32 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981

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The Telecom Digest for March 27, 2014
Volume 33 : Issue 47 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Police Keep Quiet About Cell-Tracking Technology (Monty Solomon)
Obama to Call for End to N.S.A.'s Bulk Data Collection (Monty Solomon)
Object of Interest: Aereo's Tiny Antennas (Monty Solomon)
Aereo's Kanojia: We either win or disappear (Neal McLain)

====== 32 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======

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Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:41:37 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Police Keep Quiet About Cell-Tracking Technology Message-ID: <p0624084fcf56e2a9ccc1@[10.0.1.11]> Police Keep Quiet About Cell-Tracking Technology WASHINGTON March 22, 2014 (AP) By JACK GILLUM Associated Press Police across the country may be intercepting phone calls or text messages to find suspects using a technology tool known as Stingray. But they're refusing to turn over details about its use or heavily censoring files when they do. Police say Stingray, a suitcase-size device that pretends it's a cell tower, is useful for catching criminals, but that's about all they'll say. For example, they won't disclose details about contracts with the device's manufacturer, Harris Corp., insisting they are protecting both police tactics and commercial secrets. The secrecy - at times imposed by nondisclosure agreements signed by police - is pitting obligations under private contracts against government transparency laws. Even in states with strong open records laws, including Florida and Arizona, little is known about police use of Stingray and any rules governing it. A Stingray device tricks all cellphones in an area into electronically identifying themselves and transmitting data to police rather than the nearest phone company's tower. Because documents about Stingrays are regularly censored, it's not immediately clear what information the devices could capture, such as the contents of phone conversations and text messages, what they routinely do capture based on how they're configured or how often they might be used. ... http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/police-quiet-cell-tracking-technology-23016515
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:41:37 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Obama to Call for End to N.S.A.'s Bulk Data Collection Message-ID: <p0624084acf56df921368@[10.0.1.11]> Obama to Call for End to N.S.A.'s Bulk Data Collection By CHARLIE SAVAGE MARCH 24, 2014 WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is preparing to unveil a legislative proposal for a far-reaching overhaul of the National Security Agency's once-secret bulk phone records program in a way that - if approved by Congress - would end the aspect that has most alarmed privacy advocates since its existence was leaked last year, according to senior administration officials. Under the proposal, they said, the N.S.A. would end its systematic collection of data about Americans' calling habits. The bulk records would stay in the hands of phone companies, which would not be required to retain the data for any longer than they normally would. And the N.S.A. could obtain specific records only with permission from a judge, using a new kind of court order. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/25/us/obama-to-seek-nsa-curb-on-call-data.html
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 15:54:34 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Object of Interest: Aereo's Tiny Antennas Message-ID: <p06240843cf54e9ed7fe4@[10.0.1.11]> Object of Interest: Aereo's Tiny Antennas Posted by Matt Buchanan and Nate Lavey March 15, 2014 The New Yorker At first glance, the only merit of the Brooklyn office of the television startup Aereo-a relatively austere space located on the ninth floor of an oppressively bland, grey building in Clinton Hill-is the sweeping view of the skyline, from eastern Brooklyn to Manhattan. But the clear line of sight-straight to midtown-from its north-facing windows isn't meant for the enjoyment of its employees: it serves Aereo's thousands of tiny antennas, which are pressed against the glass to capture broadcast television signals beamed primarily from the top of the Empire State Building. ... http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2014/03/object-of-interest-aereos-tiny-antennas.html A STARTUP, THE SUPREME COURT, AND THE FUTURE OF TV Posted by Michael Phillips The New Yorker January 15, 2014 http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2014/01/aereo-supreme-court-future-of-television-internet.html
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 21:26:45 -0700 (PDT) From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Aereo's Kanojia: We either win or disappear Message-ID: <5573285a-4a72-465e-aa3f-2f7cb5deb304@googlegroups.com> By Jim Barthold, FierceCable, March 25, 2014 There's no "Plan B" for Aereo: It either wins its copyright battle with broadcasters in the Supreme Court battle or it disappears from the video landscape, CEO Chet Kanojia said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. "There is no plan," Kanojia said when asked about an alternate plan during the interview. "If we don't succeed, despite our best efforts and the good law being on our side, it would be a tragedy. But it is what it is." While Kanojia has held out an olive branch in terms of a potential industry partnership of some sort, that would probably have to wait until the court rulings play out. And it seems unlikely that a cash-strapped Aereo could afford it anyway. The deck seems stacked against Aereo, which, if it wins, could alter the entire broadcasting model of charging for retransmission of broadcast signals. Earlier this month the Justice Department threw its support behind broadcast networks and noted the reversal of a lower court's decision in favor of the startup, saying that the decision "need not call into question the legitimacy of innovative technologies that allow consumers to use the Internet to store, hear, and view their own lawfully acquired copies of copyrighted works." Continue: http://www.fiercecable.com/story/aereos-kanojia-we-either-win-or-disappear/2014-03-25?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal -or- http://tinyurl.com/phtxht7 Neal McLain
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