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If you followed the griping by Twitter users about NBC’s handling of the Olympic Games, you might think the NBC-Twitter Olympics partnership was an epic disaster. NBC’s decision to time-delay most events prompted angry kvetching on Twitter and quickly popularized the hashtag #NBCFail. But according to Twitter and NBC, the jokes and critiques made up only a slim minority — under 0.5 percent — of all Twitter messages about the Olympics. They say Twitter commentary drove more viewers to turn on their television sets and watch the games than ever before, even hours after the events had actually happened. According to Twitter, there were 150 million tweets about the London Olympics, compared to 125,000 tweets about Beijing. And there were 11.26 billion Twitter “impressions,” or tweets with “core terms” about the Olympics, like #Olympics and #London2012. NBC and Twitter say social media helped drive a record number of viewers to NBC’s prime time coverage: With 219.4 million viewers, NBC’s time-delayed coverage of the London games made for the most-watched television event in history — and a 2 percent increase from the 215 million who watched the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Despite #NBCFail, NBC and Twitter Say Partnership Was Success
Consumer advocate group Consumer Watchdog is asking the Federal Communications Commission to require carriers to list the speed of their 4G networks in advertisements and at the point of sale.
In a petition to be filed August 23, the consumer group said that while carriers tout their “4G” networks, the definitions of what qualifies a network as fourth-generation are too unclear for consumers to make sense of the designation. “When it comes to advertising data speed, the cellphone marketplace is like the Wild West. We need the FCC to step up to its role of sheriff and set standards so people can comparison shop without being ripped off and then locked into a two-year contract,” said Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog. The petition asks the FCC to adopt rules that would require carriers to disclose the average data speeds for different regions in their advertisements and give national average data speeds. The proposal would also require the carriers to provide these speed figures at the point of sale when customers buy smartphones or other broadband devices.
Consumer group asks FCC to require more 4G disclosure
Modern political conventions long ago lost the drama of actually choosing a presidential nominee. Instead, they are tightly scripted, expertly staged and timed to the minute to hammer home the message of the party and its candidate. So what would be the most anarchic, chaotic thing that could occur in Tampa and Charlotte, where the Republicans and Democrats are preparing to gather? How about equipping everyone — delegates, elected officials, surrogates, media drones and opposition operatives — with a way to comment very publicly on anything at any time, whether it conforms to the talking points or not? Welcome to the #conventions. Tweet at will.
Twitter rewrites the script for political conventions
Facebook launched the next step in its plan to make voting social. The reigning social-network champ has partnered with CNN this year to urge Facebook users, estimated to number more than 900 million, to commit to vote and encourage their friends to do the same. The new application allows users to declare to their friends, “I’m voting!”
Facebook launches social voting app
A group of House Democrats is calling for the Democratic Party to stake out a position on Internet freedom in its party platform.
In a letter sent to Democratic National Committee Chairwoman (DNC) Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Executive Director Patrick Gaspard, the House lawmakers urged the DNC to state its commitment to Internet freedom principles in the party's platform for its upcoming convention in Charlotte. The letter was signed by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Jared Polis (D-CO), who also proposed draft language for the platform. "We strongly recommend ensuring the platform includes this or similar language: 'The Democratic Party stands for global Internet freedom, the free flow of information online, a free and open Internet, and protection from online censorship and privacy violations,'" the four lawmakers wrote.
House Dems urge DNC to state Internet freedom position in party platform
[Commentary] Many lawmakers in Washington and a few states are eager to approve Internet gambling. But to make it politically palatable, they are first pushing only for online poker. Why that card game and not, say, blackjack? Because, they claim, poker is mainly a game of skill.
Instead, Congress needs to tighten up the 1970 law and reaffirm the 2006 ban rather than buckle under to the million-member-strong Poker Players Alliance. Why further feed the notion that “luck” determines one’s future and that random forces guide events? Government should be affirming the value of ideas and hard work, not a belief in the roll of the dice or the shuffle of a card deck.
Misdeal on Internet poker gambling
Tribune Company creditors won a stay of last month's order confirming the company's plan to exit bankruptcy, so long as they pay a $1.5 billion bond.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey in Wilmington, Delaware gave the creditors until Aug. 29 to post the bond in order to keep the plan on hold while they pursue an appeal. The judge said it would be hard to "unscramble the egg" if he let the plan become effective before the appeal. Creditors including Aurelius Capital Management LP had appealed Carey's July 23 decision signing off on the plan. Auerlius, which has been leading the opposition to the plan, has argued it and a related settlement would force bondholders to accept only $369 million for $2 billion to $2.3 billion in legitimate claims. Aurelius said the payout is "far below the lowest rung in the range of reasonableness."
Judge to stay Tribune plan pending $1.5 billion creditors bond Judge in Tribune bankruptcy case grants stay of reorganization plan (LATimes)
California's state legislature passed the Location Privacy Act of 2012 (SB-1434), which would make it mandatory for law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant before gathering any GPS or other location-tracking data that a suspect's cell phone might be sending back to its carrier. The act, sponsored by State Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), and supported by the ACLU of California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, passed with strong support by both parties. It now needs to be signed by California's governor to be put into law. But the bill isn't necessarily a straight-shot to penal code glory: the EFF points out that Governor Jerry Brown (D-CA) vetoed California's last attempt at enforcing stricter privacy rules in 2011, when he killed a bill that would have prevented police from searching the phones of apprehended suspects without a warrant.
California state legislature approves Location Privacy Act
Turkey's telecommunications company says its Internet services to neighboring Syria have come to a halt due to infrastructure problems in the war-torn country. A statement from Turk Telekom, carried by the state-run Anadolu, denied reports it had shut down Internet connections to Syria, insisting the interruption was linked to problems in "Syria's own fiber optic infrastructure." It says the company has not been able to provide services since Aug. 11.
Infrastructure problems disrupt Internet to Syria
A train derailment in Maryland cut internet service between the war court compound at Guantánamo Bay and the Pentagon, forcing a day’s delay of pretrial hearings in the Sept. 11 terror case. The delay came as Guantánamo visitors, notably reporters living in a tent city called Camp Justice, began watching National Hurricane Center reports of Tropical Storm Isaac, which threatens to drench the base by the weekend.
Train derailment cuts internet to Guantánamo, delays 9/11 hearing