Wireless companies should “get past” political friction in spectrum dealings with the FCC, and “get together from a national perspective,” said Northrop Grumman Vp/CTO Robert Brammer at the WCA conference in D.C. Wireless network security is a major safety and homeland security issue, and one demanding engagement other than the public sector’s, he said: “We need much higher awareness of security issues. Don’t underestimate these security threats.”
AT&T will go after content pirates with new technology it’s developing with Viacom and other Hollywood companies, AT&T Senior Exec. Vp-External & Legislative Affairs James Cicconi told the L.A. Times. AT&T and the entertainment companies met last week to discuss the weapon, he said. “We are pleased that AT&T has decided to take such a strong, proactive position in protecting copyrights,” Viacom said: “AT&T’s support of strong anti-piracy efforts will be instrumental in developing a growing and vibrant digital marketplace and will help ensure that they have a steady stream of great creative content to deliver to their consumers.” Others voiced fear that such a mechanism would throttle users’ freedom of access to Internet content. Plans for copyright screens “fly in the face of the expectations of consumers to use their material more flexibly,” said Public Knowledge Pres. Gigi Sohn: “By attempting to act as the copyright police, the company is going to make its customers angry, even in a market in which customers have little choice of providers for high-speed Internet service.” Critics shouldn’t make assumptions about what the technology will be, an AT&T spokeswoman told Communications Daily; it doesn’t exist yet and last week’s meeting was “just discussion,” she said. In developing the screen, AT&T aims to balance Viacom and other companies’ needs to guard copyrighted data against consumers’ right to get legal material, she said.
The competitiveness of Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless will be hurt by the need to develop workarounds if the ITC’s Qualcomm ban isn’t overturned, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Rebecca Arbogast told Communications Daily. Investors say substitute devices could be created in 2 quarters, but carriers say it could take 1-2 years, Arbogast said. The reality is “probably somewhere in the middle,” she said.
AT&T’s “pure IP” backbone upgrade will be a “great platform for integrated, converged services,” Group Pres.- Operations Support John Stankey said Mon. at the Bear Stearns Conference in N.Y.C. And the wireless network is due for an upgrade, he said, predicting 3G coverage in “nearly all 100 top markets” by year-end.
AT&T’s “pure IP” backbone upgrade will be a “great platform for integrated, converged services,” Group Pres.- Operations Support John Stankey said Mon. at the Bear Stearns Conference in N.Y.C. And the wireless network is due for an upgrade, he said, predicting 3G coverage in “nearly all 100 top markets” by year-end.
Court costs, inefficiency and “degraded” marketing have dogged Vonage the last 12 months, Vonage CFO John Rego said Mon. at the Bear-Stearns Conference in N.Y.C. The company hopes new ads and services, coupled with a possible 4th Circuit overturn of the Verizon patent infringement decision, will make Vonage profitable, he said.
Court costs, inefficiency and “degraded” marketing have dogged Vonage the last 12 months, Vonage CFO John Rego said Mon. at the Bear-Stearns Conference in N.Y.C. The company hopes new ads and services, coupled with a possible 4th Circuit overturn of the Verizon patent infringement decision, will make Vonage profitable, he said.
The Identity Theft Task Force completed a plan to combat identity theft, Attorney Gen. Alberto Gonzales and FTC Chmn. Deborah Majoras said Mon. The plan includes 31 steps -- some legislative, some administrative -- that span all sectors, targeting identity theft from access to recovery, Majoras said. The goal is more and better criminal identity theft prosecutions, better protection of sensitive consumer data, guidance to consumers and business and more help for people whose identities are stolen, officials said.
Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) judges Mon. denied all motions for rehearing by webcasters hoping to reverse a ruling to raise fees they pay to stream music online. The decision came as webcasters, musicians and independent record labels announced formation of a SaveNetRadio Coalition to rally support.
Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) judges Mon. denied all motions for rehearing by webcasters hoping to reverse a March 2 ruling to raise fees they pay to stream music online. The decision came as webcasters, musicians and independent record labels announced formation of a SaveNetRadio Coalition to rally support.