September 20, 2012 (Senate panel votes to oppose UN regulation of the Internet)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2012
Upcoming events http://benton.org/calendar/2012-09-21/
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Senate panel votes to oppose UN regulation of the Internet
House, Senate lawmakers Working on Compromise Net Sales Tax Bill
What is the Effect of Regulation on Broadband Investment? Regulatory Certainty and the Expectation of Returns - analysis [links to web]
CYBERWARFARE/CYBERSECURITY
US official says cyberattacks can trigger self-defense rule
Sec Napolitano: Executive order on cybersecurity is 'close to completion'
An Alert System for Security Breaches [links to web]
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
FCC Commissioner Pai Labels Replacing Broadcasting With Broadband 'Counterproductive'
AT&T launches campaign to stop texting and driving [links to web]
App Shrinks Your Data, then Your Bill [links to web]
The Smartphone OS Race, Broken Down by Carrier [links to web]
TELEVISION/RADIO
Sen Rockefeller Slams TV Ratings as Ineffective
NAB Endorses FEMA Reauthorization Bill [links to web]
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
Nine Wall Street Journal Op-ed Writers Who Weren't Disclosed As Romney Advisers - research
Romney Campaign Cautious With Ad Budget, Even in Key States
Topics for first presidential debate announced [links to web]
CONTENT
White House: Evidence Points to Anti-Muslim Video as Violence Trigger [links to web]
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting Convenes Advisory Panel to Guide Development of the American Archive - press release [links to web]
Library of Congress unveils new bill-tracking site to replace THOMAS [links to web]
Major Networks Sign For Nielsen Online Ratings [links to web]
History, As Recorded on Twitter, Is Vanishing From The Web, Say Computer Scientists [links to web]
CHILDREN AND MEDIA
Why are 5 million kids on Facebook if it doesn't want them? [links to web]
ADVERTISING/MARKETING
Nielsen Study Shows Paid Ads Alone Are Not Trusted by Consumers [links to web]
How better location data could mean more-targeted mobile ads [links to web]
From Brick-and-Mortar to Mobile Click-and-Order: Which Retailers are Carving Out Space in the M-Commerce Market? - press release [links to web]
Major Networks Sign For Nielsen Online Ratings [links to web]
Google to Topple Facebook as Leader in Display Ads, eMarketer Says [links to web]
JOURNALISM
New platform to connect journalists and publishers launches [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Library of Congress unveils new bill-tracking site to replace THOMAS [links to web]
Government Social Network Could Replace Emails, Phone Calls [links to web]
Dana Perino To Leave The Broadcasting Board Of Governors - press release [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS/LOBBYING
John Legere Named as Chief Executive Officer of T-Mobile USA - press release [links to web]
Google reevaluates lobbying contracts [links to web]
Former Netflix lobbyist joins Patton Boggs [links to web]
NAB Endorses FEMA Reauthorization Bill [links to web]
Dana Perino To Leave The Broadcasting Board Of Governors - press release [links to web]
AGENDA
FTC Still Expects to Resolve Google Antitrust Inquiry by Year’s End [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Apple, publishers offer EU e-book antitrust settlement
EU Set to Approve Universal-EMI Deal With Conditions
British government agency hoards addresses as IP well runs dry [links to web]
Ofcom rules BSkyB ‘fit and proper’
High-speed broadband boost for 10 UK cities
Liberty Global Set to Launch Bid for Telenet [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
4-Year Deals for Unions at Verizon [links to web]
San Francisco: How Much Tech Can One City Take? [links to web]
Why Argonne became its own telecom provider [links to web]
How Chicago's CTO sees upgrading the city's digital infrastructure [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
UN NET REGULATION RESOLUTION
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved a resolution opposing international efforts to give a United Nations agency more control over the Internet. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the sponsor of the resolution, said he is not sure when there will be a vote in the full Senate. He noted scheduling can be a challenge, but said he is hopeful the measure will pass with unanimous support. "We haven't found anyone who is against it yet, so that's a good sign," Sen Rubio told reporters after the committee vote.
benton.org/node/134644 | Hill, The
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ONLINE SALES TAXES
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
House and Senate backers of legislation that would give states authority to require online retailers to collect sales taxes from their out-of-state customers are working on a compromise that could be offered before Congress adjourns for the year. Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) introduced legislation in the House last year with Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) that would allow states that take steps to simplify their sales-tax regimes to require online and other remote sellers to collect sales taxes from customers who live in states where those businesses have no store or other physical presence. The bill aims to address a loophole created by a 1992 Supreme Court decision, which found that states can't require remote sellers to collect sales taxes from customers in states where they have no store or other physical presence. Rep Womack said that he has begun working with the authors of Senate legislation, which also aims to close the loophole created by the 1992 Supreme Court decision, to iron out the differences between the two measures. Rep Womack said they want to have a measure ready to go if an opportunity arises to try to attach their bill to another measure before the end of the year. The biggest difference between the two bills is that the House bill is less prescriptive, Womack said.
benton.org/node/134640 | National Journal
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CYBERWARFARE/CYBERSECURITY
CYBERATTACKS AS ACTS OF WAR
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima]
Cyberattacks can amount to armed attacks triggering the right of self-defense and are subject to international laws of war, the State Department’s top lawyer said. Spelling out the U.S. government’s position on the rules governing cyberwarfare, Harold Koh, the department’s legal adviser, said a cyber-operation that results in death, injury or significant destruction would probably be seen as a use of force in violation of international law. In the United States’ view, any illegal use of force potentially triggers the right of national self-defense, Koh said.
benton.org/node/134631 | Washington Post | Defense News
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CYBERSECURITY EXECUTIVE ORDER
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the cybersecurity executive order that the White House is drafting is "close to completion." At a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, Sec Napolitano said the executive order is "still being drafted in the inter-agency process" and "is close to completion depending on a few issues that need to be resolved at the highest levels." She said the draft order still needs to be reviewed by President Barack Obama. Sec Napolitano again urged Congress to enact comprehensive cybersecurity legislation, arguing the White House cannot completely address the threat on its own. She noted that DHS is limited in the number of trained cyber personnel it can hire, which cannot be addressed by an executive order.
benton.org/node/134630 | Hill, The
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
PAI ON BROADCASTING AND BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai said it would be counterproductive to move all broadcast services to broadband. In a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters Radio Show, Commissioner Pai said he believes that broadcasting "should and will continue to play an important role in America's media landscape." "To be sure, the rise of broadband is having a revolutionary impact on the lives of Americans. And we at the Commission must aggressively pursue policies to remove regulatory barriers to wireline and wireless broadband deployment. But I don't view broadband as a substitute for broadcast. Instead, I see broadcast and broadband as complements.”
"Moving forward, it will make sense for some services to be provided through broadcast and others via broadband," said Pai, but not all. "[I]f we were to shift all of the services provided by broadcasters to broadband, that would actually be counterproductive. It would make our spectrum problems worse, not better. So that's not what the market will demand. To give one obvious example, it is a much more efficient use of spectrum to deliver high-demand programming like the Super Bowl through a one-to-many broadcast than to provide it through millions of one-to-one wireless broadband connections."
benton.org/node/134642 | Broadcasting&Cable
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TELEVISION/RADIO
TV RATINGS INEFFECTIVE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) labeled the voluntary TV ratings system "inadequate and ineffective" in response to a Parents Television Council content analysis on what kids would see on a show rated TV-PG. Chairman Rockefeller has been a strong voice for regulation, self- or otherwise, of violent and sexual content as a way to protect kids. He said, "These voluntary efforts by industry are clearly inadequate and ineffective. As we look to the future of video in the Commerce Committee, we must also continue to look at how best to arm parents with the tools to safeguard their children." A Rockefeller spokesman said no hearings were currently planned on the issue, but that the chairman had been in contact with PTC to learn about the study.
benton.org/node/134628 | Broadcasting&Cable
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
WSJ AND THE ROMNEY CAMPAIGN
[SOURCE: Media Matters for America, AUTHOR: Eric Hananoki]
The Wall Street Journal has published op-eds from nine writers without disclosing their roles as advisers to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. The op-eds attack President Obama and his administration or discuss Romney on a range of topics like the economy, health care, education and foreign policy. The Journal published a total of 20 pieces from the following Romney advisers without disclosing their campaign ties: John Bolton; Max Boot; Lee A. Casey; Paula Dobriansky; Mary Ann Glendon; Glenn Hubbard; Paul E. Peterson; David B. Rivkin Jr.; and Martin West. In several instances, the Journal failed to disclose an op-ed writer's connection despite its own news section reporting that the writer is advising Romney.
benton.org/node/134623 | Media Matters for America
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ROMNEY AD SPENDING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jeremy Peters, Nicholas Confessore]
Mitt Romney has had a light campaign schedule lately. He held his first rally in five days on Wednesday night. And there is another place where his presence is oddly lacking: in the television ad wars. Despite what appears to be a plump bank account and an in-house production studio that cranks out multiple commercials a day, Romney’s campaign has been tightfisted with its advertising budget, leaving him at a disadvantage in several crucial states as President Obama blankets them with ads. One major reason appears to be that Romney’s campaign finances have been significantly less robust than recent headlines would suggest. Much of the more than $300 million the campaign reported raising this summer is earmarked for the Republican National Committee, state Republican organizations and Congressional races, limiting the money Romney’s own campaign has to spend. With polls showing President Obama widening his lead in some of these states and the race a dead heat in others, Romney’s lack of a full-throttle media campaign is risky, especially as he struggles to get his message out over the din of news about his campaign’s recent setbacks.
benton.org/node/134901 | New York Times
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
EU E-BOOK SETTLEMENT OFFER
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Foo Yun Chee]
Apple and four major publishers have offered to let retailers such as Amazon sell e-books at a discount, in a bid to end an European Union antitrust investigation, the European Commission said. "For a period of two years, the four publishers will not restrict, limit or impede e-book retailers' ability to set, alter or reduce retail prices for e-books and/or to offer discounts or promotions," the European Commission said in its Official Journal, detailing the offer under consideration. The Commission said the publishers and Apple also offered to suspend "most-favored nation" contracts for five years. Such clauses barred publishers from deals with rival retailers to sell e-books at prices lower than those set by Apple. The EU watchdog said third parties have a month to provide feedback on the proposals. If the response is positive, the Commission will end its investigation.
benton.org/node/134626 | Reuters
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UNIVERSAL-EMI
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Adam Mazmanian]
Europe's top antitrust regulator is set to sign off in the coming days on the proposed $1.9 billion acquisition of EMI Music's record labels by Universal Music Group. Joaquín Almunia, the European Union's antitrust chief, said the parties had proposed remedies that were market-tested and that those tests had demonstrated the need for further concessions by the parties. "We have analyzed this second wave" of remedies, Almunia told reporters after a speech at Georgetown University Law School, and a decision is expected by Sept. 27 at the latest. "Most probably we will announce our decision before the last day," he said.
benton.org/node/134624 | National Journal
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OFCOM ‘FIT AND PROPER’
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Mark Wembridge]
James Murdoch’s conduct at News International has been heavily criticized by Ofcom, but the broadcasting regulator has ruled that his actions surrounding the phone-hacking scandal did not warrant stripping sister company, BSkyB, of its broadcast license. The UK’s media watchdog found that “James Murdoch’s conduct in relation to events at News Group Newspapers repeatedly fell short of the conduct to be expected of him as a chief executive officer and chairman.” But it added: “Ofcom considers that the evidence available to date does not provide a reasonable basis to conclude that James Murdoch deliberately engaged in any wrongdoing.”
benton.org/node/134889 | Financial Times
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UK BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Daniel Thomas]
Ten cities will be awarded cash from a £114 million UK government fund to create high-speed broadband networks as part of a push to improve the UK’s digital infrastructure. The largest allocation will go to London, which will receive £25 million. The money will be matched with local funds to pay for the creation of a network able to provide businesses and homes with ultrafast broadband of at least 80-100Mbps as well as high-speed wireless internet access. The average broadband speed in the UK is about 9 Mbps. Maria Miller, culture secretary, said that this would create “super-connected cities” offering high-tech and digital companies the infrastructure they needed.
benton.org/node/134887 | Financial Times
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