July 2013

GOVERNENT & COMMUNICATIONS

FISA COURT APPOINTEES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Charlie Savage]
The recent leaks about government spying programs have focused attention on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and its role in deciding how intrusive the government can be in the name of national security. Less mentioned has been the person who has been quietly reshaping the secret court: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. In making assignments to the court, Chief Justice Roberts, more than his predecessors, has chosen judges with conservative and executive branch backgrounds that critics say make the court more likely to defer to government arguments that domestic spying programs are necessary. Ten of the court’s 11 judges — all assigned by Chief Justice Roberts — were appointed to the bench by Republican presidents; six once worked for the federal government. Since the chief justice began making assignments in 2005, 86 percent of his choices have been Republican appointees, and 50 percent have been former executive branch officials. Though the two previous chief justices, Warren E. Burger and William H. Rehnquist, were conservatives like Chief Justice Roberts, their assignments to the surveillance court were more ideologically diverse.
benton.org/node/156634 | New York Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

SCOTUS AND NSA
[SOURCE: Foreign Policy, AUTHOR: Shane Harris]
Now that the House of Representatives has voted down an amendment that would have significantly restricted what information the National Security Agency can collect about Americans, the best hope of curtailing the spy agency's powers lies with the courts. And while NSA critics have failed to rein in the eavesdropping agency through legislative action, they may have more luck with the third branch of government -- thanks to a leaked classified document, a rare bit of good fortune for a leading civil liberties group, and a sympathetic justice of the Supreme Court. The fact that more than 200 lawmakers voted against a key NSA collection program, and one authorized by the long-controversial Patriot Act, represents a victory of sorts for surveillance critics. There has rarely been such a pronounced opposition to surveillance authorities, and the fact that the Obama administration had to mount a full court press to preserve the program, and still only eked out a narrow win, may give opponents some hope that a legislative effort could be mounted again with a different result. But there is no clear next step legislatively. No bill or amendment on the table. Yet there is a path forward on the judicial front.
benton.org/node/156563 | Foreign Policy
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

THE AMASH AMENDMENT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
[Commentary] The remarkably close House vote on the NSA’s bulk surveillance program can be read one of two ways. You could say it was a symbolic win for the agency’s critics. Or you could say the House rejected an attempt to weaken the program. Which side you fall on depends mostly on whether you think symbolism carries any weight in this debate. The fact that Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) failed to push through his amendment — one that would have limited the NSA’s ability to gather telephone metadata on Americans — is a defeat for the congressman, of sorts. But even if the language had made it into the House’s defense authorization bill, it would’ve been stripped out in conference with the Senate. It also faced a near-certain presidential veto. In short, there was an upper limit to how far Rep Amash could’ve gone regardless of how the vote turned out. Despite the amendment’s iffy chances from the start, Rep Amash and his co-sponsor, Rep John Conyers (D-MI), were determined to test the waters. The results took most Congress watchers by surprise.
benton.org/node/156561 | Washington Post
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

AMASH AMENDMENT II
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Jake Sherman]
If there is one episode that defines House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) leadership style, it’s how Rep Justin Amash (R-MI), the most defiant Republican in the House, won the right to offer a controversial amendment to curb the National Security Agency’s ability to collect phone data from Americans. The amendment — opposed by Speaker Boehner, several key committee chairman and the White House — marked the first test of lawmakers’ support for sweeping NSA data collection programs exposed by Edward Snowden. Rep Amash voted against Rep Boehner for Speaker. He votes against the leadership team nearly every day on the House floor. On July 29, the Speaker’s office told Rep Amash to approach Speaker Boehner in the House chamber to chart a course to offer the amendment to limit the phone data program. After that phone call, before he spoke to Boehner, Rep Amash still took to Twitter to threaten leadership that he would bring the entire bill down. Speaker Boehner opposes the NSA amendment. Leadership doesn’t care much for Rep Amash. But they were listening to complaints from a broad swath of Republicans who wanted to vote against the spying program that Snowden revealed.
benton.org/node/156559 | Politico
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

NSA SNOOPING HURTING BOTTOM LINE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Andrea Peterson]
There has been a lot of speculation that the revelations about NSA surveillance program PRISM damaged the credibility of U.S. tech companies, especially with international clients who were the primary targets of the snooping operation. But now it’s starting to look like the snooping is hitting U.S.-based cloud providers where it really hurts: Their pocketbooks. Computer World UK reports a recent Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) survey found 10 percent of 207 officials at non-U.S. companies canceled contracts with U.S. providers after the leaks, and 56 percent of non-U.S. respondents are now hesitant to work with U.S.-based cloud operators. This is bad news for U.S. tech companies because cloud computing and storage is a huge, expanding market. Research firm Gartner forecasts the public cloud services market will grow 18.5 percent in 2013 to a total of $131 billion worldwide.
benton.org/node/156557 | Washington Post | InfoWorld
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

EU REEVALUATING DATA
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Cyrus Farivar]
In a two-page written response to formal complaints filed last month by Austrian students, Ireland’s top data protection office said that Apple, Facebook, and other tech companies with Irish offices have met their obligations with respect to European Union (EU) law—despite all the newly disclosed PRISM and National Security Agency (NSA) related surveillance. The Office of the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) cited the 1998 "Safe Harbor" agreement, which essentially provides a means for non-EU companies operating in the 28-member bloc to come to a middle ground concerning the EU's more stringent data protection laws versus the more lax laws on the other side of the Atlantic. At the same time, data protection officials in Germany are fuming (Google Translate), and wrote a letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel (who is up for reelection at the end of September 2013), calling for the entire Safe Harbor program to be suspended. The German Federal Minister for Special Affairs, Ronald Pofalla, also appeared before a parliamentary committee in Berlin on Thursday to address cooperation between German intelligence and the NSA.
benton.org/node/156555 | Ars Technica
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

INTERNET/BROADBAND

NIST CYBERSECURITY STANDARDS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Patrick Gallagher, heading up the National Institute of Standards and Technology's efforts to develop voluntary cybersecurity standards for critical infrastructure in concert with industry, told the Senate Commerce Committee that there are three reasons why the standards will have to have private industry buy-in:
1) the industry has the knowhow and capacity and the process will only be "agile" if industry embraces it; 2) industry participation provides the best chance that those standards are compatible with business (the goal is to put the voluntary standards, so sitting on the shelf is not an option); and 3) that is the only way to scale the standards internationally.
If the standards don’t get industry buy-in, Gallagher warned, Congress will have to decide what to do next given the national interest in protecting critical infrastructure.
benton.org/node/156620 | Broadcasting&Cable
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

DOMAIN NAMES
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Krishnadev Calamur]
India doesn't want .ram. France objects to .vin. Brazil opposes .amazon; and China, .shangrila. Those are the proposed top-level domain names that some companies want. But several countries have complained, according to the world body that assigns them. In 2008, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers opening up the types of top-level domain names available. So you could, in theory, have .anythingyouwant at the end of your address. Several countries objected, though the reasons may surprise you in some cases. Take .ram. Automaker Chrysler wants it for its Ram truck. The problem: Ram (pronounced Raam) is the name of the Hindu deity.
benton.org/node/156547 | National Public Radio
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

TELEVISION

CBS-TWC
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: John Bergmayer]
[Commentary] When it comes to disputes between companies, particularly when they're just about money, I usually don't care about the he-said/she-said. What matters is the effect on consumers, and when financial disputes between companies threaten to harm consumers, I just want them to work it out. But the Time Warner Cable/CBS dispute has gotten ugly, and from what I can see, CBS is being unreasonable, not TWC. The details of the dispute are nothing new—the law gives broadcasters the right to make cable systems pay them for carriage—something that other antennas technologies that pick up broadcast signals off the air don't have to do. The two companies can't agree on a price, and as a result, CBS might drop off of TWC viewer's TVs. (Unless they have an antenna, or a service like Aereo, of course.) Consumers will undoubtedly get mad at both TWC and CBS if they lose access to programming they like, but when it comes down to it, CBS is inflexibly demanding more money from viewer's wallets and TWC is looking for ways to keep costs low. (This is not to say that TWC is guaranteed to pass any savings or cost control measures on to viewers, of course. Baby steps.) CBS won't even negotiate on channel placement, telling Bloomberg that "CBS obviously won’t make any deals that require us to change our channel position." Why is that "obvious" exactly? In a commercial negotiation, everything should be on the table. Except that it's not. Broadcasters have systematic advantages over cable systems in these negotiations, which is why—despite all the criticism PK has leveled over the years at the cable industry on data caps, net neutrality, content restrictions, broadband buildout, and much else—when it comes to retransmission disputes, they have a point.
benton.org/node/156521 | Public Knowledge
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

PRIVACY

CODE OF APPS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Natasha Singer]
Like food packages that display nutrition labels, some mobile apps could soon display information that allows consumers to decide at a glance whether the apps are good for them. A variety of groups, including app developers and consumer advocates, have agreed to test a voluntary code of conduct that would require participating app developers to offer short-form notices about whether their apps collect certain personal details from users — including health and social networking data — or share user-specific data with entities like advertising networks or consumer data resellers. The idea is to allow people to compare the data collection practices of, say, flashlight apps and choose one that does not ingest unrelated material like their photos or contact lists. The determination that the notices are ready for testing is the outcome of yearlong negotiations — convened by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a division of the United States Commerce Department — to increase mobile app transparency for consumers. Participants included app developers, digital marketing, civil liberties, consumer and privacy groups. On July 25, many participants in the process voted to support a version of the code drafted by a diverse coalition including the Application Developers Alliance, an industry association, and advocacy groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the World Privacy Forum.
benton.org/node/156630 | New York Times | Broadcasting&Cable | AdWeek
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

PK FILING
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Maggie MacDonald]
Public Knowledge, along with 18 other public interest groups, asked the Federal Communications Commission to affirmatively create post-disaster communications policy. PK believes that all Americans should have access to basic telephone services, regardless of location. Since the invention of the telephone, federal regulations have protected and promoted that access, as well as competition in the communications industry. Unless the FCC establishes appropriate responses for situations in which infrastructure is damaged and carriers do not wish to rebuild, policy makers will continue to improvise, carriers will continue to evade their regulatory obligations, and consumers will continue to be harmed.
benton.org/node/156625 | Public Knowledge | PK press release | read the letter
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

PUBLIC SAFETY NETWORK
[SOURCE: Sun Herald, AUTHOR: Greg Gordon]
Mississippi's attempt to become the first state to build a high-tech, potentially life-saving broadband network that can beam videos and data to police, firefighters and medical teams during emergencies has come to a halt, stalled by bureaucratic and financial hurdles. With little notice, the state's Wireless Communications Commission voted last week to freeze construction on the $56 million project, already nearly 80 percent complete, because of an impasse with the federal government and a state budget shortfall. Police chiefs across the state are beginning to mobilize a grass-roots campaign to lobby legislators to try to save it, and firefighters are likely to join.
benton.org/node/156517 | Sun Herald
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

JOURNALISM

BLOOMBERG INVESTIGATION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Katy Burne]
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office is looking into how much access Bloomberg LP news reporters may have had to information about the media and technology company's customers, said people familiar with the inquiries. Officials in the New York Attorney General's investor protection unit in recent weeks have queried Bloomberg about reporters' knowledge of terminal subscribers' activities, said the people. The Attorney General's office hasn't opened a formal investigation into the Bloomberg practices, said one of the people familiar with the probe.
benton.org/node/156543 | Wall Street Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

FCC REFORM

FCC REFORM BILLS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
The House Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology advanced two bills that would overhaul the way the Federal Communications Commission operates. House Republicans approved similar bills last year, but Senate Democrats never brought them up. Democrats allowed the subcommittee to approve the bills on a voice vote after Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), the author of the legislation, promised to work to address their concerns over the August recess. Republicans argue the bills would provide more openness and transparency at the FCC, but Democrats warn they would open the agency up to more litigation and would hamper its ability to protect consumers.
benton.org/node/156537 | Hill, The | House Commerce Committee | B&C
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

FCC REFORM II
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai said that the FCC still had work to do on the mobile spectrum allocation and process reform fronts. He also said the FCC either needs to set an internal schedule for various elements required for holding a broadcast incentive auction in 2014, or concede it will need to move that goalpost. He said the FCC needed to accelerate efforts to allocate spectrum for mobile broadband; remove regulatory barriers to infrastructure investment; and be "as nimble as the industry we oversee." Commissioner Pai said that the FCC had not made "any meaningful process reforms" over the past 12 months since his first speech calling for them. He conceded that some of those reforms would take congressional action. On the spectrum front, Commissioner Pai said, the FCC had achieved the first three steps he had outlined, adopt and revise rules for the AWS-4 and WCS spectrum bands and launch the incentive auction rulemaking.
benton.org/node/156535 | Multichannel News | Commissioner Pai | Commissioner Pai II
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

POLICYMAKERS

VOTE FOR WHEELER?
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Tony Romm]
The Senate Commerce Committee plans to vote on the President’s pick to chair the Federal Communications Commission as part of a late-summer session that also could advance new cybersecurity legislation. The vote could come as early as July 30 and is likely to be the panel’s last order of business before Congress departs for its yearly August recess. Both Tom Wheeler, the president’s nominee to lead the FCC, and the committee’s cybersecurity bill are expected to pass easily with bipartisan support. Of course, the committee’s vote wouldn’t install Wheeler as the new head of the FCC — that only comes after full Senate consideration. And it may be months before that occurs: Republicans aren’t willing to advance Wheeler unless President Barack Obama submits a candidate for the FCC’s open GOP slot, but the White House hasn’t yet put forward a Republican name. Senate GOP leaders are believed to have recommended Mike O’Rielly, a chamber telecom aide for Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), for the FCC’s only open seat.
benton.org/node/156623 | Politico
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

STORIES FROM ABROAD
China is stealing intellectual property to boost its economic development - op-ed
Hamas cracks down on Gaza media outlets [links to web]

CHINA, IP AND CYBERSECURITY
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Mark Anderson]
[Commentary] The world has recently been rattled by two unexpected exposures. First, Mandiant, the cyber security specialist, managed to identify – down to the physical address – a Chinese army unit responsible for the theft of foreign intellectual property. Second, via Edward Snowden, the Booz Allen Hamilton contractor turned leaker, a lens has been turned on to the extent of the National Security Agency’s practices of spying and privacy invasion. China is doing its best to conflate IP theft with the NSA’s listening. But aside from the use of internet tools to further their ends, these programs and issues are otherwise unrelated. One represents the international theft of inventions as part of a national business model; the other is intended to promote national security. There is no evidence yet of any kind that the nations implicated by Mr Snowden in snooping have used their systems to undermine the economies of other nations or to gain a competitive commercial advantage. The US and its allies have generally employed spies because they are charged with protecting and defending their countries against aggressors. Their success, in broad terms, is measured by a reduction in successful attacks. Certainly, they can and do escape accountability and become overzealous. But countries steal IP for baser, less defensible reasons: to make money and to gain an international economic advantage against their competitors.
[Anderson is chief executive of Strategic News Service]
benton.org/node/156610 | Financial Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

Benton

Search

Benton

Daily Digest

Analysis

July 2013

Rogers CEO: Keep U.S. carriers out of Canadian market

Chinese firm Huawei controls net filter praised by PM

Weekly Digest

The FCC and the Drive for E-rate 2.0

Letter to FCC Draws Attention to Need for Post-Disaster Communications Policies

July 26, 2013 (Roberts’s Picks Reshaping Secret Surveillance Court)

Roberts’s Picks Reshaping Secret Surveillance Court

A Bipartisan Warning on Surveillance

Under Code, Apps Would Disclose Collection of Data