The integration ban is “misguided” and should be killed, said Free State Foundation Adjunct Senior Fellow Seth Cooper in a Friday blog post (http://bit.ly/19ZaUIb). He praised a bill introduced in September by House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas (CD Sept 30 p6). “It belies common sense to think that consumer welfare in the broadband era is enhanced by the FCC banning -- or at least requiring a waiver for -- video devices that download security functions,” Cooper said. “Hopefully, HR-3196 gets a prompt hearing that leads to its enactment.” The integration ban rule of the FCC is an example of regulation not suited for the modern video marketplace, he said. Cooper pointed to Section 629 of the Communications Act of 1934 as one method by which the FCC could sunset set-top box regulations if its market is fully competitive, which the FCC should take “seriously,” he said. But the bill is “a welcome addition to the broader debate over video device regulation in the broadband era,” he added.
Public-private partnerships can help rural communities thrive in the face of USF reforms that limit federal funds to rural areas, said telecom analyst Craig Settles. The most successful rural broadband initiatives build community support for collaboration among public and private entities, he told ZCorum, a Georgia company that provides network monitoring and diagnostics. In the face of a “worst case” scenario of USF money just disappearing -- or, more likely, new rules that make it difficult for small telcos to qualify for funds -- rural telcos can survive by forming partnerships with local governments, he said in the interview on ZCorum’s web site (http://bit.ly/1dYmV4R). Local governments can “aggregate the demand,” and can “identify and bring to the table customers for the private sector company.” Local governments themselves can be “a primary customer base,” he said.
The arrest of the man alleged to operate the illicit online drug marketplace Silk Road shouldn’t place new regulatory focus on anonymity technology such as Tor and Bitcoin, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said in a Thursday blog post (http://bit.ly/1fMhmut). It’s important “not to blame these tools for the actions of a small portion of their users,” EFF said. “The public wouldn’t tolerate a campaign to malign the car because of its utility as a getaway vehicle for bank robbers; we must apply the same critical thinking to essential privacy-preserving technology.” Silk Road allowed users to trade Bitcoins and other anonymity technologies for illicit substances, and the FBI arrested its leader, the so-called “Dread Pirate Roberts,” on Tuesday, EFF said.
The FCC Media Bureau assured Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., that it completed its evaluation of the record developed in the proceeding on the sports blackout rule. The FCC “will determine what action, if any, to take next,” the bureau said in a letter to Higgins. Under the NFL’s revised blackout policy, teams “have the option of lifting blackouts in their local markets if 85 percent of game tickets have been sold,” it said. “The new policy may result in fewer blackouts of NFL games.” The bureau responded to Higgins’ letter concerning the rule.
Comcast will increase the amount of CBS content offered on Xfinity Streampix and Xfinity On Demand, said the companies in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/1bAWhxY). CBS will offer all seasons of The Good Wife and Charmed on Streampix, said the companies. Comcast will also offer more current CBS primetime shows on Xfinity On Demand such as 2 Broke Girls, Person of Interest and The Mentalist, and CBS plans to make additional episodes of select series available throughout the season to provide viewers more opportunities to catch up, said the companies.
App developers again have access to the FTC’s guidelines for complying with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, after the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) reposted them Thursday (http://bit.ly/1a2xj8E). When the government shut down Tuesday, the FTC took down its website, leaving critical information for developers inaccessible. ACT works with more than 5,000 small and mid-size app developers and often partners with the FTC to educate these developers on COPPA compliance. Immediately after the shutdown, ACT started hearing requests for the guidelines from developers through ACT’s online forum of roughly 1,500 app developers, ACT Executive Director Morgan Reed said in an interview. Reed worried about the economic hit to developers if they delayed app production for the duration of the shutdown. “Even though the COPPA guidelines are not available online, app developers must still comply with the law,” Reed said. “The developer community needs this guidance to make apps that meet regulatory standards. ACT has answered the call from its members seeking this information and posted it online so all children’s app makers can continue making family-friendly apps for kids.”
A survey of 400 federal, state and local government IT “decision makers” finds an overwhelming lack of confidence in elected officials’ comprehension of the benefits of technology to help American citizens. The survey (http://bit.ly/1fMgPsv) was done last month by Cisco and the Clarus Research Group. Sixty-two percent of respondents said local and state police departments weren’t fully using the latest law enforcement technologies to keep the public safe. A plurality of respondents, 49 percent, said the U.S. is either even with other developed countries in terms of broadband deployment or ahead. But 47 percent of respondents felt the U.S. was falling behind other countries. Education and healthcare are the areas where most respondents want to see a funding increase over the next year, with about two-thirds of respondents indicating support for increased funding. Seventy-one percent of respondents said having their network hacked would be worse than getting stuck in an elevator for 24 hours.
The five-member independent surveillance review group convened by the White House this fall should remember the “severe global economic impact” following recent surveillance leaks, said the Information Technology Industry Council and the Software & Information Industry Association in a Thursday letter to the group (http://bit.ly/1aPjrj4). The review group is tasked with sending surveillance recommendations to President Barack Obama in December. Other countries worry about U.S. surveillance practices, and companies are losing contracts and suffering as a result, said the letter, which represents more than 500 companies based in the U.S. and abroad. They plead for more transparency, oversight and legal assistance processes for the practices. “Specifically, companies should be permitted to disclose the number of government orders for information made under specific legal authorities, including, but not limited to, separate disclosures for Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, and various National Security Letter statutes,” the letter said. “Also, companies should be permitted to disclose the number of individuals or accounts, including accounts of business customers, impacted by the orders received as well as the type of information that is sought by such orders.” The letter also advocated that civil liberties concerns become part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and that certain court opinions be declassified. “We recommend that the Administration reaffirm the separate roles played by [the National Institute of Standards and Technology] and [the National Security Agency] in cryptographic standards,” it said, citing recent concerns raised by leaks and calling for an investigation. Private companies shouldn’t retain data as part of the surveillance program, the letter added, cautioning that retention requirements “could represent a step backward for privacy, given that they would mandate the retention of the same, or perhaps even an increased volume of information relative to what the NSA has been criticized for collecting.”
If the $1.564 billion reserve price for the H-block auction stands, the only sure winner would be Dish Network, said a free market expert. If the FCC commissioners don’t endorse the Dish deal, the company won’t have to honor its commitment to meet the “artificially inflated reserve price, which could result in the spectrum auction’s total failure,” said Fred Campbell, director of the Communications Liberty & Innovation Project at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. If the FCC endorses the deal, the price “could deter the participation of other bidders and lower auction revenues that are expected to fund the national public safety network,” he said in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1fLyHDT). The FCC opened a proceeding last month on Dish’s request for flexible use of its AWS-4 spectrum (CD Sept 13 p13). To maintain the public trust, the commission should thoroughly review the processes and procedures implemented by the Wireless Bureau in Dish’s proceeding before auctioning the H-block spectrum, he said. Endorsing the deal would give the DBS company an implicit government subsidy for its anticipated interference negotiations, “the cost of which would be borne by the government ... in the form of lower auction revenues for the H block, which would tend to explain the bureau’s decision to adopt the unusually high H block reserve price proposed by Dish,” he said.
Global revenue from the Internet of Things could rise to $8.9 trillion by 2020, from $4.8 trillion in 2012, said International Data Corp. in a Thursday release (http://bit.ly/16ISIaC). To reach its conclusion, the information technology market researcher looked at the elements composing the connected network of devices, or IoT: supporting IT, connectivity, processes and related technology. Together, the elements show a shift in paradigm for IT vendors, said IDC. “There is no doubt that business and consumer demand exists and will continue to expand for IoT solutions,” said Vernon Turner, senior vice president of IDC’s enterprise infrastructure, consumer, network, telecom and sustainability research. “I expect the current IoT use cases are just the tip of the iceberg.” By 2020, IDC expects IoT’s base to reach 212 billion connected “things,” with 30.1 billion of those being autonomous as well.