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LEARN Workshop

Federal Communications Commission
October 26, 2012
1:30-3:15
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2012/db1012/DOC-...

As part of its Learning Everything About Reverse-Auctions Now Program (LEARN), this workshop will provide information about issues raised in the NPRM that are particularly relevant to broadcasters considering participating in the auction, including proposed auction designs, the mechanics of participation, and station eligibility. It will also focus on issues of interest to broadcasters that may choose not to participate, including proposed band plans and possible approaches to repacking. This workshop is part of the FCC’s commitment to an open and transparent process to ensure that the proposals in the NPRM are understood by all relevant stakeholders, so that they can engage effectively in the public comment process and make informed decisions about participating in the auction.

Agenda
1:30 – 1:35 Welcoming Remarks, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn
1:35 – 1:45 Overview: How the Pieces Fit Together, Gary Epstein, Chair, Incentive Auction Task Force
1:45 – 2:00 Reverse Auction Design Proposals, Brett Tarnutzer, Chief Data Officer, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
2:00 – 2:15 Station Eligibility, Bill Lake, Chief, Media Bureau
2:15 – 2:30 Forward Auction and New Band Plans, Ruth Milkman, Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
2:30 – 2:45 Interference Proposals and Repacking, Julie Knapp, Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology
2:45 – 3:15 Questions: Moderator, Rebecca Hanson, Senior Advisor, Media Bureau

Submitted on October 12, 2012

"I'm sorry Jim, I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS," GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney told PBS anchor Jim Lehrer, during the first presidential debate. "I like PBS. I love Big Bird," Romney said, referring to the popular ‘Sesame Street’ character. "I actually like you, too. But I’m not gonna keep spending money on things and have to borrow money to pay for it.”

With these words, Big Bird became an unwitting and unwilling prop in campaign 2012. Within moments “Big Bird” and “PBS” were each earning 17,000 tweets per minute -- more than Romney earned during his nomination acceptance speech at the GOP Convention, which hit a high of 14,289 tweets per minute. Of course, none of these numbers indicate whether the tweeters were for or against Romney on the "Big Bird" subsidies, but it does indicate a lot of interest in an issue that does not often rise to the level of presidential debate when every sentence, every gesture, every expression of the candidates comes under heavy scrutiny.

Romney’s position is not new – he was clear during the Republican primaries that he supports ending subsidies to public broadcasting. In November 2010, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, Co-Chairs of the National Commission for Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, proposed cutting funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (see point 32) as a way to address the nation’s growing debt. Eliminating this funding, the co-chairs argued, would save about $500 million in 2015.

Back in January, PBS chief Paula Kerger was asking viewers to oppose Romney’s position that public television will have to become ad-supported. At the time, Kerger noted that that federal rules governing public broadcasting prohibit commercials. She added that commercial TV channels are notably different than PBS and contrasts History Channel's "American Pickers" with a Ken Burns' documentary.

After the October 3 debate, the Obama campaign seized on Romney’s comments and, as Politico sees it, transformed an 8-foot yellow Muppet into its mascot. For Obama aides, mocking Mitt Romney’s pledge to cut funding for PBS and Big Bird is part of an effort to pin down Romney for being short on specifics on cuts to Federal programs. “We believe that this is a way we can use Big Bird and ‘Sesame Street’ as a vehicle for showing that Romney’s deficit plan is hollow and empty,” Obama campaign spokesman Adam Fetcher said.

Romney replied saying, “You have to scratch your head when the president spends the last week talking about saving Big Bird. I actually think we need to have a president who talks about saving the American people and saving good jobs.” He went on to say during an interview with CNN, “I think people understand that we can't keep on spending like there's no tomorrow, we can't keep on borrowing and spending massively more than we take in every year. Big Bird is going to be just fine, Sesame Street is a very successful enterprise. I don't believe CNN gets government funding, but somehow ya'll stay on the air. I just think that PBS will be able to make it on its own, and it does not require us to go to China to borrow money to keep PBS on the air."

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, asked both campaigns to remove all Sesame Street characters and trademarks from their campaign ads. But PBS shrewdly purchased the character’s name as an advertising keyword on Twitter to promote the public broadcaster on the social network. The decision shows how companies are learning to respond to the massive but short-lived ad opportunities that bubble up on social media.

Sesame Workshop receives money from several government agencies for its international production and domestic outreach work. But “Sesame Street” directly receives only $4 million a year from PBS. The group returns about $2.5 million to PBS through an arrangement that shares revenues from merchandising and other income streams, making the net cost to taxpayers $1.5 million. Sesame Workshop’s total revenue for 2009 was about $130 million. Of that, about $7.9 million came directly from government grants. Of course, program fees from stations account for $27 million – some of that comes from federal dollars funneled to local PBS entities, though the Form 990 doesn’t break that out. Sesame figures 8 percent of its total budget comes from the government. Given a $130 million overall budget, that comes in at about $10.4 million. Given that this year’s federal deficit is $1.1 trillion, Big Bird is nothing but speck of dust on a mote on a dandelion that Horton the Elephant is trying to save from being boiled in oil.

The bigger target, of course, may be the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Created in 1968, CPB provides operational support for the nearly 1,300 locally-owned and locally-operated public television and radio stations, which reach virtually every household in the country. CPB received $445 million from the government this year, about two-thirds of which was granted directly to local television and radio stations. The rest was spent on grants for programming and administrative costs. The total amount comes out to about $1.35 per American per year and is about one one-hundredth of 1 percent of the federal budget, contradicting the widely held belief that public broadcasting represents 1 percent or more.

So why bother to go after it? Peter Grier writes in The Christian Science Monitor that conservatives have long decried federal subsidies to public broadcasting because they consider it blatant waste. Today’s broadcasting environment doesn’t lack for high-quality choices, as it did in the 1960s when CPB was formed. Plus, much of public TV and radio could survive just fine on its own, according to this view.

But a report commissioned by Congress this year found that the elimination of federal funds would leave 54 public television stations and 76 public radio stations, most in rural areas, “at high risk of no longer being able to sustain operations.”

The campaign trail comments about public broadcasting this week have made “folks more aware of how small the number is and how deep the appreciation of public television is,” said Rich Homberg, president and general manager of Detroit Public Television, where federal funds account for about 7 percent of revenues. Several station managers said they had been struck by the outpouring of support on social media Web sites and in phone calls from viewers.

In a column in the New York Times, Charles Blow wrote of how, when he was a child, Sesame Street taught him the alphabet and the colors and how to do simple math. “Big Bird and his friends also showed me what it meant to resolve conflicts with kindness and accept people’s differences and look out for the less fortunate.” He concludes, “I don’t really expect Mitt Romney to understand the value of something like PBS to people, like me, who grew up in poor, rural areas and went to small schools. These are places with no museums or preschools or after-school educational programs. There wasn’t money for travel or to pay tutors. I honestly don’t know where I would be in the world without PBS.”

October 12, 2012 (Mobile Privacy; SoftBank-Sprint?)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2012

Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board | FCC’s Emergency Access Advisory Committee http://benton.org/calendar/2012-10-12/


PRIVACY
   GAO report: Wireless consumers don’t know how location data are shared
   Your iPhone Is Tracking You Again

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Rep Eshoo says FCC's Pai wrong on congressional intent for auctions
   Some Common Misperceptions About Incentive Auctions, and Why They Matter - analysis [links to web]
   Sprint Confirms Talks With SoftBank Over “Substantial Investment”
   Softbank’s Sprint Bid Seen Surviving U.S. Review [links to web]
   Softbank-Sprint Deal Seen Presaging Deutsche Telekom Exit [links to web]
   Softbank's Long-Distance Call for Sprint
   A difficult call - analysis
   Execs: 700 MHz interoperability will unleash investment, jobs
   Defense Department pushes spectrum sharing as solution to wireless crunch
   When will Verizon shutter its CDMA networks? 2021, maybe [links to web]
   Government and Wireless Carriers Need to Partner on Cybersecurity, Survey Says [links to web]
   Study: Mobile data traffic doubled in past year [links to web]
   LightSquared Asks FCC to Can Network Conditions [links to web]

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
   Romney’s Pledge Puts Focus on Public TV
   What the Presidential Candidates Say About Tech
   One-in-Ten 'Dual-Screened' the Presidential Debate - research
   Google study: Swing voters trust online information [links to web]
   Election App Targets Voter Suppression Fears [links to web]

TELEVISION
   After Political Windfall, TV Spending to Fall in '13 [links to web]
   PTC Launches PSA on Sexualization of Young Girls [links to web]
   Hulu Struggles To Survive The Influence Of Its Parent Companies [links to web]
   Must-Tweet TV: How The Pioneers Of Social Television Turn Viewers Into VIPs - analysis [links to web]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Sec Panetta Warns of Dire Threat of Cyberattack on US
   House and Senate Republicans Urge President to Rethink Issuing Cybersecurity Executive Order - press release
   House Commerce Committee Leaders Continue Working to Protect Nation's Critical Infrastructure from Growing Cyber Threats - press release [links to web]
    See also:Why the U.S. needs a networked energy grid - op-ed [links to web]
   Internet advertisers still a growth business, but pace slows [links to web]

CONTENT
   Court rules book scanning is fair use, suggesting Google Books victory
   September 2012 U.S. Search Engine Rankings - research [links to web]

TELECOM
   FCC Reminds Eligible Telecommunications Carriers Of Their Obligation To Eliminate Duplicative Lifeline Support - public notice [links to web]
   FCC Reminds Carriers that they Must Recertify Eligibility of All Lifeline Subscribers by December 31, 2012 - public notice [links to web]
   FCC Clarifies Minimum Requirements for States Seeking to Opt Out of National Lifeline Accountability Database - public notice [links to web]
   Reform of Rules and Policies on Foreign Carrier Entry Into the U.S. Telecommunications Market - public notice [links to web]

PATENTS
   US court clears Samsung phone, hands Apple setback [links to web]
   Microsoft says Motorola's Android phones infringe its mapping patent [links to web]

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Cisco says Huawei misstated facts in 2003 copyright case [links to web]
   Britain scrutinizes Huawei's telecoms infrastructure role [links to web]
   Huawei’s U.S. competitors among those pushing for scrutiny of Chinese tech firm [links to web]
   Huawei maintains wary U.S. partners [links to web]
   Where’s the Discussion of Trojan Horses? - analysis

POLICYMAKERS
   Vice presidential debate 2012: Paul Ryan's wonk appeal [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Around the world, no set rules for e-book pricing or digital reading [links to web]
   How Cellphones Helped Researchers Track Malaria In Kenya [links to web]

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PRIVACY

GAO REPORT ON LOCATION DATA
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Hayley Tsukayama]
A study released by the Government Accountability Office suggests that the government could do more to protect consumer privacy when it comes to mobile device location data. The report, which was requested by Sen Al Franken (D-MN), concludes wireless companies are not fully explaining how they use location data culled from mobile phones. Industry self-regulation practices, the report contends, are not strong enough to provide consumers with enough information about how data are collected and shared with third-party companies. “Mobile industry companies we examined have inconsistently implemented these practices,” the report said, adding that in many cases disclosure policies are not enough to give users a way to provide “informed consent.” The report recommends that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration work with stakeholders to develop more specific standards, timeframes and performance measures for policies on mobile location data. It also suggests that the Federal Trade Commission consider issuing guidance for wireless firms on what “appropriate actions” they must take to protect these data.
benton.org/node/136913 | Washington Post | read the report | AdWeek | National Journal | The Hill
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IPHONE TRACKING
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Rebecca Greenfield]
The iPhone 5 and any phone running iOS 6 not only by default tracks users for advertising purposes, but also makes it difficult to opt out. After Apple told developers to stop tracking users with the UDID system, basically eliminating this privacy breach completely, it has implemented a new targeting system. It's called IFA and is "more effective than ever" multiple mobile advertising executives told Business Insider's Jim Edwards. Apsalar, a mobile advertising company compares it to a "persistent cookie," that gives more accurate user-habits than before. The privacy world says the new system isn't as tricky as the old one, which wouldn't let users opt out at all. But Apple kind of negates that by making it so complicated to turn the tracking off.
benton.org/node/136912 | Atlantic, The
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

ESHOO LETTER TO PAI ON SPECTRUM AUCTIONS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) told Federal Communications Commission member Aji Pai that he is misreading a spectrum auction law Congress passed earlier this year. "Contrary to your assertion, the legislation specifically gave the FCC the discretion to create guard bands out of spectrum that is relinquished by the broadcasters, without any requirement to auction such guard bands," she wrote in a letter to the FCC commissioner. Rep Eshoo, the ranking member of the Communications and Technology subcommittee, and other Democrats successfully fought to include a provision that empowers the FCC to set aside some of the reclaimed spectrum for "unlicensed use." Unlicensed spectrum, which can be used by any company for free, powers technologies such as Wi-Fi, garage door openers and remote controls. The FCC voted last month to begin accepting comments on proposed rules for the auctions. The proposal would set aside unlicensed spectrum blocks in-between broadcast and mobile broadband frequencies. Commissioner Pai supported the decision to move ahead with the auction proposal, but questioned the decision to reserve more unlicensed spectrum. Rep Eshoo argued that lawmakers meant to make clear that the FCC has the authority to promote unlicensed spectrum.
benton.org/node/136910 | Hill, The
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SPRINT-SOFTBANK
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Ina Fried]
Sprint Nextel confirmed that it is in talks with Japan’s SoftBank about a possible deal. The No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier said the discussions are about a “substantial investment by SoftBank,” but offered few other details. “Although there can be no assurances that these discussions will result in any transaction or on what terms any transaction may occur, such a transaction could involve a change of control of Sprint,” Sprint said in a statement. “Sprint does not intend to comment further unless and until an agreement is reached.”
benton.org/node/136863 | Wall Street Journal
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SOFTBANK-SPRINT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Miriam Gottfried]
A Softbank-Sprint deal could significantly reshape the competitive landscape of the US telecom industry. The deal could be worth more than ¥1 trillion ($12.8 billion), potentially giving Sprint the financial wherewithal to do more deals, including acquiring the 51% of Clearwire it doesn't already own. There are still many questions as to why Softbank would want Sprint, particularly as cross-continental telecom investments tend to come with few cost savings, apart from greater leverage with handset makers. One possibility is that Softbank has its eye on the large swaths of spectrum owned by Clearwire. Softbank may also have ambitions of eventually playing a role in an attempt by Sprint to consolidate smaller players within the U.S. wireless market. A deal with Softbank could strengthen Sprint's balance sheet. That could potentially pave the way for it to try and snatch MetroPCS from T-Mobile and maybe Leap Wireless, or even T-Mobile itself down the line. Pulling off such a roll-up would be no easy feat, if indeed that is the goal of either Sprint or Softbank. Were it to happen, though, it could leave Sprint with about 106 million subscribers, slightly more than AT&T, based on second-quarter subscriber numbers. This would give Sprint the spectrum it needs to build a more robust LTE network and the scale to boost margins.
benton.org/node/136933 | Wall Street Journal | Bloomberg
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A DIFFICULT CALL
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: David Gelles]
[Commentary] Could Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, MetroPCS and Leap Wireless join together in some combination that would allow them to more effectively challenge Verizon and AT&T, and win the blessing of regulators? For there to be a truly viable third competitor, T-Mobile and Sprint would have to join up. But it is not clear that Washington would allow an enlarged T-Mobile and Sprint to come together. In its ruling against the AT&T bid for T-Mobile last year, the Department of Justice routinely referred to the “Big Four” wireless carriers – Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. Nowhere did it advocate the creation of a stronger third player to rival the two industry leaders, and there is little reason to suspect regulators would want to see T-Mobile and Sprint join together. “Their goal is not to ensure viable rivals,” said Craig Moffett, senior analyst with Bernstein Research. “Their goal is to ensure price competition.” Regulators are likely to let T-Mobile, or perhaps Sprint, acquire MetroPCS without much trouble. The thornier issue will come if and when the victor in that battle decides it wants to take on Verizon and AT&T. At that point, Washington will be faced with an unsavory choice: either allow Verizon and AT&T to retain their duopoly by blocking the formation of a third real rival, or further reduce consumer choice by allowing yet another wireless company to be swallowed up. Unfortunately for consumers, you cannot have it both ways.
benton.org/node/136931 | Financial Times
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700 MHZ INTEROPERABILITY
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Tammy Parker]
Mandating LTE interoperability in the Lower 700 MHz band will drive billions of dollars in private investment and spur 100,000 new jobs over the next five years, according to a letter sent to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski by the Interoperability Alliance. "Lack of interoperability is having a chilling effect on the market, investment, and network deployments," wrote the letter's eleven signatories, which represent operators and others with interests in the Lower 700 MHz A Block. Those include the Competitive Carriers Association, National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, C Spire Wireless, Cincinnati Bell, U.S. Cellular and King Street Wireless, which are demanding the FCC mandate interoperability before year's end. "Collectively, we and other competitive wireless operators invested nearly $2 billion in private capital in this spectrum block," they wrote. "The lack of device interoperability has significantly hampered Lower 700 MHz network build out, device availability, and roaming. Without interoperability, substantial numbers of non-urban American consumers and emergency first responders will not be able to access 4G LTE networks," said the alliance's letter.
benton.org/node/136846 | Fierce | read the letter
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SPECTRUM SHARING
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Marguerite Reardon]
The Department of Defense says it's onboard with freeing up more wireless spectrum for commercial wireless broadband use. But proposals that rely heavily on the government sharing wireless spectrum with private sector wireless carriers doesn't jive with what the industry wants. Major General Robert Wheeler, a deputy CIO for the Department of Defense, outlined how the government agency plans to free up additional spectrum that will help the country reach President Obama's goal of releasing 500 MHz of additional wireless spectrum to the market. While he promised that the Defense Department, which is the largest license holder of government owned spectrum, would clear or move off some spectrum to make room for commercial use, he also emphasized the prospect of sharing spectrum with commercial providers.
benton.org/node/136853 | C-Net|News.com
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

FOCUS ON PUBLIC TV
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brian Stelter, Elizabeth Jensen]
It has been a strange week for public television executives. Meetings have been postponed. Trips have been canceled. And conversations have turned in urgency to, of all things, Big Bird. The turn of events can be traced to Mitt Romney’s pledge at the Oct. 3 presidential debate to “stop the subsidy to PBS,” and the subsequent political jousting between him and President Barack Obama over the fate of the iconic “Sesame Street” character. The give-and-take has brought new attention to the public financing of television and radio and has elevated it to an election issue, much to the dismay of PBS and local stations that say they are nonpartisan and would like to stay that way. The public broadcasting budget has long been a target of Republicans in Congress. Paula A. Kerger, the PBS chief executive, however, said she could not recall a time when a presidential candidate had opposed the financing in so public a forum. The public television executives caught in the middle say the issue is drawing far more attention than it truly merits.
benton.org/node/136936 | New York Times
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CANDIDATES AND START-UPS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Somini Sengupta]
NYCTechMeetUp, a nonprofit group that represents computer coders and other technology industry people in New York, asked the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates to pitch how their policies “would benefit the growth of New York start-up community and other start-up entrepreneurs.” Mitt Romney promised, among other things, to raise visa caps for “highly skilled foreign workers,” lower the corporate tax rate to 25 percent and weaken the power of regulatory agencies. President Barack Obama told the group that he had invested in broadband connectivity, signed a law making it easier for start-ups to go public, established a “start-up visa program” to allow foreigners to set up businesses in this country and created a new White House job — chief technology officer.
benton.org/node/136934 | New York Times
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DUAL-SCREEN DEBATE VIEWING
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, AUTHOR: ]
The vast majority of Americans say they followed coverage of the first presidential debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, including 56% who followed the debate live. Most of these real-time viewers watched on television, but 11% of live debate watchers were “dual screeners,” following coverage on a computer or mobile device at the same time as following television coverage. Another 3% say they followed the debate live exclusively online. Overall, 32% of those younger than 40 say they followed the debate live online, including 22% who followed it both on television and online, and 10% who followed exclusively on a computer or mobile device. Those 40-to-64 are less likely to have followed live online (11%); just 1% followed only online, while 10% followed online as well as on television. Very few Americans 65 and older followed the debate live online (2%) and none followed live coverage exclusively on a computer or mobile device.
benton.org/node/136841 | Pew Research Center for the People & the Press
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

PANETTA WARN ON CYBERSECURITY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Elisabeth Bumiller, Thom Shanker]
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned that the United States was facing the possibility of a “cyber-Pearl Harbor” and was increasingly vulnerable to foreign computer hackers who could dismantle the nation’s power grid, transportation system, financial networks and government. In a speech at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York, Sec Panetta painted a dire picture of how such an attack on the United States might unfold. He said he was reacting to increasing aggressiveness and technological advances by the nation’s adversaries, which officials identified as China, Russia, Iran and militant groups. Defense officials insisted that Panetta’s words were not hyperbole, and that he was responding to a recent wave of cyberattacks on large American financial institutions. He also cited an attack in August on the state oil company Saudi Aramco, which infected and made useless more than 30,000 computers. But Pentagon officials acknowledged that Sec Panetta was also pushing for legislation on Capitol Hill.
benton.org/node/136938 | New York Times | Wall Street Journal | FT
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MEMBERS OF CONGRESS OPPOSE CYBERSECURITY ORDER
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee, AUTHOR: Press release]
Republican members of the House of Representatives and Senate urged President Barack Obama to refrain from issuing an executive order exerting regulatory influence over the Internet in the name of cybersecurity. The members expressed concern that using executive power to regulate the Internet would bolster the arguments being made by nations such as Russia, China, and Iran that are seeking global government control and undermine the United States’ position to continue the current multistakeholder governance model which has allowed the Internet to flourish. Both the House and Senate have unanimously approved resolutions that oppose such attempts to exert regulatory control over the Internet. The bicameral leaders are also concerned that a top-down approach to cybersecurity will slow the response and impose unnecessary costs on the economy. They write: “An executive order exerting influence over critical infrastructure is not just a step in the wrong substantive direction. It will almost certainly be exploited by other nations to justify their efforts to regulate the Internet. This is a most critical time, and we cannot afford a hasty, unilateral action that will only serve to bolster the efforts of less democratic nations to stifle the very free exchange of ideas and expression that has allowed the Internet to flourish across the globe. For these reasons, we urge you to rethink the wisdom of an executive order.”
benton.org/node/136889 | House of Representatives Commerce Committee | The Hill
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CONTENT

SCANNING IS FAIR USE
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Timothy Lee]
The Author's Guild has suffered another major setback in its fight to stop Google's ambitious book-scanning project. The Guild lost a key ally when Google settled with a coalition of major publishers last week. Now a judge has ruled that the libraries who have provided Google with their books to scan are protected by copyright's fair use doctrine. While the decision doesn't guarantee that Google will win -- that's still to be decided in a separate lawsuit -- the reasoning of this week's decision bodes well for Google's case. Most of the books Google scans for its book program come from libraries. After Google scans each book, it provides a digital image and a text version of the book to the library that owns the original. The libraries then contribute the digital files to a repository called the Hathitrust Digital Library, which uses them for three purposes: preservation, a full-text search engine, and electronic access for disabled patrons who cannot read the print copies of the books. There are four factors the courts consider in fair use cases. Judge Harold Baer sided squarely with the libraries on all four factors.
benton.org/node/136855 | Ars Technica
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

TROJAN HORSES?
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Markoff]
It was striking that the word “Trojan” was not mentioned in a 52-page report issued by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence focusing on the activities of two giant Chinese telecommunications firms, Huawei and ZTE, which have long been suspected of having links to the Chinese government. A striking map of the paths followed by Stuxnet infection created by researchers at Symantec, the Silicon Valley computer security firm, indicates that Stuxnet actually broke out of Natanz, rather than breaking in. The program acted as a Trojan horse, perhaps delivered first on a USB memory stick, that then spread through computer networks inside the secret facility before spreading to the outside world. Possibly that is why the term Trojan — if it exists in the House report on Huawei and ZTE — is found only in what is reportedly a classified annex that has not been made openly available.
benton.org/node/136864 | New York Times
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October 12, 2012
Source 
New York Times
Author 
Thom Shanker
Elisabeth Bumiller
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned that the United States was facing the possibility of a “cyber-Pearl Harbor” and was increasingly vulnerable to foreign computer hackers who could dismantle the nation’s power grid, transportation system, financial networks and government.

In a speech at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York, Sec Panetta painted a dire picture of how such an attack on the United States might unfold. He said he was reacting to increasing aggressiveness and technological advances by the nation’s adversaries, which officials identified as China, Russia, Iran and militant groups. Defense officials insisted that Panetta’s words were not hyperbole, and that he was responding to a recent wave of cyberattacks on large American financial institutions. He also cited an attack in August on the state oil company Saudi Aramco, which infected and made useless more than 30,000 computers. But Pentagon officials acknowledged that Sec Panetta was also pushing for legislation on Capitol Hill.

Sec Panetta Warns of Dire Threat of Cyberattack on US US Readies Cyberdefense (Wall Street Journal) Panetta warns US of ‘cyber Pearl Harbor’ (FT) Panetta acknowledges US has the capacity to wage cyber warfare (The Hill)

Topics

Related Headlines

October 12, 2012
Source 
New York Times
Author 
Elizabeth Jensen
Brian Stelter
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

It has been a strange week for public television executives. Meetings have been postponed. Trips have been canceled. And conversations have turned in urgency to, of all things, Big Bird. The turn of events can be traced to Mitt Romney’s pledge at the Oct. 3 presidential debate to “stop the subsidy to PBS,” and the subsequent political jousting between him and President Barack Obama over the fate of the iconic “Sesame Street” character. The give-and-take has brought new attention to the public financing of television and radio and has elevated it to an election issue, much to the dismay of PBS and local stations that say they are nonpartisan and would like to stay that way. The public broadcasting budget has long been a target of Republicans in Congress. Paula A. Kerger, the PBS chief executive, however, said she could not recall a time when a presidential candidate had opposed the financing in so public a forum. The public television executives caught in the middle say the issue is drawing far more attention than it truly merits.

Romney’s Pledge Puts Focus on Public TV

Topics

Related Headlines

October 12, 2012
Source 
New York Times
Author 
Somini Sengupta
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

NYCTechMeetUp, a nonprofit group that represents computer coders and other technology industry people in New York, asked the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates to pitch how their policies “would benefit the growth of New York start-up community and other start-up entrepreneurs.”

  • Mitt Romney promised, among other things, to raise visa caps for “highly skilled foreign workers,” lower the corporate tax rate to 25 percent and weaken the power of regulatory agencies.
  • President Barack Obama told the group that he had invested in broadband connectivity, signed a law making it easier for start-ups to go public, established a “start-up visa program” to allow foreigners to set up businesses in this country and created a new White House job — chief technology officer.
What the Presidential Candidates Say About Tech

Topics

Related Headlines

October 12, 2012
Source 
Wall Street Journal
Author 
Miriam Gottfried
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

A Softbank-Sprint deal could significantly reshape the competitive landscape of the US telecom industry.

The deal could be worth more than ¥1 trillion ($12.8 billion), potentially giving Sprint the financial wherewithal to do more deals, including acquiring the 51% of Clearwire it doesn't already own.

There are still many questions as to why Softbank would want Sprint, particularly as cross-continental telecom investments tend to come with few cost savings, apart from greater leverage with handset makers.

  • One possibility is that Softbank has its eye on the large swaths of spectrum owned by Clearwire.
  • Softbank may also have ambitions of eventually playing a role in an attempt by Sprint to consolidate smaller players within the U.S. wireless market.
  • A deal with Softbank could strengthen Sprint's balance sheet. That could potentially pave the way for it to try and snatch MetroPCS from T-Mobile and maybe Leap Wireless, or even T-Mobile itself down the line.
  • Pulling off such a roll-up would be no easy feat, if indeed that is the goal of either Sprint or Softbank. Were it to happen, though, it could leave Sprint with about 106 million subscribers, slightly more than AT&T, based on second-quarter subscriber numbers. This would give Sprint the spectrum it needs to build a more robust LTE network and the scale to boost margins.
Softbank's Long-Distance Call for Sprint Sprint’s Softbank Deal Seen Roiling U.S. Mobile Market (Bloomberg)

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October 12, 2012
Source 
Financial Times
Author 
David Gelles
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

[Commentary] Could Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, MetroPCS and Leap Wireless join together in some combination that would allow them to more effectively challenge Verizon and AT&T, and win the blessing of regulators?

For there to be a truly viable third competitor, T-Mobile and Sprint would have to join up. But it is not clear that Washington would allow an enlarged T-Mobile and Sprint to come together. In its ruling against the AT&T bid for T-Mobile last year, the Department of Justice routinely referred to the “Big Four” wireless carriers – Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. Nowhere did it advocate the creation of a stronger third player to rival the two industry leaders, and there is little reason to suspect regulators would want to see T-Mobile and Sprint join together. “Their goal is not to ensure viable rivals,” said Craig Moffett, senior analyst with Bernstein Research. “Their goal is to ensure price competition.” Regulators are likely to let T-Mobile, or perhaps Sprint, acquire MetroPCS without much trouble. The thornier issue will come if and when the victor in that battle decides it wants to take on Verizon and AT&T. At that point, Washington will be faced with an unsavory choice: either allow Verizon and AT&T to retain their duopoly by blocking the formation of a third real rival, or further reduce consumer choice by allowing yet another wireless company to be swallowed up. Unfortunately for consumers, you cannot have it both ways.

A difficult call

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October 12, 2012
Source 
Washington Post
Author 
C Boyden Gray
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

[Commentary] Modernizing the US electric grid would allow our nationwide energy production to be cleaner, more sustainable and more secure. It would also help the economy, as increased competition among energy sources would lead to lower costs to consumers, higher profits for wind producers and savings of billions of dollars in government payouts.

Of course, building a networked national grid is no easy task. Success will demand a bipartisan effort, in conjunction with the private sector and state governments, to solve one of the most complex energy problems of our century. But this is the task that political leaders who are concerned about the environment, energy security and economic growth should be focusing on. The goals of energy independence, reduced electricity costs and environmental stewardship are all attainable. We simply cannot allow special interests and costly distractions such as a wind-production tax credit to make us lose sight of these objectives.

[C. Boyden Gray served as White House counsel to President George H.W. Bush]

Why the U.S. needs a networked energy grid

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October 12, 2012
Source 
Broadcasting&Cable
Author 
John Eggerton
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

The Federal Communications Commission is seeking comment on LightSquared's request for relief from the build-out and other conditions on the wholesale terrestrial wireless network the FCC gave it a waiver to build back in 2010. The FCC has given the public until Nov. 19 to comment, and Nov. 28 for replies to those comments.

The conditions of LightSquared's March 2010 waiver from the FCC to use satellite spectrum to provide terrestrial service are still on the books and the company asked the FCC to officially free it from requirements including that it provide terrestrial mobile broadband service to at least 100 million people by Dec. 31, 2012.

LightSquared Asks FCC to Can Network Conditions

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