Martin Fears Coupon Program Lacks Funds [Multichannel News]
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has written to Congress about his concerns that the government program that provides citizens $40 coupons for digital converter boxes may not have enough funds to provide coupons to all those seeking them in advance of next year's digital transition.
Part of the problem may be that the government underestimated the demand for the coupons. Here's what this article had to say about the number of coupons needed for the recent DTV test in Wilmington, NC.
In the letters, Martin offered various projections and scenarios showing that NTIA could lack sufficient funding. For example, he said NTIA estimated that in Wilmington, N.C., a test market that made the DTV transition on Sept. 8, the number of broadcast-only homes was 13,759. Martin said 19,187 broadcast-only homes applied for coupons, certifying they didn't have cable or satellite TV. Martin supplied other examples that he said could result in a funding shortfall.Martin is right to worry about this. It's also a perfect example of why it's absolutely essential that federal policy makers keep their focus on preparing for the digital transition and not get distracted by other long-term policy issues. This is the time to leave those decisions to the next administration.
Google Puts Tunes From YouTube a Click Away [New York Times]
YouTube (owned by Google) announced yesterday the creation of a new channel for YouTube users. The new channel features music videos that users can watch. If a user likes a particular track, they can click a link that will purchase the track from Apple's iTunes or Amazon.
YouTube has revolutionized user-generated content on the Internet and they way people use the Internet. Google has been looking for a way to make the YouTube economic model work and this new channel appears to be part of that plan.
Facebook launches web search using Microsoft Live — and its own search engine? [VentureBeat]
Not too long ago, Microsoft invested in the Facebook social network. Now, Facebook is integrating Microsoft's search technology into their site.
The new Facebook search feature will allow Facebook users to conduct web searches without leaving Facebook. So if your Facebook friend's profile inspires a search, you don't have to surf over to your favorite search engine to find what you're looking for.
New 'clickjacking' browser bugs [Sherman's Security Blogs]
Sherman has posted on a new browser security flaw involving "clickjacking." Clickjacking involves tricking users into clicking on something on a web page. Instead of receiving the web page they thought they would get, the clickjack attack executes some malicious code on the user's computer.
What's most concerning about Sherman's post is that right now, there's not a very effective way for users to protect themselves from this type of attack other than to shut down the execution of all scripts on the browser. Apparently the programmers are at work writing a patch to fix this issue. Until then, make sure you know what you're clicking on while you're surfing.
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