The U.S. House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on Thursday, April 30, 2015, at 2 p.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building titled “FCC Reauthorization: Improving Commission Transparency.”

April 30 was World Press Freedom Day, and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) hopes that press freedom extends to the radio waves. AMARC launched its International legal protection and global advocacy program for community media, and noted several recent attacks on radio press freedom. "In 2014, Radio Estéreo Luz and Radio La Voz de Sonora, located in the western department of Quiché, Guatemala, have been shut down and their equipment have been seized. In Egypt, Internet Radio Horytna was recently persecuted because of illegal internet streaming. In April 2015, in Mexico, Abel Manuel Bautista Raymundo, founder and director of Radio Espacio 96.1 FM in Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca state, was murdered," AMARC wrote in a press release. They note that Swedish commercial stations currently occupy community radio frequencies there, and say, "community radio licences are becoming less a resource for non-profit associations and more an opportunity for commercial operators who can circumvent the formal commercial radio sector and its official responsibilities, including concession fees to the government." AMARC is creating a legal office for "frequency planning, technical standards for telecommunications and radio, and development resources" for community media.

Gary Thorne calls the seventh inning of the Baltimore Orioles game with the Chicago White Sox April 29. Because of civil unrest in the town after the funeral of victim of, at least, overzealousness by local police, the game was played without an audience, leading to an unusual broadcast.

[caption width="330" align="alignright"] From Norwegian radio website. http://radio.no/[/caption]CNN's headline last week "Norway to become first nation in world to shut down FM radio" was not quite true. First, the Norwegian Local Radio Association (NLF) said besides the major stations, only 23 local radio stations will transition to DAB. NLF also said the Norwegian parliment requires 50 percent of the country already be listening to digital feeds before turning the analog signals off. Currently only 19 percent of Norway tunes in DAB broadcasts. And, the analog switch-off still needs approval from parliament. Paul Riismandel in Radio Survivor reports the shut-off has majority support, but opposition from the Progress Party and the Green Party say the change is only due to lobbying from the Digitalradio Norge AS company, not by any consumer demand. Digital broadcasting there is well ahead of the United States, though, where two or three percent of the population can tune in digital radio according to Riismandel in Radio Survivor. "The country’s topography is hard on analog radio signals. Its population-density and distribution makes planning a network of DAB+ transmitters to serve the country a relatively straightforward exercise. And most importantly, Norway’s radio industry isn’t that large, and its most powerful constituents are public and state broadcasters, who’ve been quite supportive of digital radio from the outset," John Anderson in diymedia.net writes. The U.K. has 36.8 percent digital penetration, and most Norwegian broadcasters have upgraded to newer DAB+, which means much better sound quality then in England. The United States are under a completely different format, with major differences. HD Radio, the format here, puts digital signals on analogue frequencies, with usually two extra channels with sound quality issues. DAB, the format chosen by the rest of the world, sounds better and seems more adaptable. For instance, Ofcom, England's radio regulator like the FCC, is allowing community groups to apply for small-scale, stand-alone DAB stations, akin to the digital version of low-power FM. Norway may not be turning off its FM transmitters any time soon, but an all-digital future is probably inevitable.

Radio, whether local FM signals, or longer-range shortwave transmissions, continue to be the most immediate way to exchange information in an emergency or disaster. Last week in Nepal, after a 7.8 magnitude quake left at least 4,000 dead, shortwave sounds played an important role in recovery efforts. Here, via the SWLing Post blog, is one example:

My pal, ?@K7al_L3afta, recently posted the following recording of the Nepal emergency amateur radio net via Twitter:

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/202805250" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]
Wikipedia says the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in Manhattan in 2001, the 2003 North America blackout, and Hurricane Katrina in September 2005, are three recent times in the United States when, "amateur radio was used to coordinate disaster relief activities when other systems failed." In March, Hurricane Pam destroyed much of the island of Vanuata, with Vanuatu Net, "operating daily at 0730 Local time, 2030 ZULU during cruising season on 8.230 with a fallback frequency of 8.188."

White House press secretary Josh Earnest detailed American policy about radio-controlled drones about as well as anyone in the administration does, at a briefing last week largely about the Americans killed in a drone attack on terrorists. Warren Weinstein, 73, of Rockville, Md., and an Italian hostage were killed in a January bombing from a radio-controlled drone targeting terrorists in Pakistan President Obama said April 23. While the media in America were riled up by the death-from-above to one if its own, civilian death-by-drone is nothing unusual. Leah Libresco at fivethrityeight.com details, as much as anyone could, the little data there is about civilian death from remote-controlled drone bombings. Drones killed between 421 and 960 civilians in Pakistan between 2004 and April 12, 2015, according to estimates from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the story says. Statistics here are sketchy, for many reasons. The U.S. government, for instance, does not count any men killed by bombings as civilians. The Long War Journal estimates that drones killed 156 civilians in Pakistan between 2006 and April 13, 2015, The New America Foundation guesses that between 2004 and April 12, 2015, 258-307 civilians were killed in Pakistan. The Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic estimated that drones killed 72-155 civilians in Pakistan in 2011. So, while this American's death was tragic, it was not alone among innocents killed by radio-controlled drones.

Mike Masnick at Techdirt.com reports that two very different bills about computer hackers were introduced in Congress last week. Aaron's Law, from Senators Ron Wyden and Rand Paul and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, is designed to fix problems with the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Aaron's Law is named after Aaron Swartz, faced 30 years in jail under the CFAA because he downloaded too many academic journal articles that he may have been entitled to download. The talented computer activist committed suicide instead of face those 30 years for that somewhat trivial transgression. The same day that Aaron's Law was introduced, Senators Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced a competing law called the Data Breach Notification and Punishing Cyber Criminals Act although they did not release text of the proposed law, just a YouTube video (above) and a press release. Gillibrand says, "The bill raises the maximum allowable fines and imprisonment for many of the statutes which cyber criminals are charged: identity theft, conspiracy to commit access device fraud, obtaining information from a protected computer without authorization and computer hacking with intent to defraud." Masnick at Techdirt argues that the, "obtaining information from a protected computer without authorization" was the concern in the Swartz case. A too-broad term was used to inflict a sentence far too harsh. "It suggests a pretty serious cluelessness about the incentives and motivations of those who commit many of those breaches," he wrote. "Increasing the number of years they could spend in time from crazily high to insanely high isn't going to change a damn thing." Read the full story at Techdirt.com.

The Guardian reported April 23 that David Petraeus, a retired U.S. army general and former CIA director, was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine for sharing highly classified information with his lover and biographer, Paula Broadwell. Petraeus said he was looking forward to moving on with the next phase of his life, “and continuing to serve our great nation as a private citizen.” Petraeus was prosecuted under Title 18 of the Espionage Act just like Chelsea Manning, who got 35 years for leaking a many classified documents to WikiLeaks. Stephen Kim, a former State Department official, also violated the same act, and received a sentenced of 13 months in prison after pleading guilty to discussing a classified report with a Fox News reporter in 2009. Petraeus was the most trusted of the three, who, arguably, leaked information for the least altruistic reasons of the three. One wonders why Edward Snowden does not want to return to the U.S. for a trial.

Andy Greenberg in Wired reports the U.S. House of Representatives voted April 22 307-116 in favor of the Protecting Cyber Networks Act, "a bill designed to allow more fluid sharing of cybersecurity threat data between corporations and government agencies." Privacy advocates say the bill, "threatens to open up a new backchannel for surveillance of American citizens, in some cases granting the same companies legal immunity to share their users’ private data with government agencies that include the NSA." “PCNA would significantly increase the National Security Agency’s (NSA’s) access to personal information, and authorize the federal government to use that information for a myriad of purposes unrelated to cybersecurity,” reads a letter signed earlier this week by 55 civil liberties groups and security experts that includes the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Human Rights Watch and many others. Congressman Adam Schiff led the advocacy for the bill on the House floor, “In the process of drafting this bill, protecting privacy was at the forefront throughout, and we consulted extensively with privacy and civil liberties groups, incorporating their suggestions in many cases. This is a strong bill that protects privacy, and one that I expect will get even better as the process goes forward—we expect to see large bipartisan support on the Floor.” The White House has voiced previous support for the bill, so the last drama lies in the Senate.

[caption width="300" align="alignright"] From REC Networks website.[/caption]REC Networks filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the Federal Communications Commission April 20, intended to help listeners tune in LPFM stations better within their current three-mile service area, as well as reach more rural ears. Under the proposal, 50 to 75 percent of currently authorized LPFM stations could increase their effective radiated power from 100 watts (based on 30 meters height above average terrain) to 250 watts. This would increase the average protected service contour from 3.5 miles to about a 4.5 mile radius, according to REC Networks. The Amherst Alliance and the Catholic Radio Association previously made similar proposals before that focused on signal expansion in rural communities, but were tabled by the FCC due to disagreement in the LPFM community. In 2013, Radio World reported that LPFM advocates Don Schellhardt and Nickolaus Leggett petitioned the commission to consider licensing an LP-250 service with the support of the Prometheus Radio Project. So this is the latest attempt to expand low-power FM service. REC has also asked the FCC to allow 100-watt LPFM stations to move up to 6.9 miles, and upgraded LP-250 stations up to 8.7 miles (14.1 km) as a minor move, and other adjustments to current broadcast law. REC Networks, established in 1984 is one of the activist groups responsible for getting the Local Community Radio Act passed, and many LPFM station on the air. REC also provides various free online services including mylpfm.com, FCCdata.org and http://fcc.today, the dashboard for activity at the FCC Media Bureau, while REC Broadcast Services, provides professional FCC filing services for LPFM stations and other radio services.

Video recordings of police officers on the job are now ubiquitous, with dash-cams and body-cams being installed constantly in new precincts, municipal and private security cameras everywhere, and citizens with cell phone cameras on every corner. The New York Times reports that a lawyer representing Feidin Santana, the North Charleston, South Carolina man who recorded police office Michael Slager killing Walter Scott on his cell phone, is sending out cease-and-desist orders to media organizations for their continued airings of the video. Fair use allows footage of such news value to be aired around the time of the news, but the copyright holder regains more rights after the initial newsworthiness wears off. The rights of citizens to record the police are not wearing off, and if anything are becoming clearer. A few years back Reason rounded up rules for recording the police that still apply. Most importantly, look up what the law in your state is. Many states allow one-party consent recording. A few states require both parties to consent to any recordings, such as in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington. No matter, look up the exact laws in your state before attempting to record police officers. The Reporter's Committee for the Freedom of the Press has a detailed "Reporter's Recording Guide" that also applies to any citizen. So, if possible, record police encounters visibly in the open, and remain calm, and do not lie to police officers if approached. You may be ordered away from the scene for other reasons, such as security. In the United States there’s no law requiring you to carry a government ID. In 24 states if police have reasonable suspicion that you are involved in criminal activity they may require you to identify yourself. You may have to ask an officer “Are you detaining me, or am I free to go?” to find out if they have a reasonable suspicion of you. It is best to cooperate as much as you can and move as far away from the officer's attention to still record whatever is going on. Reason recommends posting any video to YouTube rather then turning it over to police. If an officer orders you to stop recording or you will be arrested, they may be wrong, but you still are likely to be arrested if you continue recording. Reason recommends using streaming apps that automatically show the video instantly as well as archive a recording for later and always passcode smartphones. Reason stresses that phones, cameras, or any devices should never be pointed as guns.

The Guardian reported last week that the world discarded a record 41.8 million tons of electronic waste in 2014, according to a report from the United Nations University, the UN’s educational and research branch. Norway was worst on a per capita basis, with 62.5 pounds per person generated there. The United States and China created the bulk of the waste, almost one-third of the world's total. Those countries were followed by Japan, Germany, and India, in terms of bulk electronic waste. Of all that trash, only 1/6th of that is recycled. And that's even with, the UN report notes, 300 tons of gold hidden among the 41.3 million tons. “Worldwide, e-waste constitutes a valuable ‘urban mine’ – a large potential reservoir of recyclable materials,” said UN under secretary-general David Malone. “At the same time, the hazardous content of e-waste constitutes a ‘toxic mine’ that must be managed with extreme care.” Mobile phones, calculators, personal computers, and printers, make up only seven percent of items deemed "electronic waste," with kitchen items taking up the most room in the trash. Read the full story in The Guardian.

The news that "net neutrality" passed the FCC -- that there would be no fast lane on the internet for corportations who have more resources then the average consumer -- was surprising, in that corporate interests didn't get their way. So on April 15, when the FCC actually published the rules in the Federal Register, all heck broke loose. In Congress, Doug Collins, a Georgia Republican, sponsored a resolution of disapproval, an expedited legislative process that cannot be amended or filibustered. President Barack Obama would likely veto the resolution if it passes, so this is another one of those side shows for the folks back home that, historically, will be considered normal for this legislative era. In 2010 Congress passed net neutrality legislation, Republicans sponsored a resolution of disapproval that went nowhere, and the courts eventually struck down the law. So that is where things stand now too, as everyone waits for the court rulings. Todd R. Weiss in eWeek reports there are now at least six or seven lawsuits against the FCC from AT&T, the CTIA mobile trade association, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), the American Cable Association, USTelecom, and Alamo Broadband. And, The Washington Post reports, a small, Texas-based Internet provider has appealed in New Orleans, which means a venue lottery will be held. Trade associations believed the D.C. Circuit was home turf, the court that has twiced ruled against different versions of net neutrality, where they wanted this case to take place. Now a lottery will decide the fate of consumer access and cost of internet services. Free Press has launched a campaign against the Congressional action, but there's not much else to do but what for the lottery, and then court decision.

Wayne Heilman in the Colorado Springs Gazette reports that a business there has leased time on KHIG (1580-AM), flipping the format from all sports talk programming from Fox Sports and ESPN, to a pro-marijuana format, said to be the first in the nation. Southern Colorado Radio is leasing airtime from Vero Beach, Fla.-based Pilgrim Communications and began the new format on air April 13. "We didn't want to lease the station and continue to lose money, so we said, 'Let's do something different and give voice to the marijuana industry.' Marijuana is socially acceptable, especially in Colorado, and is a big and growing business sector in this state. It made too much sense to pass up," General manager and owner Michael Knar told the paper. KHIG-AM is starting with three local shows: "Wake and Bake" from 7 to 9 a.m., "High Noon" from noon to 1 p.m., and "High Drive" from 5 to 7 p.m. weekdays. The station also broadcasts three one-hour newscasts from the Los Angeles-based National Marijuana News service and includes other transmissions from the Chicago-based RadioMD network, according Len Williams, program director for both KHIG and another local sports radio station. Michael Roberts in Westword reports that in 2012, a Denver radio station at 107.1 FM temporarily changed from an EDM format into Pot 107.1, all marijuana. That was just a publicity stunt. KHIG appears, with marijuana legal in the state and a healthy tourist trade in Colorado Springs, to have a business plan beyond short term publicity. There are other similar radio projects, as Pacifica also carries other pot-themed radio shows or segments, including "4:20 Drug War News," from Dean Becker of KPFT in Houston and "Cannabis Radio News" from KVMR in Nevada City, CA.

Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler signaled with a blog post April 13 that he's ready to move forward on the AM radio "revitalization" plan, with a Report and Order that, "will buttress AM broadcast service and ease regulatory burdens on AM broadcasters." Inside Radio reported that Wheeler's post, "landed with a thud at the [National Association of Broadcasters] NAB Show in Las Vegas." Many commercial broadcasters hoped for an AM-only filing window for FM translators, but Wheeler wrote that he has “concerns” about that idea. "I have two concerns about the record and whether opening such a window is necessary, given the current state of the marketplace. The first is whether there is an insufficient number of FM translator licenses available for AM stations.... The second unanswered concern is why, if it is necessary to open the translator window, it should only be opened for one group.... But if we are to assure that spectrum availability is an open opportunity, then the government shouldn’t favor one class of licensees with an exclusive spectrum opportunity unavailable to others just because the company owns a license in the AM band." Instead of AM broadcasters getting first dibs on some FM frequencies, Wheeler's Report and Order will tweak regulations, making a few burdens less on broadcasters. Giving, "stations more flexibility in choosing site locations, complying with local zoning requirements, obtaining power increases, and incorporating energy-efficient technologies," is what Wheeler's proposal will do. It will get support from AM radio owners, but it won't be any special cause for the broadcast industry or activist groups, and it won't do anything to reverse the cultural change away from analogue to digital radio. NAB Executive Vice President of Communications Dennis Wharton issued a statement after Wheeler's post went public saying the "NAB is grateful Chairman Wheeler has announced plans to circulate an item to his FCC colleagues designed to revitalize AM radio. AM broadcasters have uniquely served local communities for nearly 100 years. The time is ripe for the FCC to follow through on the tremendous efforts of Commissioners Clyburn and Pai so that AM broadcasters can continue to play a vital role in the fabric of our nation. We look forward to working with the Chairman and the Commissioners to help ensure the item ultimately adopted serves the American public in the best manner possible."

The Federal Communications Commission just released its radio census for the quarter ending March 31, 2015, with 87 more low-power FM stations than three months before, and 63 more FM translators and boosters. There were three fewer AM stations, but seven more commercial FM stations, and six more non-commercial full-power stations, Radio Survivor reports. And as there's more outlets and other audio possibilities, with expanding digital delivery systems that can all seem bewildwering to institutions from the transitor radio age. Ron Nixon in The New York Times reports that David Ensor, the director of the Voice of America, announced last week that he's stepping down. Congress has been consistently cutting the budget for exporting audio propaganda, and Ensor's still built a worldwide audience of 172 million people a week, up 49 million during his tenure, according to the Times. And he's not the only one leaving. Last month Andrew Lack resigned as chief executive of the Broadcasting Board of Governors to return to NBCUniversal, after just 42 days in the post. Then, Paul Riismandel in Radio Survivor reports that the Pacifica Foundation has found a new executive director, John Proffitt, who was general manager of Houston Public Radio station KUHF until the end of 2011. He co-hosts “Thresholds” and “Open Journal” now at Pacifica’s KPFT, also in Houston. Last year Pacifica’s national board fired former ED Summer Reese, who then occupied the foundation’s national offices for nearly two months. Eventually, a judge issued a restraining order to end the stalemate. Now Pacifica, and the Voice of America, two institutions with roots in the Cold War era need to transition into an era where the audio devices are the smae size as transistor radios, but do so much more. Fivethirtyeight.com reports that 22 million Americans are smartphone-dependent, about seven percent of the total population that only has access to the internet on their handheld device. African-Americans, Hispanics, 18- to 29-year-olds, and people from households earning less than $30,000 per year are all twice as likely as an average smartphone user to be smartphone-dependent, according to the story. Perhaps this is an audience public radio can serve in the 21st century.

[caption width="100" align="alignright"] Michael O'Rielly. From FCC website.[/caption]Leslie Stimson in Radio World reports that last week FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly released a jeremiad on pirate radio broadcasting. His proposal would let corporate broadcasters take pirates to court, and is modeled after the CAN-SPAM Act that lets ISPs sue spammers. But the Republican commissioner's declaration of war is a strange one, as it admits that, "stopping pirate radio is not at the top of the priority list." It also seems to use the form of a posted-online-press-release to fight the public relations battle the FCC's been losing to glamorous pirates. "They are not cute; they are not filling a niche; they are not innovation test beds; and they are not training grounds for future broadcasters," O'Reilly writes. He also says, "pirate radio does not increase media diversity. From time to time, arguments have been made that we should look the other way because some pirate radio operators may be minorities, or the stations’ content appeals to minority listeners." Instead, O'Reilly offers that, "approaches like the NAB’s Broadcast Leadership Training Program should be encouraged to prepare underrepresented populations for leadership and ownership positions in broadcasting." Then, for the underrepresented minorities with lots of money to spend, he says, "Alternatively, those truly interested in operating a legal broadcast station can seek to participate in the Commission’s July 2015 auction, in which 131 FM construction permits will be available, many in smaller and less expensive markets." A day after O'Reilly's statement, on April 9, the FCC issued a $15,000 fine against Jose Alejandro Aguilar for operating a pirate radio station in Louisville, Ky. Aguilar was operating “Radio Pasion 316” on 87.5-FM and 99.5-FM MHz in Louisville. Currently, other broadcasters cannot sue him, but he has 30 days to pay the FCC, or the case may be turned over to the Justice Department for collection, Radio World reports.

Randy J. Stine in Radio World noted last week that two TV antennas were installed atop One World Trade Center in New York City, with test broadcasts now for the UHF and VHF trial arrays. The Durst Organization, owners of the now-tallest building in New York City, will test transmissions on Channel 12 for VHF and Channel 32 for UHF. Many of the antennae for radio and television stations were on top of the former World Trade Center towers, before the Sept. 11 2001 attacks brought down those towers. Since then, many antennae have moved to the Empire State Building, at 1,254 feet, with a 200-foot steel tower on top. The new skyscraper stands at 1,776 feet, and will generate larger signal patterns with the additional height. The Associated Press reports that anohter tower, this one in Crimea, is coming down, as Russian officials turned off Crimea's independent television station ATR March 31, by repeatedly refused to give it a broadcasting license. ATR broadcast to the Crimean Tatars, a native ethnic group of about 300,000 that was deported from the region by the Soviet authorities in 1944, and was a lone voice against the Russians after they took over the area from Ukraine last year. Lenur Islyamov, ATR's founder, said at a news conference March 31 that four of its filings have been rejected on technicalities. "They don't give us a license because not a single official can guarantee that at some point we won't go on air calling on people to do something," Islyamov said. Crimea's new leader, Sergei Aksyonov, said last month that ATR has filed the documents "with errors on purpose in order flare up a conflict involving the TV station." Finally, another station will never get to hang a tower, even after the WKMJ Radio Live the People Station filed to get a new low-power FM license through the Federal Communications Commission. Paul Riismandel at Radio Survivor reports Kervenson Joseph from the Pinellas Park, Florida group applying for a station, was arrested for unlicensed broadcasting while waiting for the LPFM application to be processed. Florida, New Jersey, and New York have unconstitutional state laws against unlicensed broadcasting, even though the states have no authority to regulate the public airwaves. And the FCC has a rule against awarding LPFM licenses to former pirate radio enthusiasts. So because Johnson couldn't wait for the FCC's application process to play out, he won't be broadcasting any more, at least not legally.

John Anderson at DIYmedia.net reports more of the details about the proposal to dramatically cut the Federal Communication Commission’s enforcement field offices. Two-thirds of the FCC’s 24 field offices would be closed under the budget proposal, with total enforcement staffing cut in half. Instead, the FCC would establish a “tiger team” of enforcers, who might not be that familiar with the area's airwaves, would be able to use pre-positioned equipment. Last week at the U.S. House's Financial Services Subcommittee budget hearing for the FCC, chairman Tom Wheeler was asked about the new, leaner enforcement strategy. Rep. Jaime Herrera Butler (R-WA) asked Wheeler about the new plan and the lack of any field office in the Pacific Northwest in the proposal. The question comes around one hour and fourteen minutes into the hearing above.[audio mp3="http://newsroom.free103point9.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Congressionalquestion_TomWheeler_enforcementcuts_20150402.mp3"][/audio]

The revolution may be televised after all, just not in the way Gil Scott-Heron considered in 1970. Instead, everyone will be transmitting from their personal hand-sized computer. Last week Periscope joined Meerkat in the race to establish a generic platform for livestreaming through Twitter accounts. Both are quick, easy-to-use apps that allow anyone with a cell phone to turn it on during their local town council meetings, or school board meetings, potentially radicalizing small town politics. Of course, it will mostly be used at concerts and by tourists walking around exotic locales. But, in the past week, the number and quality of technological breakthroughs that could be used for good by all wired citizens soon, was breathtaking. Micron and Intel announced new 3D NAND technology, stacking layers of flash cells vertically to increase density. Now, "2.5-inch SSDs could come in 10TB capacities, compared to the 1TB drives most laptops max out at today," according to Wired magazine. So computers and tablets and phones are about to hold many more apps and songs and videos, and are also about to work faster, as 5G standards get adopted. The Economist says that new 5G "networks will need to have a 'latency' (ie, response time) of about one millisecond. The speed at which two devices can begin to communicate with one another over today’s 4G networks is about 50 milliseconds, and around 500 milliseconds for the still widely used 3G services." Some of the shiny new roll outs can be scary too. Slate reported last week about StringRrays, devices which pretend to be cell towers so mobile devices will be tricked into connecting to them and revealing their data, and manufactured by the Florida-based Harris Corp. There's also a cheaper version called a KingFish, and both can skim call and messaging logs, geolocation data, and handset information. Some of the new innovations, though, are meant for good. The Freedom of the Press Foundation released a new version of SecureDrop last week, their open-source whistleblower system for media organizations to communicate with anonymous sources, and receive documents from whistleblowers. The Toronto Globe and Mail and Gawker Media are among the early adopters for SecureDrop. Others harnessed the new breakthroughs for their own purposes. On March 30, Jay-Z launched a streaming music service called Tidal with Beyoncé, Daft Punk, Kanye, Arcade Fire, and Rihanna as co-owners contributing exclusive content. Tidal reportedly has higher artist royalties then Spotify, and definitely costs more with subscriptions at $20 for high-definition streaming and $10 for regular quality, and no free ad-supported option. The sound quality is said to be similar to Neil Young's Pono app.