BROADCASTS.com

Published: April 10, 2016, 7:38 p.m.

Intro

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On Wednesday, March 30, 2016 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) started a three-year process of making our mobile internet even faster and better. The government is buying underused TV airwaves and selling it to mobile carriers for billions of dollars. These radio waves\u2014also known as spectrum\u2014will shape mobile US connectivity as streaming video continues to swallow up bandwidth across the country and as we\xa0inch closer to 5G internet speeds. In this podcast, we discuss the auction process.

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Updates

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Ransomware Evolution is Really Bad News \xad - Angela Alcorn

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Recently, 10 hospitals in Maryland operated without access to their central network because their domain servers were locked by a ransomware known as Samsam

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http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ransomware-evolution-is-really-bad-news-microsoft-edge-will-intelligently-pause-flash-tech-news-digest/

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Victims paid more than $24 million to ransomware criminals in 2015 \u2014 and that's just the beginning \u2013\xa0Dan Turkel

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The DOJ revealed that the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) had received nearly 7,700 public complaints regarding ransomware since 2005, totaling $57.6 million in damages. Those damages include ransoms paid \u2014 generally $200 to $10,000, according to the FBI \u2014 as well as costs incurred in dealing with the attack and estimated value of data lost. In 2015 alone, victims paid over $24 million across nearly 2,500 cases reported to the IC3.

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http://www.businessinsider.com/doj-and-dhs-ransomware-attacks-government-2016-4\xa0

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Adobe issues emergency update to Flash after ransomware attacks \u2013 Jim Finkle

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Adobe Systems Inc (ADBE.O) issued an emergency update on Thursday to its widely used Flash software for Internet browsers after researchers discovered a security flaw that was being exploited to deliver ransomware to Windows PCs.

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The software maker urged the more than 1 billion users of Flash on Windows, Mac, Chrome and Linux computers to update the product as quickly as possible after security researchers said the bug was being exploited in "drive-by" attacks that infect computers with ransomware when tainted websites are visited.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-adobe-systems-cyber-ransomware-idUSKCN0X502K

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Spectrum

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How about the auction, What\u2019s spectrum?

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The way it is being used here, by the FCC - Spectrum is really just a fancy term for radio waves, a specific portion of the\xa0electromagnetic spectrum.

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What\u2019s going on with T-Mobile?

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T-Mobile wants to stop that from happening, saying AT&T and Verizon already control three-fourths of low-band frequencies.

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Who else is interested in spectrum?

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Comcast, Charter, and Dish Network, Google (?)

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How is this auction being setup?

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TV broadcasters by Tuesday April 5 must have made official their intentions to accept the FCC's opening price for the rights to the\xa0spectrum they currently use for digital TV broadcasts.\xa0

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Who is bidding and how much money are we talking about?

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AT&T,\xa0Verizon, T-Mobile, Comcast, Dish Network, etc

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Can you describe the spectrum being auctioned and what will be done with it?

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The FCC expects that bidders will provide new wireless services using that spectrum, which is in the 600 MHz band and\xa0currently used for UHF\xa0TV channels. The characteristics of UHF that make it good for TV also work well for wireless communications and data delivery -- the waves can\xa0travel\xa0great distances and pass through buildings.

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So what happens if a TV station sells its spectrum?

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TV broadcasters have the choice of moving to a lower-frequency\xa0spot\xa0on the spectrum, sharing\xa0signals with a neighboring station\xa0or giving up broadcasting altogether.

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Does the FCC know which stations are going to sell?

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While some stations have made their intentions to participate in the reverse auction public, the FCC is not able to announce what percent of the 1,800 eligible\xa0TV stations\xa0are involved, because of confidentiality\xa0protections within\xa0the 2012 Congressional action that led to the auction.

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What if a station sells? Are they out of business?

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As the FCC reorganizes spectrum allocations after the auction, some TV channels may need to be reassigned during the 39-month transition period. Any reassignment requires that the FCC\xa0preserve stations' current audience and geographical reach. For more information about the incentive auction, visit\xa0the FCC web site http://www.fcc.gov/

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You mentioned some big provider names \u2013 can you give more details?

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Currently, the\xa0top four nationwide providers - Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile - combined hold more than 80% of available wireless spectrum. AT&T is expected to spend at least $10 billion on the auction, with Verizon to spend from $8 billion to $10 billion, and T-Mobile between $6 billion and $10 billion. Zino did not estimate Comcast or Dish's spending.

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Why do we need more spectrum?

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Video takes up 50 percent of all US mobile data and\xa0will likely grow to 70 percent\xa0in 2021, which is when this rearranged spectrum will go into use. Because video requires more over-the-air bandwidth than other types of data, these bigger lanes will open up the possibility for applications we haven\u2019t even thought of yet. These lower-frequency bands will play a role in 5G. In much the same way that 700 MHz paved the way for America\u2019s world-leading deployment of 4G, so could 600 MHz accelerate U.S. deployment of 5G.\u201d

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How fast will 5G go?

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5G standards have yet to be defined. In October 2014,\xa0Samsung Electronics set the first record\xa0by achieving a wireless speed of 7.5Gbps in tests at its DMC R&D Centre at Samsung Electronics in Suwon, South Korea. But in November 2014, the record was beaten by the University of Surrey's\xa05G Innovation Centre (5GIC), which was founded by a host of telecoms industry partners, including Fujitsu, Aircom, BT, Samsung, Telefonica, Vodafone, Aeroflex and Rohde & Schwarz, as well as the BBC.

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5GIC achieved a speed of 0.8 terabits (800Gbps) in its tests. Then on 25 February 2015,\xa0it beat its own record by hitting 1Tbps, which is currently the world record.

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How about 5G distance?

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So far, the most impressive test has been that of Huawei and NTT DoComo, who\xa0achieved mobile internet speeds of 3.6Gbps outdoors\xa0across the city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province, China in October 2015.

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Will there be enough participation?

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Good question, there's some concern that not enough stations planned to participate in this latest auction. Only one in ten broadcasters expressed an interest in selling its spectrum in discussions in advance of the auction, according to tech consulting firm\xa0the Envisioneering Group. Time will tell.

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Bits and Bytes

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Why The FBI Director Puts Tape Over His Webcam \xa0\u2013 Andy Greenberg

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FBI Director James Comey gave a speech this week about encryption and privacy, repeating his argument that "absolute privacy" hampers law enforcement. But it was an offhand remark during the Q&A session at Kenyon College that caught the attention of privacy activists:

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"I saw something in the news, so I copied it. I put a piece of tape \u2014 I have obviously a laptop, personal laptop \u2014 I put a piece of tape over the camera. Because I saw somebody smarter than I am had a piece of tape over their camera."

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http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/08/473548674/why-the-fbi-director-puts-tape-over-his-webcam

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The Senate\u2019s Draft Encryption Bill Is \u2018Ludicrous, Dangerous, Technically Illiterate\u2019 \u2013 Martin Kaste

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On Thursday evening, the draft text of a bill called the \u201cCompliance with Court Orders Act of 2016,\u201d authored by offices of Senators Diane Feinstein and Richard Burr,\xa0 was published online by the Hill.1 It\u2019s a nine-page piece of legislation that would require people to comply with any authorized court order for data\u2014and if that data is \u201cunintelligible,\u201d the legislation would demand that it be rendered \u201cintelligible.\u201d In other words, the bill would make illegal the sort of user-controlled encryption that\u2019s in every modern iPhone, in all billion devices that run Whatsapp\u2019s messaging service, and in dozens of other tech products. http://www.wired.com/2016/04/senates-draft-encryption-bill-privacy-nightmare/

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SpaceX Landing

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEr9cPpuAx8