October 5, 2017 (The Sputnik Lesson)

INTERNET/BROADBAND

THE SPUTNIK LESSON
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Adrianne Furniss]
Ten years ago, Charles Benton harkened back to the chilly night of October 4, 1957 – when Russia’s Sputnik first flew overhead – to warn us that we faced a generational challenge to ensure America’s scientific leadership in the world. The goal, articulated by President George W. Bush in 2004, was achieving universal, affordable broadband access by 2007. Sadly, ten years later, we’ve failed to reach the goal – and instead of rising to the challenge, policymakers are proposing to lower the bar in order to declare “mission accomplished.” Our nation’s commitment to ubiquitous and affordable communications has never been more important. Like putting a man on the moon, making broadband as common as telephone service must be our national goal. We will only enjoy an information technology revolution if we preserve and strengthen our guarantee of universal, affordable communication access for all Americans.
benton.org/headlines/sputnik-lesson-we-cant-win-broadband-race-slowing-down | Benton Foundation
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ELECTIONS

SENATE INTEL CMTE LEADERS: RUSSIA INTERFERED IN 2016 ELECTIONS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Karoun Demirjian]
The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee largely endorsed the findings of the intelligence community that Russia sought to sway the 2016 US elections through a hacking and influence campaign, and they called for a “more aggressive, whole-of-government approach” to ensure future elections are not similarly compromised. “There is consensus among members and staff that we trust the conclusions of the ICA,” Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) said, referring to the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia was behind hackings of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign director John Podesta’s e-mail account and had attempted to exploit public opinion by sowing false information, much of it through fake social media accounts. “But we don’t close our consideration of it,” he added. Chairman Burr also said that “the issue of collusion is still open” and would not be resolved until the committee’s work was done. He said that a deadline for the committee was the looming start of the 2018 primary season.
benton.org/headlines/senate-intelligence-committee-leaders-russia-did-interfere-2016-elections | Washington Post
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FB AND TWITTER TO TESTIFY
[SOURCE: Vox, AUTHOR: Tony Romm]
Facebook and Twitter have each agreed to appear before US lawmakers and testify publicly as part of a congressional probe into Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election. Google has also been invited to testify at that hearing, scheduled before the Senate Intelligence Committee on November 1, but the search giant did not immediately comment on its plans Oct 4. The rare appearance in front of one of the most powerful panels on Capitol Hill could prove to be a uniquely uncomfortable one for the country’s top technology companies. Facebook and Twitter, at least, are set to face tough questions -- for the first time, in the open — about the Russian-backed accounts and advertisers that took advantage of their platforms to spread misinformation ahead of Election Day. For now, though, Facebook and Twitter have not yet shared whether their chief executives — Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, respectively — would testify in front of Senate investigators.
benton.org/headlines/facebook-and-twitter-will-testify-us-congress-russia-and-2016-presidential-election | Vox
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COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY

CAN THE FIRST AMENDMENT SAVE US?
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Lee Bollinger]
[Commentary] The most distressing aspect of the recent period of aggression toward freedom of speech and press in this country is the willing rejection of Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.’s starting premise: that overcoming the natural and, in his terms, “logical” impulse to persecute others who disagree with or are different from us is the hallmark of a civilized society. When you relish intolerance, you are reversing course on one of the most profound tenets of modern thought. So that when a president stokes the fears and prejudices that exist beneath the surface, he models a different—and divisive—kind of behavior for citizens. In this way, just as our unparalleled protections of speech and the press have over decades laid the foundation for a broader ethos of tolerance, so can the lack of respect for these same rights quickly send us careening backward toward a pathos of intolerance that reaches far beyond speech, infecting all of our decision-making.
[Lee C. Bollinger became Columbia University’s 19th president in 2002.]
benton.org/headlines/can-first-amendment-save-us | Columbia Journalism Review
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

FCC ADVANCES UP TO $76.9M FOR NETWORKS DEVASTATED BY MARIA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Responding to the destruction of communications networks wreaked by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Federal Communications Commission took steps to immediately provide up to $76.9 million to
help restore service. The FCC unanimously voted to immediately provide carriers with up to seven-months’ worth of support from the FCC’s Universal Service Fund, which helps lower the cost of deploying service in areas that are costly to serve. Any funds advanced under today’s action can be used to repair telecommunications infrastructure and restore service to customers across the islands. The FCC’s actions are intended to enable carriers to restore essential communications services as quickly as possible. FCC staff will help coordinate network repair activities to ensure that the greatest coverage is available to the most people.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-advances-769-million-restore-communications-networks-puerto-rico-and-us-virgin-islands | Federal Communications Commission | more info
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SURVEILLANCE

BIPARTISAN GROUP OF LAWMAKERS SEEK TO IMPOSE NEW LIMIT ON GVT SPY POWER
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima]
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is seeking to impose a significant new restraint on law enforcement’s access to data gathered by the National Security Agency under a powerful authority that enables collection of foreign intelligence on U.S. soil. The measure, contained in a bill unveiled Oct 4 by the House Judiciary Committee, is likely to set up a clash with the Trump administration in the coming weeks as the legal power is set to expire at the end of 2017. The administration wants the bill to be renewed without change — and permanently. At the same time, civil liberties groups are arguing for stronger limits. The law in question is often referred to as Section 702, a portion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act amended in 2008. Its renewal is the intelligence community’s highest legislative priority this year.
benton.org/headlines/bipartisan-group-lawmakers-seek-impose-new-limit-us-government-spy-power | Washington Post
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LABOR

LA TIMES NEWSROOM GOES PUBLIC WITH UNION PUSH
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Sydney Ember]
Newsroom employees at The Los Angeles Times are trying to form a union, setting up a potential clash with the newspaper’s parent company, Tronc. After months of organizing, the committee behind the push for a union drafted a one-page letter laying out its reasoning and left printouts on employees’ desks the night of Oct 3.The unsigned letter calls for improved working conditions, higher pay, more generous benefits and protections for staff members against “unilateral change by Tronc.” The letter also says “a majority of the newsroom” had signed union cards supporting representation by the NewsGuild, which represents 25,000 reporters, editors, photojournalists and other media workers at news organizations across the United States.
benton.org/headlines/los-angeles-times-newsroom-challenging-tronc-goes-public-union-push | New York Times
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

RUSSIA TARGETS NATO SOLDIER SMARTPHONES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Thomas Grove, Julian Barnes, Drew Hinshaw]
Russia has opened a new battlefront with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), according to Western military officials, by exploiting a point of vulnerability for almost all allied soldiers: their personal smartphones. Troops, officers and government officials of NATO member countries said Russia has carried out a campaign to compromise soldiers’ smartphones. The aim, they say, is to gain operational information, gauge troop strength and intimidate soldiers. Russian officials deny that Moscow stages such attacks. US and other Western officials said they have no doubt Russia is behind the campaign. They said its nature suggests state-level coordination, and added that the equipment used, such as sophisticated drones equipped with surveillance electronics, is beyond the reach of most civilians.
benton.org/headlines/russia-targets-nato-soldier-smartphones-western-officials-say | Wall Street Journal
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October 5, 2017 (The Sputnik Lesson)