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John Lemke

FCC to buy out TV broadcasters to free up mobile spectrum | Ars Technica - 0 views

arstechnica.com/...ers-to-free-up-mobile-spectrum

indienationnews 2012 fcc broadband spectrum mobile bandwidth cellphone mobile mobile-web

shared by John Lemke on 30 Sep 12 - No Cached
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 30 Sep 12
       
      I had my first issue at step one, "asks broadcasters to tell the FCC how much it wold take for the agency to buy them out".  They claim that this is a way to keep cost down by hopefully grabbing the least popular via low bids.   I see two issues immediately.  Number one by asking them what they want they are going to immediately INCREASE the bids.  Two, if you are asking me what I want for my business to change how it broadcasts why would I not include any expense to make the switch. By asking them what they think a fair bid would be, they are, more or less, giving them a blank check.
  • the commission will put the newly-freed blocks of spectrum up for auction. If, as expected, the spectrum is more valuable when used for mobile services than broadcast television, then the FCC should reap significantly more from these traditional auctions than it had to pay for the spectrum in the original reverse auctions, producing a tidy profit for taxpayers.
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 30 Sep 12
       
      The objective at an auction is to purchase the object at the lowest possible cost.  How much mobile providers are willing to pay will determine how high bids will climb.  Based on how our current mobile providers already provide poor service when compared to the rest of the world, how much is that bandwidth actually worth to these companies that, more or less, have a lobbied stranglehold on the consumer?
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Bergmayer also praised an FCC proposal to update its "spectrum screen," a set of rules that prevent any single provider from gaining too large a share of the spectrum available in a particular market. The current scheme, he said, "treats all spectrum alike, even though some spectrum bands are better-suited to mobile broadband than others." As a result, he argued, it has become ineffective at preventing Verizon and AT&T from gaining enough spectrum to threaten competition. He urged the FCC to revise the rules to ensure the new auctions don't further entrench the dominance of the largest incumbents.
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 30 Sep 12
       
      It is the stuff like this that worries me, on one hand they want a high bid, and on the other it is going to be regulated.
  • Over the last decade, it has become increasingly obvious that America's spectrum resources are mis-allocated. The proliferation of cell phones, and more recently smartphones and tablets, has given mobile providers a voracious appetite for new spectrum. But a big chunk of the available spectrum is currently occupied by broadcast television stations. With more and more households subscribed to cable, satellite, and Internet video services, traditional broadcast television is looking like an increasingly outmoded use of the scarce and valuable airwaves.
  • incumbent broadcasters have controlled their channels for so long that they've come to be regarded as de facto property rights. And needless to say, the politically powerful broadcasters have fiercely resisted any efforts to force them to relinquish their spectrum.
  • incentive auctions
  • The plan has three phases. In the first phase, the FCC will conduct a reverse auction in which it asks broadcasters to tell the FCC how much it would take for the agency to buy them out. Presumably, the least popular (and, therefore, least profitable) channels will submit the lowest bids. By accepting these low bids, the FCC can free up the maximum possible spectrum at the minimum cost
John Lemke

FCC chairman revises fast-lane option in net neutrality - 0 views

www.usatoday.com/...8994875

indienationnews 2014 fcc net neutrality law legal

shared by John Lemke on 13 May 14 - No Cached
  • Wheeler's latest revision doesn't entirely ban Internet fast lanes and will leave room for some deals, including public-interest cases like a health care company sending electrocardiography results.But unlike his initial proposal last month, Wheeler is seeking to specifically ban certain types of fast lanes, including prioritization given by ISPs to their subsidiaries that make and stream content, according to an FCC official who wasn't authorized talk about the revisions publicly before the vote. The FCC would retain powers to review any prioritization deals that may pose public harm.
  • John Lemke on 13 May 14
     
    "Wheeler's latest revision doesn't entirely ban Internet fast lanes and will leave room for some deals, including public-interest cases like a health care company sending electrocardiography results. But unlike his initial proposal last month, Wheeler is seeking to specifically ban certain types of fast lanes, including prioritization given by ISPs to their subsidiaries that make and stream content, according to an FCC official who wasn't authorized talk about the revisions publicly before the vote. The FCC would retain powers to review any prioritization deals that may pose public harm."
John Lemke

Rep. Goodlatte Slips Secret Change Into Phone Unlocking Bill That Opens The DMCA Up For... - 0 views

www.techdirt.com/...t-new-copyright-problems.shtml

2014 unlocking cell phone DMCA copyright Section 1201 technology law legal yourrights writeabout wroteatindienation indienationnews IN-Pub

shared by John Lemke on 25 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • Because of section 1201 of the DMCA, the "anti-circumvention" provision, companies have been abusing copyright law to block all sorts of actions that are totally unrelated to copyright. That's because 1201 makes it illegal to circumvent basically any "technological protection measures." The intent of the copyright maximalists was to use this section to stop people from breaking DRM. However, other companies soon distorted the language to argue that it could be used to block certain actions totally unrelated to copyright law -- such as unlocking garage doors, ink jet cartridges, gaming accessories... and phones
  • Separately, every three years, the Librarian of Congress gets to announce "exemptions" to section 1201 where it feels that things are being locked up that shouldn't be. Back in 2006, one of these exemptions involved mobile phone unlocking.
  • Every three years this exemption was modified a bit, but in 2012, for unexplained reasons, the Librarian of Congress dropped that exemption entirely, meaning that starting in late January of 2013, it was possible to interpret the DMCA to mean that phone unlocking was illegal. In response to this there was a major White House petition -- which got over 100,000 signatures, leading the White House to announce (just weeks later) that it thought unlocking should be legal -- though, oddly, it seemed to place the issue with the FCC to fix, rather than recognizing the problem was with current copyright law.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • While this gives Goodlatte and other maximalists some sort of plausible deniability that this bill is making no statement one way or the other on bulk unlocking, it certainly very strongly implies that Congress believes bulk unlocking is, in fact, still illegal. And that's massively problematic on any number of levels, in part suggesting that the unlocker's motives in unlocking has an impact on the determination under Section 1201 as to whether or not it's legal. And that's an entirely subjective distinction when a bill seems to assume motives, which makes an already problematic Section 1201 much more problematic. Without that clause, this seemed like a bill that was making it clear that you can't use the DMCA to interfere with an issue that is clearly unrelated to copyright, such as phone unlocking. But with this clause, it suggests that perhaps the DMCA's anti-circumvention clause can be used for entirely non-copyright issues if someone doesn't like the "motive" behind the unlocker.
  • Unfortunately, the bill was deemed so uncontroversial that it's been listed on the suspension calendar of the House, which is where non-controversial bills are put to ensure quick passage. That means that, not only did Goodlatte slip in a significant change to this bill that impacts the entire meaning and intent of the bill long after it went through the committee process (and without informing anyone about it), but he also got it put on the list of non-controversial bills to try to have it slip through without anyone even noticing.
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