What’s New:
- Stimulus Plan Aims to Build-Out Broadband Networks, Protect the Open Internet
- Genachowski Tipped to Head FCC, Rockefeller and Boucher to Chair Congressional Committees
- Get Caught Up on Our FCC Reform Conference
- Selectable Output Control Punted to Incoming FCC
- RIAA Announces “Three Strikes” Initiative
- PK Checks Out CES 2009
Stimulus Plan Aims to Build-Out Broadband Networks, Protect the Open Internet
Next week, the Senate is expected to take up a massive stimulus package, following the House’s passage of an $819 billion bill on January 28th with a 244-188 vote. The House bill would spend $6 billion to spur the deployment of broadband Internet services in rural and underserved areas, while the Senate bill would add $3 billion more. In addition, the House bill would require recipients of broadband stimulus grants to adhere to both the FCC’s net neutrality guidelines and a set of open-access requirements. The Senate bill also includes tax credits for broadband deployment.
Public Knowledge has long argued that increased broadband deployment is the first step in ensuring greater participation in both our democracy and society for all Americans. What’s more, broadband deployment initiatives will help jumpstart our economy and will ensure that Americans are ready to compete on the global stage for the technologically advanced jobs of the future. Public Knowledge applauds Congressional leaders for both addressing the digital divide and for doing so in a way that will help ensure that the Internet remains open.
“We are very pleased that the House Appropriations Committee late yesterday, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee today recognized the need for an open and non-discriminatory Internet,” PK President Gigi Sohn said in a January 22nd press release. “The forward-looking actions by these committees are the first steps to enacting President Obama’s technology platform that will lead to putting Americans back to work, stimulating the economy and improving America’s competitiveness. We look forward to working with the Senate on similar provisions.”
For more on broadband stimulus, see this blog post.
Related issues: Broadband | Network Neutrality
Genachowski Tipped to Head FCC, Rockefeller and Boucher to Chair Congressional Committees
Change is in the air here in Washington, as the last few weeks have brought countless announcements from the Obama administration regarding newly appointed officials. According to various news reports, Julius Genachowski will be President Obama’s nominee for Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Genachowski previously co-led the Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform Group for Obama’s transition team and also previously served as General Counsel to former FCC Chairman and PK board member Reed Hundt. “Julius Genachowski is an outstanding choice for FCC Chairman,” PK President Gigi Sohn said in a statement. “As the architect of President-elect Obama’s Technology and Innovation Plan, it is clear that he understands the importance of open networks and a regulatory environment that promotes innovation and competition for a robust democracy and a healthy economy.”
Meanwhile, over on Capitol Hill, shakeups in various Congressional committees could result in significant policy shifts. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WVA) is taking over the Senate Commerce Committee and Representative Rick Boucher (D-VA) is taking over the House Communications Subcommittee. As legislators from states with large rural populations and low broadband penetration rates, both Rockefeller and Boucher are expected to support measures to bolster our economy by extending broadband Internet access to more Americans.
For more on the changing of the guards, see this statement on the new FCC Chair and this blog post on the heads of the new Congressional committees.
Get Caught Up on Our FCC Reform Conference
If you missed “Reforming the Federal Communications Commission,” the Public Knowledge/Silicon Flatirons conference held earlier this month, worry not—we’ve got a number of ways for you to get caught up. The conference brought together former FCC Chairmen, Commissioners and staff members, along with other experts in communications policy. They provided perspectives on the agency and how it has operated in the past, how it operates currently and how it might operate in the future. The consensus was clear—the FCC has serious procedural, organizational and cultural problems and is long overdue for an overhaul. If you’re looking for a recap, check out our liveblog of the conference or head over to PKTV to watch full videos of the conference’s four panels. Then, be sure to visit FCC-Reform.Org, to join the ongoing conversation on FCC reform.
Selectable Output Control Punted to Incoming FCC
Just before the New Year, PK received word that former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin had decided not to move forward on a petition that would have allowed Hollywood to engage in a practice known as Selectable Output Control (SOC). SOC is a technology that would restrict a consumer’s ability to use particular output plugs on their devices for certain types of content. For example, a movie studio could stop you from using your composite jacks to view a legally purchased on-demand movie over cable. Hollywood claimed that it needed SOC in order to adequately protect movies that would be shown on-demand before their DVD release. However, the fact of the matter is that some studios—including 2929 Entertainment and Comcast/IFC—are already screening movies on-demand at the time of their theatrical release. It remains to be seen when the new FCC Chair will choose to address this issue, though we certainly hope that the new FCC will choose to deny the petition. Rest assured, PK will continue to put pressure on the FCC to consider the interests of consumers where such technology mandates are concerned.
For more on SOC, see this blog post.
Related issues: SOC | Copyright
RIAA Announces “Three Strikes” Initiative
For five years now, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has attempted to combat piracy by suing individual users who are believed to have shared copyrighted songs online. During those five years of litigation, the RIAA filed over 30,000 lawsuits but failed to set a legal precedent in its favor. However, the association did manage to generate quite a bit of bad publicity for itself, by suing single mothers, the deceased and even laser printers. As such, the RIAA has decided to shift gears: with the exception of large filesharers, the Association will no longer target individual users with lawsuits. Instead, it will partner with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to institute a “three strikes” policy similar to the one that was trialed by Cox Communications last year. In short, the ISPs will forward notices from the RIAA informing users that they are suspected of sharing copyrighted material online. If a single user or household receives three notices, that user’s Internet connection will be disabled or terminated.
Obviously such an approach raises a number of questions. How will it be determined whether or not a user is sharing files? How will the user confirm that he or she has read the notice? What recourse will a user have if his or her service is terminated? While the RIAA has yet to answer any of these questions or reveal any of its ISP partners, we at Public Knowledge are deeply concerned and will continue to report on this story, as it develops, on our blog.
For more on the RIAA’s “three strikes” policy, see this blog post.
Related issues: Copyright | Network Neutrality
PK Checks Out CES 2009
Though harried by airline delays, four members of the PK team managed to make it out to Las Vegas again this year for the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The mood at CES 2009 was slightly more reserved than in years past but there was still plenty of exciting new technology to be seen on the show floor. In addition to speaking on a panel on the topic of how the new administration will affect the consumer electronics sector, PK President Gigi Sohn managed to check out a few keynotes and even blogged on the topic of Sony President Sir Howard Stringer’s remarks. Alex, Jef and Mehan, meanwhile, walked away most impressed with Palm’s new mobile device and operating system and Alex posted his thoughts, as well as a few videos of the device in action, on the PK blog.
For more on CES 2009, check out Gigi’s post on the Sony keynote and Alex’s post on the Palm Pre and WebOS.
