Tech Policy Summit blog

Collaboration? Anyone? Anyone?

Last week, 463 Communications' Sean Garrett wrote about a tech policy "leadership gap" in Silicon Valley. He pointed out what others, including us, agree is a need for more involvement by up-and-coming tech execs and innovators. It's an issue that has been top of mind for us since we founded the Tech Policy Summit conference in early 2006, and it's a challenge that we're actively working on today.

In fact, we'll be announcing a new project later this summer that is designed to help bring more upstart Silicon Valley entrepreneurs into the fold. After all, why should the big players like Microsoft, IBM, Google and Intel have all of the fun?

I believe there's another missing ingredient though, and a series of recent occurrences reminds me just how critical it is: Collaboration, with a capital C.

It's no accident that Tech Policy Summit's tagline is Collaborating to Drive Technology Innovation and Adoption. From the outset, our goal has been to create an open forum where key stakeholders from the various 'us vs. them' camps can come together on neutral ground to share their perspectives and to find new ways to work together. We launched TechPolicyCentral.com last October to extend that vision to the Internet, and hopefully to more people.

Of course, we know better than to harbor Pollyannish beliefs that a single conference or Web site is enough to bridge the chasms that still divide D.C. and Silicon Valley, or Hollywood and just about everyone else. The cold, hard truth is that there are different interests with different goals that don't always align.

But what about the dozens of tech policy-related organizations vying for the attention of techies and politicos that do share similar goals? Our experience has been that some (not all) would rather go it alone -- even if that means reaching fewer people or having less of an impact.

Wouldn't it be more effective for advocacy work in D.C., and less confusing to individuals on the sidelines in Silicon Valley, if those who carry the mantle of advancing tech policy figured out how to work with each other instead of competing with one another? To be clear, there are some organizations that get this and are 110% committed to collaborating in order to effect change.

It is the others that I find baffling.

AP: FCC May Change Terms of Cellphone Contracts

The Associated Press is reporting that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is "quietly negotiating" with several wireless phone carriers to reduce early termination fees and to provide consumers with a grace period in which to cancel their cellphone contracts without penalty. You may recall that both of those provisions were included in the Cell Phone Consumer Empowerment Act of 2007 that Senators Amy Klobucher (D-MN) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced last Fall.

While fees currently vary by carrier and the two largest cellphone providers AT&T and Verizon Wireless already prorate early termination fees, $175+ penalties to cancel a cellphone contract have outraged some consumers and prompted class-action lawsuits against the cellphone industry in states like California and New York.

According to the AP, an agreement with the FCC "would let cell phone companies off the hook in state courts where they are being sued for billions of dollars...[and]...also would take away the authority of states to regulate the charges."

Verizon Wireless introduced the proposal, which calls for prorating and capping early termination fees, and allowing customers to cancel cellphone service without penalty up to 30 days after contract signing or within 10 days of receiving their first bill. 

Philly's Muni Wi-Fi Network Down for the Count

After months of speculation about the future of Philadelphia's once-enviable plan for a municipal Wi-Fi network, EarthLink has confirmed that it will shut down the city's network on June 12th.

Ars Technica quoted a statement by EarthLink CEO Rolla Huff, who described the situation as follows: "EarthLink has worked diligently for many months to transfer our WiFi network to a new owner--at no cost...Unfortunately, our hope that we could transfer our network to a nonprofit organization that had planned to offer free WiFi throughout Philadelphia will not be realized."

Ars goes on to recount EarthLink's muni Wi-Fi woes, which culminated in Mr. Huff's announcement last November that he was trying to sell off the company's muni Wi-Fi business. According to the Associated Press, the Philly network has less than 6,000 subscribers, out of a projected minimum of 100,000, and EarthLink claims that it has been losing up to $200,000 each month to operate the network.

EarthLink will soon pull the plug on muni Wi-Fi in New Orleans as well, and it's moving forward with plans to turn over control of other networks to cities like Milpitas, Calif. and Corpus Christi, Texas.

The future of public wide-area broadband was the topic of one of the breakout sessions at Tech Policy Summit '08 in March. You can listen to the podcast here.

Like MySpace, Facebook Strikes Net Safety Deal with AGs

TechCrunch broke the news this morning that Facebook is adopting a set of "Key Principles Of Social Networking Safety" as part of an agreement with attorneys general from 49 states and the District of Columbia that will require the social networking site to take steps to better protect kids (Texas is the only state not signed on). You may remember that MySpace made a similar announcement last January.

The policy was announced by Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal as part of the ongoing efforts of a coalition called the Multi-State Attorney General Executive Committee. Mr. Blumenthal gave the following statement in a press release:

"We are raising the safety bar, first for MySpace and now Facebook, and soon for other sites as we fight for an industry gold standard. Facebook and MySpace are showing how to aim higher and keep kids safer. Our ultimate goal is age and identity verification technology -- safeguards against child molesters and inappropriate material. Checking ages and identities is vital to better shielding underage users from predators and pornography."

It's that last point about using age verification technology that concerned Internet safety expert Adam Thierer when the MySpace agreement was made earlier this year. As he wrote in this January post on the Progress and Freedom Foundation blog, "even assuming we could find a way to make it [age verficiation] work, there are many other considerations that must be taken into account, such as the burden it might impose on freedom of speech or individual privacy."

More details on Facebook's agreement are available at TechCrunch.

Clearwire 2.0 Renews WiMAX Push

It's official...Sprint Nextel and Clearwire are joining forces to create a new -- and, they hope, improved -- wireless broadband company under the Clearwire brand.

After a rocky partnership that was put on hold last November with the announcement that the two had ended their agreement to develop a nationwide WiMAX network, Sprint and Clearwire are once again on the WiMAX bandwagon together. And they're not alone.

The "new" Clearwire has help in the form of a $3.2 billion investment from Intel, Comcast, Google, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. According to the Associated Press, the deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter with Clearwire founder Craig McCaw serving as chairman and the chief execs of Sprint, Time Warner Cable and Comcast getting board seats. Clearwire's CEO is Benjamin Wolff and Sprint's CTO Barry West will serve as president (Sprint Nextel will have a 51% equity stake in the company). 

AP reports that Clearwire's targeting 120 million to 140 million U.S. customers by the end of 2010.

UPDATE: Google, which contributed $500 million to the new venture and will partner to offer apps and services to Clearwire customers, has high hopes for its investment. In a post on the company blog this morning, Googler Larry Adler explains: "As we've supported open standards for spectrum and wireless handsets, we're especially excited that Clearwire intends to build and maintain a network that will embrace important openness features."

News From Who's Who

Below is a quick roundup of recent press releases from Tech Policy Central's Who's Who, which profiles nearly 100 think tanks, coalitions and trade associations.

• Net neutrality adovcate group Free Press published the testimony of its policy director Ben Scott, who was among the witnesses at this morning's net neutrality hearing held by the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. Mr. Scott joined NCTA chief Kyle McSlarrow, RIAA CEO Mitch Bainwol, Christian Coalition vice president Michele Combs and others who appeared before the Subcommittee to discuss Chairman Ed Markey's (D-MA) proposed bill, H.R. 5353, The Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008. We shared brief notes from the hearing via Twitter.

• In response to today's hearing on H.R. 5353, the Competitive Enterprise Institute released a statement by its technology policy analyst Cord Blomquist opposing the proposed net neutrality bill. According to Mr. Blomquist, "this bill does more than prohibit bad actions that will never happen. It also prevents ISPs from employing sensible network management that is vital for addressing the growing demands of Internet users."

Virginia Takes Lead in Net Safety Education

According to The Washington Post, Virginia is taking the lead in promoting Internet safety education by incorporating online safety lessons in its public school curriculum as a part of new statewide program that will take effect in September. As the Post explains, "even though today's students have known no life without the Internet, only a couple of states have laws that recommend schools teach online safety."

Virginia is the first state to pass a law mandating such an effort at all grade levels, and child safety expert Adam Thierer of the Progress and Freedom Foundation believes it is a model that other state and local officials should follow (Illinois and Texas have passed laws as well).

One of the things that makes Virginia's program unique, beyond the fact that it's mandated, is that it's designed to integrate Internet safety into students' overall educational experience. So, rather than having a special assembly or one-off lecture, the goal is to weave the lessons into the curriculum so that students "have to think about [Internet safety] all the time."

In addition to teaching kids how to protect themselves from online predators, the article suggests that coursework will cover other topics like cyber bullying, copyright infringement and safe use of text messaging and social networking sites. There are also efforts to include parents through public service announcements and school meetings.