJ in Dispute over Cell Tower Data
The Federal Trade Commission will unveil its update to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) during an event on Capitol Hill on Dec 19.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, will join with FTC Chairman John Leibowitz to announce the new regulations. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Reps. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Joe Barton (D-Texas) will also attend the press conference, which will be held at noon in the Russell Senate Office Building.
FTC to unveil new children's online privacy rules in Capitol Hill event