3.15 :: Send Lawyers Guns and Money :: Is that an L Root in Your Pocket? :: Speculations :: Strike Six! :: Expectations of Privacy in Social Media ::

============================================
CyberTelecom News
Federal Internet Law and Policy
============================================
"The world potential market for copying machines is 5000 at most." IBM
to the founders of Xerox as it turned down their proposal (1959)

LightSquared Prepares For FCC Lawsuit - Hires Two Top Legal Guns to
Pursue Case, DSLReports
LightSquared is effectively dead in the water after the FCC denied the
company a necessary spectrum waiver to operate their planned LTE
network. The company's CEO recently bailed from the venture, and
reports last week emerged that Sprint was getting ready to scrap their
relationship with the company. LightSquared chief financial backer
Phillip Falcone is facing a lawsuit from investors and numerous
unrelated SEC inquiries. What's LightSquared's next step? To sue, of
course.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/LightSquared-Prepares-For-FCC-Lawsuit-118806

LightSquared hires Bush v. Gore lawyer to save doomed 4G network, Ars Technica
In a bid to save its 4G network after being rejected by the Federal
Communications Commission, LightSquared has hired lawyer Theodore
Olson, who helped President George W. Bush take office by winning the
Bush v. Gore Supreme Court case, and former Department of Labor
Solicitor Eugene Scalia.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/03/lightsquared-hires-bush-v-gore-lawyer-to-save-doomed-4g-network.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

LightSquared exodus continues: Cricket lands at Clearwire, Gigaom
Given that LightSquared won't be launching an LTE network any time
soon, customers that committed to buying the would-be operator's
mobile broadband capacity are looking for alternatives – and they're
landing at Clearwire. On Wednesday, one of LightSquared's biggest
gets, Leap Wireless, said it would buy future LTE connectivity for its
Cricket prepaid service from Clearwire, marking the second in what
will likely be many defections to the wholesale 4G carrier.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OmMalik/~3/ArnihxEvI0g/

Stubhub Immune Under Section 230, JOLT
On March 6, 2012, a North Carolina appellate court three-judge panel
unanimously decided that Stubhub Inc. was entitled to Section 230
immunity under the Communications Decency Act. This decision
overruled the judgment of a Guilford County judge made last year that
found Stubhub had
http://www.ncjolt.org/blog/2012/03/14/stubhub-immune-under-section-230

L-Root in your Pocket, ICANN
ICANN operates L-Root, one of the 13 Domain Name System root servers
which together make up the infrastructure known as the Root Server
System. The Root Servers serve the root zone of the DNS, maintained by
ICANN staff in the IANA department. The Root Zone provides
http://blog.icann.org/2012/03/l-root-in-your-pocket/

Lawrence Strickling, Remarks at the Digital Broadband Migration, 10 J.
on Telecomm. and High Tech. L. 33
Last year I talked about defining the role of the U.S. government in
Internet policy to preserve and enhance the trust of actors on the
Internet.1 And that in carrying out that role, the government should
act less as a heavy-handed regulator and more as a facilitator or
convener to bring all stakeholders together. This is the
multi-stakeholder process you've heard discussed here the last two
days.
http://www.jthtl.org/content/articles/V10I1/JTHTLv10i1_Strickling.PDF

Managing Government Records: The Backbone of Open Government, White House
As part of Sunshine Week, I want to take the opportunity to update you
on one of the commitments made by the President as part of our Open
Government Partnership National Action Plan. On November 21, 2011,
President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum entitled "Managing
Government Records" to begin an Executive Branch-wide effort to reform
records management policies and practices. This is the first time
since
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/03/14/managing-government-records-backbone-open-government

AT&T vs. the consumer: the throttling controversy grows, Gigaom
Last month, AT&T fought and lost a lawsuit over whether its highly
controversial throttling policy violated the terms of "unlimited"
smartphone contracts. Matt Spaccarelli was awarded $850 for his
efforts, but neither side is letting the issue drop.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OmMalik/~3/2ERpO6MbALI/

DARPA chief leaves Pentagon for Google job, CW
Google, in a coup, has hired Regina Dugan, director of the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency, for a senior executive position.
http://rss.computerworld.com/~r/computerworld/news/feed/~3/l_gUZUH2Afo/DARPA_chief_leaves_Pentagon_for_Google_job

End of the line for AOL Instant Messenger?, CNET
Layoffs at the beleaguered Internet pioneer "eviscerates" IM unit,
according to a New York Times report
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cnet/tcoc/~3/miqQeMZIt4Y/

BBC hit with cyberattack, Iran link suspected, WAPO
Hackers attacked the BBC earlier this month, leaving some parts of the
organization without access to e-mail and Internet services, the BBC
has confirmed. The broadcasting network said in its own article on the
attack that its director general, Mark Thompson, will address the
attack in an
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=20ab6eb7ca058c94088408ba833eb915

Iran may have committed cyber-attack on BBC, CNET
As two satellite feeds into Iran were jammed, the news source also
experiences a denial-of-service attack. The BBC's director-general
believes the Iranian authorities are the culprit.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cnet/tcoc/~3/msvBzfT1BrA/

Companies Respond to Pakistan's National Censorship Proposal, EFF
Since we first wrote about Pakistan's Telecommunications Authority's
(PTA) plan to create a national censorship and blocking system, there
has been a global outpouring of criticism against the project. Bolo
Bhi, a Pakistani advocacy group, along with the Business Human Rights
Resource
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/03/companies-respond-pakistan%E2%80%99s-national-censorship-proposal

ISP Six Strikes Plan Arrives in July - Throttling, Filtering and
'Education', DSLReports
Last summer major ISPs including Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and
Cablevision signed off on a new plan by the RIAA and MPAA taking aim
at copyright infringers on their networks. According to the plan,
after four warnings ISPs are to begin taking "mitigation measures,"
which range from throttling a user connection to filtering access to
websites until users acknowledge receipt of "educational material." As
you might expect, that
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ISP-Six-Strikes-Plan-Arrives-in-July-118834

Dave Gorman, Victim Of A Bogus DMCA Takedown, Highlights Flickr's
Horrible DMCA Takedown Policy, Techdirt
Dave Gorman, a Flickr user whose photo was taken down by a bogus DMCA
notice, is fighting with Flickr to get it to, if nothing else, change
the way it handles takedown requests. Gorman's photo, along with all
of its comments and views, was deleted based on the "strength" of a
scatter-shot DMCA issued by Degban, supposedly on behalf of porn
producers Wasteland.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120312/13265218082/dave-gorman-victim-bogus-dmca-takedown-highlights-flickrs-horrible-dmca-takedown-policy.shtml

Daniel J. Gervais and Daniel J. Hyndman, Cloud Control: Copyright,
Global Memes and Privacy
, 10 J. on Telecomm. and High Tech. L. 53
Imagine for a moment that electricity was used only to power one kind
of computer known as an electricity computer. That is what computer
power is like now: it mainly powers devices that sit on our desks with
qwerty keyboards attached. As computing becomes a
http://www.jthtl.org/content/articles/V10I1/JTHTLv10i1_Gervais.PDF

FCC's Amy Levine to leave the agency, WAPO
The Federal Communications Commission announced Wednesday that senior
counsel Amy Levine will be leaving the agency.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=e4a09cf2802b035dfc60f65356c40fe2

Vint Cerf, Internet Speculations, J. on Telecomm. & High Tech. L.
So, this is where it starts, four nodes at the University of
California, Los Angeles, experimenting with packet switching way back
in 1969. And then, we get here, more or less. That's a picture 10
years ago of what the inside of the Internet looked like with all the
interconnections of many thousands of independent Internet service
providers interconnected
http://www.jthtl.org/content/articles/V10I1/JTHTLv10i1_Cerf.PDF

Stephen E. Henderson, Expectations of Privacy in Social Media,
Mississippi College Law Review,
This article, which largely tracks my remarks at Mississippi College's
Social Media Symposium, examines expectations of privacy in social
media such as weblogs (blogs), Facebook pages, and Twitter tweets.
Social media is diverse and ever-diversifying, and while I address
some of that complexity, I focus on the core functionality, which
provides the groundwork for further conversation as the technology and
related social norms develop. As one would expect, just as with
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2018425

Lisa M. Austin, Privacy and the Question of Technology, Law and Philosophy
Technology is not simply eroding our privacy — it may also be forcing
us to rethink what we mean by privacy. Increasingly, what we are
worried about are practices that involve collecting, using and
disclosing information that is not sensitive or intimate and that is
increasingly collected in public — concerns that do not easily fall
within the domain of traditional privacy
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2016965

NIST Announces Funding to Form Steering Group to Support Trusted
Identities in Cyberspace, NIST
On March 9, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
announced that it is soliciting proposals to establish a steering
group in support of the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in
Cyberspace (NSTIC) and to provide ...
http://www.nist.gov/itl/nstic-031212.cfm

Congress not happy with Apple's response on privacy concerns, CNET
Not satisifed with a letter from Apple addressing its privacy
policies, lawmakers have asked the company to send a rep to Washington
to answer further questions.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cnet/tcoc/~3/eEtocv6SXFs/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where
they went."-Will Rogers
:: Adopt a Rescue Dog or Cat :: http://www.petfinder.com ::
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Website :: www.cybertelecom.org
Blog :: cybertelecom.blogspot.com
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Twitter & Facebook :: Cybertelecom
Google Group :: cybertelecom-l

AUP :: www.cybertelecom.org/cybert.htm#aup
Cybertelecom is Off-the-Record. Otherwise play nicely.

Link to us! www.cybertelecom.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3.12 :: Time for Another Cake?? :: A Big Jump :: Going Through the Motions :: So ah Whose in Costa Rica? :: Sparks Fly ::

============================================
CyberTelecom News
Federal Internet Law and Policy
============================================
"Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1 ½ tons." Popular Mechanics (March 1949)

Cogent Depeers China Telecom, Renesys
On March 5th, 2012 at 14:00 UTC (10:00 PM China Standard Time), Renesys observed that Cogent (AS174) and China Telecom (AS4134) appear to have dropped their mutual connectivity. Prior to this time, China Telecom regularly announced about 3000 prefixes to Cogent. After depeering, this ASN adjacency no longer exists in the global routing table.
http://www.renesys.com/blog/2012/03/cogent-depeers-china-telecom.shtml

Level 3 protests Verizon, AT&T "lock-up" data connection deals, Ars Technica
The great subscriber access war between Level 3 and Comcast has receded into the background, but Level 3 has plenty of other business before the Federal Communications Commission. Here's an issue that got our attention. The net communications facilities provider wants the FCC to do something about what it calls "demand lock-up" contracts forced upon the company in exchange for high speed data interconnection contracts with Verizon, AT&T, and CenturyLink.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/03/level-3-locked-up-by-the-big-telcos.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

54% of parents with teenagers use internet filters – a big jump from 2000, Pew
no description
http://pewinternet.org/Press-Releases/2005/54-of-parents-with-teenagers-use-internet-filters--a-big-jump-from-2000.aspx

Website operators not liable for third party comments, Internet Cases
Spreadbury v. Bitterroot Public Library, 2012 WL 734163 (D. Montana, March 6, 2012)
http://blog.internetcases.com/2012/03/11/website-operator-liability-section-23/

Net Neutrality Update: The D.C. Circuit Goes Through the Motions, CommLawBlog
It's been several months since that Hot Topic Of All Hot Topics, net neutrality, graced our space here. When last we reported on the subject, the net neutrality order had finally made it into the Federal Register, a number of parties had sought judicial review in a number of federal courts of appeals, the D.C. Circuit had been picked as the lucky court that will hear arguments on the matter, and a lone petition for reconsideration of the order had been filed with the Commission.
http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/CommLawBlog/~3/BFLx4bpYlho/

Internet Grows to More Than 225 Million Domain Names in the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Verisign
Nearly six million domain names were added to the Internet in the fourth quarter of 2011, bringing the total number of registered domain names to more than 225 million worldwide across all domains, according to the latest Domain Name Industry Brief, published by VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world.
https://press.verisign.com/easyir/customrel.do?easyirid=AFC0FF0DB5C560D3&version=live&prid=858172&releasejsp=custom_97

Measuring Worldwide Growth in IPv6 Deployments, ICANN
In early 2011, the RIPE NCC shared some graphs that showed the percentage of IPv6-enabled networks over time. More precisely, it showed the percentage of Autonomous Systems (ASes)1 that announced one or more IPv6 prefixes in the global routing table. The results for the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) were described in the article Networks with IPv6 Over Time on RIPE Labs.
http://blog.icann.org/2012/03/measuring-worldwide-growth-in-ipv6-deployments/

Department of Commerce Cancels IANA Contract RFP, CircleID
The United States government has cancelled Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Request for Proposal (RFP) SA1301-12-RP-IANA according to an updated page on the FedBizOpps website. The change — time stamped Mar 09, 2012 2:44 pm — states: "The Department of Commerce intends to reissue the RFP at a future date, date to be determined (TBD). Interested parties are encouraged to periodically visit
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20120309_department_of_commerce_cancels_iana_contract_rfp/

ICANN and the NTIA need to come clean about the IANA application, IGP
The highly negative blog post written yesterday was fueled by the concern that NTIA was using the IANA contract to push ICANN into policy positions demanded by the GAC and a few powerful interests still trying to undermine or re-write the new TLD program.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IGPBlog/~3/yxqzfIFlnjk/5014313.html

Notice - Cancelled Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Functions - Request for Proposal (RFP) SA1301-12-RP-IANA, NTIA
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) remains committed to preserving the stability and security of the Internet's domain name system (DNS). Critical to the DNS is the continued performance of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions. In anticipation of the impending expiration of the IANA functions contract, NTIA, via two public notices in February and June 2011,
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/other-publication/2012/notice-internet-assigned-numbers-authority-iana-functions-request-proposal-rf

Notice – Extension of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Functions Contract, NTIA
The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) reached an agreement with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to continue performing the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions until September 30, 2012. The IANA functions are the key technical functions supporting the Internet Domain Name System.
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/other-publication/2012/notice-extension-internet-assigned-numbers-authority-iana-functions-contract

Go feds! E-books are way overpriced, CNET
For the last couple of years, electronic book buyers have paid a high price for one Apple CEO's ambition to make life miserable for Amazon.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cnet/tcoc/~3/MqVVkXWN4Dg/

Time Warner's CNN Reportedly To Buy Mashable For $200M+, Forbes
Time Warner's CNN unit is in talks to buy Mashable, the popular technology and social news Web site, the New York Times reports, citing "three people with knowledge of the talks."
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/03/12/time-warners-cnn-reportedly-to-buy-mashable-for-200m/

How Al Jazeera wants to bring Twitter to the world, Gigaom
Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera launched an educational campaign this month that aims to teach viewers in Turkey, Bosnia and elsewhere in the world how to use Twitter and Facebook. The videos are being distributed on a new, dedicated YouTube channel called Al Jazeera Unplugged but may eventually also show up on Al Jazeera's TV stations. The network's ambitious goal is to raise a new generation of citizen journalists.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OmMalik/~3/qXD3S0QaWlQ/

Opening Remarks for Data Journalism Conference, Yale ISP
Hello, all, and welcome to the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, and our first annual conference on the state of data journalism. We've got two great panels lined up for today, with a wide range of journalists, programmers, academics, and researchers in attendance. Each panel is going to include some short initial presentations, some moderated discussion between the panelists, and then we'll open it up to you, the readership. Not to worry — your comments will be moderated.
http://yaleisp.org/2012/03/opening-remarks-data-journalism-bramble/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=opening-remarks-data-journalism-bramble

At CNET's SXSW 'big data' panel, sparks fly over privacy, CNET
Panelists from leading tech advocacy groups squared off during a discussion about how Internet companies should be regulated. Agreement was hard to come by on consumer protections.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cnet/tcoc/~3/PKU8pOGARKI/

NTIA Requests Comments on New Privacy Framework, Info Law Group
As we previously posted, on February 23, 2012, the White House released a white paper setting forth A Framework for Protecting Privacy and Promoting Innovation in the Global Digital Economy (the "Framework"). The Framework called for a "multi-stakeholder process" to move forward in implementing the goals it set forth, including the creation of a legally enforceable code of conduct. On Monday, the
http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/InfoLawGroup/~3/rOsl0MLdBvo/

Want to Actually Read Online Privacy Policies? Prepare to Give Up 40 Minutes a Day, Center for Internet and Society
http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/press/want-actually-read-online-privacy-policies-prepare-give-40-minutes-day

Cybersecurity is a Core Concern for Network Providers, USTelecom
House Communications Subcommittee members engaged in a thoughtful discussion with witnesses at a March 7 hearing
http://www.ustelecom.org/blog/cybersecurity-core-concern-network-providers

Push for Cybersecurity Bill Continues, Senate Commerce
Key industry stakeholders and top administration officials continue to weigh in on the need for cybersecurity legislation. In a letter to sponsors of the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, defense contractor Northrop Grumman yesterday urged action to protect critical infrastructure from cyber threats. And today, Commerce Secretary John Bryson penned an op-ed in POLITICO on the need for immediate action on cybersecurity legislation.
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=dbe2d570-54ae-429d-8403-8256fc3368dd

Rogers' "Cybersecurity" Bill Is Broad Enough to Use Against WikiLeaks and The Pirate Bay, EFF
Congress is doing it again: they're proposing overbroad regulations that could have dire consequences for our Internet ecology. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 (H.R. 3523), introduced by Rep. Mike Rogers and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, allows companies or the government1 free rein to bypass existing laws in order to monitor communications, filter content, or potentially even shut down access to
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/03/rogers-cybersecurity-bill-broad-enough-use-against-wikileaks-and-pirate-bay

No Checks or Balances in Warrantless Wiretapping Despite Holder's Assurances, EFF
Attorney General Eric Holder gave a much publicized speech at Northwestern law school on Monday, in which he attempted to explain the Obama administration's constitutional authority for killing U.S. citizens abroad without judicial oversight. Holder in part claimed that there is a difference between "due process" and "judicial process", the latter of which—according to him—is not guaranteed under the Constitution. The speech was
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/03/no-checks-or-balances-warrantless-wiretapping-despite-holders-assurances

Court Confirms Police Don't Need A Warrant To Do A Limited Search Of A Mobile Phone, Techdirt
In a court ruling that came out a little while ago (just catching up now), Judge Richard Posner took the lead in an appeals court ruling that effectively reaffirmed the idea that police don't need a warrant to search mobile phones as they're arresting someone. Of course, this general concept is not new and I've discussed my concerns about police being able to search phones without a warrant in the past -- but this particular ruling does seem
http://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20120308/03410718033/court-confirms-police-dont-need-warrant-to-search-mobile-phone.shtml

A Tale of Two Encryption Cases, EFF
In the last two months, two different federal courts have ruled on whether the Fifth Amendment's right against self-incrimination applies to the act of decrypting the contents of a computer. We wrote amicus briefs (PDF) in each case arguing the Fifth Amendment did prevent forced decryption when that act would incriminate a witness. And while our arguments were similar in both courts, the results were different.1 A district
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/03/tale-two-encryption-cases

Solar storm doesn't bash Earth but more are coming, CW
The solar storm buffeting the Earth on Thursday isn't as bad as physicists had expected, but there's still a chance it could get worse before it's over.
http://rss.computerworld.com/~r/computerworld/news/feed/~3/_2nzr1KsSVc/Solar_storm_doesn_t_bash_Earth_but_more_are_coming

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went."-Will Rogers
:: Adopt a Rescue Dog or Cat :: http://www.petfinder.com ::
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Website :: www.cybertelecom.org
Blog :: cybertelecom.blogspot.com
Delicious :: http://del.icio.us/rcannon100/zxc
Twitter & Facebook :: Cybertelecom
Google Group :: cybertelecom-l

AUP :: www.cybertelecom.org/cybert.htm#aup
Cybertelecom is Off-the-Record. Otherwise play nicely.

Link to us! www.cybertelecom.org
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The Wayward #ACPA Part 12: Which Factors Favors Which Party the Most

In these series of blog posts, we have been reviewing 11 years of AntiCybersquatting Consumer Protection Act cases, and the 9 factors which make up the bad faith analysis.  As we have seen, the 9 factors are grouped in two groups:  the Good Faith or Mitigating Factors (most like trademark) and the Bad Faith or Aggravating Factors (deal with the DNS stuff). 

In this post, we ask a simple question: which factor favors which party the most.  The results were surprising. 

• The factors that most favored DNOs were the Bad Faith Factors. 
• The factor that favored DNOs the most was Factor 7: Misleading Information, which went in favor of DNOs 68% of the time. 
• The other factor that favored DNOs the majority of the time was Factor 6: Offer to Sell, favoring DNOs 55% of the time. 
• Factor 8, Multiple Domain Name Registrations, favored DNOs only 40% of the time, even though the median number of domain names at issue is two (read that over a few times to get an idea of why the ACPA has gone astray).

Recall that in general, 64% of cases went in favor of TMOs. That 64% average can be used as a baseline.  

• All of the Good Faith Factors went in favor of TMOs more than 64% of the time. 
• None of the Bad Faith Factors went in favor of TMOs more than 64% of the time (Factor 5: Intent to Divert is on the 66%-line).

For the Good Faith Factors, the spread of the factor that went in favor of TMOs the most and the one that went in their favor the least was 14 percentage points; a relatively constrained spread. For the Bad Faith Factors, the spread was 60 percentage points. There is a greater dynamic with the Bad Faith Factors than for the Good Faith Factors.

One factor looks out of place. Factor 9, Famous Trademark, looks more like a Good Faith Factor than a Bad Faith Factor. The Good Faith Factors are traditional trademark law considerations (fair use, prior use, famous); the Bad Faith Factors are all unique to the Internet (diverting domain names, false information in domain name registration). Factor 9 looks more like the Good Faith (Trademark) factors and in fact is scored more like the Good Faith Factors. If we move Factor 9 over to the Good Faith Factors, the spread of percentage points for the Good Faith Factors changes from 14 to 16 points (a marginal change), where this move changes the spread of the Bad Faith Factors from 60 points to 34 points (a 26 point change).

Chart above compares number of cases factors was scored in favor of TMO as opposed to in favor of DNO; "neutral" scores were ignored.

Next: Which Set of Factors are Most Important?

ORDER :: FCC :: Outage Reporting Extended to Interconnected VoIP

THE PROPOSED EXTENSION OF PART 4 OF THE COMMISSION'S RULES REGARDING OUTAGE REPORTING TO INTERCONNECTED VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL SERVICE PROVIDERS AND BROADBAND INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS. FCC Extends Network Outage Reporting Requirement To Interconnected VOIP Service To Help Ensure A More Resilient And Reliable 9-1-1 System. (Dkt No. 11-82 ). Action by: the Commission. Adopted: 02/15/2012 by R&O. (FCC No. 12-22). PSHSB

1. In this Report and Order, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) extends the outage reporting requirements in Part 4 of our rules only to interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers. In the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in this proceeding, we proposed to take much broader action. Specifically, we proposed to extend Part 4 of the rules to both interconnected VoIP services and broadband Internet services. In addition, we proposed to require reporting of both outages based on the complete loss of service and those where, while service is technically available, technical conditions (such as packet loss, latency and/or jitter) effectively prevent communication. In response to the record developed in this proceeding, we are prepared at this time to adopt reporting requirements only with respect to the complete loss of interconnected VoIP service. Collecting this data will help the Commission help ensure the Nation’s 9-1-1 systems are as reliable and resilient as possible and also allow us to monitor compliance with the statutory 9-1-1 obligations of interconnected VoIP service providers. At this time, we also defer action on possible performance degradation thresholds for measuring an outage of interconnected VoIP service and on all outages of broadband Internet service. 

2. Consumers are increasingly using interconnected VoIP services in lieu of traditional telephone service. Interconnected VoIP services allow a wireline or wireless user generally to receive calls from and make calls to the legacy public telephone network, including calls to 9-1-1. As of December 31, 2010, 31 percent of the more than 87 million residential telephone subscriptions in the United States were provided by interconnected VoIP providers —an increase of 21 percent (from 22.4 million to 27.1 million residential lines) in the last year. The public’s increased reliance on interconnected VoIP services is also reflected in 9-1-1 usage trends; we estimate that approximately 31 percent of residential wireline 9-1-1 calls are made using VoIP service.

3. The availability and resilience of our communications infrastructure, specifically 9-1-1, directly impacts public safety and the ability of our first responders to fulfill their critical mission. The most practical, effective way to maintain emergency preparedness and readiness is to work continuously to minimize the incidence of routine outages.

4. The FCC’s public safety mission is one of our core functions, and “promoting safety of life and property” is a foundational reason for the creation of the Commission. More recently, Congress affirmed the Commission’s efforts to accomplish this mission by codifying the requirement for interconnected VoIP providers to provide 9-1-1 services.

5. Consistent with our statutory mission, Presidential Directives and Executive Orders, and related implementing documents charge the Commission with ensuring the resilience and reliability of the Nation’s commercial and public safety communications infrastructure. National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD-51 establishes the framework by which the government can continue to perform its most critical roles during times of emergency. Accordingly, the Commission has the responsibility to ensure continuous operations and reconstitution of critical communications and services. The Commission also plays an active role in Emergency Support Function 2 (ESF2), the communications branch of the National Response Framework, which guides the Nation’s conduct during an all-hazards response. Executive Order 12472 establishing the National Communications System, the functions of which include coordination of the planning for and provision of national security and emergency preparedness communications for the Federal government, also requires FCC participation.

6. We have cause to be concerned about the ability of interconnected VoIP subscribers to reach emergency services when they need them. Several recent, significant VoIP outages highlight our concern about the availability of 9-1-1 over VoIP service:

• On May 25, 2010, according to press reports, a service outage involving the AT&T U-Verse platform involved a server failure that impacted U-Verse interconnected VoIP service in AT&T’s entire 22-state local phone service area serving approximately 1.15 million customers. The reports indicate that the outage lasted for several hours. It remains unclear how many subscribers were unable to reach 9-1-1 and for how long.
• On March 22, 2011, a Comcast outage in 19 New Hampshire communities beginning around 3:30 p.m. left many Comcast customers in those communities unable to make any calls, including 9-1-1 calls. The problem lasted through the evening.
• In June 2010, CenturyLink Internet experienced failures that affected approximately 30,000 customers on the Kitsap Peninsula (near Seattle, Washington), and in a separate outage, affected approximately 100,000 customers across parts of Texas. The Kitsap Peninsula outage lasted an hour according to company sources, but some customers said it lasted four times as long. The Texas outage lasted over eight hours. During the outages, consumers, businesses and government were unable to place 9-1-1 or other calls over VoIP
• In March 2010, Comcast Internet and Digital Voice service was disrupted to customers in Nashville, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia. Comcast customers experienced severely degraded service for at least two hours. During the outage, local, state, and Federal government department and agency customers of Comcast in the affected areas were unable to make or receive telephone calls. Residential and business subscribers to Comcast Internet and Digital Voice services also were affected by the outage significantly impairing their ability to engage in 9-1-1 and other communications.

7. Commission staff gathered these facts from press accounts. None of these outages was reported directly to the Commission. The current outage reporting requirements are limited to traditional voice and paging communications services over wireline, wireless, cable, and satellite and do not apply to outages affecting interconnected VoIP services. Obtaining outage information for interconnected VoIP service, however, is the most effective method for the Commission to know whether and how well providers are meeting their statutory obligation to provide 9-1-1 and Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) service. Further, without detailed information about outages that occur, the Commission is unable to analyze communications vulnerabilities, especially as they pertain to 9-1-1 services, or to share aggregate information with industry to help prevent future outages.

8. With the objective of ensuring the availability of 9-1-1 service, this Report and Order:

• extends the Commission’s mandatory outage reporting rules to facilities-based and non-facilities-based interconnected VoIP service providers;
  • applies the current Part 4 definition of an outage to outages of interconnected VoIP service, covering the complete loss of service and/or connectivity to customers;
  • requires that these providers submit electronically a notification to the Commission within
• 240 minutes of discovering that they have experienced on any facilities that they own, operate, lease, or otherwise utilize, an outage of at least 30 minutes duration that potentially affects a 9-1-1 special facility, in which case they also shall notify, as soon as possible by telephone or other electronic means, any official who has been designated by the management of the affected 9-1-1 facility as the provider’s contact person for communications outages at that facility;
• in this case, the provider shall convey to that person all available information that may be useful to the management of the affected facility in mitigating the effects of the outage on efforts to communicate with that facility; or
• 24 hours of discovering that these providers have experienced on any facilities that they own, operate, lease, or otherwise utilize, an outage of at least 30 minutes duration that:
• potentially affects at least 900,000 user minutes of interconnected VoIP service and results in complete loss of service; or
• potentially affects any special offices and facilities;
  • requires that these providers submit electronically a Final Communications Outage Report to the Commission not later than thirty days after discovering the outage; and
• clarifies that the Part 4 rules apply to voice services provided using new wireless spectrum bands.

9. The outage reporting threshold that we adopt today for interconnected VoIP service is technology-neutral in that it mirrors the existing standard applied to other services covered under Part 4 of the Commission’s rules. Furthermore, the reporting process adopted herein is quite similar to the current process. We recognize that requiring interconnected VoIP service providers to report even significant outages imposes a burden on them, but we have determined that the cost to these providers of implementing the rules adopted herein is justified by the overwhelming public benefit of a reliable 9-1-1 system and firmly grounded in the Commission’s statutory obligation to ensure that reliability 9-1-1 service is provided to users of interconnected VoIP service. Finally, we decide to defer the question of outage reporting requirements for broadband Internet service providers and determine that this issue deserves further study.

New Regulations

PART 4 – DISRUPTIONS TO COMMUNICATIONS

GENERAL

The authority citation for Part 4 is amended to read as follows:
Authority:  Sec. 5, 48 Stat. 1068, as amended; 47 U.S.C. 154, 155, 201, 251, 307, 316, 615a-1, 1302(a), and 1302(b).
1.  Section 4.3 is amended by amending paragraph (f) and adding paragraphs (h), resulting in original paragraph (h) now numbered as paragraph (i), to read as follows:
§ 4.3 Communications providers covered by the requirements of this part.
* * * * *
(f) Wireless service providers include Commercial Mobile Radio Service communications providers that use cellular architecture and CMRS paging providers. See § 20.9 of this chapter for the definition of Commercial Mobile Radio Service. Also included are affiliated and non-affiliated entities that maintain or provide communications networks or services used by the provider in offering such communications.
* * * * *
(h) Interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers are providers of interconnected VoIP service.  See § 9.3 of this chapter for the definition of interconnected VoIP service.  Such providers may be facilities-based or non-facilities-based. Also included are affiliated and non-affiliated entities that maintain or provide communications networks or services used by the provider in offering such communications.
                     
(i) Exclusion of equipment manufacturers or vendors. Excluded from the requirements of this Part 4 are those equipment manufacturers or vendors that do not maintain or provide communications networks or services used by communications providers in offering communications.

2.  Section 4.7 is amended by changing paragraph (e) as follows:
§ 4.7 Definitions of metrics used to determine the general outage-reporting threshold criteria. 
* * * * *

1. “User minutes” are defined as:

(1) Assigned telephone number minutes (as defined in paragraph (c) of this section), for telephony, including non-mobile interconnected VoIP telephony, and for those paging networks in which each individual user is assigned a telephone number;
(2) The mathematical result of multiplying the duration of an outage, expressed in minutes, by the number of end users potentially affected by the outage, for all other forms of communications. For wireless service providers and interconnected VoIP service providers to mobile users, the number of potentially affected users should be determined by multiplying the simultaneous call capacity of the affected equipment by a concentration ratio of 8.
* * * * *
3.  Section 4.9 is amended by adding paragraphs (g) to read as follows
§ 4.9 Outage reporting requirements – threshold criteria.
* * * * *
(g) Interconnected VoIP Service Providers.All interconnected VoIP service providers shall submit electronically a Notification to the Commission:

1. within 240 minutes of discovering that they have experienced on any facilities that they own, operate, lease, or otherwise utilize, an outage of at least 30 minutes duration that potentially affects a 9-1-1 special facility (as defined in (e) of § 4.5), in which case they also shall notify, as soon as possible by telephone or other electronic means, any official who has been designated by the management of the affected 9-1-1 facility as the provider’s contact person for communications outages at that facility, and the provider shall convey to that person all available information that may be useful to the management of the affected facility in mitigating the effects of the outage on efforts to communicate with that facility; or
   
2. within 24 hours of discovering that they have experienced on any facilities that they own, operate, lease, or otherwise utilize, an outage of at least 30 minutes duration:

(a) That potentially affects at least 900,000 user minutes of interconnected VoIP service and results in complete loss of service; or
(b) That potentially affects any special offices and facilities (in accordance with paragraphs (a)-(d) of § 4.5).

Not later than thirty days after discovering the outage, the provider shall submit electronically a Final Communications Outage Report to the Commission.  The Notification and Final reports shall comply with all of the requirements of § 4.11.

3.1 :: Resigns :: Ubiquitous :: Failed Conspiracies :: a Disaster :: Suicide King :: UnlimiWhat? :: Remember AIM? :: a ship with an anchor ::

============================================
CyberTelecom News
Federal Internet Law and Policy
============================================

LightSquared CEO Resigns, WSJ
LightSquared's CEO and an executive vice president stepped down in the
wake of a regulatory setback that has forced the wireless venture to
rethink its multibillion-dollar strategy to roll out a new
fourth-generation network.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204653604577251543603149170.html?mod=rss_Technology

Robert G. Larson† and Paul A. Godfread, BRINGING JOHN DOE TO COURT:
PROCEDURAL ISSUES IN UNMASKING ANONYMOUS INTERNET DEFENDANTS, WMLR
The Internet is ubiquitous. Over the past two decades, it has
grown and evolved, overcome boundaries, and defied containment. The
Internet can now be accessed not only through a designated
http://www.wmitchell.edu/lawreview/Volume38/documents/6.Godfread.pdf

The Economics of Network Neutrality, TAP
Professor Nicholas Economides discusses his new article, co-authored
with Benjamin Hermalin, on "The Economics of Network Neutrality."
http://www.techpolicy.com/Blog/February-2012/The-Economics-of-Network-Neutrality.aspx

The Wayward ACPA Part 11: "The Courts Do Not Apply a Mechanistic
Scorecard", Cybertelecom
Looking over 11 years of AntiCybersquatting Consumer Protection Act
(ACPA) caselaw, I can now test how the courts have wandered astray
with their decisions. In my last post, I once again hypothesized about
the error of the courts ways --- in a way that turned out to not be so
true. But this time, this time is different. The reason this time is
different is because it aint my conspiracy
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CybertelecomBlog/~3/RkrWgkgq6tc/wayward-acpa-part-11-courts-do-not.html

The Wayward ACPA Part 10: "More Reasoned Decisions Mean Domain Name
Owner Wins", Cybertelecom
Looking over 11 years of AntiCybersquatting Consumer Protection Act
(ACPA) caselaw, I can now test how the courts have wandered astray.
Last post, I tested my conspiracy theory that the court's analysis was
all about trademark, and they ignored the unique characteristics of
the Internet. That proved not to be so true. This time, my conspiracy
theory is that in order to favor trademark
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CybertelecomBlog/~3/we1VniRZRNI/wayward-acpa-part-x-more-reasoned.html

Threats Against DNS Root Servers, Icann
We have been receiving questions from various parties concerning the
recent threat against the Internet's root servers that is purported to
have originated with the group Anonymous.
http://blog.icann.org/2012/03/threats-against-dns-root-servers/

Schmidt: Handing over Control of Internet, DNS to the UN a Disaster,
Will Divide the Internet, Circleid
During the Mobile World Congress 2012, Google's executive chairman
Eric Schmidt, today warned against United Nations' treaty aimed at
bringing more Internet regulation. "That would be a disaster… To some,
the openness and interoperability is one of the greatest achievements
of mankind in our lifetime. Do not give that up easily. You will
regret it.
http://www.circleid.com/posts/schmidt_handing_over_control_of_internet_dns_to_un_itu_disaster/

FTC Will Host Public Workshop to Explore Advertising Disclosures in
Online and Mobile Media on May 30, 2012, FTC
The Federal Trade Commission will host a day-long public workshop to
consider the need for new guidance for online advertisers about making
disclosures required under FTC law.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/02/dotcom.shtm

U.S. Seizes Canadian-Owned and Registered Domain Name, Geist
The EasyDNS blog has an excellent - albeit scary - post on the U.S.
government seizure of bodog.com, the Canadian-owned online gambling
site. The domain was seized by the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security despite the fact that it was Canadian registered. The only
U.S. connection is that the dot-com registry is located in the U.S.
The move sends a message that all dot-com, dot-net, and dot-org
domains are ultimately subject to U.S. jurisdiction.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MichaelGeistsBlog/~3/z-aH3s0QUXI/

Feds Continue Crackdown On Poker... By Seizing The Wrong Bodog Domain, Techdirt
The feds domain name seizure powers seem simple enough (if of
extremely questionable legality, seeing as domains involve speech
which requires a higher standard to seize), so it really amazes me how
badly they seem to regularly screw up in using them. The latest is the
seizure of Bodog.com as well as the indictment of Bodog boss Calvin
Ayre. While there's been lots of attention paid to the seizures of
sites having to do with copyright and trademark infringement,
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120228/22460717908/feds-continue-crackdown-poker-seizing-wrong-bodog-domain.shtml

Don't bet on "Linsanity": US seizes online gambling domain over sports
wagers, Ars Technica
As the result of a long-running investigation that dates back to at
least 2006, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland
unsealed on February 27 a two-count indictment against Bodog
Entertainment Group and four Canadian individuals for allegedly (1)
conducting an online sports betting business in
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/03/dont-bet-on-linsanity-us-seizes-online-gambling-domain-over-sports-wagers.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

AT&T's New Data Policy for Heavy Users, Forbes
Under a new policy announced Thursday, AT&T has established clear
thresholds for unlimited data subscribers – those who exceed 3GB a
month and 4G LTE smartphone owners who surpass 5GB.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/mickeymeece/2012/03/01/atts-new-data-policy-for-heavy-users/

AT&T DSL: Getting What I Pay For?, CW
Gibbs discovered that his DSL service can start at a lower line speed
than he signed up for and he's not happy
http://rss.computerworld.com/~r/computerworld/news/feed/~3/Gg_0-e3TFNI/AT_T_DSL_Getting_What_I_Pay_For_

Comcast Files First Annual Compliance Report on NBCUniversal Deal, Comcast
Today, Comcast and NBCUniversal filed our first annual report
detailing implementation of the conditions adopted by the FCC in the
NBCUniversal Transaction Order. We'll be filing these reports for the
next six years to show the extensive measures we've taken to comply
with and in many cases go above and beyond our commitments and the
FCC's conditions in connection with the NBCUniversal transaction.
http://blog.comcast.com/2012/02/comcast-files-first-annual-compliance-report-on-nbcuniversal-deal.html

AOL Cuts AIM Staff, WSJ
AOL plans to lay off as many as 50 employees at its AIM unit, best
known for its Instant Messenger communication service.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204571404577255832538944646.html?mod=rss_Technology

Eric Goldman, Revisiting Search Engine Bias, WMLR
Questions about search engine bias have percolated in the academic
literature for over a decade. In the past few years, the issue has
evolved from a quiet academic debate to a full blown
http://www.wmitchell.edu/lawreview/Volume38/documents/3.Goldman.pdf

Damaged Ocean Cable Cripples Internet In East Africa, NPR
In East Africa, the Internet has slowed to a crawl thanks to a
disruption of the telecommunications pipeline serving the region. Over
the weekend, a ship dragging an anchor severed one of the three
undersea data cables linking countries that include Kenya, Rwanda and
Ethiopia to the Middle East and Europe. It may take about three weeks
to fix. Audie Cornish talks to Solomon Moore, East Africa
correspondent for the Wall Street Journal.
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/01/147752412/damaged-undersea-cable-cripples-internet-in-east-africa?ft=1&f=1019

CRTC Finds More Rogers Throttling Violations - Pursues ISP Despite
Pledge to Stop Throttling Completely, DSLReports
From crippling encryption and VPNs to throttling legitimate apps and
games like World of Warcraft, Canadian cable operator Rogers has been
the poster boy for ham fisted network management, accounting for
nearly half of all network neutrality infractions in Canada.
Responding to repeated consumer and regulatory
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/CRTC-Finds-More-Rogers-Throttling-Violations-118636

Cloud Computing Update: Best Practices for Acquiring IT as a Service, CIO.gov
The Administration's Federal Cloud Computing Strategy requires
agencies to default to cloud-based solutions whenever a secure,
reliable and cost-effective cloud option exists – however, the move to
the cloud requires a dramatic shift in the way Federal agencies buy IT
– from capital expenditures to operating expenditures. With this shift
http://www.cio.gov/pages.cfm/page/Cloud-Computing-Update-Best-Practices-for-Acquiring-IT-as-a-Service

Roland L. Trope and Sarah Jane Hughes, Red Skies in the
Morning—Professional Ethics at the Dawn of Cloud Computing, WMLR
For three decades, the practice of law has adjusted to the incoming
tide of the Digital Era. The tide has not raised all boats. What has
required so much adjustment is the arrival of a succession of new
communications technologies.
http://www.wmitchell.edu/lawreview/Volume38/documents/4.Trope.pdf

EPIC Urges DHS to Abide by Privacy Laws When Conducting Technology
Research, Epic
Earlier this week, EPIC submitted comments to the DHS on "The Menlo
Report: Ethical Principles Guiding Information and Communication
Technology Research." DHS sought public views on the privacy
implications of ethical human subject research in information and
communication technology research. EPIC said that many federal privacy
laws, such as the Privacy Act of 1974, set out legal standard for how
government agencies should protect personal data.
http://epic.org/2012/03/epic-urges-dhs-to-abide-by-pri.html

Reading the Privacy Policies You Encounter in a Year Would Take 76
Work Days, Center for Internet and Society
no description
http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/press/reading-privacy-policies-you-encounter-year-would-take-76-work-days

Protecting Your Privacy Amid Google Policy Changes, NPR
Starting on March 1, when you sign into Google and use its dozens of
popular services, it will combine that personal data to make a fuller
portrait of you and send more targeted ads. Host Michel Martin and The
Washington Post National Technology Reporter Cecilia Kang discuss what
concerned users can do.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=147643649&ft=1&f=1019

Google privacy rules break law, EU Justice Commissioner says, Globe
Data agencies of EU member states say Google' consolidation of 60
privacy guidelines into one violates the privacy
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-Technology/~3/mCMAj6vgWwA/

Multistakeholder Process to Develop Consumer Data Privacy Codes of Conduct, NTIA
NTIA is requesting comment on substantive consumer data privacy issues
that warrant the development of legally enforceable codes of conduct,
as well as procedures to foster the development of these codes. NTIA
invites public comment on these issues from all stakeholders with an
interest in consumer data privacy, including the commercial, academic
and civil society sectors, and from federal and state enforcement
agencies. Written comments may be submitted
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/federal-register-notice/2012/multistakeholder-process-develop-consumer-data-privacy-codes-conduct

Moving Forward with the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, NTIA
Last week the Obama Administration unveiled a Consumer Privacy Bill of
Rights, part of a comprehensive blueprint to improve consumers'
privacy protections in the information age and promote the continued
growth of the digital economy. These rights enumerate the specific
protections that consumers should expect from companies that handle
personal data, and set expectations for the companies that use
personal data. While the Administration will work with Congress to
enact legislation based on these rights, we are moving forward now to
put these principles into practice.
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/blog/2012/moving-forward-consumer-privacy-bill-rights

Adam Pabarcus, Are "Private" Spaces on Social Networking Websites
Truly Private? The Extension of Intrusion upon Seclusion, WMLR
In 2006, Brian Pietrylo was a server at a Houston's restaurant
operated by Hillstone Restaurant Group in Hackensack, New Jersey.2
While working at Houston's, Pietrylo created a MySpace group called
the "Spec-Tator."
http://www.wmitchell.edu/lawreview/Volume38/documents/8.Pabarcus.pdf

AT&T on Cybersecurity Legislation, AT&T
"We commend the Senators for introducing the Strengthening and
Enhancing Cybersecurity by Using Research, Education, Information, and
Technology Act, and for their leadership in addressing a critically
important issue for the U.S. economy.
http://attpublicpolicy.com/cybersecurity/att-on-cybersecurity-legislation/

Keeping the NSA out of civilian cybersecurity: there's a reason, Tech
Liberation Front
Tomorrow Sen. John McCain, along with five other Republican senators,
plans to unveil a cybersecurity bill to rival the Lieberman-Collins
bill that Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he plans to bring to the
Senate floor without an official markup by committee.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techliberation/~3/sPuqmjC8dFc/

Will NSA Power Grab Imperil Cybersec Consensus?, CDT
In recent weeks, policymakers have been working to reach consensus on
steps to strengthen the nation's cybersecurity capabilities, but the
National Security Agency's campaign to expand the military's role in
protecting private sector systems threatens to derail forward
movement.
https://www.cdt.org/blogs/jim-dempsey/2902will-nsa-power-grab-imperil-cybersec-consensus

Revision of SP 800-53 Addresses Current Cybersecurity Threats, Adds
Privacy Controls, NIST
A major revision of a Federal Information Security Management Act
(FISMA) publication released today by the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) adds guidance for combating new
information security threats and ..
http://www.nist.gov/itl/csd/sp800-022812.cfm

U.S. Wants You to Hunt Fugitives With Twitter, Wired
A worldwide manhunt kicks off at the end of March -- a search across
America and Europe for five fugitives, identifiable only by their mug
shots. The successful team of trackers not only gets a $5,000 bounty
from the U.S. State Department. They demonstrate to the planet's law
enforcement and intelligence agencies that they can hunt down fleeting
suspects using nothing but their wits and social media connections.
http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/politics/~3/gtp1w8SJ7gc/

Only The DOJ Knows: The Secret Law of Electronic Surveillance,
University of San Francisco Law Review
This article examines a troubling pattern in the application of
federal law enforcement surveillance statutes -- namely, those
portions of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (the
"ECPA") sometimes known as the Pen Register Statute ("PRS") and the
Stored Communications Act ("SCA") -- whereby federal prosecutors
secretly and routinely obtain court authorization for surveillance
that Congress did not intend and which may violate the Fourth
Amendment.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2009442

Darpa Warns: Your iPhone Is a Military Threat, Wired
There's a growing threat to the U.S. military, according to the
Pentagon's premier research wing. No, it's not Iran's nukes or China's
missiles. It's the iPads, Android phones and other gadgets we all
carry around with us every day.
http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/politics/~3/4DuMtsGbYf8/

FCC Extends Outage Reporting Requirements To All Interconnected VoIP
Providers, Telecom Law Monitor
On February 21, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission issued a
Report and Order ("Order") adopting outage reporting requirements for
both facilities-based and non-facilities-based interconnected Voice
over Internet Protocol ("VoIP") service providers on a mandatory basis
in order to further ensure reliable 9-1-1 service. Outage notification
and reporting requirements currently apply to a variety of voice
providers, including wireline carriers, CMRS providers,
http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/TelecomLawMonitor/~3/dB03NKPikhk/

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The Wayward ACPA Part 11: “The Courts Do Not Apply a Mechanistic Scorecard”

Looking over 11 years of AntiCybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) caselaw, I can now test how the courts have wandered astray with their decisions. In my last post, I once again hypothesized about the error of the courts ways --- in a way that turned out to not be so true.

But this time, this time is different. The reason this time is different is because it aint my conspiracy theory; it’s the courts.

As we went over a few posts ago, the courts must go over 9 factors to determine if the Domain Name Owner (DNO) has bad faith. Courts protest the notion that they go through a rote process, churning through the factors, awarding points to the parties, and then tallying up the scores. They claim that they are following Congress' directive to engage in a thoughtful consideration of the unique factors of individual cases, and that the 9 factors are just guidance.

But they’re lying.

In every case the courts allotted points for each individual factor and the party with the most points wins. Well, okay, there were two cases where the party with the highest score lost; both were cyber-griping cases where the actions of the DNO fell under the Safe Harbor Provision's fair use element. And there was one other case where the prevailing party had a tie score with the, um, devailing??? party. 

In the 67 other cases (or in 96% of cases), if you had the high score, you won. Simply math. So much for the “it’s not a scorecard” theory.

Next: Some Curious Results

PS: Speaking of scorecards.... Baseball starts in 2 days!  AH, Spring! 

Workshop :: FTC Will Host Public Workshop to Explore Advertising Disclosures in Online and Mobile Media on May 30, 2012

"The Federal Trade Commission will host a day-long public workshop to consider the need for new guidance for online advertisers about making disclosures required under FTC law. The guidance will address technological advancements and marketing developments that have emerged since the FTC first issued its online advertising disclosure guidelines known as “Dot Com Disclosures” 12 years ago. 

 

The workshop, to be held on May 30, will cover revising the Dot Com Disclosures so they illustrate how to provide clear and conspicuous disclosures in the current online and mobile advertising environment. Any revisions will be consistent with the goals of the original guidelines and will continue to emphasize that consumer protection laws apply equally to online and mobile marketers, and to other media. The FTC began seeking input for revising the Dot Com Disclosures guidelines last year.  

"Topics may include:

• How can effective disclosures be made on social media platforms and mobile devices – including when they are used in commercial texting – that limit the space available for disclosure?  For example, when consumers are paid or receive other benefits for providing an endorsement, how can they effectively disclose on platforms that allow only short messages or a simple sign of approval?
• When can disclosures provided separately from an initial advertisement be considered adequate?  For example, if a consumer receives a location-based ad for a discounted cup of coffee on her mobile device because she is near a particular coffee shop, what terms must be disclosed in the mobile ad and what terms, if any, do not have to be disclosed until the consumer enters the coffee shop to make her purchase?
• What are the options when using devices that do not allow downloading or printing the terms of an agreement?  For example, is providing consumers a means to send a copy of the agreement to themselves to read later an effective way to provide this information?
• How can disclosures that are made in the original advertisement be retained when the advertisement is aggregated (for example, on dashboards) or re-transmitted (through, for example, re-tweeting)?  
• What are the disclosure opportunities and limitations of hyperlinks, jump links, hashtags, click-throughs, layered disclosures, icons, and other similar options?  How should these options be evaluated in terms of placement and proximity?
• How can short, effective, and accessible privacy disclosures be made on mobile devices?
• What does the research show about how consumers’ use of mobile and other devices can affect the effectiveness of disclosures on particular devices or platforms?  And what does it show about the relationship between how consumers use mobile devices and their understanding of disclosures and advertising displayed on mobile devices?  What does the research show about how consumers make decisions based on that information?  Is there specific research on the effectiveness of disclosures on mobile devices, including layered disclosures and icons, and, if so, what are the implications of that research for disclosures such as offer terms and privacy practices?

The Commission also invites parties to submit suggestions for topics of discussion or original research.  In particular, the Commission invites the submission of realistic examples and mock-ups that can be used for illustration and discussion at the workshop. Individuals and organizations may submit requests to participate as panelists and may recommend topics for inclusion on the agenda.

  The requests and recommendations should be submitted electronically to dotcomdisclosuresworkshop@ftc.gov. Prospective panelists should submit a statement detailing their expertise on the issues to be addressed and contact information no later than March 30, 2012. Panelists will be selected based on expertise and the need to include a broad range of views.

Paper submissions should reference the Dot Com Disclosures Workshop both in the text and on the envelope, and should be mailed or delivered to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-135 (Annex P), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.  The FTC requests that any paper submissions be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible, because postal mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions. The workshop is free and open to the public.  It will be held on Wednesday, May 30, 2012, at the FTC Conference Center at 601 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC.  Pre-registration is not required.  Members of the public and press who wish to participate but who cannot attend can view a live Webcast at FTC.gov.

RFC :: NTIA :: #privacy :: Multistakeholder Process to Develop Consumer Data Privacy Codes of Conduct :: Comments Due TBD

Date: February 29, 2012  Docket Number:  Docket No. 120214135-2135-01

"NTIA is requesting comment on substantive consumer data privacy issues that warrant the development of legally enforceable codes of conduct, as well as procedures to foster the development of these codes.  NTIA invites public comment on these issues from all stakeholders with an interest in consumer data privacy, including the commercial, academic and civil society sectors, and from federal and state enforcement agencies.  Written comments may be submitted by e-mail to privacyrfc2012@ntia.doc.gov.

Federal Register Notice: Internet Privacy Request for Comments

RFC :: NIST :: #FISMA SP 800-53 Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Info Systems and Orgs :: Comments Due Apr 6

Revision of SP 800-53 Addresses Current Cybersecurity Threats, Adds Privacy Controls

From NIST Tech Beat: February 28, 2012 Contact: Evelyn Brown 301-975-5661

"A major revision of a Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) publication released today by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) adds guidance for combating new information security threats and incorporates new privacy controls to the framework that federal agencies use to protect their information and information systems.

"To handle insider threats, supply chain risk, mobile and cloud computing technologies, and other cybersecurity issues and challenges, NIST has released Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations, Special Publication (SP) 800-53, Revision 4 (Initial Public Draft). The document is considered a principal catalog of security standards and guidelines used by federal government agencies that NIST is required to publish by law.

“The changes we propose in Revision 4 are directly linked to the current state of the threat space—the capabilities, intentions and targeting activities of adversaries—and analysis of attack data over time,” explained Ron Ross, FISMA Implementation Project Leader and NIST fellow.

"The revision also adds a new privacy appendix to the publication that provides privacy controls and associated implementation guidance. “Privacy and security are complementary, so we decided to combine them in SP 800-53," said Ross.

"Other areas addressed in the update in addition to those mentioned above include application security, firmware integrity, distributed systems and advanced persistent threat. “Many organizations are concerned about advanced persistent threats, so we added new controls that will allow organizations to use different strategies to combat those types of threats,” Ross added.

"NIST also modified its guidance on security assurance Appendix E, which outlines how agencies can establish measures of confidence that the security controls put in place are providing the necessary security capability to protect critical missions and business operations. Ross explains, “Having security functionality in your information systems without the appropriate assurance is like skydiving without a backup parachute—you don’t need it until you need it. And without it, the outcome is very predictable.”

"As part of the update to SP 800-53, NIST addressed potential gaps in coverage, added new security controls and control enhancements, provided additional supplemental guidance for these controls, and clarified security control requirements and specification language. Keeping the potential threats in mind, the security control baselines were updated and minimum assurance requirements revised.
This document, when finalized, will be used by the entire federal government. The project was conducted as part of the Joint Task Force Transformation Initiative, which is composed of security experts from NIST, the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, the Committee on National Security Systems, and the Department of Homeland Security.

The public draft of Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations, Special Publication (SP) 800-53, Revision 4 may be found at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsDrafts.html#SP-800-53-Rev.%204. Comments on SP 800-53, Revision 4 are requested by April 6, 2012. Email should be sent to sec-cert@nist.gov.

The Wayward ACPA Part 10: “More Reasoned Decisions Mean Domain Name Owner Wins”

Looking over 11 years of AntiCybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) caselaw, I can now test how the courts have wandered astray. Last post, I tested my conspiracy theory that the court’s analysis was all about trademark, and they ignored the unique characteristics of the Internet. That proved not to be so true. 

This time, my conspiracy theory is that in order to favor trademark owners (TMO), courts pick and choose which factors to consider. When the court’s arbitrarily focus on a few select factors, then, according to my theory, you know its going in favor of the TMO; a more reasoned approach that considers all the factors of the case would certainly go in favor of the Domain Name Owner (DNO).

And…… no. Not true.

In fact the exact opposite is true. The more factors considered, the more likely the TMO prevails. When the court considered five or fewer factors, the DNO won 50% of the time. When the court considered six or more factors, the DNO won only 21% of the time. The most number of cases broken out by number of factors considered was 19 cases resolved using 9 factors, where DNOs won only 21% of the time. TMO's highest winning percentage was 100% when 7 factors were considered; DNO's highest winning percentage was 100% when 0 or 1 factors were considered. 

Next: A Conspiracy Theory I Actually Get Right

2.27 :: Study Confirms What U Already Knew :: Unprecedented Powers Over the Internet :: This Isnt a Hoax :: Threatens the Internet :: More Excuses? ::

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CyberTelecom News
Federal Internet Law and Policy
============================================
"Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes
and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum
tubes and perhaps weigh 1 ½ tons." Popular Mechanics (March 1949)

Study Confirms What You Already Knew: Mobile Data Throttling About The
Money, Not Stopping Data Hogs, Techdirt
Of the four national mobile operators, only Sprint still offers an
"unlimited" data plan -- and most industry watchers expect that to go
away soon. When the operators talk about this stuff, they complain
about how unlimited plans are abused and the amount of data being used
by so-called "data hogs" is crippling network bandwidth. Of course,
the alternative story is that they just want to charge people higher
rates, and putting a toll
http://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20120224/10500217867/study-confirms-what-you-already-knew-mobile-data-throttling-about-money-not-stopping-data-hogs.shtml

Stop the Cycle of Bullying: danah boyd and John Palfrey in the
Huffington Post, Berkman
no description
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/7498

IN RE INDIANA NEWSPAPERS INC. v. JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF CENTRAL
INDIANA, INC., Ind: Court of Appeals, Indiana Court
At issue is identity of anonymous commentor to news site and
application of the Dendrite Test
http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=665491991043061948

CONOCOPHILLIPS COMPANY v. Gonzalez, Dist. Court, ND California 2012, Fed Court
Plaintiff's ACPA ex parte application is DENIED without prejudice.
http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1202001311501080797

BEVERLY HILLS ESCROW v. Nazarian, Cal: Court of Appeal, 2nd Appellate
Dist., 7th Div. 2012, CA Court
Affirming Temporary Restraining Order for Defendant's registration of
domain name BeverlyHillsEscrow.com
scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15998714418736431472

City of Carlsbad v. Shah, Dist. Court, SD California 2012, Fed. Court
Registration of multiple domain names including
thecrossingsatcarlsbad.com constituted bad faith under ACPA
scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5083764740092613286

Robert McDowell: The U.N. Threat to Internet Freedom – WSJ.com, ISOC-DC
On Feb. 27, a diplomatic process will begin in Geneva that could
result in a new treaty giving the United Nations unprecedented powers
over the Internet. Dozens of countries, including Russia and China,
are pushing hard to reach this goal by year's end. As Russian Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin said last June, his goal and that of his
allies is to establish "international control over the Internet"
through the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a
treaty-based organization under U.N. auspices.
http://www.isoc-dc.org/2012/02/robert-mcdowell-the-u-n-threat-to-internet-freedom-wsj-com/

36 state AGs blast Google's privacy policy change, CW
Attorneys General from 36 states are concerned over the potential
implications of Google's new privacy policy, especially for users of
Android-powered smartphones.
http://rss.computerworld.com/~r/computerworld/news/feed/~3/HNP_2BAv-x8/36_state_AGs_blast_Google_s_privacy_policy_change

Pakistan plans system to filter and block websites, CW
Pakistan has floated a request for proposal for a system to filter and
block websites, some months after banning the use of encryption on the
Internet, and toying with the idea of filtering and blocking SMS
(short message service) messages in the country.
http://rss.computerworld.com/~r/computerworld/news/feed/~3/R_ll8sNUMkw/Pakistan_plans_system_to_filter_and_block_websites

This Isn't a Hoax: Pakistan Requests Proposals for a National
Filtering and Blocking System, EFF
The Pakistani government is looking for new ways to censor the Internet.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/not-a-hoax-pakistan-requests-proposals-national-filtering-and-blocking-system

An Astounding Week In PIPA/SOPA Comes To A Close, Tales From the Sausage Factory
Today brought a dramatic conclusion to an extraordinary week and the
culmination of months of amazing activism on PIPA/SOPA. A month ago,
hardly anyone had heard of PIPA and a few more had heard of SOPA and
its passage was …
http://tales-of-the-sausage-factory.wetmachine.com/an-astounding-week-in-pipasopa-comes-to-a-close/

CLOUD COMPUTING AND THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS
AND INFORMATION SOCIETY SERVICES, VP BURLOIU - 2012
In the context of the Lisbon agenda for growth and jobs, research and
innovation are at the core of the Europe 2020 strategy. As part of
this strategy, the ambitious Digital Agenda of the
http://arno.uvt.nl/show.cgi?fid=121935

Google's Goggles: Is The Future Right Before Our Eyes?, NPR
Eye glasses with computing power have long been sci-fi fantasy,
relegated to Terminator movies and the like. But now it appears Google
may be a few months from selling a beta version of their own.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/02/24/147364732/googles-goggles-is-the-future-right-before-our-eyes?ft=1&f=1019

How The "Right To Be Forgotten" Threatens The Internet, Forbes
A friend of a friend -- let's call her Andrea -- allowed herself to be
photographed in a "compromising position." The pics were posted on the
Internet with her approval, but were later found online by coworkers.
Oops.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidcoursey/2012/02/24/how-the-right-to-be-forgotten-threatens-the-internet/

Administration's White Paper OnPrivacy Strikes Positive Tone, AT&T
Collaboration, consensus and consistency are key design principles in
developing good public policy. And we're encouraged that a white
paper issued yesterday by President Obama's Administration embraces
those principles.
http://attpublicpolicy.com/government-policy/administration%e2%80%99s-white-paper-onprivacy-strikes-positive-tone/

Internet Privacy: Protecting Consumers, Building Trust, Creating Jobs,
White House
Yesterday, the White House announced two important steps to promote
consumer privacy rights online and to give users more control over how
their personal information is handled. First, the White House
released a comprehensive roadmap for online privacy protection
centered on a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights and robust enforcement
by the Federal Trade Commission. Second, industry has stepped up to
the plate by
http://feeds.whitehouse.gov/~r/whitehouse/ostp/~3/cloLwvimnRY/internet-privacy-protecting-consumers-building-trust-creating-jobs

More Privacy, or More Excuses?, VOA
Examining the Obama Administration's Proposed Privacy Bill of Rights
http://blogs.voanews.com/digital-frontiers/2012/02/24/more-privacy-or-more-excuses/

Protecting Online Privacy: A Live Web Chat with Allan Friedman, Brookings
Aiming to protect online privacy without stifling innovation,
President Obama has proposed a "Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights" to
help users exercise more control over the data they share when
accessing the internet through their web browsers, smart phones and
tablets. Although its
http://webfeeds.brookings.edu/~r/BrookingsRSS/topics/internetpolicy/~3/3HwrLk-_5CA/0229_internet_privacy_chat.aspx

We Can't Wait: Obama Administration Calls for A Consumer Privacy Bill
of Rights for the Digital Age, White House
Today at the White House, the Obama Administration unveiled a
blueprint for a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights to protect consumers
online. As the President wrote in his cover letter to the report:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/02/23/we-can-t-wait-obama-administration-calls-consumer-privacy-bill-rights-digital-age

FTC Approves Safe Harbor Program for Aristotle International, Inc., FTC
Program Will Promote Compliance With Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/02/aristotle.shtm

Why Genachowski's Cybersecurity Initiative Is So Radical (In A Good
Way), Tales From the Sausage Factory
When people think of "cybersecurity," they usually think about the big
stuff like Iranian hackers bringing down the power grid or master
criminals hacking Bank of America. We associate it with the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) and institutions generally …
http://tales-of-the-sausage-factory.wetmachine.com/why-genachowskis-cybersecurity-initiative-is-so-radical-in-a-good-way/

Microsoft Testifies on U.S. Senate Cybersecurity Legislation, Microsoft
Last week, Scott Charney testified at a hearing of the Senate
Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. The hearing was
about the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, which is Congress's first
comprehensive legislation aimed at improving cybersecurity across the
United States. His full testimony is available here.
http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_on_the_issues/archive/2012/02/24/microsoft-testifies-on-u-s-senate-cybersecurity-legislation.aspx

US-NL Cybercrime Treaty Signed, CircleID
On Wednesday 22 February the United States and The Netherlands signed
a "declaration of intent" on the cooperation on fighting cybercrime.
This event was reported by the press as a treaty. At least that is
what all Dutch postings I read wrote, with exception of the official
website of the Dutch government. So what was actually signed? Reading
the news reports some thoughts struck me.
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20120224_us_nl_cyber_crime_treaty_signed/

FBI turns off 3,000 GPS trackers after Supreme Court ruling, Ars Technica
Andrew Weissmann, general counsel for the FBI, has announced that his
agency is switching off thousands of Global Positioning System-based
tracking devices used for surveillance after a Supreme Court decision
last month. Weissmann made the statement during a University of San
Francisco
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/02/fbi-turns-off-3000-gps-trackers-after-supreme-court-ruling.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

FACEBOOK, INC. v. POWER VENTURES, INC., Dist. Court, ND California
2012, Fed Court
Facebook, Inc. ("Plaintiff") brings this action against Defendants[1]
alleging violations of the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited
Pornography and Marketing Act ("CAN-SPAM Act"), 15 U.S.C. §§ 7701 et
seq., the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act ("CFAA"), 18 U.S.C. § 1030, and
California Penal Code § 502.
http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5315224623229214625

Interconnecting with the Future, Verizon
The FCC made tremendous progress with its order reforming the
Universal Service Fund (USF) and the system for Intercarrier
Compensation (ICC). The FCC's reform plan correctly recognizes the
dramatic changes that have occurred in the marketplace and begins the
difficult process of transforming regulatory structures put in place
decades ago that no longer make sense.
http://policyblog.verizon.com/BlogPost/853/InterconnectingwiththeFuture.aspx

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