Klobuchar

After months of fruitless discussions with cell phone carriers, the U.S. Senate is moving closer towards legislation that would stop phone companies from blocking “kill switch” technology that could disable lost or stolen phones, discouraging would-be thieves.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) sent letters this week to Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile asking the carriers to do more to protect customers from phone theft.

Klobuchar is concerned wireless companies may be blocking cell phone manufacturers from enabling anti-theft technology customers could activate to disable missing phones and prevent unauthorized access or reactivation without the customer’s consent.

“Mobile devices aren’t just telephones anymore – increasingly people’s livelihoods depend on them,” Klobuchar said. “That’s why we need to do more to crack down on criminals who are stealing and reselling these devices, costing consumers billions every year. The wireless industry needs to step up to the plate and address these thefts, and make sure consumers have the most advanced security technology at their fingertips.”

The technology is already widely available internationally and has dramatically reduced smartphone theft by eliminating most of the resale value of the expensive devices, which are rendered useless once the phone is disabled.

Apple has contractual control over its products unlike most cell phone manufacturers.

But American carriers have so far refused permission to allow manufacturers like Samsung to introduce the feature in North America. Apple has successfully introduced a “kill switch” on many of its latest devices thanks to favorable contractual language that limits outside interference with the software Apple develops for its wireless devices. Other manufacturers are generally required to bow to carrier demands.

“I think that this is motivated by profit,” San Francisco district attorney George Gascon told CNN. Gascon reported he had seen e-mails from carriers that rebuffed Samsung’s efforts to introduce the technology in the American market.

Companies like AT&T claim that a “kill switch” feature could be exploited by hackers and make restoring service extremely difficult. But manufacturers and proponents of kill switch technology dismiss that argument, claiming the process is easily reversible once a customer enters a correct name and password. Critics believe carriers are motivated by the potential loss of millions from the sale of insurance plans, replacement phones, and the increased revenue earned from the reactivation of stolen phones.

With more than 1.6 million smartphones stolen or lost annually, carriers sell more than $800 million of replacement phones worth at least $500 each. Wireless phone companies also profit selling insurance plans priced at $7 or more monthly that offer free or discounted, typically refurbished cell phone replacements. Most customers never use the insurance plans, earning providers an extra $84 a year in revenue per customer.

Without kill switch technology and other theft prevention measures, the incentive to steal valuable smartphones continues to increase. As the price of sophisticated smartphones continues to increase, they are a prime target in street crime incidents. In San Francisco, 67% of robberies are related to mobile devices, according to the police department. Ten percent of phone owners have had a phone stolen, according to a Harris poll.

For now, the industry has only agreed to develop a voluntary database of phones reported lost or stolen. But participating carriers are largely American, allowing crooks to bypass the list by exporting phones overseas where they are quickly reactivated.

Klobuchar wants carriers to go on the record about kill switch technology, and her letter requested a formal response to three questions:

• Whether companies received offers from handset manufacturers to install “kill switch” technology;
• Have companies introduced the technology and, if not, why not;
• How companies will introduce such technology in the future.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/CNN Kill Switch Smartphones 11-20-13.flv[/flv]

CNN reports American cell phone companies aren’t interested in allowing customers to remotely disable their lost or stolen cell phones. (0:43)

Two years after energy conservation groups revealed many television set-top boxes use almost as much electricity as a typical refrigerator, a voluntary agreement has been reached to cut the energy use of the devices 10-45 percent by 2017.

The Department of Energy, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, the Consumer Electronics Association, and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association agreed to new energy efficiency standards for cable boxes expected to save more than $1 billion in electricity annually, once the new equipment is widely deployed in American homes. That represents enough energy to power 700,000 homes and cut five million tons of CO2 emissions each year.

“These energy efficiency standards reflect a collaborative approach among the Energy Department, the pay-TV industry and energy efficiency groups – building on more than three decades of common-sense efficiency standards that are saving American families and businesses hundreds of billions of dollars,” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. “The set-top box efficiency standards will save families money by saving energy, while delivering high quality appliances for consumers that keep pace with technological innovation.”

DVR boxes are the biggest culprits. American DVRs typically use up to 50W regardless of whether someone is watching the TV or not. Most contain hard drives that are either powered on continuously or are shifted into an idle state that does more to protect the life of the drive than cut a consumer’s energy bill. A combination of a DVR and an extra HD set-top box together consume more electricity than an ENERGY STAR-qualified refrigerator-freezer, even when using the remote control to switch the boxes off.

Manufacturers were never pressed to produce more energy-efficient equipment by the cable and satellite television industry. Current generation boxes often require lengthy start-up cycles to configure channel lineups, load channel listings, receive authorization data and update software. As a result, any overnight power-down would inconvenience customers the following morning — waiting up to five or more minutes to begin watching television as equipment was switched back on. As a compromise, many cable operators instruct their DVR boxes to power down internal hard drives when not recording or playing back programming, minimizing subscriber inconvenience, but also the possible power savings.

In Europe, many set-top boxes are configured with three levels of power consumption — 22.5W while in use, 13.2W while in standby, and 0.65W when in “Deep Sleep” mode. More data is stored in non-volatile memory within the box, meaning channel data, program listings, and authorization information need not be re-downloaded each time the box is powered on, resulting in much faster recovery from power-saving modes.

The new agreement, which runs through 2017, covers all types of set-top boxes from pay-TV providers, including cable, satellite and telephone companies. The agreement also requires the pay-TV industry to publicly report model-specific set-top box energy use and requires an annual audit of service providers by an independent auditor to make sure boxes are performing at the efficiency levels specified in the agreement. The Energy Department also retains its authority to test set-top boxes under the ENERGY STAR verification program, which provides another verification tool to measure the efficiency of set-top boxes.

Comcast, DirecTV, DISH Network, Time Warner Cable, AT&T, Verizon, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Cablevision, Bright House Networks and CenturyLink will begin deploying new energy-efficient equipment during service calls. Some customers may be able to eventually swap equipment earlier, depending on the company.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WCCO Minneapolis Check Your Cable Box 6-27-11.mp4[/flv]

WCCO in Minneapolis reported in 2011 cable operators like Comcast may make subscribers wait 30 minutes or more for set-top box features to become fully available for use after plugging the box in. (1:50)

Robocallers pitching extended auto warranties, home alarm systems, lowered interest rates on credit cards, and more are back in business, despite the “Do Not Call Registry” from the Federal Trade Commission designed to stop the junk phone calls.

Rogue telemarketing has gotten so out of hand, the very federal agency responsible to help stop the torrent of unwanted sales calls had to post a warning about telemarketers misrepresenting themselves as FTC agents on its own website.

The FTC acknowledges it has an uphill battle.

“Our law enforcement actions have already halted billions of robocalls, but with today’s technology, tens of millions can be blasted each day — at a per-minute calling cost of less than 1 cent,” said Federal Trade Commission official Lois Greisman, who oversees the National Do Not Call Registry.

Identifying violators has become increasingly difficult as scammers learn to fake (or ‘spoof’) call origination data that shows up on your Caller ID display.

“Dozens and dozens of spoofed numbers can be used per robocall campaign, and telemarketing scripts are shared as well,” says Greisman, explaining why you may get the same rip-off recording from different incoming numbers.

The most recent trick is to spoof a Caller ID number that appears local, increasing the odds you will pick up the phone. Instead of a family friend on the other end, it is a recorded pitch offering to refinance your mortgage.

A desperate FTC concluded it might be in over its head and launched a contest offering $50,000 and a trip to Washington, D.C. for anyone offering a better solution.

The winner: Nomorobo

Nomorobo is the idea of Steve Foss and it tied first place in the FTC Robocall Challenge.

The free service works with most Voice over IP phone lines (think Vonage or a phone line supplied by your cable operator), but has gotten a mixed reception from wireless carriers and landline giants Verizon and AT&T.

It works with a phone feature called “Simultaneous Ring,” which means when a person calls your number, Nomorobo’s “phone” is also ringing just long enough to collect Caller ID information to compare against its master-telemarketer list. If the number is a known phone spammer, Nomorobo intercepts the call and hangs up on the caller after the first ring. Your legitimate calls still arrive with no interference.

Some phone companies known to support Nomorobo, but not necessarily the only ones:

• AT&T U-verse
• Cablevision Optimum
• SureWest
• Time Warner Cable
• Verizon FiOS
• Vonage

Phone companies like AT&T and Verizon have so far refused to support the service for its landline and wireless customers.

After registering, Nomorobo will guide new users through the simple set up process step-by-step.

The system does not track your incoming calls nor does it monitor them. If an unwanted telemarketer does get through, a report option on the website will help get the unwanted caller’s number into the database.

Stop the Cap! has tested the service and found it effective in blocking about 75% of the unwanted calls that arrive in our office. Our phone rings just once — long enough for caller ID information to be passed — and when the system identifies a known phone spammer, it disconnects them. But the system is not perfect. Telemarketers can theoretically change their spoofed Caller ID number(s) to get around the call block, and we found Nomorobo’s database only as good as the crowdsourced data allows.

Nomorobo also won’t stop political or non-profit groups from calling, at least for now. Our second biggest problem — calls from collection agencies hounding the last owner of our phone number, also remain unaffected.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KNXV Phoenix Block robocalls for free with new website 10-15-13.mp4[/flv]

KNXV in Phoenix explains Nomorobo to its viewers. The service works mostly with Voice over IP providers, which leaves a lot of AT&T and Verizon customers unprotected. (2:04)

AT&T has got your number.

AT&T wants to know what you are doing on the Internet.

If you agree to share your browsing history and view targeted contextual advertising from AT&T and its partners, the company will give you a monthly discount off the price of its new GigaPower gigabit fiber network.

Now launching in Austin, AT&T GigaPower charges $99 a month for 300Mbps standard service (speeds will be raised to 1,000Mbps in 2014 at no extra cost — equipment, installation and activation fees are extra). But customers can knock $30 off the monthly price and skip the new customer fees by enrolling in AT&T’s new “Premier” package, which runs $70 a month.

GigaOm discovered some interesting language in AT&T’s fine print about its Premier service: “[The discount] is available with your agreement to participate in AT&T Internet Preferences. AT&T may use your Web browsing information, like the search terms you enter and the Web pages you visit, to provide you relevant offers and ads tailored to your interests.”

Exactly how AT&T intends to implement its contextual advertising program remains largely a mystery. Google includes contextual ads in its Gmail service, its search engine results, and in online advertising from participants in Google’s AdWords program. AT&T lacks an advertising platform as large as Google or Microsoft’s Bing, so questions are being raised about how exactly AT&T will be able to find enough places to present online ads.

GigaOm suspects AT&T might use deep packet inspection to monitor customers’ web traffic to collect browsing information for contextual ads. Others suspect AT&T will replace certain existing third-party ads found on independent websites with its own advertising. Either is likely to bring the company scrutiny, both from Internet Privacy advocates and website owners that find their advertising replaced by ads from AT&T and its partners.

AT&T’s response to GigaOm left a number of questions unanswered:

We use various methods to collect web browsing information, and we are currently reviewing the methods we may use for the Internet Preferences program. Whichever method is used, we will not collect information from secure (https) or otherwise encrypted sites, such as online banking or when a credit card is used to buy something online on a secure site. And we won’t sell your personal information to anyone, for any reason.

[…] We won’t sell your personal information. Rather, AT&T may use your personal information to direct another advertiser’s ad to you, but that advertiser would never have access to your Personal Information. For example, after you browse hotels in Miami, you may be offered discounts for rental cars, but that rental company doesn’t know who you are.

AT&T is experimenting with consumer acceptance of discounting service in return for giving up some privacy. It says it is giving customers the choice to opt out by signing up for the more expensive “standard” service.

U-verse television service is also available to customers of both packages for an extra $50 a month. Telephone service adds another $30 a month.

AT&T has started rolling out its GigaPower service in the French Place, Mueller, Zilker, and Onion Creek neighborhoods and will select future places to expand based on interest registered by local residents on AT&T’s GigaPower website.

“We’ve already received great input from thousands of Austinites eager for the fastest speeds,” said Dahna Hull, general manager of Austin’s AT&T Services, Inc. “These votes are helping us identify where the need for speed and advanced TV services is the greatest and will help guide our future GigaPower expansion plans.”

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KXAN Austin Internet speed race in Austin is on 12-11-13.mp4[/flv]

Options for super high-speed Internet are heating up in Austin as AT&T introduces AT&T U-verse with GigaPower this week. KXAN reports the service will initially launch with 300Mbps service in a handful of neighborhoods, but upgrade to 1,000Mbps speeds in more locations next year. (2:30)

AT&T has informed Google it will not allow the search engine company to use its utility poles to build a fiber optic network that will compete with AT&T’s own GigaPower fiber service, which launched in Austin this week.

Current rules require utilities to provide non-discriminatory access to poles for all electric and telecommunications companies. AT&T has declared Google is neither, but is willing to work with the company once it is “qualified,” said Tracy King, AT&T’s vice president for public affairs.

“By challenging the city to force an employer to share its equipment contrary to federal law and without transparency, Google appears to be demanding concessions never provided any other entity before,” said King.

The dispute now threatens to involve Austin’s city council, which fears AT&T’s position could result in thousands of new utility poles being installed next to AT&T-owned poles. City officials warn they are willing to settle the matter by changing the rules for all utility companies, using their authority as the owner of the land on which the utility poles are placed.

“We don’t want people to put up their own poles,” Rondella Hawkins, Austin’s telecommunications and regulatory affairs officer, told the Austin-American Statesman. “We want to avoid anybody putting up redundant utility poles. Could you imagine a city where all the (telecommunications) providers individually have their own utility poles? It would be a mess.”

Google said it wants to bring its fiber network to Austin in the least disruptive way possible, and AT&T’s actions may complicate the project.

Martinez

The proposed rules change threatened by the city council brought immediate opposition from both AT&T and the unions that represent AT&T workers.

“The city of Austin should not jump into what amounts to a business dispute and create winners and losers before everyone can present data on all the stakes that are involved,” wrote Becky Moeller, president of the Texas AFL-CIO.

This afternoon, with the rules change pending on the calendar, Google and AT&T apparently decided to work out the dispute before the city imposed a solution.

“After hard work, lots of meetings and tons of input – AT&T and Google agree to negotiate their issues with the city,” Austin council member Mike Martinez wrote on his Facebook page. “A postponement of [the ordinance change] is highly likely. Thank you to them and all who helped make this happen.”

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KVUE Austin Dispute Between Google ATT 12-11-13.mp4[/flv]

KVUE in Austin reports the pole attachment dispute between AT&T and Google threatens to involve the city council. (3:09)