Susan Ashworth reports in Radio World that broadcasters are turning to "national security" to get cell phones to play AM and FM radio signals. The National Association of Broadcasters and National Public Radio are now crowing about how they can help free up bandwidth in a national emergency. Usually, when lobbyists cry "national security" they are usually just trying to pile on extra funding, but they may have something of a point. Putting aside whether consumers want to receive AM and FM radio signals on their phones, their argument before a Congressional hearing on improving wireless emergency alerts, was that, if the plan to send important public safety alerts to cell phones included a link to an internet site, the flood of immediate traffic to that site would probably cause problems. Remember on Sept. 11, 2001 how difficult it was to make a call? Imagine now if every cell phone got an alert telling the user to go to a certain website for more information. “Adding a URL that simply drives users to the Internet will only exacerbate the congestion of wireless networks that already plagues mobile communications and impedes public safety during times of crisis,” NPR and the NAB argued in the comments on a new emergency alert policy. Instead, broadcasters argue, why not send citizens to their local AM and FM radio stations for more information. That way no additional bandwidth is being used, as terrestrial radio stations do not crash from too many listeners. They may be correct, but they just want cell phone users to be able to tune in to local frequencies from their cell phones, so adding an "emergency" component makes a good political argument. "Several phone manufacturers already support the activation of FM chips in mobile devices, including T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint. However, even though a majority of smartphones sold in the U.S. during the second quarter of 2015 were equipped with an FM tuner, the NAB said, FM reception was disabled by phone manufacturers and wireless carriers in 63 percent of these devices," Radio World reports. The FCC is accepting reply comments on the issue through Feb. 12 for Proceeding Number is 15-91.

Bob Mould, "Voices in My Head" from "Patch The Sky."

John Koblinjan in The New York Times reports that the cable news channel Al Jazeera America is closing in April. The Quater-based network was recorgnized for high-quality, sober journalism and very low ratings. Al Jazeera began distributing a radio show as WGXC went on the air, which aired on 90.7-FM until 2013, when the American Al Jazeera television network debuted and the radio show ended. Locally, Mid-Hudson Cable dropped the channel soon after Al Jazeera America launched. Two weeks ago, the network aired their largest profile story, with accusations that NFL quarterback Peyton Manning's wife was mailed HGH, a drug not allowed in the football league, around the time that Manning struggled with neck surgery. While two other athletes have sued for the story, the Manning story has not been disproven. Read the full story in The New York Times.

On Jan. 12 the U.S. House Communications and Technology Committee considered the Amateur Radio Parity Act 2015, the first time the committee has moved it along. A similar bill that would supersede local private land use restrictions and regulations from applying to amateur service communications died in previous Congressional sessions. This time 117 representatives have co-sponsored the bill. But during the Jan. 12 hearing, it was clear the bill is a battle between the weak amateur radio lobby and the more powerful homeowners lobby. Ranking Member Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) expressed her skepticism about the bill. Click here to hear an excerpt of what Eschoo said Jan. 12 at the House Communications and Technology Committee hearing.

The House Subcommittee on Information Technology "Cybersecurity and Export Control" hearing from Jan. 12.
• To review the interagency export control policy and process implementing the 2013 Wassenaar Arrangement cybersecurity technologies additions. • To review the Department of Commerce’s (Commerce) rule-making process for implementing the Wassenaar export controls. • To highlight the impact on American businesses and the cybersecurity industry. • To discuss how the Department of State (State) and their interagency partners should proceed on cybersecurity matters at Wassenaar moving forward.

Tim Cushing at TechDirt reports that New York Assemblyman Matthew Titone (D-Staten Island) introduced a bill this week that bans the sale of smartphones that can't be cracked by their manufacturers. This anti-encryption legislation would, presumably, ban most cell phones from being sold in New York. Most phones contain many parts that are encrypted, such as apps that allow monetary transactions. Consumer payments are safe online because of encryption. Titone originally introduced this bill last year, and re-introduced the legislation this week as Albany re-opened for business. TechDirt says they believe this is the first proposal of its kind in the United States. "Apple Stores would apparently be unable to sell any smartphones and every service provider would have to eliminate any phones with default encryption from their lineups," Cushing writes. Encryption only makes certain transactions, or conversations, private. Read the full story at TechDirt.

The Federal Communications Commission just released its latest broadband status report, and it says 34 million Americans, or about 10 percent of the country, "still lack access to fixed broadband at the FCC’s benchmark speed of 25 Mbps for downloads, 3 Mbps for uploads." If there is broadband available in the U.S., usually there is only one choice, as two-thirds of the country has only one choice for broadband. That ranks the U.S 16th out of the top 34 developed countries on the planet, a very average score. Recently the FCC has taken some action: reclassifing ISPs under Title II, passing new net neutrality rules, improving middle-mile network funding, and redefining broadband as something 25 Mbps or faster. Karl Bode has a complete examination of the report at TechDirt.

David Oxenford in the Broadcast Law blog reports that the Federal Communications Commission may soon require all radio, cable, and satellite broadcasters to keep their public files online. Currently, all broadcasters must keep a file available for public inspection of documents related to the broadcaster's license and responsibilities as a user of the public airwaves. But, because many broadcast corportations don't value transparency, they have lobbied successfully to keep that public file offline-only until now. On Jan. 28, at the FCC's monthly meeting, they will consider a proposal to require broadcasters keep their public files online.

On Jan. 12 the U.S. House Communications and Technology Committee considers Amateur Radio Parity Act 2015; No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act; Anti-Spoofing Act of 2015, and another unnamed communications bill. Watch video http://energycommerce.house.gov/studio/webcasts live, and Wave Farm Radio will simulcast the audio.

Members will review the following four proposals:

H.R. 1301, the Amateur Radio Parity Act, authored by Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) instructs the Federal Communications Commission to adopt rules to protect the rights of amateur radio operators to use amateur radio equipment. In general, communications equipment is recognized under current law as having a societal benefit in providing access to information. Land use restrictions imposed by governments or homeowners associations on other communications equipment is currently protected by FCC regulations. H.R. 1301 instructs the FCC to adopt similar regulations for the use of amateur radio equipment.

H.R. 2666, the No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act, also authored by Kinzinger, would prevent the FCC from regulating the rates charged for broadband Internet. The FCC’s Open Internet Order reclassified broadband under Title II, giving the FCC the ability to regulate rates in two distinct ways: tariffing and through declarations of what are “reasonable” rates. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has stated that the Open Internet Order is not about regulating rates, and as such, the FCC used its authority to avoid applying the tariff authority to broadband. However, that still leaves the FCC free to regulate broadband through its enforcement authority. H.R. 2666 holds future FCC chairmen to this commitment by preventing rate regulation of broadband by statute.

H.R. 2669, the Anti-Spoofing Act, authored by Reps. Grace Meng (D-NY), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), and full committee Chairman Emeritus Joe Barton (R-TX), extends the provisions of the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009 to text messaging. The legislation also addresses the growth of services that allows a user to knowingly transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identification information by adding a definition of “spoofing service,” to the Truth in Caller ID Act. The full House approved the Anti-Spoofing Act by voice vote in 2014.

H.R. ____, the Small Business Broadband Deployment Act, authored by subcommittee Chairman Walden would make permanent the FCC's temporary exemption from the enhanced disclosure rules for small businesses required by the commission’s Open Internet Order. The bill also defines a small business as any provider of broadband Internet access service that has fewer than 1,500 employees, or 500,000 subscribers.
See more at: http://energycommerce.house.gov/press-release/hearing-subcommtech-kick-2016-continued-focus-protecting-consumers-and-small#sthash.1qtem4N6.dpuf

Last week, jazz pianist Paul Bley and classical composer Pierre Boulez both died, and, if you live in New York City, one could have tuned into WKCR-FM (89.9-FM) for long-duration tributes full of their music, plus knowledgeable stories from disc jockeys, historic interviews, and other special sounds. Outside of New York, though, WKCR was silent too, as its webstream also went dead. Columbia University runs the station, and they told The New York Times that, "the problem was not the cost of royalties but contractual terms with the station’s 'provider' and that negotiations were underway." Radio stations pay SoundExchange, a nonprofit agency that administers licensing for record companies, for rights to play songs. But record companies do not want radio stations to play an entire album of any artists work, in case someone somewhere is recording that album and not purchasing it. The New York Times article is not clear about whether WKCR stopped streaming because of issues with SoundExchange, or issues with Columbia University. The story does make clear that a related issue, the recent commercial radio licensing rates announced by the Copyright Royalty Board, are not the source of the problem with WKCR's internet stream. That decision affected Pandora, Live365, and iHeartMedia, with Live365 laying off nearly their entire staff.

New music on Wave Farm Radio and WGXC for Jan. 9, 2016.

+++BEATS BEES LIKE FOR B-BOYS AND B-GIRLS+++ by Erykah She Ill Badu on Mixcloud

+++BEATS BEES LIKE FOR B-BOYS AND B-GIRLS+++ by Erykah She Ill Badu on Mixcloud

Hearing Tarantino from Jacob T. Swinney on Vimeo.

Of Oz the Wizard from Matt Bucy on Vimeo.

Sometimes copyright cases are more philosophical than other lawsuits. Take two recent cases, one about a monkey's rights over a photograph, and the other about who owns the rights to silence. On Jan. 6 U.S. District Judge William Orrick ruled against the People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals, who were suing on behalf of a 6-year-old monkey, Naruto. Photographer David Slater handed Naruto his camera in Indonesia in 2011, and the monkey took the camera, and snapped a selfie. The judge ruled that Naruto does not have any copyrights. "I'm not the person to weigh into this," Orrick said. "This is an issue for Congress and the president. If they think animals should have the right of copyright they're free, I think, under the Constitution, to do that." In November Business Insider reported about the case of DJ Detweiler, and how Soundcloud took down his cover version of John Cage's "4'33" composition. The song is famously silent, although DJ Detweiler's version's silence was, "was not a track of silence and was taken down because it included Justin Bieber's What Do You Mean without the rights holder's permission," according to Soundcloud. D.J. Detweiler told Business Insider that it was meant, "to start a conversation about copyright for fun," saying the take down was part of the performance.

Radio Today is starting an online radio stream aimed at radio professionals, as a radio station about radio. The station will be based in the U.K. with podcasts such as the RadioToday Programme, Radio Stuff, Earshot Creative Review, and The Media Podcast and presenters include former Real Radio presenter Guy Harris at ‘breakfast’, ex-Atlantic 252 DJ Enda Caldwell in afternoon drive time and freelance 5 live journalist Stuart Clarkson reporting radio news, with RadioNewsHub.com providing hourly updates. The station will also air live radio events, and award ceremonies, and conferences. “It’s always puzzled me why the radio industry doesn’t have a radio station of its own," said Roy Martin, Radio Today's Founder and Managing Editor.

In 2014 The New York Times profiled the prototype of a tool that records various kinds of internet content. At the time it was called Colloq, and was aimed to be, “As close as possible, you’re going to get the experience of interacting with the actual site,” said Jon Ippolito, a professor of new media at the University of Maine who advised Rhizome, a non-profit arts group, in designing the project. “It is reconstructing it, bit by bit, in a technology that is very close to the original and allows users to explore it interactively the way they could with the original.” Now, Jan. 4, Rhizome was awarded a two-year, $600,000 grant to underwrite the development of what has become Webrecorder from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Webrecorder will save content from formats that may not linger on the internet. Remember Friendster or Myspace? Anything shared there ten years ago is lost currently in the Facebook world. "In 1999, Rhizome founded the ArtBase, a distinctive collection of technically diverse born-digital art. In 2009, recognizing the fragility of these system-dependent works, we created a digital preservation program to care for them.... we look forward to leading further innovation in the field of digital preservation through the Webrecorder project," said Zachary Kaplan, Rhizome’s Executive Director. An early version of Webrecorder is available at webrecorder.io.

Radio France and Deutschlandradio shut down their medium wave transmissions at the end of 2015. While in the United States the Federal Communications Commission is trying to save AM by rebroadcasting AM stations on FM radio, in Europe, authorities are moving away from the frequencies. Medium wave is the part of the radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. In Europe the medium band ranges from 526.5 kHz to 1606.5 kHz, with channels spaced every 9 kHz, while in North America it extends to 1705 kHz, with 10 kHz spacing. The AM band can travel farther then FM, as the waves are larger, but it is also much noisier, with much static. Radio France and Deutschlandradio both said listener numbers have dwindled significantly on the band, and shifted programming to FM, digital, and Internet broadcast outlets.

DJ Earworm's annual mash-up of the year in pop music, for 2015.
Next week, David Bowie releases "Blackstar."

The Columbia Paper reports about a new study released by the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College. “Drone Sightings and Close Encounters: An Analysis,” studied 921 radio-controlled incidents in the national airspace between December 2013 and September 2015. There were 327 incidents in which drones presented some level of hazard to manned aircraft, and 90 of those involved commercial jets, according to coauthors Dan Gettinger and Arthur Holland Michel. “We are looking to furnish stakeholders and the public with a reliable, data-driven guide to the potential risks posed by drones to manned flight,” Gettinger said. The Center for the Study of the Drone was founded in 2012, to expand the public’s understanding of the opportunities and challenges associated with the development and proliferation of unmanned technologies. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.