Daily Digest 8/27/2018 (Hurricane Season Report)

Benton Foundation
Table of Contents

Emergency Communications

2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season Report - Impact on Communications  |  Read below  |  Research  |  Federal Communications Commission
FCC Deactivates Disaster Information Reporting System For Tropical Depression Lane  |  Federal Communications Commission
Verizon is lifting data restrictions on HI first-responders after CA firefighters complained of throttled speeds  |  Read below  |  Brian Fung  |  Washington Post
Verizon statement on California wildfires and Hurricane Lane in Hawaii  |  Verizon
Members of Congress demand FTC investigation into Verizon’s throttling of firefighters’ data connections  |  Vox
Losing net neutrality made it harder for Santa Clara County to fight its wildfires  |  Read below  |  Gigi Sohn  |  Op-Ed  |  NBC
Podcast: Verizon, instead of apologizing, we have a better idea --stop throttling  |  USA Today

Broadband/Internet

Small-Town Ingenuity Is Making Gigabit Broadband a Reality  |  Read below  |  Matt Dunne  |  Op-Ed  |  Wired
Broadband in Rural Higher Education Deserts Can Help Address Digital Divide  |  Read below  |  Joan Engebretson  |  telecompetitor
California pledged to protect net neutrality — the showdown is here  |  Read below  |  Jazmine Ulloa  |  Los Angeles Times
A new direction for the net neutrality debate  |  Read below  |  Victor Glass, Timothy Tardiff  |  Research  |  Telecommunications Policy
Podcast: Why Net Neutrality Matters for Nonprofits  |  Johnson Center for Philanthropy

Privacy/Security

Tech wants Washington to step up in global privacy rules race  |  Read below  |  Steven Overly  |  Politico
T-Mobile says hackers may have made off with 2 million users’ personal data  |  Read below  |  Brian Fung  |  Washington Post

Platforms

President Trump warns social media companies against ‘silencing millions of people’  |  Read below  |  John Bowden  |  Hill, The
What role should governments play in regulating speech online?  |  Marketplace
Platforms fight against a sea of hacks  |  Axios
Google's pick to testify on election security rejected by Senate Intel Chair Richard Burr (R-NC)  |  C|Net

Health

Chairman Pai visits with Utah veteran program to talk telehealth  |  Read below  |  Jim Spiewak  |  KUTV

Elections

Tech firms step up to confront online threats. But some ask, what about the White House?  |  Read below  |  Craig Timberg, Ellen Nakashima, Elizabeth Dwoskin, Tony Romm  |  Washington Post

Journalism

How a Trump tariff is strangling American newspapers  |  Read below  |  Paul Farhi  |  Washington Post
The National Enquirer, President Trump’s media protector, turns  |  Columbia Journalism Review
At Facebook, where men outnumber women almost two to one, the future of news is female  |  C|Net
The Healdsburg Tribune is Turning Readers Into Shareholders  |  New York Times

Agenda

FTC Announces Opening Session of Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century  |  Read below  |  Press Release  |  Federal Trade Commission

Policymakers

A near-constant in John McCain’s career: His knack with the media  |  Washington Post
The Stark Limbo of Geoffrey Starks  |  Read below  |  Cristiano Lima  |  
WhatsApp says no to tracking messages in India  |  CNN
Department of Commerce Announces Selection of ZTE Special Compliance Coordinator  |  Read below  |  Press Release  |  Department of Commerce
MMTC Names Maurita Coley Flippin President and CEO  |  Read below  |  Marcella Gadson  |  Press Release  |  Multicultural Media Telecom and Internet Council

Stories From Abroad

As China expands digital surveillance, Facebook and Google risk legitimizing regime  |  Columbia Journalism Review
Alphabet’s Plans for a China Comeback Go Beyond Google Search  |  New York Times
Why Russian trolls stoked US vaccine debates  |  CNN
The journalist running for president in Ukraine  |  Columbia Journalism Review
Today's Top Stories

Emergency Communications

2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season Report - Impact on Communications

The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season was notable for the devastation wrought to various types of infrastructure, including communications. The adverse effect of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season on communications increased in magnitude as the season went on. Leadership at the Commission undertook fact-finding missions to the hardest-hit regions. To determine what went right, what went wrong, and how to better prepare for future hurricane seasons, the Commission sought comment from stakeholders through a variety of means, including a public notice, critical information needs workshop, and after-action reporting both within the Commission and with federal emergency response partners. Significantly, the Commission stood up a Hurricane Recovery Task Force (Task Force), charged with coordinating a comprehensive approach to support the rebuilding of communications infrastructure and restoration of communications services, particularly for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. This Report includes actions the Commission took during, and in response to, the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season; lessons learned and observations to assist the Commission, service providers, local and regional emergency response authorities, and other stakeholders when confronting hurricanes; and next steps that the Commission will take to improve its disaster response and recovery efforts.

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said: "....releasing this report 85 days into the current hurricane season and as an historic storm gets closer to Hawaii’s shores, is simply too little, too late. After Hurricane Katrina, this agency established an independent panel that brought to bear a broad background of public safety and industry experiences, including first-hand knowledge of the devastation wrought. We didn’t do that here. After Hurricane Sandy, this agency convened a series of field hearings to help inform recommendations and action to improve network resiliency. Again, we didn’t do that here. Instead, we lump together four of the most destructive storms in recent history into one 38-page report with a list of recommended, voluntary best practices for federal government partners, service providers, 911 call centers, and consumers. Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate all have had their names retired because of their high damage and loss of life. In short, this slim and long-overdue review fails to capture the gravity of these storms. As we are already seeing, Mother Nature’s wrath is sure to visit us again. I hope going forward we can make a greater effort to learn from disasters in a timely way, so we can do more to improve emergency response and infrastructure recovery.”

Verizon is lifting data restrictions on HI first-responders after CA firefighters complained of throttled speeds

Brian Fung  |  Washington Post

In the wake of a customer-service backlash involving CA firefighters, Verizon is apologizing for slowing down the data speeds of first-responders — and says it will begin offering emergency workers a new unlimited data plan to avoid future mishaps. The telecom company also said it will refrain from imposing mobile data speed restrictions on first-responders on the entire West Coast for now as they continue battling some of the worst wildfires in the region’s history. The company extended the same measure to emergency workers in Hawaii on Aug 23, as Hurricane Lane dumped 31 inches of rainfall on parts of the state.

Verizon’s moves are aimed at soothing mounting outrage sparked by the Santa Clara County Fire Department recently, which said that Verizon had throttled the data speeds of firefighters struggling to contain the Mendocino Complex Fire — what has become the largest wildfire California has ever seen. “Our process failed some first responders on the line,” Verizon said Aug 24. “For that, we are truly sorry. And we’re making every effort to ensure that it never happens again.” Verizon said it often eases its policies in emergency situations. But in this case, the firefighters were told they needed to switch to a plan that cost more than double what they were currently paying before normal data service would be restored, according to court documents filed in an ongoing legal battle over net neutrality.

Losing net neutrality made it harder for Santa Clara County to fight its wildfires

Gigi Sohn  |  Op-Ed  |  NBC

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and his staff are fond of taking to Twitter to assert that, in the just over two months since the repeal of the FCC’s 2015 network neutrality rules took effect, the “Internet remains free and open” — and that opponents’ concerns that unconstrained broadband providers will act in a way that harms consumers and competition are overblown. The 2015 rules prohibited broadband providers like Verizon, Comcast and AT&T from picking winners and losers by blocking, throttling or otherwise discriminating against or favoring certain Internet traffic.

Pai’s rose-colored glasses were smashed when it was revealed in the lawsuit challenging the repeal that Verizon had severely throttled the Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District’s so-called “unlimited” broadband data service during the Mendocino Complex Fire, the largest in California state history. The FPD has attempted to use the broadband service to provide crisis response and essential emergency services, but it had been slowed to dial-up speeds. Verizon’s actions demonstrate plainly why net neutrality rules are needed: In the absence of rules, Verizon and other broadband providers will put profits over people even when it comes to matters of life and limb.

Even assuming that Verizon’s actions were not technically a violation of the 2015 net neutrality rules’ express prohibition against throttling internet traffic, the company’s actions may still have violated the 2015 rules. Those rules permitted complaints to be filed pursuant to what was called the “general conduct rule,” which prohibited broadband providers from unreasonably interfering or disadvantaging “end users’ ability to select, access, and use broadband internet access service or the lawful internet content, applications, services, or devices of their choice.” Certainly, the FPD could have made a persuasive case that Verizon was unreasonably interfering with its ability to use broadband internet access service. But, since the repeal of net neutrality, that avenue was not available. Equally important, the Trump FCC’s net neutrality repeal entirely abdicated the agency’s role in protecting consumers and competition in the broadband market.

[Gigi Sohn is a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and the Benton Foundation Senior Fellow and Public Advocate. She was Counselor to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler from November 2013-December 2016]

Broadband/Internet

Small-Town Ingenuity Is Making Gigabit Broadband a Reality

Matt Dunne  |  Op-Ed  |  Wired

The untold story of rural broadband is that over the past seven years, independent broadband networks have proliferated. Today, some of the fastest, most affordable internet in the country can be found in small communities. Despite small customer bases and razor-thin (or non-existent) margins, tenacious broadband providers across the country are proving that especially when unencumbered by competition-stifling legislation, they can bring world-class internet to their communities.

Congress should fund “dig once” processes that enable efficient construction of underground fiber during road construction projects, provide incentives for “climb once” processes that enable efficient fiber construction on private utility poles, and more generously fund construction of this kind of infrastructure just like it does for water and sewer capacity. And if the 21 states with laws that restrict competition from independent ISPs want to pursue modern economic development strategies to bring greater prosperity to their small towns, it is imperative they overturn those laws and allow their communities to innovate with the full power of broadband.

[Matt Dunne, a former Vermont state senator and previously head of community affairs at Google, is founder of the Center on Rural Innovation]

Broadband in Rural Higher Education Deserts Can Help Address Digital Divide

Joan Engebretson  |  telecompetitor

Broadband is a critical element of a new approach to rural higher education that aims to combine the best of on-line and in-class teaching techniques to address what some people call rural “higher education deserts.” By using broadband in rural higher education deserts, in combination with brick-and-mortar higher education centers, some states are finding ways of enabling local residents to earn college degrees. Several states – including Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia – have established higher education centers that provide physical infrastructure for colleges to offer online and in-class instruction in places lacking traditional brick-and-mortar institutions. Students also have the option of participating in class via videoconferencing over a broadband connection to a local high school or other location.

California pledged to protect net neutrality — the showdown is here

Jazmine Ulloa  |  Los Angeles Times

When the Federal Communications Commission voted in 2017 to roll back net neutrality protections, state Democratic leaders pledged to wage a fight with the Trump administration to preserve fair and open access to the internet in California. Now two bills facing final approval in the Assembly and Senate this week have become a proxy battle in the larger national fight to reshape the internet. The ambitious proposals would establish the strongest net neutrality rules in the nation, safeguards that advocates say would be stronger than those repealed by the FCC. One would prevent internet service providers from blocking or slowing down websites and video streams, or charging websites fees for faster speeds. The other would deny public contracts to companies that fail to follow the new state regulations.

Calls in support of the legislation intensified after news broke that Santa Clara County firefighters were hindered by inadequate internet service as they helped battle the massive Mendocino Complex fire in July. But pushing the bills through to passage hasn’t been as easy as proponents had hoped in a state controlled by Democrats with a distaste for Trump administration policies. The powerful tech industry has sunk millions into killing the state’s net neutrality efforts, while supporters have responded in kind with aggressive public advocacy campaigns.

A new direction for the net neutrality debate

Victor Glass, Timothy Tardiff  |  Research  |  Telecommunications Policy

In recent years, the Federal Communications Commission has become a microcosm of the political battles in Congress. The Democratic-controlled Wheeler Commission entitled its Net Neutrality Order “Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet.” Not to be outdone, the Republican-controlled Pai Commission that overturned that Order entitled its own “Restoring `Internet Freedom.” And like Congressional pronouncements, Commissioners look to grab headlines with dramatic statements of impending doom if their policies are not enacted.

We show that the untold societal damage that both sides claim have relatively little to no factual support. Outmoded distinctions between information and telecommunications services exacerbate the situation because a good deal of regulatory history is built on them. As a potential way forward toward reliance on theoretically-sound, evidence-based decision-making, the authors recommend moving away from the silo mentality of focusing on whether particular services are information services or telecommunications services (e.g., Broadband Internet Access Service (BIAS)) toward a focus on packet transmission across broadband networks. Such an approach would facilitate fresh perspectives with the objective of more collaborative, less confrontational regulatory decision-making.

Privacy/Security

Tech wants Washington to step up in global privacy rules race

Steven Overly  |  Politico

Tech companies long averse to regulation are starting to embrace the idea of federal data privacy rules as they nervously eye foreign governments' moves toward more tightly regulating their expansive businesses. It's too late for tech to escape sweeping new privacy rules like Europe's General Data Protection Regulation. But clear rules from the US could serve as a global standard as countries around the world look to impose or tighten privacy laws.  As it stands, Europe's first-mover regulations are already resonating globally. Implemented in May against corporate outcry, GDPR requires companies to disclose what information they collect and give consumers more control over it. That notion is now being exported, sparking countries like Brazil, India, and China to advance their own rules. Those are major growth markets for Silicon Valley. As the industry expands, a global patchwork of regulation would force companies to contort their products and services to fit the demands of different governments — all at a cost to their bottom line.

Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune (R-SD) said he’s developing a federal data privacy bill — another sign that Congress is exploring new rules for the sector. From his powerful perch, Thune’s proposal will carry more weight than most. The Internet Association’s senior vice president of global government affairs, Melika Carroll, praised Chairman Thune for “starting a deliberate process to modernize our existing data privacy frameworks.” She added: “The internet industry commits to working with Congress to develop a national approach to privacy that provides people with transparency and trust, while still allowing companies to innovate and develop products people love.”

T-Mobile says hackers may have made off with 2 million users’ personal data

Brian Fung  |  Washington Post

T-Mobile, the nation’s third-largest wireless carrier, said that it had discovered a data breach potentially affecting some of its customers' account information. No financial data was stolen in the incident, the company said, but some personal details such as customer names, email addresses, phone numbers and account numbers may have been compromised. In a statement on its website, T-Mobile said it uncovered the hack on Aug 20. The company “promptly reported it to authorities” and shut down the attack. Affected T-Mobile customers are being notified directly by the company by a text message. About 3 percent of T-Mobile’s 77 million customers were affected, the company said, which translates to roughly 2 million customers.

Platforms

President Trump warns social media companies against ‘silencing millions of people’

John Bowden  |  Hill, The

President Donald Trump blasted efforts from social media companies to "censor" controversial messages and clamp down on "fake news," urging tech companies to allow Americans to figure out the truth for themselves. The president's message comes amid efforts by major social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to examine Russian election interference efforts on their sites, as well as moves from some companies to ban right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones from displaying his content on their platforms. The president accused the companies of "silencing millions of people." "Social Media Giants are silencing millions of people. Can’t do this even if it means we must continue to hear Fake News like CNN, whose ratings have suffered gravely. People have to figure out what is real, and what is not, without censorship!" he tweeted.

Health

Chairman Pai visits with Utah veteran program to talk telehealth

Jim Spiewak  |  KUTV

Alethea Varra is the director of National Tele-Mental Health Hub continental region who said “our providers are giving this care to people who would not be getting it otherwise.” It’s a network of 29 clinicians providing online care to veterans. The program needs high-speed internet to work. On Aug 23, Varra met with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to talk about broadband speeds in some of the most remote areas in Utah.

Veterans like Doug Acklie teleconference in to a specialist because he lives two hours from the closest clinic. He can now have easy weekly appointments with his doctors over a computer screen. He told Chairman Pai how it’s impacted his care. “There are millions of Americans who are on the wrong side of that digital divide that includes a lot of veterans” Pai said. Chairman Pai left Utah with a better understanding on how to get internet access to rural america and how to get this program in front of more veterans struggling with depression and suicide. “If you multiply that around the country there’s just no telling how much healthier our country could be,” Pai said.

Elections

Tech firms step up to confront online threats. But some ask, what about the White House?

Craig Timberg, Ellen Nakashima, Elizabeth Dwoskin, Tony Romm  |  Washington Post

Technology giants increasingly are casting themselves as defenders of online integrity as American democracy, yet again, comes under attack. A recent string of revelations from companies including Facebook, Microsoft and Google about foreign hacking and disinformation amount to a public answer to charges that the technology industry should have done more to thwart Russia’s online attacks in 2016. But the industry’s highly publicized moves against Russian and Iranian online meddling also have thrown into sharp relief the fractured response by the federal government, say experts, lawmakers and former US officials who have served in Democratic and Republican administrations.

They express frustration that a sophisticated, meticulously documented and allegedly criminal attack from Russia in 2016 has generated so little White House response, even as federal agencies are taking steps to forestall a repeat in 2018. They further wonder why — with the November midterm elections looming amid signs that Russia and other nations are ramping up their online interference campaigns — private companies have been left to take the most public roles in protecting the country from well-financed, hostile foreign government hackers and disinformation operatives. They also warn that foreign nations — especially Russia — are waging a multi-front assault on US democracy and its critical computer systems.

The FBI and other federal agencies have been quietly supplying intelligence that has helped tech companies make their discoveries. Several technology companies, including Facebook and Twitter, are meeting Aug 24 in San Francisco to discuss combating disinformation. No government representatives are expected to attend.

Journalism

How a Trump tariff is strangling American newspapers

Paul Farhi  |  Washington Post

Print isn’t dead. But the soaring cost of newsprint is contributing to the slow death of America’s newspapers. A months-long spike in the price of paper, driven by federal tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Canadian suppliers, is slamming newspapers at a time when the news about the news industry wasn’t very good to begin with. Newspapers, magazines and print advertisers have seen the cost of their most basic commodity rise at double-digit rates since the Commerce Department began imposing the tariffs in March on Canadian imports, by far the publishing industry’s dominant paper source. The result has been a kind of slow-motion breakdown for newspapers, long beset by declining ad revenue and disappearing readers. Even in an increasingly digital world, old-fashioned ink-on-paper remains the lifeblood of most newspapers. Print ads and subscriptions account for 75 percent or more of the revenue of an average daily newspaper. Newsprint is typically a publication’s second-biggest operating expense after labor.

Agenda

FTC Announces Opening Session of Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century

Press Release  |  Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission will begin its Hearings Initiative with two full-day sessions, co-sponsored with and held at the Georgetown University Law Center, on Sept 13 and 14, 2018. The Georgetown event will be the first in a series of hearings that will examine whether broad-based changes in the economy, evolving business practices, new technologies, or international developments might require adjustments to competition and consumer protection enforcement priorities of the Commission.  These public events, in conjunction with the public comment process, will provide the FTC with a broad and diverse range of viewpoints and stimulate evaluation of key enforcement and policy issues. Additional sessions of the FTC Hearings Initiative will be held throughout the fall and early winter. An initial list of sessions and topics follows, and additional sessions and topics will be announced in the fall:

Sept 21, 2018, FTC Constitution Center

  • State of U.S. Antitrust Law
  • Mergers and Monopsony or Buyer Power

Oct 15-17, 2018, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School

  • The Identification and Analysis of Collusive, Exclusionary, and Predatory Conduct by Digital and Technology-Based Platform Businesses
  • Antitrust Framework for Evaluating Acquisitions of Potential or Nascent Competitors in Digital Marketplaces
  • Antitrust Evaluation of Labor Markets

October 23-24, 2018, FTC Constitution Center

  • Innovation and Intellectual Property Policy

November 6-7, 2018 , American University Washington College of Law

  • Privacy, Big Data, and Competition

November 13-14, 2018, Howard University School of Law

  • Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, and Predictive Analytics

Policymakers

The Stark Limbo of Geoffrey Starks

Cristiano Lima  |  

It's been about two months of stall on the Senate floor for the nomination of Geoffrey Starks, the preferred choice of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to fill the vacant seat at the Federal Communications Commission. But the Senate is still spinning its wheels on the nominee, despite bipartisan support for moving Starks alongside fellow-Commissioner Brendan Carr’s nomination for a second term. The delay comes as Republicans have sought to assemble a bigger package of Trump administration nominees that could advance by unanimous consent. Without a hard deadline for confirming these nominees, the Senate hasn’t felt pressure to finalize the package.

“I talked to Schumer this morning in the gym, and everybody has equities they’re trying to get in this final deal,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD). “He’s interested in the FCC, as are we. It sounds like it’s kind of hopefully coming together but it isn’t there yet.” Chairman Thune previously described the package as wide-ranging, including nominees for agencies such as the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Transportation Safety Board. Thune said one holdup has been getting a Democratic nominee for the National Labor Relations Board put forward.

Department of Commerce Announces Selection of ZTE Special Compliance Coordinator

Press Release  |  Department of Commerce

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. announced the selection of Roscoe Howard, Jr. to be the Special Compliance Coordinator (SCC) for Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation, of Shenzhen, China and ZTE Kangxun Telecommunications Ltd. of Hi-New Shenzhen, China (collectively, ZTE). The Special Compliance Coordinator was selected after a rigorous search by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). This appointment is the result of the historic settlement between the Department of Commerce and ZTE that includes a $1.761 billion fine, a ten-year probationary period, and the installation of the coordinator to conduct regular and comprehensive compliance supervision by a team answerable to BIS.

Howard is a Partner in Barnes & Thornburg’s Litigation Department in Washington, D.C.  He is a graduate of Brown University and earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.  He previously served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia from 2001-2004.  Prior to his appointment, Mr. Howard was a tenured, full professor at the University of Kansas School of Law.  He has twice served as an Associate Independent Counsel under both Republican and Democrat Presidents and was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia and in the Eastern District of Virginia. Howard has served as an Associate Independent Counsel on two occasions. During his first occasion serving as an Associate Independent Counsel, Howard served as a lead prosecutor for the Office of Independent Counsel (OIC) investigating questionable programs, officials and activities at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under former Secretary Samuel R. Pierce, Jr. During his second occasion serving as an Associate Independent Counsel, Howard was lead trial counsel in the fraud, false statements and gratuities investigation and trial of former Secretary of Agriculture A. Michael Espy. 

The Special Compliance Coordinator’s function will be to coordinate, monitor, assess, and report on compliance with U.S. export control laws by ZTE, its subsidiaries, and affiliates worldwide. As stated in the Superseding Agreement and Order, the coordinator will operate with unprecedented access across the company.

MMTC Names Maurita Coley Flippin President and CEO

Marcella Gadson  |  Press Release  |  Multicultural Media Telecom and Internet Council

The Multicultural Cultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC)’s Board of Directors has named Maurita Coley Flippin President and CEO of the organization. Coley previously has served as Acting President and CEO of MMTC, as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and as Member of the MMTC Board of Directors. A former network executive, law partner, and nonprofit executive, she brings over 30 years of experience in law, business, and nonprofit management to the organization.

Previously, Coley served on the executive management team of BET Holdings (now a subsidiary of Viacom), owner and operator of the BET Cable Networks with authority over legal affairs and later over television production operations. Coley is a former partner with the Davis Wright Tremaine and the Cole, Raywid & Braverman law firms, where she represented cable television programmers and distributors and other media and entertainment businesses. Immediately prior to MMTC, Coley served as the chief executive of Capital Area Asset Builders, a leading nonprofit in community economic development, asset building, and financial literacy in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.  Coley has served on the Federal Communications Bar Association’s Executive Committee, Diversity Committee, and on the founding board of the FCBA Foundation. 

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Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org) and Robbie McBeath (rmcbeath AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.


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