Digital Daily Dozen: 3/24/16

Nielsen Adds Info on Connected-TV Devices (Broadcasting & Cable)  

Nielsen will be making the data it has about connected-TV devices available to clients effective April 25. The information will enable clients to study how much time people spend with these gadgets—including streaming video devices and game consoles—and form Nielsen-measured content and link viewing of programs.   

CDD Warns FCC About Broadband Data Collection (Broadcasting & Cable)  

The Center for Digital Democracy said it is presenting FCC chair Tom Wheeler with a copy of a new report looking at data collection by ISPs and others—Google for one—to try and help guide the FCC’s proposed rulemaking on a broadband privacy protection framework. The FCC is scheduled to vote March 31 on a regulatory approach.    

Reps. Renew Effort to Troll for ‘Patent Trolls’ (Broadcasting & cable)    

A bill has been reintroduced in the House to cut down on lawsuits filed by patent assertion entities (PAEs), otherwise known by their detractors as “patent trolls.” The bill, the Trade Protection Not Troll Protection Act, would require PAEs to have a “vested” interest in the patents they try to protect.   

YouTube looks to take on Periscope – report (USA Today) 

Online video giant YouTube looks to respond to competition from Facebook and Twitter’s Periscope with its own live video app, according to a report in Venture Beat. Citing un-identified sources, the online news site says the app is called YouTube Connect, and will soon be available on IOS and Android devices.   

Outgoing FTC Commissioner Sees Need For Better Consumer Privacy Tools (Ad Exchanger)    

Commissioner Julie Brill will resign her post on the FTC at the end of this month. On April 1, she will join the Hogan Lovells law firm as a partner and co-director of its privacy and cybersecurity practice. “This is five months earlier than when my commission is actually up, so not much earlier than it would have been anyway.”   

FCC’s Net Neutrality Defender Disagreed with Rules in 2011 (Inside Sources) 

While speaking about the court challenge to the agency’s net neutrality regulations Wednesday the top lawyer at the Federal Communications Commission said the FCC didn’t violate the law when it redrafted the rules following input from the White House.     

20th Century TV Regulations Threaten 21st Century TV (Inside Sources- Commentary)   

While the Academy Awards recently occupied the limelight as Hollywood’s biggest night of the year, these days the small screen increasingly captures much of the attention traditionally devoted to the big screen. Keeping up with excellent TV shows could be a full-time job in itself.   

Three more hospitals hit with ransomware attacks (Network World)   

Methodist Hospital in Henderson, Kentucky, as well as Chino Valley Medical Center and Desert Valley Hospital in California were all hit with ransomware attacks. David Park, COO of Methodist Hospital said that after attackers copied patients’ files, locked those copies and deleted the originals, the hospital notified the FBI.   

Viceland More Popular On YouTube Than TV (Bloomberg)   

In the weeks since the Viceland channel premiered on cable and satellite TV systems, the majority of viewers have actually been watching its programming elsewhere: online. Vice Media released early episodes of six series on Facebook, YouTube and vice.com to stimulate interest among its younger, male fan base.    

LIFELINE PLAN COULD CHANGE BEFORE VOTE (The Hill) 

FCC member Mignon Clyburn signaled that there could be late changes to the planned overhaul of Lifeline, the FCC’s phone subsidy program for low-income Americans. Commissioner Clyburn said is sympathetic to concerns from the wireless industry and she will help make changes if the regulations do not strike the right balance.    

THOUSANDS SUPPORT EXPANDING LIFELINE TO BROADBAND PETITIONS SUBMITTED TO FCC (Public Knowledge) 

Public Knowledge joined MAG-Net, Communications Workers of America, Color of Change, and OC Inc. in submitting more than 20,000 signatures to the FCC urging the agency to expand its low-income phone subsidy program, Lifeline, to broadband Internet.   

BIG DATA IS WATCHING (Democratic Media) 

Americans face growing new threats to their personal privacy as phone and cable Internet service providers (ISPs), along with leading Internet companies, expand their ability to capture details about what we do online in order to target us with data-driven personalized advertising. Viewability, Fraud, Ad Blocking and Transparency Dominate 4A’s (Ad Age) 

Viewability, ad blocking, fraud and financial transparency dominated “Media Day” during the annual 4As Transformation Conference in Miami. But if the attendees were hoping for a magic solution to any of these issues, they picked the wrong conference. Rather, panelists charted incremental progress.