Dropping the Ball on Broadband

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Free Press Media Reform Daily
Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:02:51 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Dropping the Ball on Broadband
To: elyssa.durant@gmail.com

Media Reform Daily

http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=jjf3HmcMUWD27-xuRy8lIg..

News of the movement for April 29, 2010
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-- SAVE THE INTERNET --

DROPPING THE BALL ON BROADBAND
Former Seattle Seahawks superstar turned top wireless industry
lobbyist Steve Largent's take on reclassification of broadband to a
Title II service completely ignores the sad facts of today's wireless
industry and reveals his confusion about the actual purpose of the FCC
and the Title II classification.
Timothy Karr, SavetheInternet.com
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=YpDfAI4DkjDVQgcYEvKdBA..

GENACHOWSKI REITERATES 'UNWAVERING COMMITMENT' TO OPEN INTERNET
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski pledged his "unwavering commitment" to
a "free and open Internet" during a public workshop on the topic in
Seattle. He specifically called out Comcast's traffic throttling,
which ultimately led to a court ruling that cast doubt on the FCC's
ability to impose Net Neutrality rules.
Kim Hart, The Hill
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=Dmyko5Zk7Q2YFXC81ZLQUg..

NET NEUTRALITY: A WIN-WIN FOR SMALL BUSINESSES' ECONOMIC SUCCESS
The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship recently
held a hearing on federal efforts to extend high-speed Internet access
to small companies. Unfortunately, missing from the discussion was the
fact that small businesses will be the most vulnerable if strong Net
Neutrality rules aren't enacted to ensure that they can compete on a
level playing field.
Moira Vahey, SavetheInternet.com
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=oPqMVaRgxHfk_wolOp9D5A..

QWEST FLIP FLOPS ON NET NEUTRALITY
The FCC would do well to remember Qwest's about-face as the larger
debate around Net Neutrality intensifies. It is standard operating
procedure for the telecom industry to dig in their heels and claim the
sky will fall if the government looks to act on behalf of consumers.
But Qwest's change of heart on grant conditions shows how quickly the
telecom industry can flip.
Patrick Lucey, SavetheInternet.com
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=ijG1G0rWy7wCJxj6euE-iw..

-- STOP BIG MEDIA --

COMCAST TO HAVE ZERO AFRICAN AMERICAN OWNED CHANNELS?
The merger of Comcast and NBC Universal is causing some waves in the
African American media community. Comcast has more than 250 channels
on its platform distributed to approximately 25 million homes.
Currently, there are no channels that are 100 percent African American
owned.
Black Web 2.0
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=GNpoBTWEGaAYohMlCIAzXQ..

COMCAST-NBCU DOCKET FILLING UP
The Comcast-NBCU deal has drawn more than 1,300 comments so far,
according to the FCC docket. The FCC has stopped the clock on the
merger while it collects more information from the companies on the
economic benefit of the deal and on its potential impact on online
video distribution.
John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=Tvi6k6CHGE83ZwGobMiGzQ..

FOX, CBS UNRUFFLED BY COMCAST-NBCU DEAL
NBC Universal needn't worry about a couple of its primary competitors
trying to derail its merger with Comcast. It seems that Fox and CBS
don't much care.
Paul Bond, Hollywood Reporter
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=FEjgUuX2CF9lCk4ipBcpFQ..


-- FUTURE OF THE INTERNET --

DENIAL OF SERVICE
Given the dismal state of broadband connections in America, it was
illuminating recently to hear a major telecom executive paint a rosy
picture of where the country stands. Please, don't believe the
telecoms. Broadband access in the United States is even worse than you
think.
Sascha Meinrath and James Losey, Slate
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=5sWfP0mgxgkcKE3zxPOmuw..

VERIZON FEELS THEY'RE 8-10 YEARS AHEAD OF CABLE
While Verizon deserves credit for being the only major player with the
guts to stand up to myopic investors and seriously deploy fiber to the
home, Verizon's not acknowledging the whole picture. Do the millions
of people left on last-generation DSL in Verizon markets feel a decade
ahead of the curve?
Karl Bode, Broadband Reports
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=X63J2f3il_cBHeNa0smR4g..

EVEN THROUGH A RECESSION, WE WANT OUR WEB
Given recent economic challenges around the globe, one might conclude
that demand for the Web is down, but apparently that's not the case.
According to a new report, international bandwidth usage continued to
grow in spite of the global recession of the past few years.
Kevin C. Tofel, GigaOM
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=Y_gxbBI3E3MQZH7KOgfgKw..

SORRY, GOOGLE, BUT FACEBOOK IS THE WEB'S MOST IMPORTANT COMPANY NOW
The ambitious new set of features that Facebook recently unveiled
could make it the central nervous system of the Web. Has Facebook
usurped Google's position as the most important company on the Web?
Chris O'Brien, San Jose Mercury News
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=Tes3fkkLdATNlmk7hS9fwg..


-- JOURNALISM AND BEYOND --

CREDITORS WIN PHILADELPHIA PAPERS
The lenders of Philadelphia's bankrupt newspapers, the Inquirer and
the Daily News, won an auction to take control of the company. The
lenders won out over a fierce effort from a local group led by the
current chief executive, Brian P. Tierney, who hoped to retain
control.
Joseph Plambeck, New York Times
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=8gtFyKu7WC-YMDdrYTvshQ..

HONOLULU JOINING RANKS OF ONE-PAPER CITY
Nobody will buy the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, whose owner was given
Justice Department approval to buy its rival Honolulu Advertiser from
Gannett Co.
Editor & Publisher
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=0iJSl8o9I1wi8YzpVHYW3g..

WHY REPORTERS ARE DOWN ON PRESIDENT OBAMA
President Barack Obama and the media actually have a surprisingly
hostile relationship -- as contentious on a day-to-day basis as any
between press and president in the past decade, say White House
reporters.
Josh Gerstein and Patrick Gavin, Politico
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=0MOM0YJlKrz1TtJC79IHmg..


-- FEATURE --

Sign up now for the Free Press Summit: Ideas to Action on May 11 at
the Newseum in Washington with FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn,
journalist Farai Chideya, John Tate of the BBC and many more. Find out
more and RSVP here.

http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=JzNNwBvj5ah8iAnZ5HeFjg..


-- IN OTHER NEWS --

FCC ALLVID RULE COULD 'BAN THE SET-TOP AS WE KNOW IT'
The FCC's proposed AllVid spec for providing a common way to access
cable, satellite and telco TV services would, if enacted as a
regulation, "ban the pay-TV set-top box as we currently know it from
the U.S. market," according to one analyst.
Multichannel News
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=wjriNgbO48YZx3d8b8IFKw..

TRIBUNE CO. SEEKS FCC ACTION
Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co. filed a series of applications with
the FCC necessary to emerge from bankruptcy protection with its
broadcast portfolio intact.
Chicago Tribune
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=VwUjvXqjO5pMV47ZCJw41Q..

HERE'S WHY WE DON'T ALLOW FLASH ON THE IPHONE AND IPAD
Besides the fact that Flash is closed and proprietary, has major
technical drawbacks, and doesn't support touch based devices, there is
an even more important reason we do not allow Flash on iPhones, iPods
and iPads. Adobe also wants developers to adopt Flash to create apps
that run on our mobile devices.
Business Insider
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=xWFWa159CCU74T5utiTS-A..

ANDROID JUMPS PAST IPHONE IN U.S. MOBILE WEB USE
Android is still lagging behind the iPhone in marketshare, with only 9
percent market penetration in the U.S. But according to new numbers
from online ad giant AdMob, Android actually passed the iPhone in
mobile Web use this month.
Fast Company
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=xa2giurSEXXuc6cVZU1bhw..

APPLE VS. GIZMODO
The tech blog Gizmodo paid a source $5,000 earlier this month for a
prototype of a new Apple iPhone that had been left behind in a beer
garden. But Apple is now pushing for criminal charges and Gizmodo is
crying foul, saying investigators overreached when they seized the
scoop-writer's computers. It's right, even if its brand of checkbook
journalism seems wrong.
Los Angeles Times
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=47HZaY6HuPN9gooZXe5-5A..

DON'T PROSECUTE GIZMODO FOR THE IPHONE THAT WALKED INTO A BAR
This week, police raided the California home of Gizmodo editor Jason
Chen not to seize secret papers but, rather, in search of information
about a 4G iPhone that was (proverbially) left in a bar. It is not the
Nixon White House but, rather, Apple that is seeking to punish the
journalists. The fracas is, of course, about not state secrets but
Steve Jobs' secrets.
Slate
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=K_9IotMOaf2GxAzhmduR8A..

HEWLETT-PACKARD PINS SMARTPHONE FUTURE ON AILING PALM
In a $1.2 billion deal, Hewlett-Packard said it would buy Palm, maker
of the Pre and Pixi phones. Hewlett-Packard plans to tap its sales
force, marketing muscle and knack for securing components at low
prices to revive Palm.
Bloomberg News
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=pEGbv0DzUhPfmAtaixuEvw..

CYBERATTACKS: CAN GOOGLE -- OR UNCLE SAM -- PROTECT YOU?
America's cybersecurity is undermined by our rigid insistence that the
government stay out of the business of Internet firms. But this
noninvolvement badly stings American businesses. It forfeits America's
technological edge and cripples new innovation as cyberattacks from
other countries siphon off our intellectual properties and profits.
Christian Science Monitor
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=L0gPwmAZuNjEwhP9w-YDPg..

FACEBOOK: LAWMAKERS AIRED 'LEGITIMATE' CONCERNS, BUT MOST USERS LIKE CHANGES
Top Facebook officials admitted that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y) had
aired "absolutely legitimate questions and concerns" during a recent
meeting about concerns regarding the site's new privacy options. But
Facebook said most users were satisfied with the new options.
The Hill
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=fRA_Xb-v4PzA88M2nof7RA..

NEW QUESTIONS OVER GOOGLE'S STREET VIEW IN GERMANY
Google's plan to offer Street View photo mapping in Germany, which has
bumped up against the country's strict privacy laws, has come in for
renewed criticism after regulators learned the search engine giant was
also archiving the locations of household wireless networks.
New York Times
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=u4gcJS8mAAmMTTYQv5KNXw..

GLENN BECK AUDIENCE PLUNGES 30 PERCENT
Glenn Beck's TV audience has plunged nearly 30 percent since the
beginning of the year -- but his Fox News home is still sitting
comfortably on top of the ratings heap. Beck's continued viewership
slippage was revealed in the latest audience figures on cable news
operations.
Newser
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=TuYfVV9khIJ77kJDLtbOlA..

US STILL MAIN SOURCE OF SPAM
The United States continues to be the main source of spam, relaying
more than 13 percent of global spam, according to a new report. China
has had a significant drop in the amount of spam originating from it,
falling out of the top twelve and coming in at 15th place for relaying
just 1.9 percent of the world's spam.
WebProNews
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=6DvaMclbqXQDDQPkQzqSmg..


-- UPCOMING EVENTS --

FCC WORKSHOP: PRESERVING THE OPEN INTERNET
Apr 28: Washington, DC
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=McJJlVBvs7mNKPJaov6CtA..

THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM: UNPACKING THE RHETORIC
Apr 29-Apr 30: Stanford, CA
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=_MrsM4VWPME2ZeP3FCyUqg..

FCC: TOOTHLESS REGULATOR OR COP ON THE BEAT?
May 4: Washington, DC
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=8vaIa1hQK2mrxaNIv_TgHQ..

MAKING MEDIA PUBLIC CONFERENCE
May 6-May 8: Toronto, Ontario
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=Q4x8FojIqbGRn29qMPFvYQ..

FREE PRESS SUMMIT: IDEAS TO ACTION
May 11: Washington, DC
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=fB-318IGQzLJih56VwNUzQ..

MAKING YOUR MEDIA MATTER
May 12: Washington, DC
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=OCzrUpj21Aw_UwbRDl-MIA..

NYC GRASSROOTS MEDIA CONFERENCE
May 29: New York City, NY
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=Qbj0-PmHOs_vYPEtXhHAHA..

THE 35TH ANNUAL COMMUNITY RADIO CONFERENCE
Jun 9-Jun 12: St. Paul, MN
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=8jZoFfRpvDzChuuysQjvCg..

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