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CPB Board of Directors
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Monday, September 10, 2012 from 9:30 am – 5:00 pm
Tuesday, September 11, 2012 from 9:00 – 11:45 am
http://www.cpb.org/pressroom/release.php?prn=979
On the draft agenda:
Day One (September 10):
- Approval of Minutes
- Chair's and Directors' Remarks
- President's Report to the Board
- Legislative Update
- Update on Report to Congress re Alternative Sources of Funding
- Discussion of Strengthening Public Media
- Committee Chair Reports
- Update on Education Activities
- NCME Activities 2010-2012
- Update on Radio CSG Review
- Update on American Archive
- Review and Approval of Proposed FY 2013 Operating Budget and Business Plan (portions in executive session)
- Future Agreement with NCME (executive session)
- Personnel Matter (executive session)
Day Two (September 11):
- Review of Code of Ethics
- Discussion of Calendar Year 2013 Meeting Dates and Locations
- Election of Chair and Vice Chair
- Future Agenda Items
Apple has finally weighed in on hacker group AntiSec’s claims that it has obtained millions of unique device identifiers for Apple devices (UDIDs) from an Federal Bureau of Investigation laptop. The gist of its comment: If the FBI has iPhone and iPad UDIDs, it didn’t get them from us. “The FBI has not requested this information from Apple, nor have we provided it to the FBI or any organization. Additionally, with iOS 6 we introduced a new set of APIs meant to replace the use of the UDID and will soon be banning the use of UDID,” Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said.
Apple: We Didn’t Give FBI Any Device IDs Apple denies handing over UDIDs to FBI or anyone else
What exactly is a UDID? How it is used? Why did Apple deprecated its use by developers ? Are privacy fears unfounded?
- A UDID is a 40 character string of letters and numbers, sort of like a serial number, and uniquely identifies a particular iOS device, including iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. The alphanumeric code looks completely random to people, but it is actually based on various hardware characteristics.
- Since a UDID can be used as a reference to a specific iOS device, it can be used to connect other kinds of data to that device. For instance, UDIDs are used to connect a device to an iOS Developer Account, which allows that device to install and test apps written by that developer before their public release. Connecting the UDID to a developer account also allows that device to install beta releases of iOS for testing. Apple also uses the UDID to connect devices to a user's Apple ID.
What's the big deal with iPhone UDIDs?
With Amazon set to begin collecting sales taxes on California purchases Sept. 15, many tech-savvy consumers are trying to cram in some last-minute tax-free shopping.
Depending on where they live, Californians pay 7.25% to 9.75% in sales taxes, so the savings are substantial — especially on big-ticket items such as electronics. But bargain hunters are also stocking up on inexpensive goods such as food, DVDs and carpet cleaner. Amazon won't say whether sales to California customers have spiked in recent weeks. But judging from comments on social media sites and reportedly increased buying activity in other states before similar sales tax laws went into effect, many shoppers see these final days as an excuse to shop freely. That could grow in the coming days as word spreads about the looming deadline, said Kerry Rice, an analyst at Needham & Co.
Californians spend freely on Amazon.com before sales tax deadline
With both Republicans and Democrats advocating for improved cybersecurity in their platforms, an Obama official called on Congress to approve new federal authority to manage cybersecurity on the electric grid.
The need for mitigating cybersecurity at the electric utility level is urgent, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said at a media event hosted by IHS's The Energy Daily. Congress has so far failed to ensure regulators can respond to or alleviate "very concerning" threats, he said. “Nobody has adequate authority with respect to both the electric and the gas infrastructure in this country regarding known vulnerabilities,” said Wellinghoff, who is a Democrat. “If I had a cyber threat that was revealed to me in a letter tomorrow, there is little I could do the next day to ensure that that threat was mitigated effectively by the utilities that were targeted.”
Official: Congress must establish electric grid cybersecurity authority
The American Cable Association is asking the Federal Communications Commission to take action on the petition by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association to forbear enforcement of the FCC's prohibition on cable operators merging with competitive local exchange carriers.
NCTA met with FCC officials in the past week to press its case for the forbearance petition, which was filed over a year ago. NCTA argues that the current waivers process and the gauntlet of local franchise authorities that has to be run to achieve it is impeding procompetitive deals. Cable operators argue that the prohibition on cable and telco melds was meant to preserve competition between incumbent cable ops and incumbent local exchange carriers -- AT&T, Verizon -- not between cable ops and competitive carriers to those incumbent telcos.
ACA, NCTA Press FCC for Action on CLEC Cross-Ownership
Cable and satellite operators may compete for subscribers, but they are united in their determination to gut the retransmission consent rights that the broadcasters were granted in the 1992 Cable Act and have used effectively to wrest billions of dollars in carriage fees from cable and satellite.
The operators will need to be determined. With broadcasters vowing to resist any changes to the law, convincing Congress to reform the law will not be easy or quick. Even the most optimistic cable reps concede it could take years. The push for the change is led Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, Dish Network, the American Cable Association, Public Knowledge, Verizon, U.S. Telecom and the 27 other members of the American Television Alliance, a coalition that plans to keep the heat on this fall and into the next Congress. On the retransmission sidelines are Comcast, which promised NBC affiliates during its courting of NBCUniversal not to disrupt the existing framework, and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, which has members on both sides of the issue.
It’s a Long, Hard Road to Retransmission Reform
NextWave Wireless, the wireless technology provider, was sued by a shareholder who contends AT&T’s $600 million takeover offer undervalues the company’s shares. The shareholder, Burt Weiss, said in a filing in Delaware Chancery Court that directors have a duty to get the best price for the shares and instead agreed to sell the company at an initial $1 a share, with possible further contingent payments, without conducting an auction or other market-check. The deal is also unfairly designed to “cure the massive debt owed by the company to several of its officers and directors,” including senior and subordinated note-payoffs, “lucrative severance payments” and vested stock options, according to the lawsuit, filed in Wilmington.
AT&T $600 Million Bid Undervalues NextWave, Investor Says
The Federal Communications Commission announced the launch of Measuring Mobile America, the first nationwide mobile broadband performance measurement program.
As mobile broadband has become part of our everyday communications infrastructure, it remains difficult for consumers to get detailed information about their mobile broadband performance. The program will expand the FCC’s broadband measurement program to test mobile performance data. Building on the model for the FCC’s ongoing Measuring Broadband America program, the first broadscale study of actual home broadband performance throughout the United States, the FCC will work with wireless carriers, the public interest and research community, and other stakeholders to deliver consumers detailed information about mobile broadband performance. The Measuring Broadband America program has been proof-of-concept that a public-private partnership designed to promote transparency could yield tangible benefits for millions of American consumers. In the one year between the first and second Measuring Broadband America reports, the FCC saw significant improvements in broadband performance and offerings.
On September 21, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission will hold an open meeting to discuss the new program.
FCC Announces "Measuring Mobile America" Program To Test Mobile Broadband Performance FCC to Measure Mobile Broadband Performance (Wall Street Journal)
I'll be back in Kansas this week -- for the first time in my capacity as a Commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) -- to meet with a wide range of Kansans to talk about communications policy, technology, and rural deployment, and how they are helping to transform our way of life.
Given the rapid transition to high-speed broadband networks and services globally, we are at a critical crossroads as regulators. It is important that the FCC work to remove barriers to investment and innovation and help unleash a wave of economic growth and job creation all across the country. Specifically, I'll be speaking with a variety of citizens in Oswego about the importance of rural broadband. I'll also have the privilege of participating in a roundtable discussion with rural telecommunications companies in Parsons, my hometown. I expect that reforms of the Universal Service Fund and ways to accelerate rural broadband deployment will be major topics of discussion during both of these meetings. Additionally, I will have the honor of addressing the Parsons Rotary Club (of which my father was a member), the debate team at Parsons High School, and the student body at Oswego High School. With each group, I hope to share my views on how the FCC can enable the private sector to better serve small-town businesses, health care facilities and students. The issue of broadband deployment also will take me to Kansas City. Google may be a relatively old company by Silicon Valley standards, but it's a recent entrant to the Kansas City market. Its Google Fiber project represents an innovative approach to broadband Internet network deployment. I'm looking forward to learning more about technical details regarding the project's infrastructure; how state and local regulatory streamlining helped to facilitate quicker construction of the network; and how consumers are responding to the offering thus far. Hopefully, there are lessons to be learned from the project that can be applied in other markets across the country, big and small.
Heading Back to Kansas