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December 7, 2012
Source 
ModernHealthcare.com
Author 
Jessica Zigmond
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Barriers to health information technology adoption by providers today center more around practice leadership than financial challenges, according to the head of the Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Dr. Farzad Mostashari noted that 83% of U.S. hospitals and about 62% of all eligible professionals have registered for the federal government's electronic health-record incentive payment program through November. Addressing the National Transitions of Care Coalition, Mostashari said that of those, about 65% of hospitals and 31% of eligible professionals have received payment. To date, the federal government has paid about $9.2 billion in the EHR incentive program, up from about $8.4 billion reported in October, according to preliminary numbers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Now the big challenge for the program is less about financial concerns and more about how providers can make the federal EHR program effective.

Leadership key to IT push now: Mostashari

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December 7, 2012
Source 
ModernHealthcare.com
Author 
Joseph Conn
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Nearly 4 in 10 office-based physicians are now using an electronic health record (EHR) system with a basic level of functions, according to the latest estimates from an annual federal survey, up from about 1 in 3 a year ago.

The National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has placed basic EHR adoption for office-based physicians—excluding anesthesiologist, pathologists and radiologists—in 2012 at 39.6%. That's an increase from the 33.9% adoption rate in last year's survey and not quite twice as high as the 21.8% EHR adoption rate found by the survey in 2009, when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed, creating federal programs under Medicare and Medicaid to boost EHR adoption and their meaningful use. At 70.6%, Wisconsin had the highest percentage of physicians using basic EHRs, followed by Minnesota, 66.7%; North Dakota, 63.2%; and Massachusetts, 61.8%. Among the states, Louisiana, at 25%, had the lowest adoption rate of basic EHRs with New Jersey, 26.9%, and Kentucky, 27.2%, just ahead of it. The District of Columbia trailed them all, however, at 22.4%.

Doc-office use of basic EHRs hits nearly 40%, survey finds

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December 7, 2012
Source 
Federal Communications Commission
Author 
Christopher Burns
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

[Commentary] Imagine if you picked up a smartphone and didn’t know how to use it. The frustration of holding such a powerful device in the palm of your hand but not being able to use it could be enormous.

For many technically illiterate women in the developing world, navigating a smartphone or even a more basic feature phone is a real challenge. Mobile phone use in the developing world is exploding, yet women in these countries are at a high risk of being left behind, missing out on opportunities and services from education to healthcare. Making the user experience easier would open up a multitude of possibilities. So what if there was a more intuitive way of navigating a smart phone? In partnership with USAID, the GSMA mWomen Program, has set out to do just that, by launching the GSMA mWomen Design Challenge: Redefining the User Experience.

[Burns is Economic Growth and Agricultural Development Advisor at the U.S. Agency for International Development]

Designing for Women: The Mobile Challenge

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December 7, 2012
Source 
GigaOm
Author 
Kevin Tofel
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

This may sound like a stupid question: Why would anyone want to limit their use of a smartphone when the handheld device offers access to a world of web information, useful applications, contextual data and more? Those who have entered the limited-smartphone world appear to enjoy less stress, more peace and greater clarity.

Is It Time to Wean Yourself Off the Smartphone?

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December 7, 2012
Source 
Chicago Tribune
Author 
Robert Channick
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Five months after suspending Journatic for plagiarism and other ethical breaches in its TribLocal suburban newspapers, the Chicago Tribune announced to employees it will resume use of the hyperlocal content provider on a limited basis for such information as community listings. But the newspaper’s executives said the Tribune will not go back to using Journatic as a source of reported news stories for TribLocal.

Over the next few weeks, TribLocal will begin incorporating listings and other informational items for 11 community editions, with plans to expand to other geographies from there. Chicago Tribune staff reporters and freelance writers will continue to supply all bylined news stories, with the newspaper maintaining full editorial responsibility for news content. Tribune reporters took on that responsibility during Journatic’s suspension.

Tribune resumes limited usage of Journatic

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Submitted on December 7, 2012

An issue that has been simmering in Washington has finally boiled up to the surface. And, no, we’re not talking about the fiscal cliff. This issue is media ownership in the U,S. As longtime Headlines readers know, this has been a recurring, major issue, especially in the last ten years or so. The Federal Communications Commission is trying to wrap up a review of its ownership rules as is required by law every four years. This particular review began in 2010 and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski hoped to complete the proceeding by the end of 2012, but that ain’t gonna happen.

Localism, competition and diversity are the bedrock principles upon which the FCC’s ownership rules rest.

From the earliest days of broadcasting, federal regulation has sought to foster the provision of programming that meets local communities' needs and interests. Thus, the FCC has licensed stations to serve local communities and it has obligated them to serve the needs and interests of their communities. Stations may fulfill this obligation by presenting local news and public affairs programming and by selecting programming based on the particular needs and interests of the station’s community.

The FCC has relied on the principle that competitive markets best serve the public because such markets generally result in lower prices, higher output, more choices for buyers, and more technological progress than markets that are less competitive. In general, the intensity of competition in a given market is directly related to the number of independent firms that compete for the patronage of consumers.

Diversity advances the values of the First Amendment, which, as the Supreme Court stated, “rests on the assumption that the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the public.” The FCC has elaborated on the Supreme Court’s view, positing that “the greater the diversity of ownership in a particular area, the less chance there is that a single person or group can have an inordinate effect, in a political, editorial, or similar programming sense, on public opinion at the regional level.”

The FCC has considered four aspects of diversity:

  • Viewpoint diversity ensures that the public has access to “a wide range of diverse and antagonistic opinions and interpretations.” The FCC attempts to increase the diversity of viewpoints ultimately received by the public by providing opportunities for varied groups, entities and individuals to participate in the different phases of the broadcast industry
  • Outlet diversity is the control of media outlets by a variety of independent owners.
  • Source diversity ensures that the public has access to information and programming from multiple content providers.
  • Program diversity refers to a variety of programming formats and content.

Since 1973, minority media ownership has been a goal of the Commission’s structural ownership regulation. However, recent research shows that the ownership of broadcast outlets does not reflect the diversity of the nation as a whole. Minority ownership promotes competition by ensuring that all sources of intellectual and creative capital are put to their highest use, and because an integrated industry serves the public better and thus competes more effectively than a segregated industry. Minority ownership promotes diversity because minority owners serve interests and address needs not served or often recognized by most majority media.

On December 2, former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, a vocal critic of media ownership concentration and advocate for minority media ownership, wrote an article for the Benton Foundation, Promises To Keep (), noting President Barack Obama’s oft-stated commitment to media ownership diversity. But, Commissioner Copps notes:

President Obama’s first term has come and almost gone. Important national priorities have been tackled and major legislative and executive milestones have been achieved. Reforming media policy was not among them. Now comes the second term and the opportunity to deliver on his earlier approach by tackling the declining state of America’s news and information ecosystem. This essential infrastructure of democracy has suffered the same kind of collapse as so much of America’s physical infrastructure—witness the sorry state of our bridges, highways, streets, public transportation, airports and public utilities. So, too, in media. Private sector consolidation led to the closing of hundreds of newsrooms and the firing of thousands of investigative reporters who should be combing the beats to hold the powerful accountable. Instead journalism has been hollowed out as badly as those rust-belt steel mills. Investigative journalism hangs by a slender thread, replaced by vapid infotainment, bloviating talking heads, and a dry well of facts and real-world analysis.

The proposed changes, according to reports we’ve seen since early November, include loosening the newspaper/TV station cross-ownership rule, lifting limits entirely on newspaper/radio and TV/radio cross-ownerships, and counting some joint sales agreements -- those involving selling over 15% of another station's airtime -- toward local ownership caps the FCC is not lifting or modifying.

Commissioner Copps warns that the FCC is about to vote on a proposal to loosen its newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule – a proposal very similar to one adopted by the then-Republican-led FCC back in 2007. “Shockingly,” Copps writes, “the new proposal goes even beyond the 2007 proceeding by actually permitting more radio-TV consolidation, too—putting diversity-owned radio stations at greater risk of take-over by the media giants.” Moreover, Copps and many public interest advocates have pointed out, the FCC has failed to meet the demands of a federal court to deal with the lack of minority ownership before loosening the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule.

In response to the criticism of the proposal now being considered by the FCC commissioners, a FCC spokesperson reiterated that newspaper/radio and TV/radio ownership limits were no longer needed, and that the item did address diversity. "FCC Chairman Genachowski [has] shared a proposal with his colleagues to streamline and modernize media ownership rules, including eliminating outdated prohibitions on newspaper-radio and TV-radio cross ownership. As the Commission recognized last year, while the media marketplace is in transition, broadband and new media are not yet available as ubiquitously as traditional broadcast media, and certain protections therefore remain important to promoting competition, diversity, and localism," the spokesperson said. "The proposal promotes media diversity by retaining some of the consolidation limits, and through a number of measures that provide broadcast opportunities for small businesses."

FCC Media Bureau Chief William Lake added, "Reports that the order would make it easier to own a top TV station and a major newspaper in a market are wrong. In fact, the order would strengthen the current rule by creating an express presumption against a waiver of the cross-ownership ban to allow such a combination. In addition, the proposed order preserves the existing TV duopoly rule, which forbids ownership of more than one of the top four TV stations in any market."

But the criticism of the FCC proposal has already gotten the attention of Congress. First we saw reports of Members of Congress asking, at the very least, for a public vote on the media ownership rules changes. Sen Maria Cantwell (D-WA) led this charge hoping the commissioners would have to publicly defend their decision. But Sen Cantwell and other Members would prefer the current proposal be scrapped altogether, saying it would diminish diversity of "local views, viewpoints and opinions."

On November 30, nine U.S. senators wrote to Chairman Genachowski asking that the commission not proceed with any rule changes without providing, as mandated by the federal court, "clear, evidence-based response" to concerns about the impact of those changes on diversity of ownership. Rep Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) added her voice to the chorus on December 4. A number of minority groups, media activists and unions have asked the FCC to hold off on a vote until the diversity impact is better gauged. Free Press has threatened to sue the FCC if it votes before collecting more input. “The FCC hasn't released text or held any public hearings on its final proposal, and that lack of transparency is part of the problem here,” said Matt Wood of Free Press. “But based on what we do know, it is flat-out wrong to suggest that the top-4 ranking exemption would prevent any possible ownership of a top TV station and a major newspaper in the same market.”

The media ownership proposal was also raised at a nomination hearing for current FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. Senate Commerce Committee Democrats, led by Sen Cantwell, threatened to pass a resolution of disapproval over the FCC’s media ownership rules, currently under circulation at the agency. Mentioning her newspaper experience, Commissioner Clyburn told the Senators “Diversity and media are what I lived and breathed,” as the publisher and general manager of The Coastal Times, a Charleston-based weekly newspaper that focused primarily on issues affecting the African American community. She owned and operated the family-founded newspaper following her graduation from the University of South Carolina.

On December 4, the FCC blinked saying it would take more comments on the issue, pushing off a vote until January 2013 at the earliest. Specifically, the FCC is seeking public comment on a recently-released report on the ownership of commercial broadcast stations. The Ownership Report provides detailed information by race, ethnicity, and gender concerning ownership of commercial television, radio, Class A television, and low-power television stations. The report confirms that minority and female ownership numbers remain low and provides more detailed ownership figures. The public comment period ends January 4, 2013, but the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, which represents groups that have been critical of the FCC's media ownership proposal, told the FCC that the comment period is not sufficient since the report was only released two weeks ago. "The burden of proof lies with the Commission to demonstrate that its media ownership rules promote ownership by women and people of color, and thus, we expect the Commission to give full consideration to the comments received in the new comment cycle. Further, we anticipate additional meetings and dialogue after the comment period is concluded. Accordingly, we seek your assurances that you will not rush to conclude the 2010 Quadrennial docket in early January without time for dialogue."

The FCC has gotten some support, from surprising corners, for changes its rules, however. Minority Media and Telecommunications Council leader David Honig wrote an op-ed this week saying MMTC was urging the agency to relax the 37-year-old regulation. “As the nation’s leading advocate for equal opportunity and civil rights in mass media, the MMTC champions a diverse and robust Fourth Estate. And the absolute ban on cross-ownership no longer serves this purpose.” He explained: “We must ensure that journalism — particularly at the local level — does not continue to deteriorate. Relaxing the cross-ownership ban would provide newspapers with immediate relief. Cross-owned newspapers and television stations pool resources and collaborate on investigative projects. FCC-commissioned studies have concluded that television stations that are cross-owned with newspapers provide more public affairs programs and local news than other stations.”

After Honig’s announcement, the National Urban League (NUL), National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) wrote to the FCC saying that, despite reports to the contrary, they do not support loosening the newspaper-broadcast crossownership rule (NBCO) without evidence it will not negatively impact diversity. While in a filing to the FCC on media ownership the groups did say they would not object to relaxing the rule, they only did so with the explicit caveat that "if such a relaxation would not diminish minority ownership." They say any implication that their support does not require that evidence, which they say the FCC has not provided, is not correct.

Like the debate over the looming fiscal cliff, it is not clear how the media ownership debate will end. Advocates are scrambling to analyze the FCC’s broadcast ownership data and will be working furiously through the holidays to craft arguments on how those numbers should impact FCC policy. We’ll be tracking the debate in Headlines. See ya next week.

December 7, 2012 (A Date Which Will Live in Infamy)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012 (A Date Which Will Live in Infamy)

The World Conference on International Telecommunications continues today http://benton.org/calendar/2012-12-07/

NEWS FROM ABROAD
   Drafters of Communications Treaty Are Split on Issue of Internet Governance
   Ambassador: US working ‘day and night’ to keep Internet rules out of UN treaty
   WCIT Ambassador Kramer: Progress, But Still Work to Do
   WCIT and Civil Society -- First Steps - analysis
   Obama, the UN and the Internet - editorial
   The Gathering Storm: WCIT and the Global Regulation of the Internet - analysis [links to web]
   The United Nations and the Internet: It's Complicated - analysis [links to web]
   US, Russia, Other Nations Near Agreement on Cyber Early-Warning Pact

MORE ON INTERNET/BROADBAND
   AT&T Seeks Freedom From Ma Bell’s Rules in Internet Era
   AT&T's $14 Billion 'Bribe' or How the Media Got It Wrong - op-ed [links to web]
   FCC Commissioner Pai: Court Victory Could Embolden FCC Toward 'More' Internet Regulations
   Community Network Leads North Carolina to Fast Internet Future
   Frontier questions broadband grants in West Virginia [links to web]

OWNERSHIP
   Senators warn FCC not to relax media ownership rules
   NAACP, Others Say They Don't Support FCC Loosening Crossownership
   Sen Bernie Sanders on Why Big Media Shouldn’t Get Bigger [links to web]
   Former FCC Commissioner: Big Media Dumbs Down Democracy [links to web]
   The FCC Must Not Give Rupert Murdoch More Control Over US Media - op-ed [links to web]

PRIVACY
   Ex-White House Official Aims to Get ‘Do Not Track’ Back on Track [links to web]
   California sues Delta Air Lines over mobile app privacy policy [links to web]

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
   Obama, Romney break fundraising records
   I Am Not Big Brother - op-ed
   Do Democrats Have the edge in Tech Skills? [links to web]

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
   National Network for First Responders Is Years Away
   Accelerating Nationwide Text-To-911 Services - press release

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Sprint-Softbank, T-Mobile-MetroPCS linkups are not 'gamechangers'
   T-Mobile Chases Sprint [links to web]
   FCC to FAA: Allow 'greater use' of electronic devices during flights
   T-Mobile USA Getting Some Apple Mobile Products Next Year [links to web]

TELEVISION
   Google grant will help computers detect gender balance and stereotyping in movies and TV [links to web]
   Trade groups agree on steps to cut the pay-TV power bill
   Cable companies ordered to support HD content streaming within homes by 2014 [links to web]
   Ten Things Cable-TV Companies Won't Say [links to web]
   Kerger -- Philanthropy, Not Government, Funds PBS [links to web]
   Netflix-Disney Deal a 'Game Changer' [links to web]
   YouTube Tries to Become More Like TV [links to web]

LABOR
   Immigration debate ensnares tech talent [links to web]

PATENTS
   Samsung lawyers file copy of Apple patent settlement with HTC [links to web]
   FTC Slams Google for Seeking iPhone, iPad Ban [links to web]

HEALTH
   CMS, ONC propose tweaks to EHR regulations [links to web]

BUDGET
   How the fiscal cliff affects IT [links to web]
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POLICYMAKERS
   Sen DeMint resignation leaves opening on Commerce Committee
   Chairman Upton Announces Republican Membership on House Commerce Subcommittees for 113th Congress - press release [links to web]
   Google case could turn on single vote [links to web]

MORE ONLINE
   US spends 35 percent more time using apps in 2012, while web usage drops [links to web]
   How telcos are using big data to set prices and maybe make bills better [links to web]
   Google to Rein In Free Version of Software [links to web]

NEWS FROM ABROAD

SPLIT ON INTERNET GOVERANCE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Eric Pfanner]
Nearly a week into a global conference to draft a treaty on the future of international telecommunications, delegates remain divided on a fundamental question: should the Internet feature in the discussions? The United States says no, arguing that including it in an intergovernmental agreement could result in regulations that would hamper its development, which has been led by the private sector. To try to win this point early in the proceedings, the United States delegation has pushed a proposal to restrict the application of the treaty to traditional telecommunications operators, excluding Internet companies, as well as private and government networks. So far, however, the United States has been rebuffed. Terry Kramer, the head of the American delegation, said the proposal, co-sponsored by Canada, had generated support from American allies in Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region. Other countries, including Russia and some African and Middle Eastern nations, have apparently resisted, favoring a broader definition of telecommunications that could include the Internet.
benton.org/node/141062 | New York Times
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US AT WCIT
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
Ambassador Terry Kramer said the United States will be working "day and night" to ensure new Internet regulations are kept out of a United Nations treaty. "Fundamentally the conference, to us, should not be dealing with the Internet sector," Ambassador Kramer told reporters on a conference call from Dubai, where the treaty is being negotiated at a conference hosted by the United Nations International Telecommunications Union. He is leading the U.S. delegation at the conference. Ambassador Kramer shot down a report that the U.S. and Canada failed to win backing from other countries for a proposal to keep the Internet out of the treaty. The two countries are pushing to keep the focus of the negotiations on telecommunications networks, so that the updated rules would only apply to major operators like AT&T and Verizon. He said the U.S. opposed a Russian proposal that calls for national governments to assume greater authority over key Internet functions, such as assigning domain names.
benton.org/node/141030 | Hill, The
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PROGRESS AT WCIT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Ambassador Terry Kramer, who is heading the U.S. delegation at the ITU World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai, said that there continues to be discussions about Russia's proposal to move Internet governance away from a multistakeholder model, but that that continued to be a deal-breaker for the US. With the bipartisan backing of Congress, the delegation has made it clear that the treaties cannot be expanded to issues of Internet governance or content, and would have troubles with new broadband tariffs or taxes. Ambassador Kramer said that, three days into the conference, early successes include no change to the definition of "telecommunications" in the treaties, but that there are still ongoing discussions about the issue of who those treaties apply to; recognized operating agencies (ROAs), which are telecoms like AT&T and Verizon; or operating agencies (OAs), which could be expanded to include Web content companies like Google or Yahoo.
benton.org/node/141029 | Broadcasting&Cable
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WCIT AND CIVIL SOCIETY
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Sherwin Siy]
[Commentary] As the ITU's World Conference on International Telecommunications ("WCIT") gets underway, it's clear that the efforts by global civil society groups on behalf of transparency and free expression have had at least something of an impact. Most importantly for those wanting to follow the discussions at home, the ITU agreed to webcast is plenary sessions and the meetings of the "Review Committee," which is the committee that will be discussing proposed changes to the International Telecommunications Regulations ("ITRs"). And it's nice to note that Hamadoun Touré, the Secretary General of the ITU, emphasized the involvement of civil society in his opening remarks (including a mention of Public Knowledge by name). On more substantive matters, the plenary session debated for an hour on how best to express the importance of free expression within the language of the ITRs, and to reassure the world that nothing done at the WCIT will compromise that fundamental right.
benton.org/node/141027 | Public Knowledge
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OBAMA, THE UN AND THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Terry Kramer, the State Department ambassador leading the U.S. delegation to the ITU conference, has been trying to limit the scope of any new regulations to telecom operators, while excluding Internet companies such as Google and Facebook. But Kramer's plan—supported by Europe and Canada—apparently isn't a sealed deal yet. By the way, we say "apparently" because the proceeding of the conference aren't public. There won't even be a vote on a final text. Instead, conference chairman Mohammed Nasser Al Ghanim of Dubai and Secretary General Hamadoun Touré of Mali will attempt to find "consensus." That puts U.S. diplomats in the position of trying to locate some supposed sweet spot between freedom and the various repressive ideas now making the rounds. Such a spot does not exist. By "engaging" at Dubai, the Administration is squandering the opportunity to denounce the whole enterprise. "It is time," Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote shortly before his own tenure as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. in the 1970s, "that the American spokesman came to be feared in international forums for the truths he might tell." We often wonder what happened to that kind of Democrat.
benton.org/node/141061 | Wall Street Journal
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US, RUSSIA, OTHER NATIONS NEAR AGREEMENT ON CYBER EARLY-WARNING PACT
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Aliya Sternstein]
The United States, Russia and other members of a powerful international assembly as early as Dec 7 could finalize an agreement to warn each other about governmental cyberspace activities that may be misconstrued as hostile acts to avert international conflicts. Delegates to the 57-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are moving forward on discussions to approve the confidence-building measures, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly officials said. The United Nations-recognized regional organization develops politically-binding pacts that stop short of being official treaties. But the UN often refers to the organization’s policies in its actions.
benton.org/node/141026 | nextgov
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MORE ON INTERNET/BROADBAND

TELEPHONE REGULATION
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Todd Shields]
The US telephone network the Bell System built and ran for almost a century is dying, replaced by technology that propels Internet messages. Rules underpinning that old order should expire with it, AT&T says. Its argument has skipped from state capital to state capital and could arrive in force at the Federal Communications Commission, which is considering a request from the modern-day AT&T to establish test zones where rules of the Ma Bell era wouldn’t apply. “We have to be able to start this transition from the old to the new,” Jim Cicconi, AT&T senior executive vice president, said Nov. 27 during a discussion at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based policy group. “The underlying statutes really aren’t designed for the current situation.” The debate over whether rules of the copper-line era should apply to today’s fiber-optic and Internet-based networks centers on the changes in an industry whose service for decades was guaranteed by government rules, rather than driven by competition.
benton.org/node/141021 | Bloomberg
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COMMISSIONER PAI WARNS ABOUT EMBOLDENED FCC
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Speaking at the Phoenix Center, Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai said if a federal appeals court upholds the FCC's network neutrality rules, he expects the Democrat-led commission to expand regulation of the Internet, including into the mobile wireless space and usage-based pricing. Commissioner Pai said the biggest action on the telecom front would likely be that court decision, rather than actions out of the commission or Congress, though he suggested an FCC defeat was more likely. While Commissioner Pai said the FCC has received few network neutrality complaints, and has "done little" with any that have been filed, that could change with a court victory.
benton.org/node/141018 | Broadcasting&Cable
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WILSON’S COMMUNITY NETWORK
[SOURCE: Institute for Local Self-Reliance, AUTHOR: Christopher Mitchell]
Following the collapse of key industries, a town of 50,000 in eastern North Carolina had to make a hard choice. It wanted to support existing businesses and attract new ones but the cable and telephone companies were not interested in upgrading their networks for cutting edge capacity. So Wilson decided to build its own fiber optic network, now one of the fastest in the nation, earning praise from local businesses that have a new edge over competitors in the digital economy. In response, Time Warner Cable lowered its prices and modestly boosted available Internet speeds, contributing to the $1 million saved by the community each year. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Common Cause have just released a case study of how and why Wilson built Greenlight, a citywide next-generation fiber-to-the-home network that set the standard for connectivity in North Carolina.
benton.org/node/141017 | Institute for Local Self-Reliance
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OWNERSHIP

SENATORS WARN FCC ON MEDIA OWNERSHIP
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) blasted a Federal Communications Commission proposal to relax media ownership restrictions at a press conference. "We cannot live in a vibrant democracy unless people get divergent sources of information," Sen Sanders said. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski circulated a proposal with his fellow commissioners last month that would relax regulations that prohibit a single company from owning a TV broadcast station and a newspaper in the same market. The order would eliminate bans on newspaper-radio and TV-radio cross-ownership. "I intend to do everything I can to prevent this proposal from going forward," Sen Sanders said. Sen Cantwell said the proposal would "strengthen media consolidation and strip newspapers and TV and radio stations of diverse voices." She threatened that if the FCC moves ahead with the planned changes, Congress could pass a resolution of disapproval, which would repeal the order. Sens Sanders and Cantwell both expressed concern that the move would reduce the few number of women and minorities who own media outlets.
benton.org/node/141015 | Hill, The
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CLARIFYING CROSSOWNERSHIP POSITION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Minority advocates have told the Federal Communications Commission that, despite reports to the contrary, they do not support loosening the newspaper-broadcast crossownership rule (NBCO) without evidence it will not negatively impact diversity. In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, the National Urban League (NUL), National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) said they were writing to clarify their position. While in a filing to the FCC on media ownership the groups did say they would not object to relaxing the rule, they wrote this week, they only did so with the explicit caveat that "if such a relaxation would not diminish minority ownership." They say any implication that their support does not require that evidence, which they say the FCC has not provided, is not correct.
benton.org/node/141039 | Broadcasting&Cable
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

FUNDRAISING RECORDS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Melanie Mason, Joseph Tanfani]
President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney shattered spending records during their 2012 campaigns, eclipsing $2 billion in fundraising, the campaigns disclosed. President Obama, who surpassed $1 billion in mid-October, added $111 million to his campaign and affiliated committees in the final 2 1/2 weeks of the campaign. In all, the President raised $1.1 billion for his reelection effort. Romney's final money push in that same period netted him more than $89.5 million — enough to nudge him past the billion-dollar mark as well. His total fundraising for the cycle was $1.01 billion. The record-busting sums — a result of both candidates bypassing public financing to build their own flush money networks — do not include the hundreds of millions more spent by outside groups. Both campaigns let loose a hailstorm of spending in the closing days before the Nov. 6 election. Obama, through his main campaign account, shelled out more than $176 million, while Romney spent $105 million. Neither candidate exhausted his historic haul. Romney had $24.4 million in the bank at the end of November and Obama had more than $14 million on hand.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-campaign-money-2012...
In campaign's final weeks, Romney raised nearly $86 million (Los Angeles Times – Romney’s fundraising)
benton.org/node/141052 | Los Angeles Times | Los Angeles Times – Romney’s fundraising
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I AM NOT BIG BROTHER
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ethan Roeder]
[Commentary] Numerous avenues of listening, combined with the digital capacity to hold on to qualitative feedback, make campaigns aware of the differences among voters’ motivations, attitudes, protestations — not just their demographics and voting history. In a nation of over 200 million eligible voters, technology is allowing campaigns to finally see through the fog of the crowd and engage voters one by one. In other words, there is no giant blue computer sitting on the 101st floor of a sleek skyscraper, surrounded by bubbling tubes of illuminated liquid, spitting out the manifest destiny of America’s voters. Campaigns are moving away from the meaningless labels of pollsters and newsweeklies — “NASCAR dads” and “waitress moms” — and moving toward treating each voter as a separate person. In 2012 you didn’t just have to be an African-American from Akron or a suburban married female age 45 to 54. More and more, the information age allows people to be complicated, contradictory and unique. New technologies and an abundance of data may rattle the senses, but they are also bringing a fresh appreciation of the value of the individual to American politics.
benton.org/node/141003 | New York Times
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

NATIONAL NETWORK FOR FIRST RESPONDERS IS YEARS AWAY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Edward Wyatt]
During Hurricane Sandy, New York police commanders could talk by radio with fire department supervisors across the city, to officials battling power failures in nearby counties and with authorities shutting down airports in New York and New Jersey. As routine as that sounds, it represented great strides in emergency communications. And it addressed one of the tragic problems of Sept. 11, 2001 — that police and fire officials at the World Trade Center site could not reach one another by radio. The recent positive developments still do not fulfill the post-Sept. 11 plans for a nationwide communications system for first responders. Emergency officials who showed up from other cities to help clean up after the hurricane could not talk to New York officials with the radios they had brought from home. The fourth-generation cellphone technology on which the system is based does not allow, for the foreseeable future, emergency workers in one location to immediately contact each other directly. Rather than push a button on a device, walkie-talkie style, they have to dial a phone number, like any cellphone user, and worry about dropped calls.
benton.org/node/141065 | New York Times
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ACCELERATING NATIONWIDE TEXT-TO-911 SERVICES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Julius Genachowski announced that the nation’s four largest wireless carriers – AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile – have agreed to accelerate the availability of text-to-911, with major deployments expected in 2013 and a commitment to nationwide availability by May 15, 2014. Building on text-to-911 deployments and trials that are already underway, this agreement will accelerate progress and ensure that over 90 percent of the nation’s wireless consumers, including millions of consumers with hearing or speech disabilities, will be able to access emergency services by sending a text message to 911, where local 911 call centers (known as a Public Safety Answering Points, or PSAPs) are also prepared to receive the texts. In addition, to help eliminate consumer confusion while text-to-911 capability is being phased-in, the carriers have committed to provide an automatic “bounce back” text message to notify consumers if their attempt to reach 911 via text message was unsuccessful because this service is not yet available in their area. Such a message would instruct the recipient to make a voice call to a 911 center. The four carriers will fully implement this “bounce back” capability across their networks by June 30, 2013.
benton.org/node/141041 | Federal Communications Commission
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

MERGERS NOT GAME-CHANGERS
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Tammy Parker]
Softbank's planned $20.1 billion investment in Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA's intended merger with MetroPCS are "significant transactions," but that does not mean the deals will alter the competitive landscape in the U.S. wireless industry, according to Standard & Poor's Rating Services. S&P said Sprint's agreement to give up a 70 percent stake in itself in exchange for Softbank's multi-billion-dollar investment resulted from future financing needs rather than efforts to build scale or leverage synergies. Any competitive benefits of the Sprint-Softbank combination, such as cost savings on handsets and network equipment, "would likely take time to emerge, and would likely result from Sprint's greater financial flexibility allowing consistently higher investment in the business," said the firm. The combination of MetroPCS and T-Mobile is being viewed a bit differently in that it is a merger of rivals, and the combined company could benefit from having larger scale, which would give it greater operating efficiency, better equipment pricing and more spectrum to accommodate an LTE upgrade, said S&P.
benton.org/node/140988 | Fierce
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FCC ON ELECTRONIC DEVICES ON PLANES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski pushed for wider in-flight use of electronic portable devices during airplane flights. Chairman Genachowski called on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to "enable greater use of tablets, e-readers, and other portable devices" during flights in a letter sent Thursday to Michael Huerta, the acting administrator of the FAA. The FAA launched a study group this summer to review its policies and guidance on in-flight use of electronic devices as people have increasingly turned to mobile phones and tablets to connect with one another. To the chagrin of most passengers, the FAA said the study would not consider allowing "voice communications" during flights. "This review comes at a time of tremendous innovation, as mobile devices are increasingly interwoven in our daily lives," Chairman Genachowski writes. "They empower people to stay informed and connected with friends and family, and they enable both large and small businesses to be more productive and efficient, helping drive economic growth and boost U.S. competitiveness." In the letter, Chairman Genachowski pledged to working with the FAA, airlines and manufacturers on the review.
benton.org/node/140982 | Hill, The
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TELEVISION

POWER AND SET-TOP BOXES
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jon Healey]
The digital video recorders that have proliferated in US homes over the past decade may be a boon to TV viewers, giving them the ability to time-shift programs, record multiple shows at the same time and pause live broadcasts. But they're also gluttons for electricity, consuming almost as much power after they've been turned off as when they're on. They're about to go on a power diet. The Consumer Electronics Assn. and the National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. announced an agreement Thursday to switch to significantly more energy-efficient set-top boxes, with the first steps starting next month. Although the agreement is voluntary, 15 top cable, satellite and telephone companies and their set-top box makers that serve more than 90 million U.S. homes have pledged to abide by it. The trade groups projected that the moves could cut consumers' power bills by $1.5 billion annually once the agreement is fully implemented. Most of the savings will come from new set-tops that meet the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star 3.0 standards; those devices consume about 45% less power than conventional models. The agreement calls for 90% of the set-tops purchased and deployed by pay-TV providers after 2013 to meet Energy Star 3.0, but it doesn't compel them to replace the boxes that are already in consumers' homes. As a result, it will take years to achieve much of the savings envisioned by the deal.
benton.org/node/140996 | Los Angeles Times
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POLICYMAKERS

DEMINT LEAVING CONGRESS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-SC) announcement that he will resign from the Senate opens up the top Republican position on a powerful committee. Sen DeMint was set to succeed Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) as the ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee until he revealed that he would step down to lead the conservative Heritage Foundation. The Commerce Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), has jurisdiction over communications policy, technology, interstate commerce, transportation, aviation and other key areas. Sen. John Thune (R-SD) is the next most senior Republican on the committee, but he was also recently reelected as conference chairman. It is unclear whether he would be allowed to keep his party leadership role and take on the ranking member position. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) would be the next Republican in line after Sen Thune on the panel.
benton.org/node/140975 | Hill, The
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December 7, 2012
Source 
New York Times
Author 
Edward Wyatt
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

During Hurricane Sandy, New York police commanders could talk by radio with fire department supervisors across the city, to officials battling power failures in nearby counties and with authorities shutting down airports in New York and New Jersey. As routine as that sounds, it represented great strides in emergency communications. And it addressed one of the tragic problems of Sept. 11, 2001 — that police and fire officials at the World Trade Center site could not reach one another by radio. The recent positive developments still do not fulfill the post-Sept. 11 plans for a nationwide communications system for first responders. Emergency officials who showed up from other cities to help clean up after the hurricane could not talk to New York officials with the radios they had brought from home.

The fourth-generation cellphone technology on which the system is based does not allow, for the foreseeable future, emergency workers in one location to immediately contact each other directly. Rather than push a button on a device, walkie-talkie style, they have to dial a phone number, like any cellphone user, and worry about dropped calls.

National Network for First Responders Is Years Away

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December 7, 2012
Source 
New York Times
Author 
Eric Pfanner
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Nearly a week into a global conference to draft a treaty on the future of international telecommunications, delegates remain divided on a fundamental question: should the Internet feature in the discussions? The United States says no, arguing that including it in an intergovernmental agreement could result in regulations that would hamper its development, which has been led by the private sector.

To try to win this point early in the proceedings, the United States delegation has pushed a proposal to restrict the application of the treaty to traditional telecommunications operators, excluding Internet companies, as well as private and government networks. So far, however, the United States has been rebuffed. Terry Kramer, the head of the American delegation, said the proposal, co-sponsored by Canada, had generated support from American allies in Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region. Other countries, including Russia and some African and Middle Eastern nations, have apparently resisted, favoring a broader definition of telecommunications that could include the Internet.

Drafters of Communications Treaty Are Split on Issue of Internet Governance

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December 7, 2012
Source 
Wall Street Journal
Author 
Editorial staff
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

[Commentary] Terry Kramer, the State Department ambassador leading the U.S. delegation to the ITU conference, has been trying to limit the scope of any new regulations to telecom operators, while excluding Internet companies such as Google and Facebook. But Kramer's plan—supported by Europe and Canada—apparently isn't a sealed deal yet. By the way, we say "apparently" because the proceeding of the conference aren't public. There won't even be a vote on a final text. Instead, conference chairman Mohammed Nasser Al Ghanim of Dubai and Secretary General Hamadoun Touré of Mali will attempt to find "consensus." That puts U.S. diplomats in the position of trying to locate some supposed sweet spot between freedom and the various repressive ideas now making the rounds. Such a spot does not exist. By "engaging" at Dubai, the Administration is squandering the opportunity to denounce the whole enterprise. "It is time," Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote shortly before his own tenure as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. in the 1970s, "that the American spokesman came to be feared in international forums for the truths he might tell." We often wonder what happened to that kind of Democrat.

Obama, the UN and the Internet

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