June 20, 2012 (The United Nations and the Internet)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2012
The House Commerce Committee will vote on the Internet's Multistakeholder Governance Model today (see below) http://benton.org/calendar/2012-06-20/
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
US, Israel developed Flame computer virus to slow Iranian nuclear efforts, officials say
US Moves to Contain Collateral Damage from Cyberweapons [links to web]
Oft-Divided House Still United Against ITU-Centric Net Governance
A Note to Congress: The United Nations Isn't a Serious Threat to Internet Freedom—But You Are - op-ed
The Triumph of State Security and Proposed Changes to the ITRs - analysis
House Committee Approves Sweeping, Warrantless Electronic Spy Powers
Senators Ask Supremes to Televise Health Care Decision [links to web]
Administration Took Accidental Path to Setting Record for Leak Cases
What happens when Uncle Sam tells Google he doesn’t like your YouTube video? [links to web]
Info agencies built on paper shift to meet demands of digital age [links to web]
PRIVACY
NSA: It Would Violate Your Privacy to Say if We Spied on You
Google Responds to New British Investigation of Street View
Lawmakers look to save Microsoft's 'Do Not Track' default setting
Sen Schumer questions Apple, Google about use of 'spy planes' [links to web]
LinkedIn sued over hacking incident that exposed six million passwords [links to web]
Netflix to users, developers: we own your viewing history [links to web]
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
AT&T wants to teach an old spectrum band new 4G tricks
Fastest Mobile Networks 2012 - research [links to web]
Apple's Data-Hogging App [links to web]
Conference looks at social, mobile possibilities [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
USDA Continues Efforts Spur Job Creation and Business Growth for Tribes and Rural Communities - press release [links to web]
Google’s Schmidt: technology wave leaving many behind
Broadband barrier - editorial
Tax rebate deals with Apple, Amazon and Netflix are bad news for communities - analysis [links to web]
California's online poker problem - editorial [links to web]
CONTENT
Free Speech for Computers? - op-ed
Facebook explains reporting tool
GE: Olympics Will Be 'Most Digital' in History [links to web]
Mobile Search Set To Fuel Call-Based Ads [links to web]
Google moves to snuff sites that rip music from YouTube videos [links to web]
Viewers Appreciate Netflix Price, Flexibility [links to web]
Powell: NCTA Consciously Did Not Take Lead on PIPA/SOPA
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
Sen Rubio criticizes Univision over story
Pro-Romney Super PAC launches new ad wave [links to web]
Obama’s Lawyer Demands Information on Group’s Donors [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Music-Merger Bid Plays Out
JOURNALISM
What Americans Learned from the Media About the Health Care Debate - research
The future of news: Mobile, video, data — & crowdsourced [links to web]
TELEVISION/RADIO
Powell: Don't Look for FCC to Do Any Retrans Game-Changing [links to web]
American Graduate Public Media Stations Offer Students Career Exploration Opportunities - press release [links to web]
TELECOM
Momentum Growing for State-Level Telecom Deregulation
POLICYMAKERS
Josh Gottheimer Exiting FCC [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
EU moves against Universal-EMI deal
Google Responds to New British Investigation of Street View
Carlos Slim’s Companies Doing ‘Very Well’ Without TV Ads
Chinese online censorship targets "collective action" posts
News Corp in $2 billion Australia pay-TV bid
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
US, ISREAL DEVELOPED FLAME
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller, Julie Tate]
The United States and Israel jointly developed a sophisticated computer virus nicknamed Flame that collected critical intelligence in preparation for cyber-sabotage attacks aimed at slowing Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon, according to Western officials with knowledge of the effort. The massive piece of malware was designed to secretly map Iran’s computer networks and monitor the computers of Iranian officials, sending back a steady stream of intelligence used to enable an ongoing cyberwarfare campaign, according to the officials. The effort, involving the National Security Agency, the CIA and Israel’s military, has included the use of destructive software such as the so-called Stuxnet virus to cause malfunctions in Iran’s nuclear enrichment equipment. The emerging details about Flame provide new clues about what is believed to be the first sustained campaign of cyber-sabotage against an adversary of the United States. “This is about preparing the battlefield for another type of covert action,” said one former high-ranking U.S. intelligence official, who added that Flame and Stuxnet were elements of a broader assault that continues today. “Cyber collection against the Iranian program is way further down the road than this.”
benton.org/node/126265 | Washington Post
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RESOLUTION ON ITU
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
House Commerce Committee members took turns speaking in support of a resolution calling on the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to resist imposing a top-down government model for Internet governance. The resolution is one of five bills being marked up in the committee on June 20. Several legislators spoke in stark terms of a potential United Nations takeover of the 'net. But it is not only the Hill that is concerned that at an upcoming treaty conference in Dubai in December -- the World Conference on International Telecommunications -- some of the 193 members, led by Russia and China, will be proposing extending ITU's oversight of international phone traffic, to Internet traffic. Both the FCC and the White House agree a multistakeholder model should be preserved.
benton.org/node/126262 | Broadcasting&Cable
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CONGRESS IS BIGGEST THREAT TO NET
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Jerry Brito, Adam Thierer]
[Commentary] The House Commerce Committee will vote on a powerfully worded resolution declaring that "it is essential that the Internet remain stable, secure, and free from government control." The target of the bi-partisan resolution? The United Nations. That's a bit rich, coming from a legislative body whose appetite for Internet regulation is rapidly growing. The House resolution, which has garnered over 50 co-sponsors, proclaims that it is "the consistent and unequivocal policy of the United States to promote a global Internet free from government control and preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the Internet today." If only it were true. The reality is that Congress increasingly has its paws all over the Internet. Lawmakers and regulators are busier than ever trying to expand the horizons of cyber-control across the board: copyright mandates, cybersecurity rules, privacy regulations, speech controls, and much more. While the congressional resolution is commendable, Congress would do well to heed its own cries of alarm. The most serious threat to Internet freedom is not the hypothetical specter of United Nations control, but the very real creeping cyber-statism at work in the legislatures of the United States and other nations. We hope those members who vote for the resolution tomorrow will remember their distaste for Internet regulation in the future.
benton.org/node/126260 | Atlantic, The
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ITU INTERNET REGULATION
[SOURCE: Mediamorphis, AUTHOR: Dwayne Winseck]
[Commentary] As we assess the potential implications of the ITU’s international telecommunications regulations (ITRs) on the internet it is necessary to sort out charges that are, in my view, overblown and alarmist versus those that have merit based on a close reading of the relevant ITU texts. I want to be clear that while I think that many of the charges being leveled at the ITU are trumped up baloney, there are actually many reasons to be concerned. I’ll briefly reprise what I see as the over blown claims (OBCs), then set out the most important real areas of concern. The proposed changes afoot have been largely strained through the prism of ideology, indiscriminately jumbling together overblown claims with real insights. As far as I can see, it is not the myriad of small changes to one section of the ITRs after another that constitute the major problem, but rather a set of issues that are mostly clustered in proposals by Russia, and supported by China, to add new sections to Article 8. The damage such proposals could do to unsettled internet policy issues related to anonymity and online identity, privacy and personal data protection, as well as internet content regulation are enormous and can hardly be exaggerated.
benton.org/node/126282 | Mediamorphis
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FISA AMENDMENTS ACT
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: David Kravets]
The House Judiciary Committee voted 23-11 to reauthorize the FISA Amendments Act including broad electronic eavesdropping powers that largely legalized the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. The legislation, expiring at year’s end, authorizes the government to electronically eavesdrop on Americans’ phone calls and emails without a probable-cause warrant so long as one of the parties to the communication is outside the United States. The communications may be intercepted “to acquire foreign intelligence information.” Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and the committee’s chairman, said before the vote that “We have a duty to ensure the intelligence community can gather the intelligence they need to protect our country.” He said terrorists “are committed to the destruction of our country.”
benton.org/node/126258 | Wired
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OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AND LEAKS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Scott Shane, Charlie Savage]
Under fire from Republicans who claim that the White House has leaked classified information to make him look tough, President Obama has pointed to his administration’s unmatched record in prosecuting leaks. The statistics are certainly on his side: six leak-related prosecutions in Obama’s first term, compared with three under all previous presidents combined. It is a record that has heartened security hawks while drawing criticism from advocates for whistle-blowing. But a closer look reveals a surprising conclusion: the crackdown has nothing to do with any directive from the President, even though he is now promoting his record as a political asset. Instead, it was unplanned, resulting from several leftover investigations from the Bush administration, a proliferation of e-mail and computer audit trails that increasingly can pinpoint reporters’ sources, bipartisan support in Congress for a tougher approach, and a push by the director of national intelligence in 2009 that sharpened the system for tracking disclosures.
benton.org/node/126300 | New York Times
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PRIVACY
NSA AND PRIVACY
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Spencer Ackerman]
The surveillance experts at the National Security Agency won’t tell two powerful United States Senators how many Americans have had their communications picked up by the agency as part of its sweeping new counterterrorism powers. The reason: it would violate your privacy to say so. That claim comes in a short letter sent to civil libertarian Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall. The two members of the Senate’s intelligence oversight committee asked the NSA a simple question last month: under the broad powers granted in 2008′s expansion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, how many persons inside the United States have been spied upon by the NSA?
benton.org/node/126256 | Wired
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GOOGLE RESPONDS ON STREET VIEW
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Streitfeld]
What did Google know about the data-scooping its Google Street View cars did, and when did Google know it? That seems to be at the heart of a newly reopened investigation by British data authorities, their third try at getting to the bottom of this controversial episode. The Information Commissioner’s Office also seems to suspect Google of not being quite forthright with its officials earlier, which might explain the more aggressive stance this time around. Google has now responded to the ICO’s questions via a letter from its chief privacy counsel. Google says it is “surprised” to find itself confronting another investigation and offers one of its most sustained defenses yet. But there doesn’t seem to be much common ground yet even over the basic chronology. Google implies it blew the whistle on itself.
benton.org/node/126255 | New York Times | Google
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SAVING ‘DO-NOT-TRACK’
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Reps. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Joe Barton (R-TX) sent a letter to the World Wide Web Consortium, a Web standards organization, calling for the group to back a new privacy feature on Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. They argued that a default Do Not Track setting "provides consumers with better control and choice with respect to their personal information." The lawmakers called on the group to make the "protection of consumer privacy a priority and support Microsoft's announcement by endorsing a default Do Not Track setting." They also argued for a broad Do Not Track definition that stops companies from "accumulating, using, sharing, or selling the consumer's personal data." The W3C's Tracking Protection Working Group is meeting in Washington state this week to try to develop a consensus definition of Do Not Track.
benton.org/node/126250 | Hill, The | Broadcasting&Cable
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
AT&T AND WCS SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Kevin Fitchard]
A wireless band that the mobile industry has practically written off may get a new life as 4G spectrum if a new proposal from AT&T and Sirius XM gets regulatory approval. The two strange bedfellows have submitted a joint filing to the Federal Communications Commission requesting permission to use AT&T’s long dormant 2.3 GHz Wireless Communications Service (WCS) for an LTE network. Deploying any kind of service on WCS has been cluster-you-know-what for any operator that has made the attempt. AT&T and BellSouth, which was eventually acquired by Ma Bell, experimented with the band for years, launching trial pre-standard WiMAX networks in several markets. But neither company could make the technology work and were constantly running up against the protests of Sirius and XM, which themselves merged in 2008. But apparently these old antagonists have come to an accord.
benton.org/node/126235 | GigaOm
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
BROADBAND BARRIER
[SOURCE: Gainesville Sun, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] It is encouraging news that GRUCom and the University of Florida are teaming up to provide ultahigh-speed broadband service to UF's Innovation Square and its surrounding Innovation District. For all of Gainesville's potential to capitalize on the knowledge economy, the limitations of broadband service here provide a very real barrier that will require considerable public and private investment and collaboration to overcome. The so-called Gig.U initiative is aimed at increasing broadband service in university communities like ours. And in that regard, the GRUCom/UF broadband initiative is a good start. Gainesville's innovation economy already ranges beyond Innovation Square. If Gainesville is to prosper, ultra fast and reliable broadband must follow where innovation leads.
benton.org/node/126281 | Gainesville Sun
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TECH WAVE LEAVING MANY BEHIND
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Blake Sobczak]
Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, warned that vast numbers of the world's population are missing out on the advantages brought by the Internet. Schmidt said that about 2 billion people, less than a third of the world's population, have Internet access, and 1 billion have smartphones. "The World Wide Web has yet to live up to its name," he said. "Technology does not produce miracles, but connectivity, even in modest amounts, changes lives." Schmidt also warned about Internet privacy, saying the "lack of a delete button" online meant incriminating posts could spell disaster for unwary Web users. "If you upload a video of your young friend drunk without their permission, you may be ruining their life."
benton.org/node/126289 | Associated Press
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CONTENT
FREE SPEECH FOR COMPUTERS?
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Tim Wu]
[Commentary] Do machines speak? If so, do they have a constitutional right to free speech? This may sound like a fanciful question, a matter of philosophy or science fiction. But it’s become a real issue with important consequences. In today’s world, we have delegated many of our daily decisions to computers. On the drive to work, a GPS device suggests the best route; at your desk, Microsoft Word guesses at your misspellings, and Facebook recommends new friends. In the past few years, the suggestion has been made that when computers make such choices they are “speaking,” and enjoy the protections of the First Amendment. This is a bad idea that threatens the government’s ability to oversee companies and protect consumers.
benton.org/node/126298 | New York Times
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FACEBOOK EXPLAINS REPORTING TOOL
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Hayley Tsukayama]
Ever wonder what happens after you click “Report/Mark as Spam” on your Facebook account? On June 19, the social network released an infographic that explains that process a little more and drew back the curtain on what happens when its users report to the site. There are a few cases in which users would want to use Facebook’s reporting tool. For example, a user may want to file a report if they see spam, offensive content or if they notice a hacked or fake profile. The company has several teams that deal with different kinds of content, according to the graphic and accompanying blog post. There’s a Safety team, a Hate and Harassment team, an Abusive Content team and an Access Team, which each deal with a specific type of reported material.
benton.org/node/126253 | Washington Post | The Atlantic
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NCTA AND SOPA
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Questioned following a Paley Center luncheon on whether the National Cable & Telecommunications Association was sufficiently engaged in the debates over SOPA/PIPA anti-piracy legislation, NCTA President Michael Powell said he thought NCTA was "fairly well positioned" given its membership, but that old lobbying techniques will need to be updated in the face of new media. NCTA had to represent both programmers and operators and there were nuances NCTA had to be careful about.
benton.org/node/126284 | Broadcasting&Cable
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
RUBICO AND UNIVISION
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Dylan Byers]
Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL) sat down for a rare and at times heated interview with Univision, during which he said that the Hispanic television network's conduct surrounding a 2011 story was "a black mark in the history of the Univision Network." Sen Rubio and Univision became locked in a contentious disagreement last year over a story about the criminal history of Rubio's brother-in-law, Orlando Cicilia, who was once involved in a drug bust.
benton.org/node/126228 | Politico
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OWNERSHIP
UNIVERSAL-EMI
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Ethan Smith]
On June 21, Universal Music Group Chief Executive Lucian Grainge will press his case for a merger with EMI before the Senate's subcommittee on antitrust and consumer rights. His argument boils down to this: Piracy and digital giants such as Apple and Google are such threats to traditional record companies that Universal needs to swallow its smaller rival to survive. It will be up to the Federal Trade Commission to approve the deal, in whole or in part, or to sue to block it. The European Commission has set a deadline of Sept. 6 to rule on the bid by Universal and its Fremch parent, Vivendi SA. In California, the state's attorney general is investigating whether the deal could harm consumers. Universal and Vivendi say they are confident they will win approval from both American and European regulators.
benton.org/node/126296 | Wall Street Journal
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JOURNALISM
WHAT AMERICANS LEARNED FROM THE MEDIA ABOUT THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
After helping define the Obama presidency for almost a year, health care reform largely disappeared as a subject in the American news media as it wended its way through the legal system to the Supreme Court. When it was a major story, however, most of the coverage focused on the politics of the bill rather than the substance of the legislation. And the language and framing of the issue favored by the bill’s Republican critics was far more prevalent in the news coverage than the language and framing favored by Democrats supporting the bill, according to research conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. Health care reached its heights as a news story in the summer of 2009 and early 2010, during the rise of the tea party and the battles in the House and Senate over passage of the legislation. In the third quarter of 2009, with passions fueled by angry town hall meetings, coverage of the health care debate filled 18% of the newshole, according to PEJ’s News Coverage Index, making it the No. 1 story in the news. That number fell slightly but remained high in the last quarter of 2009 (13%) and the first quarter of 2010 (14%). But once the battle over health care shifted to the courts, largely in federal appeals court decisions, the subject received far less attention. From April 2010 through December 2011, the subject never exceeded 2% of the overall newshole in any three months period.
benton.org/node/126227 | Project for Excellence in Journalism
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TELECOM
STATE-LEVEL TELECOM DEREGULATION
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
New Hampshire last week became the latest state to adopt telecom legislation that gives incumbent local exchange carriers more flexibility in making changes to the rates they charge end users for telecom service and confirms that VOIP services are not subject to regulation. The thinking behind such legislation is that as the telecom industry has become more competitive, market forces should keep pricing at reasonable rates. Incumbent carriers – such as Fairpoint in New Hampshire – argue that such legislation creates a level playing field for all service providers. And as Ross Buntrock noted in an interview, “VOIP carriers like having the certainty that they won’t be subject to state regulation.” Buntrock is head of the communications technology and mobile practice for Arent Fox LLP, a law firm that represents a number of telcos on regulatory matters. Even traditional carriers will be happy with the resolution on VOIP because many of them provide virtual PBX services that use VOIP technology, Buntrock said.
benton.org/node/126225 | telecompetitor
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
EU MOVES AGAINST UNIVERSAL-EMI
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Universal Music Group said it received a statement of objections from the European Union's antitrust regulator over its bid to buy EMI. The complaint does not necessarily mean the European Commission will block the deal, but it could force the companies to make concessions. A Universal spokesman said the company is preparing a "detailed response to the commission's statement." In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission is currently reviewing the transaction. The Senate Judiciary’s subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights will examine the deal at a hearing on June 21.
benton.org/node/126252 | Hill, The
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CARLOS SLIM VS GRUPO AND TV AZTECA
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Crayton Harrison]
Carlos Slim’s companies are getting along fine without buying advertising on Mexico’s top two TV networks, his eldest son said, signaling that a government intervention last week may not be enough to persuade the world’s richest man to put commercials back on the airwaves. Slim pulled his ads from Grupo Televisa SAB and TV Azteca SAB at the beginning of 2011, blaming a dispute over prices. Tensions have intensified between the companies and Slim’s America Movil because the broadcasters are pushing into the mobile-phone market, Slim’s main source of revenue. Last week, Mexico’s antitrust agency said Televisa and Azteca should offer spots to rivals at the average price that other advertisers pay, as a condition for them to form a wireless-industry partnership. Slim, 72, has relied on newspapers, online advertising and cable-TV networks to advertise his wireless service, Internet plans and retail stores. His move away from over-the-air TV came as the broadcasters encroached on the telecommunications industry he dominates.
benton.org/node/126220 | Bloomberg
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CHINESE CENSORSHIP
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Cyrus Farivar]
For years, it’s been conventional wisdom that the Chinese government does not tolerate online speech against the state and that Beijing employs a massive surveillance, filtration, takedown, and propaganda regime to counter all that happens online. But new academic research from Harvard suggests that China’s filtration policy may be more complex, and oddly, more open than had been previously thought. "Instead, we show that the censorship program is aimed at curtailing collective action by silencing comments that represent, reinforce, or spur social mobilization, regardless of content," write Gary King, Jennifer Pan, and Margaret Roberts in their paper. King is a professor of social science and the latter two are doctoral candidates. "Censorship is oriented toward attempting to forestall collective activities that are occurring now or may occur in the future—and, as such, seem to clearly expose government intent, such as examples we offer where sharp increases in censorship presage government action outside the Internet."
benton.org/node/126276 | Ars Technica
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NEWS CORP BID
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Miranda Maxwell]
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp made a $2 billion takeover offer for Australia's Consolidated Media Holdings, boosting top shareholder and billionaire James Packer's warchest as he abandons media in favor of casinos. Packer, who has built stakes in casinos in Australia, London, Macau and Las Vegas, indicated he would accept the offer in the absence of a higher bid for the pay-TV stakeholder, in which he holds 50.1 percent. For News Corp, a successful bid would double its stake in Australia's dominant pay TV business Foxtel to 50 percent, and give it 100 percent of content provider Fox Sports.
benton.org/node/126278 | Reuters | Wall Street Journal
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