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BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2012

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NEWS FROM FCC
   FCC Removes Regulatory Barriers To Free Up 30 MHZ Of Broadband Spectrum - press release
   Cellphone carriers begin warning about extra fees
   FCC Opens Docket For Proposed Transfer Of Control Of MetroPCS To Deutsche Telekom - public notice [links to web]
   FCC Adopts Rules to Protect Emergency Service Providers from Unwanted Robocalls - press release [links to web]
   Justin Cole to Serve as FCC Press Spokesperson - press release [links to web]

MEDIA & ELECTIONS
   2nd Debate Also a Ratings Hit, Drawing 65.6 Million At-Home Viewers [links to web]
   How Steve Jobs would have answered the debate question on Apple
   Why Apple will never bring manufacturing jobs back to the US
   How Obama or Romney Should Have Answered the iPad Question - analysis
   Twitter at the Town Hall Debate
   Study: More slurs at Barack Obama than Mitt Romney [links to web]
   Political spats on Facebook spill into real life [links to web]
   Ad spending tops $800 million; on pace to reach or come close to $1 billion
   One in Every 10 Political Ad Dollars Spent on Demonizing Banks - op-ed [links to web]
   Media General Wins Big With Political Ads [links to web]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Planet broadband, like the US Internet, is getting faster
   US delegation members for international telecom treaty talks revealed
   White House to meet with industry groups on cyber order [links to web]
   Closing the Internet Divide - op-ed
   Nobody “Goes Online” Anymore
   Internet Freedom? You Are in an Internet Prison and You Don't Even Know It - op-ed

PRIVACY
   The Possible Privacy Violations of Verizon's Cell Phone Tracking Program
   Facebook giving some marketers a peek at their fans' other Likes [links to web]

CONTENT
   Facebook has 220 Billion of Your Photos to Put on Ice [links to web]
   Can the Ad-Supported Web Be Saved? - op-ed [links to web]
   Amazon Struggles to Crack Publishing [links to web]
   Small Players Seek an Alternative to the Expense of Pay-Per-Click [links to web]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Sprint to Take Control of Clearwire
   Fearing leaks, Japan's Softbank sprinted to close U.S. deal [links to web]
   The wily genius behind the Softbank-Sprint deal [links to web]
   Verizon Profitability Surges as Bills Rise on iPhone [links to web]

TELEVISION
   Nielsen: HD Sets in Over Three Quarters of U.S. Homes [links to web]

EDUCATION
   Bandwidth Demands Rise as Schools Move to Common Core [links to web]
   Amazon challenges Apple in education with Whispercast [links to web]
   Should High Schools Teach Big Data? [links to web]

OWNERSHIP
   Sprint to Take Control of Clearwire
   Monopolies: Antitrust Law Protects Consumers Not Competitors - op-ed
   TiVo Says It’s Owed Billions From Google Over Patents [links to web]

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   White House review finds no evidence of spying by Huawei
   White House denies Huawei investigation report [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Europe stands firm on Orange Austria deal
   Canada to Beef Up Its Cyber Defenses [links to web]
   Iran Renews Internet Attacks on U.S. Banks [links to web]
   Despite big fine, Samsung shows assertive stance [links to web]

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NEWS FROM FCC

FCC REMOVES REGULATORY BARRIERS TO FREE UP 30 MHZ OF BROADBAND SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission adopted revised rules to enable Wireless Communications Service (WCS) licensees’ to use a total of 30 megahertz of underutilized spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band for wireless broadband services, while protecting the adjacent Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS) operator Sirius XM Radio against harmful interference. The revised rules are consistent with a compromise proposal between AT&T and Sirius XM designed to facilitate the efficient deployment and coexistence of the WCS and SDARS. Of the 30 megahertz of total spectrum, 20 megahertz may be used for mobile broadband services and 10 megahertz for fixed broadband services, with possible future use as downlink spectrum to serve mobile broadband devices. The revised rules also provide Sirius XM greater certainty and flexibility by adopting conditions for identifying and resolving harmful interference to SDARS operations on roadways and by relaxing the SDARS licensee notification requirements for low-power terrestrial repeaters and for minor modifications to repeaters. WCS and SDARS licensees
benton.org/node/137368 | Federal Communications Commission | AT&T
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CELL PHONE ALERTS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
The Federal Communications Commission and CTIA, the wireless industry's trade group, announced on that cellphone service providers are now alerting customers before slapping hefty fees on their monthly bills. The mobile carriers agreed one year ago to adopt the free alert system at the urging of the FCC, which complained that too many consumers suffer from "bill shock," when they discover surprise charges on their monthly phone bills.
benton.org/node/137377 | Hill, The | FCC Chairman Genachowski | Commissioner McDowell | Commissioner Clyburn | Commissioner Rosenworcel | Commissioner Pai | National Journal | ars technica
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MEDIA & ELECTIONS

HOW JOBS WOULD HAVE ANSWERED
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Andrea Chang]
"IPad, the Macs, the iPhones, they are all manufactured in China," CNN’s Candy Crowley said. "One of the major reasons is labor is so much cheaper [there]. How do you convince a great American company to bring that manufacturing back here?" Here’s how Apple’s Steve Jobs would have answered. It is easy to build a factory in China and it is almost impossible to do so these days in America, largely because of regulations and unnecessary costs. The US needs to train more American engineers. A s Walter Isaacson’s biography of Jobs reports: "Apple had 700,000 factory workers employed in China, [Jobs] said, and that was because it needed 30,000 engineers on-site to support those workers. 'You can't find that many in America to hire,' he said. These factory engineers did not have to be PhDs or geniuses; they simply needed to have basic engineering skills for manufacturing. Tech schools, community colleges or trade schools could train them. 'If you could educate these engineers,' he said, 'we could move more manufacturing plants here.' The argument made a strong impression on the president. Two or three times over the next month he told his aides, 'We've got to find ways to train those 30,000 manufacturing engineers that Jobs told us about.'"
benton.org/node/137389 | Los Angeles Times
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US MANUFACTURING
[SOURCE: CNNMoney, AUTHOR: David Goldman]
CNN's Candy Crowley asked President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney "How do you convince a great American company [Apple] to bring that manufacturing back here?" President Obama offered a starker answer: "Candy, there are some jobs that are not going to come back, because they're low-wage, low-skill jobs." Speaking strictly for Apple, Obama's assessment is likely correct. Apple has said that it directly employs thousands of its own workers in China, and about 700,000 assembly workers at manufacturing contractors like Foxconn put together Apple products. It would be almost impossible to bring those jobs to the United States. Foxconn -- China's largest private employer and the manufacturer of an estimated 40% half of the world's consumer electronic devices -- pays its assembly workers far less than American labor laws would allow. A typical salary is 2500 RMB (U.S. $400), or about $18 a day. But pay isn't the biggest obstacle. The real stumbling block is speed. Unlike U.S. plants, Foxconn and other Chinese manufacturing operations house employees in dormitories and can send hundreds of thousands of workers to the assembly lines at a moment's notice. On the lines, workers are subjected to what most Americans would consider unbearably long hours and tough working conditions. That system gives tech companies the efficiency needed to race products out the door. Plus, most of the component suppliers for Apple and other tech giants are also in China or other Asian countries. That geographic clustering gives companies the flexibility to change a product design at the last minute and still ship on time.
benton.org/node/137357 | CNNMoney
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THE IPAD/IPHONE QUESTION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Arik Hesseldahl]
Under current conditions, which are highly unlikely to change no matter who is president, the job of assembling iPhones and iPads and other consumer electronics, is now done mostly in China by companies that specialize in manufacturing, and will never come back to the U.S. And that’s okay. The fact is, assembling iPhones and iPads is the final step of a complex process, and is really a low-skill, low-cost kind of job. China has spent decades building much of its economy around these low-skill jobs, in part because it has such a large labor force, and plenty of workers who are willing to do the work. And, frankly, here in America you wouldn’t want to try to support a family on the kind of wages a job like that would pay. I know it sounds harsh, but it’s true. So I know this may sound odd when I say it, but I ask you to hear me out: I’m perfectly comfortable letting those kinds of jobs go to China or somewhere else. In America, when we talk about manufacturing, we should be talking about advanced manufacturing jobs for highly skilled workers that require a solid education and pay wages on which you can support a family. And the fact is, there’s a lot of American work that goes into an iPad or an iPhone or a Mac.
benton.org/node/137348 | Wall Street Journal
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TWEETING THE DEBATE
[SOURCE: Twitter, AUTHOR: Adam Sharp]
As the presidential candidates met at Hofstra University to answer questions from a group of self-declared undecided voters, viewers around the country went to Twitter to participate in the debate exchanges and offer their own commentary. 7.2 million Tweets were sent during the debate. The specific moments that generated the highest amounts of conversation were:
Audience question to Romney on immigration (109,560 TPM)
Obama to Romney: "You're the last person to get tough on China" (108,619 TPM)
Romney's response to tax rates question (107,386 TPM)
With 28% of Tweets sent, the economy was the most-discussed topic this evening. The subject of taxes racked up 17% of Tweets; 16% focused on foreign policy, 13% on energy and the environment, and 8% on immigration.
benton.org/node/137358 | Twitter
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POLITICAL AD SPEND
[SOURCE: NBC, AUTHOR: Domenico Montanaro]
Ad spending in the presidential campaign has now topped $800 million and is on pace to reach or come close to $1 billion, according to an NBC analysis of data provided by ad-buying firm SMG Delta. So far, $807 million has been spent on political ads for radio and television -- local and national, cable and broadcast. The Obama campaign is one ad buy away from reaching $300 million by itself. But with outside money factored in, "Team Romney" (the campaign plus outside groups supporting him or attacking the president) is outspending "Team Obama" $455 million to $352 million. The Romney campaign, which has come on since Labor Day, is now the second-biggest spender at $164 million. Following the Romney campaign are the combined Karl-Rove backed Crossroads groups -- American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS. Combined, the two groups have spent $124 million ($65 million for American Crossroads, $59 million for GPS).
benton.org/node/137380 | NBC
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

LATEST STATE OF THE INTERNET REPORT
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Om Malik]
Broadband and mobile Internet speeds are slowly and steadily increasing across the world, according to the latest findings of Akamai’s State of the Internet Report for the second quarter of 2012. The US saw a 76 percent year-over-year growth in the number of connections at high broadband levels — speeds greater than 10 Mbps during the quarter. US broadband had a great summer:
Nine of the top 10 states saw positive quarter-over-quarter changes in average connection speeds, with the largest increase seen in Delaware.
Top 10 states saw average connection speeds increase on a year-on-year basis.
With 41.6 Mbps, Delaware had the highest average peak connection speed.
A total of 37 states and the District of Columbia saw their high broadband (higher than 10 Mbps) adoption levels increase quarter-over-quarter.
benton.org/node/137351 | GigaOm
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US DELEGATION
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
Representatives from Google, Cisco, Facebook, Microsoft and AT&T will join Obama Administration officials at a December conference in Dubai to negotiate the terms of an international telecommunications treaty. The industry members are part of the 95-person delegation representing the United States as it opposes potential efforts to expand a United Nations agency's authority over the management of the Internet during the upcoming treaty talks. They will join a group of officials from the State Department, Department of Defense, Federal Communications Commission and other agencies, along with a team of telecommunications attorneys from Wiley Rein and representatives from advocacy groups and trade organizations. Amazon, Intel, Juniper Networks, PayPal, Sony, TMG Telecom, Verizon, Ericsson and Go Daddy also have representatives on the U.S. delegation, while consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge is sending two representatives. Members of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, TechAmerica and National Cable and Telecommunications Association will also be on hand in Dubai. In addition, a representative from dotGAY LLC, a corporation advocating for a "dot gay" domain name on the Web, is part of the U.S. delegation.
benton.org/node/137388 | Hill, The
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CLOSING THE DIVIDE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Patrick Lo]
[Commentary] My vision is for a world in which the Internet Divide — and the wealth gap it creates — no longer exists. People who harness the Web effectively will compete on an even footing, and the quality of life will be improved across the board. For the gap to be bridged, though, corporations and governments need to maintain their focus on bringing the Internet to the masses and on educating the masses on how to capitalize on the opportunity. We need to continue to push broadband access into rural areas, support developing nations in building out their infrastructures and keep developing increasingly advanced devices — from handsets to tablets to routers — that give individuals the power to connect, regardless of location. And beyond the devices and the access, we need to ensure people have the tips, tools and training they need to become proficient and productive online. This will ensure that the opportunities and benefits the Internet offers are enjoyed by the masses. Every day we’re developing these tools and taking strides that help us bridge the gap. Increased access and better connectivity creates opportunity for everyone.
[Lo is the co-founder of Netgear]
benton.org/node/137411 | Wall Street Journal
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NOBODY GOES ONLINE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Liz Gannes]
A large survey of Internet users found that they say they spend fewer hours per week online than they did a year ago. Wait, really? Forrester thinks that the drop is more about perception than reality, because many people are virtually always online these days. “Despite the fact that they always have connected devices and are always online, they don’t really realize they’re online,” said Forrester analyst Gina Sverdlov. “They’re using Google Maps or checking in on Facebook, but that’s not considered online because it has become such a part of everyday life.” When Forrester separately does tracking studies to measure how much time people spend online, it’s way more than they realize, she said.
benton.org/node/137409 | Wall Street Journal
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INTERNET FREEDOM?
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Bruce Kushnick]
[Commentary] There are more choices for bottled water or mustard or local Chinese takeout than most customers have for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or broadband providers or cable service providers. Where is the Internet freedom? The Republican and Democrat platforms claim that they are for Internet freedom, but their version doesn't open the networks to actual competition. Instead, it is based on the AT&T and Verizon hype. Working with ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), the phone companies' definition of Internet freedom is that internet-phone service (VOIP) should not be regulated, when in reality the entire thing is a verbal jujitsu to remove regulations, obligations and competition on telecommunications services offered by the incumbent phone companies. Over 20 states have passed bills based on claiming this version of so called 'Internet freedom,' California being the latest causality.
benton.org/node/137405 | Huffington Post, The
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PRIVACY

VERIZON AND PRIVACY
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Rebecca Greenfield]
Capitalizing on all the information we put into our cell phones, Verizon Wireless is selling all our app usage and location information to marketers. Part of what it calls the Precision Market Insights initiative, Verizon is not only tracking consumers, it is sharing that information with other companies, and possibly linking it to databases with more of your personal information. "We're able to view just everything that they do," Bill Diggins, U.S. chief for the Verizon Wireless marketing initiative, said at an industry conference earlier this year. "And that's really where data is going today. Data is the new oil." If it sounds creepy, that's because it might not be legal, even though Verizon did the bare minimum to make it sound that way by only selling the information in aggregate and also providing an opt-out feature. Still Paul Ohm, a professor at the University of Colorado Law School, who works at the Federal Trade Commission said this might all violate federal wiretapping law because it digs deep into our cell phone transactions. As this stuff gets kind of murky, we spoke with Ryan Calo, an affiliate scholar for the Center for Internet and Society and Assistant law professor at the University of Washington, who explained how exactly this could violate the FTC's privacy guidelines (and also creep you out).
benton.org/node/137346 | Atlantic, The
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OWNERSHIP

SPRINT-CLEARWIRE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Anupreeta Das, Atsuko Fukase, Shalini Ramachandran]
Sprint Nextel is set to gain control of partner Clearwire without an acquisition, people familiar with the matter said, a deal that will clarify a long-dysfunctional relationship that became a central issue in the No. 3 U.S. carrier's $20 billion acquisition by Japan's Softbank. Clearwire, a wireless broadband network operator that loses money and is carrying a heavy load of debt, holds vast reserves of spectrum that were important to Softbank, people familiar with the matter said. By negotiating an agreement with other investors in Clearwire, in which Sprint holds a 48% stake, Sprint is gaining control of the company without having to acquire all of it, the people said. The deal -- the outgrowth of talks with other major investors in Clearwire including Intel and Comcast -- will give Sprint the ability to appoint a majority of directors on Clearwire's board, the people said. Terms of the agreements between Sprint and other investors weren't immediately known.
Bloomberg reports that Sprint acquired Eagle River Holdings LLC’s stake in Clearwire. Eagle River held a 4.5 percent stake in Clearwire, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Based on yesterday’s closing share price of $2.26, the stake is worth about $69.9 million.
benton.org/node/137413 | Wall Street Journal | Bloomberg
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ANTITRUST LAW
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Marvin Ammori]
[Commentary] In the presidential debates 100 years ago, the key issue debated was how to handle the industrial monopolies of 1912: companies like Standard Oil and the American Tobacco Company. The incumbent (Howard Taft) campaigned on breaking up the monopolies; the opposing party (Woodrow Wilson) campaigned on regulating competition to prevent monopolies from developing in the first place; and the third-party campaigner (Teddy Roosevelt) argued we should actually welcome monopolies while regulating their activities. Wilson won, and ended up signing two major antitrust laws to supplement the existing Sherman Act: the Clayton Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act. From search and books to online TV and operating systems, antitrust affects our daily digital lives in more ways than we think. Consider two antitrust cases that have just re-surfaced in mainstream consumer awareness: The FTC is preparing to sue Google over search. And three publishers reached a settlement regarding fixing prices for e-books, as many people learned from e-mails this weekend telling them about a credit coming their way. Here’s what we often forget, though: regardless of the industry, antitrust law is meant to benefit consumers – not competitors. The key question, of course, is whether a particular monopoly is harming consumers – or merely harming its competitors for the benefit of those consumers.
benton.org/node/137345 | Wired
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

WHITE HOUSE STUDY ON HUAWEI
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Joseph Menn]
Apparently, a White House-ordered review of security risks posed by suppliers to U.S. telecommunications companies found no clear evidence that Huawei Technologies had spied for China. Instead, those leading the 18-month review concluded early this year that relying on Huawei, the world's second-largest maker of networking gear, was risky for other reasons, such as the presence of vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit. These previously unreported findings support parts of a landmark U.S. congressional report last week that warned against allowing Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE Corp to supply critical telecom infrastructure. But it may douse speculation that Huawei has been caught spying for China.
benton.org/node/137385 | Reuters
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

EUROPE STANDS FIRM
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Alex Barker, Daniel Thomas]
Europe’s top competition authority is to fire a shot across the bows of telecoms executives desperate for consolidation by taking a robust stance in an important merger test case in Austria. In a move that will dismay industry executives openly critical of EU competition policy, Joaquín Almunia, the bloc’s antitrust enforcer, is pressing Hutchison to selloff spectrum as a condition for clearing its proposed £1.3bn takeover of France Telecom’s Orange Austria. The negotiations over the long-stalled deal, which have reached a critical point, have assumed an unexpected – and, for the companies, unwelcome – significance as a test of whether consolidation will be allowed within national telecoms markets.
benton.org/node/137398 | Financial Times
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