September 5, 2012 (Reform: The Everett Parker Way)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, SEPEMBER 5, 2012
Upgrading America: Better, Faster, Cheaper Broadband and Energy http://benton.org/calendar/2012-09-05/
MEDIA REFORM
Reform: The Everett Parker Way - op-ed
INTERNET/BROADBAND
90% of US households with computers have broadband
FCC to Launch Mobile Broadband Services Testing and Measurement Program - public notice
Where the Free Press Got it Wrong on Broadband “Tax” - analysis
Obama Weighs Broad Program to Defend Networks From Cyber Attacks [links to web]
Former Cybersecurity Czar Urges Obama to Issue Executive Order to Protect Networks
Troost is where east/west divide trips up Google - analysis
Happy birthday, Skype. In 9 years you changed telecom [links to web]
Vermont announces additional broadband money [links to web]
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
The Internet's Role in the Democratic Platform
Actors Join Tech Tycoons Backing Obama Amid Piracy Feud [links to web]
Obama’s tech backers woo with potential access [links to web]
MPAA's Chris Dodd Praises Democrats for Anti-Piracy Language in Party Platform [links to web]
Corporate cash helps fuel Democratic convention despite pledges
In DNC Bloggers’ HQ, The Story Of American Innovation Writ Small
Do you own your digital content? [links to web]
Speeding up the factcheck cycle
'Honey Boo Boo' Ratings Top the Republican National Convention [links to web]
Obama, Romney field questions on NASA, 'Net neutrality, climate change [links to web]
TELEVISION/RADIO
FCC Okays Journal Request for Green Bay Duopoly Waiver [links to web]
For 18-34s, Social Media Can Jump-Start TV Viewing [links to web]
Cable’s Walls Are Coming Down - analysis [links to web]
Pro Football: NOT 'The Most Effective Advertising Delivery System Ever Invented' [links to web]
Minorities Prefer Internet Radio In Cars, Tablets [links to web]
'Honey Boo Boo' Ratings Top the Republican National Convention [links to web]
Amazon Deal Takes Fight to Netflix [links to web]
WIRELESS
By 2016, 70 Million families will keep tabs on each other with GPS [links to web]
Tiny gigahertz antenna could mean 20 Gpbs wireless [links to web]
Qualcomm:The company Apple-Samsung can't hurt [links to web]
HEALTH
Nearly 30 percent of Docs say EHRs Negatively Affect care [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Hackers Claim FBI Has List of 12 Million iPhone and iPad ID Numbers
FBI denies hacker group's claims about breach [links to web]
Rep Markey questions FBI data collection in wake of hack [links to web]
Web Surveillance Companies Pitch Their Tools to Police
State Department Advisor lays Out Pros and Cons of Internet Diplomacy
Visiting the White House, "Anytime, Anywhere, and on Any Device" [links to web]
House Commerce Committee Launches New Website - press release [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Samsung accused of China labor breaches
UK Tabloid Probe May Last Years
EU set to approve UK mobile wallet system [links to web]
EU Commission asks telcos to share radio waves
MEDIA REFORM
REFORM: THE EVERETT PARKER WAY
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Michael Copps]
[Commentary] I have written in this space before about the obstacles facing telecommunications and media reformers, about the crushing influence of big money in all things political, and the stubborn resistance of our leaders to harness the winds of social and technology change to the enhancement of American democracy in the Twenty-first century. At the same time, I have expressed hope, even optimism, that we are capable of changing course. Changing course demands three things:
1) smart and totally committed leaders who know how to build and who are possessed of the courage to persist against whatever is thrown against them;
2) like-minded individuals and organizations pulling together on a common agenda; and,
3) a media environment that lays out the issues citizens need to understand if they are successfully to practice the demanding art of self-government during this time of grave national peril.
http://benton.org/node/133607
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
COMPUTERS AND BROADBAND
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Om Malik]
Broadband penetration in the U.S. is continuing to grow, and now stands at 90 percent of U.S. households that have a computer at home, according to Broadband Access & Services in the Home 2012, a study by Leichtman Research Group (LRG). Five years ago, 65 percent of households with a computer subscribed to broadband service, LRG notes. Its research shows that broadband subscriptions go up with household incomes. The high broadband penetration in homes with computers explains why we are seeing slower growth in demand for new broadband connections. At the end of second quarter of 2012, there were a total of 80.33 million broadband subscribes in the U.S. according to LRG.
benton.org/node/133640 | GigaOm | Leichtman Research Group
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FCC TO LAUNCH MOBILE BROADBAND SERVICES TESTING AND MEASURMENT PROGRAM
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
On September 21, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission will hold an open meeting to discuss a new program to measure mobile broadband service performance in the United States. The FCC proposes a program to develop information on mobile broadband service performance in the United States utilizing the collaborative model underlying the success of its fixed broadband program. As the Measuring Broadband America program has proven, the broadband performance data produced by the statistically sound methodology of the program allows comparisons and analyses that are valuable to consumers and spur competition among service providers.
benton.org/node/133683 | Federal Communications Commission
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FREE PRESS AND THE BROADBAND “TAX”
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
[Commentary] I don’t always agree with the Free Press. But even when my interpretation of facts differs, I’ve usually found the information the group puts forth to be credible – that is until a recent op-ed piece titled “Taxing Broadband – An Idea Whose Time has Not Come,” that ran on the Ars Technica site. In the piece, the Free Press research director argues that the high-cost Universal Service program, which helps cover part of the cost of delivering communications services to rural areas, is a “corporate slush fund.” To back up his position, he cites two studies that have been demonstrated to be inaccurate. He references a “2010 audit of the rural USF program [which] found that one out of every four dollars sent to participating phone companies was an ‘overpayment.’” But if you read the audit (which was actually done in 2008), you will find that if a phone company was missing any documentation for the USF monies it collected, the Government Accountability Office assumed all payments to that telco were an overpayment. I spent a considerable amount of time going through the GAO numbers when they came out – and I estimated that it was unlikely that telcos had been overpaid by more than 4% or 5%– if that.
benton.org/node/133681 | telecompetitor
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FORMER CYBERSECURITY CZAR URGES OBAMA TO ISSUE EXECUTIVE ORDER TO PROTECT NETWORKS
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Josh Smith]
Absent congressional action on cybersecurity, President Obama should strongly consider issuing an executive order to help secure American computer networks from attack, a chief architect of the White House’s cybersecurity proposals told National Journal. Former White House cybersecurity chief Howard Schmidt, who served in both the Obama and George W. Bush administrations, said that an executive order could help update government network security as well as encourage businesses to secure their own systems. “If there are things this Congress isn’t prepared to do, the president has a few options that he can move on,” he said. The call for action mirrors statements by many other former and current officials, but Schmidt takes a more tempered view that has long set him apart from many of his colleagues. Schmidt says he “has a hard time dealing with” claims that a “cyber 9/11” or “digital Pearl Harbor” could be just around the corner. “As a veteran, it somehow does a disservice to those who have served to equate physical war with cyberwar,” he said.
benton.org/node/133637 | National Journal
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GOOGLE, RACE AND KANSAS CITY
[SOURCE: Kansas City Star, AUTHOR: Mary Sanchez]
[Commentary] Google is poised to stumble into Kansas City’s racial past, entangled in the historic boundary between black and white that is Troost Avenue. Sept. 10 is the day of reckoning. That’s the day after Google’s deadline for people to pre-register for its ultra-fast Internet service. Predictions of a backlash that Google neither fathomed nor intended are being voiced this week in community meetings with company representatives. “The collateral damage for Google is going to be devastating,” said Kansas City school board member Joseph Jackson. More positively, the fears are accompanied by strategies and commitments to stave off what some see as inevitable.
“If only” keeps creeping into the conversation If only Google had hired local high school students to help push the possibilities of Google fiber in their schools and neighborhoods. If only Google hadn’t put its office space at State Line and Westport Road, not very accessible for many east of Troost who depend on bus service. If only Google had anticipated the many elderly people east of Troost who are bound to bundled service providers now and hesitate to sign up for anything new that doesn’t include a land line phone. And the big one: If only Google had realized just how quickly the racial wounds associated with Troost as a division between black and white people can boil up. If Google runs afoul here, we all lose.
benton.org/node/133662 | Kansas City Star
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
INTERNET AND THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: Katy Bachman]
With many of president Obama's top financial contributors in Silicon Valley—Microsoft and Google PACs are the second and third biggest contributors, per Open Secrets, a website that tracks political contributions—it was a given that the party's platform would devote several points to the Internet. Much the same as the Republican platform released last week, the Democratic platform was long on philosophy and short on details. Both parties have plenty of wiggle room when it comes to actual execution. But with both giving the Internet plenty of play, one message is clear: The Internet is now part of the political discussion. Internet freedom was a big talking point for Democrats and the GOP and both threw their party's support behind the current multi-stakeholder governance approach, vowing to fight off any power grab by the United Nations or any other intergovernmental organization to control the Internet. "The Obama administration has led the world to recognize and defend Internet freedom, the freedom of expression, assembly, and association online for people everywhere, through coalitions of countries and by empowering individuals with innovative technologies. The administration has built partnerships to support an Internet that is secure and reliable and that is respectful of U.S. Intellectual property, free flow of information, and privacy," the DNC platform said.
The DNC also reiterated its goal to expand wired and wireless broadband, perhaps the single biggest focus of the Federal Communications Commission under this administration.
benton.org/node/133671 | AdWeek
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CORPORATE CASH AT DEM CONVENTION
[SOURCE: Center for Public Integrity, AUTHOR: Michael Beckel]
While Democrats have touted their grassroots fundraising efforts for the 2012 Democratic National Convention, deep-pocketed corporate donors are helping underwrite the event. Among the corporate sponsors at the Charlotte convention: AT&T and Time Warner Cable. The corporate sponsorship appears to fly in the face of the Democrats’ pledge to host a “people’s convention.” The party’s 2012 “host committee” is not accepting contributions from corporations, lobbyists and political action committees. Democrats also capped how much money individuals can give at $100,000. But the party is accepting in-kind donations from corporate firms. In addition, a second nonprofit, called “New American City” was established in May to “defray” administrative expenses and other costs. New American City does accept corporate money.
benton.org/node/133619 | Center for Public Integrity
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PACKARD PLACE
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Emily Badger]
A former car showroom in Charlotte (NC), Packard Place has been transformed into a startup hub -- and, for a few days, a media office -- just as tens of thousands of politicos are descending onto the city to talk about how to create jobs and sustain the middle class in a new economy built on innovation and entrepreneurship. Obama’s themes are the building's successes. Packard Place has been remade into a LEED-certified building. It houses a couple dozen startups in various stages, including several within an energy-focused incubator and another incubator for social entrepreneurs. Its ground-floor not-for-profit community center, called the Garage, has become the central (and free) meeting place for entrepreneurs and business-advocacy groups from throughout the city (as well as for regular Thursday-afternoon happy hours).
benton.org/node/133626 | Fast Company
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FACTCHECK CYCLE
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Justin Peters]
At the Republican National Convention, vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan gave a speech that was eloquent, exciting, and riddled with misleading statements. Ryan criticized President Obama for failing to save an auto plant in Ryan’s hometown of Janesville (WI) — even though the plant closed before Obama took office. He noted that Obamacare cuts Medicare spending — cuts that Ryan himself included in his own budget proposal. He blamed Obama for not heeding the recommendations of the Simpson-Bowles debt commission — but didn’t mention that, as a member of that commission, Ryan himself opposed its final report. And he faulted Obama for the downgrade of America’s credit — while eliding the fact that the ratings agency that issued the downgrade cited the debt ceiling standoff precipitated by Republicans as the reason.
As Ryan spoke, Twitter erupted with real-time outrage and refutations of his claims. But, as Brendan Nyhan noted here at CJR, even after a strong run of political factchecking, “the morning-after coverage of Ryan’s speech in the mainstream media [was] largely an example of what not to do.” If mainstream outlets are willing and able to publish factcheck material in their blogs and columns in short order, and in second-day pieces in the main report, why wasn’t it more prominent in the initial news articles on the speech?
benton.org/node/133623 | Columbia Journalism Review
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
HACKERS AND THE FBI
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Arik Hesseldahl]
Why would the Federal Bureau of Investigation allegedly be keeping a list of 12 million unique identifying numbers for Apple iPhones, iPads and iPod touches? And why was a copy of that list on a notebook PC belonging to an FBI agent? And how did a group of hackers get access to that machine and steal that file? Those are but three of the questions arising from the overnight dump of 1 million Unique Device Identification numbers by the hacker troupe known as AntiSec, the loosely organized group that has variously used the names LulzSec and Anonymous over the last year or so. In an otherwise rambling political message posted to PasteBin, the group included download links to an 89-megabyte file that certainly looks for real. The circumstances of how the hackers obtained it couldn’t be independently confirmed, but AntiSec claims it was taken during a breach of an FBI-owned notebook in March.
benton.org/node/133638 | Wall Street Journal | LATimes | USAToday | NYTimes
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INTERNET SURVEILLANCE
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: ]
Internet-based intelligence gathering could get a boost from companies that are touting sophisticated software that can analyze vast amounts of data. Police departments are being pitched about various tools that could narrow down their search for criminals online and provide better insight into nefarious Internet practices. Some Web surveillance tools search through not only social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, but also blogs, online forums and chat rooms. This provides deeper insight into someone’s online interactions than simply searching Twitter. for example, for uses of the word “bomb.” California Watch, a reporting initiative launched by the Center for Investigative Reporting, reported that random keyword searches won’t produce actionable intelligence. "Twitter's, like, 90 percent noise — bots that are producing erroneous or extraneous tweets," Tim Gasper, product manager for Infochimps, a company that seeks to make meaning from large amounts of data, told California Watch. "So you'd be scrolling through all of that just to see if anything caught your eye. Obviously, that's not a very efficient use of people."
benton.org/node/133666 | Government Technology
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STATE DEPARTMENT ADVISER LAYS OUT PROS AND CONS OF INTERNET DIPLOMACY
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: ]
The WikiLeaks scandal has inspired State Department officials to be more active online rather than less, says a senior adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “[WikiLeaks] is largely made up of members and followers rather than paid staff,” Clinton’s Senior Adviser for Innovation, Alec Ross, said in an interview taped for C-SPAN’s Communicators program. “It has a Web address rather than a street address. It’s truly transnational and virtual in nature.” “When you recognize that an organization like that can so disrupt the conduct of foreign policy you can do one of two things,” Ross continued. “You can either curl into the fetal position or you can say, ‘you know what, these networks are of great power and great consequence in our foreign policy, so we need to be as strong as possible.’ Secretary Clinton is not one to curl into the fetal position. Nor are any of the rest of us at the State Department. So if anything, it’s affirmed the need for us to be Internet smart.”
benton.org/node/133628 | nextgov
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
SAMSUNG LABOR
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Simon Mundy, Song Jung-a]
Samsung Electronics has been accused of breaching labor law at six factories in China by China Labor Watch, a US-based non-profit organization. The investigative report published by the group, which alleges a series of “illegal and inhumane violations”, is a fresh blow to the South Korean company's reputation following last month's high-profile US legal defeat to Apple. Undercover investigators at eight Chinese factories supplying Samsung, of which six are controlled by the company, reported that workers at all the plants routinely worked more than the legally permitted amount of overtime. They also said that most of the factories did not uphold workers’ legal rights to a labor contract, and that workers had inadequate means of expressing grievances to their managers.
benton.org/node/133696 | Financial Times | AP
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UK TABLOID PROBE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Paul Sonne]
The top officer running the UK's criminal investigation into phone hacking, alleged bribery and other wrongdoing at British tabloids says the force has budgeted about £40 million ($63.5 million) over four years for the multi-pronged probe. Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers gave the cost estimate in an appearance before the U.K. Parliament's Home Affairs Committee. She said London's police force has spent just under £9 million this year on the investigation. She didn't say how much police spent in 2011. The £40 million is in addition to the £2.84 million the U.K. spent from July 2011 to March 2012 on a public inquiry into British media practices led by Lord Justice of Appeal Brian Leveson. The inquiry, sparked by the phone-hacking scandal, will conclude in the coming weeks with a final report on possible new press regulations.
benton.org/node/133694 | Wall Street Journal
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EU ASKS TELCOS TO SHARE AIRWAVES
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Claire Davenport]
The European Commission is pushing telecoms companies to share the radio frequencies they use for mobile and broadband services as space runs out for rapidly increasing Web use. European economies must squeeze more out of the radio waves that carry mobile and Internet technologies if they are to cope with the huge growth in demand for data services on smartphones and tablet computers. More than 50 percent of all smartphone traffic is routed over Wi-Fi networks and this type of traffic is growing four to six times faster than that on mobile networks, the commission said. Companies that own parts of the radio wave spectrum after liberalization in the 1990s consider this capacity to be among their most valuable assets and many have been reluctant to share. Spectrum is a finite resource so it can carry only a certain amount of traffic. If you have licenses for adjacent blocks of spectrum, then you can carry more traffic. If your blocks are separated by a slice owned by someone else, you can't carry as much traffic.
benton.org/node/133675 | Reuters
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