Good morning tech

AT&T’s NEW PRICING TAKES SMART PHONES TO THE MASSES: Among the scattered reactions to AT&T new billing scheme, which will charge customers based on data usage for the first time (at a lower monthly rate than their unlimited data plans), a CNET report says the change will bring the most expensive phones to a broader demographic. “The best way to add more subscribers for a service is to lower the
price. That’s exactly what AT&T is doing.” This means “a more affordable entry point into the smart phone market.” AT&T will attract new customers, CNET says, “who are likely more price sensitive than the early adopters who first signed up for the iPhone.” The article muses that Verizon will follow the lead, although the company has not commented.

GOOGLE WILL HELP TO CREATE FREE PATENT, TRADEMARK DATABASE: To better comply with President Obama’s open government initiative, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has “reached a two-year agreement with Google to make patent and trademark data electronically available for free to the public in bulk form,” Tech Daily Dose reports. Companies will be able to download the information for research, according to PTO, which had previously charged for the data. The plan is a temporary solution as PTO remains unable to do this on its own, although it is seeking a private contractor to help it move forward.
 
NUMBER PUNCH
 
40th PLACE…Genachowski cited a survey Wednesday that ranks the U.S. at 40 out of 40 countries for “rate of change of innovative capacity” in broadband innovation. Meaning? “It means we are progressing more slowly than any other country.” The chairman says, “That’s the canary in the coalmine.”
 
SCHEDULED

…8:30 a.m. onward. Digital Government Institute conference on cybersecurity, featuring Stephen Elky, deputy director of Information Technology Services at the Library of Congress. Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. 

…9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Intellectual Property Theft Symposium. A discussion of “IP Theft and International Crime and Terrorism, The Emerging Threat.” 2451 Crystal Drive, Suite 150, Arlington, Va.

…9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Gen. Keith Alexander, director at the National Security Agency, commander of U.S. Cyber Command, speaks at the B1 Conference Center, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1800 K Street, NW.

SAID
 
“When I was 18 or 19 years old I did some things that were pretty stupid.” Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, on personal criticism he has faced, including scrutiny of instant messages he sent while still an undergraduate at Harvard. (via WSJ)
 
FOR THE WATERCOOLER
 
…Free Wi-Fi will be standard on all Acela Express trains between Washington and Boston, Amtrak announced Wednesday. The move follows a three-month trial run in which 20 trains cars had Wi-Fi access. About 115,000 passengers per month have used the service, or about 39 percent of ridership, according to Amtrak. Amtrak will start bringing wireless to other routes in the fall.