October 2013

NEWS FROM THE FCC

FCC TAKES ACTION TO PROMOTE INTEROPERABILITY IN THE LOWER 700 MHz BAND
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press Release]
The Federal Communications Commission has approved a Report and Order and Order of Proposed Modification to move forward with implementing a voluntary industry agreement that will establish interoperable LTE service in the Lower 700 MHz band. The Order finds that the terms of the voluntary agreement serve the public interest by encouraging efficient use of spectrum and enabling consumers to enjoy the benefits of greater competition. The standards developed by several wireless providers, along with the Competitive Carriers Association, will also give consumers more choice in using their devices with large and small carriers alike and will promote widespread deployment of mobile broadband services, especially in rural areas.
benton.org/node/165012 | Federal Communications Commission
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COMBATING CALL COMPLETION PROBLEMS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission took steps to remedy the serious and unacceptable problem of long-distance calls failing to reach rural homes and businesses. New rules unanimously adopted by the FCC will provide immediate solutions and empower future agency enforcement efforts while giving providers incentives to improve their service. The new rules require key providers to record, retain and report rural call completion data to give the FCC the information it needs to investigate and eliminate the problem. Providers may use this information to improve performance on their own. The data will also allow state regulators to better monitor performance and identify problem areas. As soon as the new rules take effect, providers will be barred from transmitting an audible ring to a caller’s handset when the phone on the other end of the call is not actually ringing. As a result, callers will no longer prematurely hang up, and providers will get better information about call performance. In addition to providing the FCC with data to better monitor and redress call completion problems, the Order includes a safe harbor provision with incentives for providers to improve their call completion practices and performance. Building on a number of recent FCC actions, the Order includes the following provisions:
Providers with over 100,000 lines that make the initial choice as to how to route a call must collect and retain data for six months and file quarterly reports.
False audible ringing is prohibited (signaling that leads the calling party to believe the phone is ringing at the called party’s premises when it is not).
Providers taking advantage of the safe harbor, which incorporates an industry best practice to limit the number of intermediate long distance providers to two, will receive the benefit of reduced data retention and reporting obligations.
To encourage providers to have all mechanisms in place to ensure calls to rural areas are completed, such as by meeting all industry best practices, providers will also have the option of requesting a waiver to have their retention and reporting obligations further reduced.
benton.org/node/165010 | Federal Communications Commission | Chairwoman Clyburn | Commissioner Rosenworcel | Commissioner Pai
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FCC ADOPTS TECHNICAL RULES FOR USE OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY SPECTRUM LICENSED TO FIRSTNET
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission today adopted technical service rules to govern the spectrum that will be used for deployment of a nationwide public safety wireless broadband network by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). The rules, which include power limits and other technical parameters for operating in this spectrum band, will provide a foundation for FirstNet’s operations, help avoid harmful interference to spectrum users in adjacent bands, and expedite the availability of equipment for use on the public safety network, thereby fostering competition and innovation in the marketplace.
benton.org/node/165008 | Federal Communications Commission | Chairwoman Clyburn | Commissioner Rosenworcel | Commissioner Pai
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MORE RESILIENT COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: David Turetsky]
Hurricane Sandy was a powerful reminder of the importance of resilient communications networks – whether you are calling for help, checking on the well-being of loved ones, or just trying to resume day-to-day business after a disaster strikes. Unfortunately, millions of Americans faced communications problems after the storm. For example, at its peak, Sandy disabled approximately 25 percent of cell sites in the affected region – and more than 50 percent in the hardest-hit counties. But some wireless providers fared better than others because of the preparations they undertook, suggesting that there are additional steps providers can take to bolster network resiliency. In fact, the Commission held field hearings after Hurricane Sandy to hear from stakeholders about how to improve disaster-time communications. Based on one of the ideas raised, the Commission recently proposed rules that would require wireless service providers to publicly disclose the percentage of cell sites within their networks that are operational during and immediately after disasters. The concept is simple: by providing consumers with a yardstick for comparing wireless performance in emergencies, this proposal could empower consumers and in turn create competitive incentives in the wireless industry to improve network reliability. We are seeking public comment on this and other approaches.
benton.org/node/165005 | Federal Communications Commission
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

FEDERAL PROSECUTORS, IN A POLICY SHIFT, CITE WARRANTLESS WIRETAPS AS EVIDENCE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Charlie Savage]
The Justice Department for the first time has notified a criminal defendant that evidence being used against him came from a warrantless wiretap, a move that is expected to set up a Supreme Court test of whether such eavesdropping is constitutional. Prosecutors recently filed such a notice in the case of Jamshid Muhtorov, who was charged in Colorado in January 2012 with providing material support to the Islamic Jihad Union, a designated terrorist organization based in Uzbekistan. A criminal complaint against him showed that much of the government’s case was based on intercepted e-mails and phone calls. The government’s notice allows Muhtorov’s lawyer to ask a court to suppress the evidence by arguing that it derived from unconstitutional surveillance, setting in motion judicial review of the eavesdropping. The New York Times reported on Oct. 17 that the decision by prosecutors to notify a defendant about the wiretapping followed a legal policy debate inside the Justice Department. The practice contradicted what Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. had told the Supreme Court in 2012 in a case challenging the law, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. In a statement, Patrick Toomey, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which had represented Amnesty International and the other plaintiffs in the case, “We welcome the government’s belated recognition that it must give notice to criminal defendants who it has monitored under the most sweeping surveillance law ever passed by Congress. By withholding notice, the government has avoided judicial review of its dragnet warrantless wiretapping program for five years.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/us/federal-prosecutors-in-a-policy-shi...
How the feds won a key warrantless wiretapping ruling by misleading the Supreme Court (Washington Post)
benton.org/node/165026 | New York Times | Washington Post
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WHITE HOUSE OK’ED SPYING ON ALLIES
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Ken Dilanian, Janet Stobart]
The White House and State Department signed off on surveillance targeting phone conversations of friendly foreign leaders, current and former US intelligence officials said, pushing back against assertions that President Obama and his aides were unaware of the high-level eavesdropping. Professional staff members at the National Security Agency and other US intelligence agencies are angry, these officials say, believing the President has cast them adrift as he tries to distance himself from the disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that have strained ties with close allies. The resistance emerged as the White House said it would curtail foreign intelligence collection in some cases and two senior US senators called for investigations of the practice.
benton.org/node/165092 | Los Angeles Times
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NSA DISCLOSURE REJECTED
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Andrea Peterson]
Newly declassified letters show that three members of the House Judiciary Committee asked the Department of Justice to tell the public more about how parts of the Patriot Act were being used to justify bulk phone record collections -- and that Justice said no. In identical letters from Dec. 17, 2009, addressed to then House Judiciary Chairman Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and Reps. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich thanks each member for an Oct., 5 2009 letter "requesting that the Department of Justice work to provide additional public information on the use of 215 of the USA PATRIOT ACT"—the provision that the government contends allows dragnet collection of Americans' phone records. The letters go on to say that they will not be releasing further information to the public, citing national security concerns.
benton.org/node/165090 | New York Times
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GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE

THE US NEEDS A TECH-SMART GOVERNMENT
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Susan Crawford]
[Commentary] Civil servants trained in policy know little about digital technology; as a result, they can’t ask hard questions or pitch in to help. Many are risk-averse, too, and complacent when it comes to large technology projects. Government technologists, for their part, may have no experience with modern project management and design methods. They usually aren’t at the policy-making table; instead, they’re brought in after decisions have been made and left to interpret the shifting demands of the tech-blind lawyers and economists. This is why, when faced with a big technology project, fear of failure and inadequate internal talent drive government agencies to call in giant contractors. These vendors may not be the best at managing software development, but they are the best at handling government contracts. They’ll operate using antiquated models of project management that involve detailed, fully baked project designs rather than minimum viable products. And they’ll use mainstream technologies because that’s what they know decision makers will trust. Government policy managers, by and large, leave vendors such as CGI Federal, the contractor behind HealthCare.gov, alone to do the work, not knowing what questions to ask. This is a shame, because if government could use technology responsively, it would increase public trust.
benton.org/node/164966 | Bloomberg
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FEDERAL HEALTH SITE STYMIED BY LACK OF DIRECTION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Christopher Weaver, Louise Radnofsky]
A team of young policy experts energized by President Barack Obama's health law toiled for three years in a Bethesda (MD) office building to draw up specifications for the federally run insurance marketplace. Forty miles away at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Baltimore headquarters, longtime agency computer experts with different bosses oversaw building the site's software and hardware components. And in Washington, White House advisers worked to preserve the law through treacherous politics, sometimes stalling final decisions about the site, HealthCare.gov, to avoid controversy ahead of the 2012 presidential election. As it becomes clear that no single leader oversaw implementation of the health law's signature online marketplace -- a complex software project that would have been difficult under the best circumstances -- the accounts of more than a dozen current and former officials show how a disjointed bureaucracy led to the site's disastrous Oct. 1 launch.
benton.org/node/164988 | Wall Street Journal
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

THE COST OF CONNECTIVITY 2013
[SOURCE: New America Foundation, AUTHOR: Hibah Hussain, Danielle Kehl, Patrick Lucey, Nick Russo]
In 2012, the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute published The Cost of Connectivity, a first-of-its-kind study of the cost of consumer broadband services in 22 cities around the world. The results showed that, in comparison to their international peers, Americans in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC are paying higher prices for slower Internet service. While the plans and prices have been updated in the intervening year, the 2013 data shows little progress, reflecting remarkably similar trends to what we observed in 2012. The 2013 data release includes:
A comparison of “triple play” offerings that bundle Internet, phone, and television services;
A comparison of the fastest Internet package available in each city;
A survey of the best available home Internet plan for approximately $35 USD in each city;
A survey of the best available mobile Internet plan for approximately $40 USD in each city;
It costs more to purchase 2 GB of data in a US city than it does in any of the cities surveyed in Europe. The new data, in comparing trends from 2012 to 2013, underscores the extent to which US cities lag behind cities around the world, further emphasizing the need for policy reform. Rather than allowing American cities to fall behind, policymakers should reassess current policy approaches and implement strategies to increase competition, in turn fostering faster speeds and more affordable access.
benton.org/node/164970 | New America Foundation
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

KKR WIRELESS DEAL
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Ryan Dezember]
Apparently, Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts, a multinational private equity firm, has struck a $100 million pact to build wireless-communications infrastructure alongside Associated Partners LP, an investment firm run by one of the sector's pioneering families, according to people familiar with the matter. Associated Partners' managers, brothers David and Bill Berkman, are the scions of a Pittsburgh family that made a fortune in communications. The family business started selling greeting cards and went on to own radio and TV stations and eventually operate and sell off early cellular networks. KKR will initially pump about $100 million into the partnership, but it could contribute more later, some of the people said. The way the deal is structured, KKR is making minority investments in three businesses managed by Associated Partners. Associated Partners is aiming to ramp up its business upgrading wireless systems in rural areas, which generally lag behind those in urban areas in data-handling capacity. The firm has about 20 teams around the country working on rewiring hard-to-reach cell sites with the latest high-speed equipment on behalf of major carriers such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T.
benton.org/node/165000 | Wall Street Journal
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VERIZON TO BUY AWS SPECTRUM FROM US CELLULAR
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Phil Goldstein]
Verizon Wireless is seeking to acquire advanced wireless service (AWS) spectrum owned by a subsidiary of US Cellular, an indication Verizon remains willing to augment its 700 MHz LTE network with AWS radio waves. According to an Federal Communications Commission filing, Verizon and Barat Wireless -- an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of US Cellular -- filed an application for Verizon to acquire 20 MHz of AWS-1 spectrum in 53 counties in 14 Cellular Market Areas (CMAs) across parts of Illinois and Missouri near the St. Louis area. According to the FCC, if the transaction is approved, Verizon would own 62-117MHz of spectrum across those CMAs, 40 MHz of which would be AWS-1. Financial details were not disclosed. T-Mobile US is using AWS spectrum for its LTE network, which now covers 202 million POPs. AWS is the most popular band for LTE in the Americas, according to Tolaga Research.
benton.org/node/164960 | Fierce
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PRIVACY

DATA INDUSTRY MUST STEP UP TO PROTECT CONSUMER PRIVACY
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: FTC Commissioner Julie Brill]
[Commentary] We are awash in data. Every time we go online or use a smartphone or credit card, our purchases and movements are tracked. We keep our schedules, plan trips and celebrate birthdays online. When we go outside, ubiquitous CCTV and security cameras capture our movements. And a world of interconnected refrigerators, thermostats and other everyday devices -- the Internet of Things -- lies just ahead. To reap the economic and social rewards of Big Data and the Internet of Things, we're told we need to scrap many of the basic privacy principles. Data brokers, marketers and other companies that join the big-data stampede while ignoring basic privacy principles do so at their own peril. New laws would help. But there is more we can do right now to address the fundamental challenge of helping consumers regain control of their most sensitive and private information. To this end, I am calling on the data-broker industry to join a comprehensive initiative, which I call Reclaim Your Name. Through creation of consumer-friendly online services, Reclaim Your Name would empower the consumer to find out how brokers are collecting and using data; give her access to information that data brokers have amassed about her; allow her to opt-out if a data broker is selling her information for marketing purposes; and provide her the opportunity to correct errors in information used for substantive decisions. Moving forward, it will be crucial to incorporate transparency, choice, access and other basic privacy principles into big-data analytics. It will require the focused efforts of companies and experimentation by technologists. The result can be a system that respects consumer privacy and engenders consumer trust, allowing big data to reach its full potential to benefit us all.
benton.org/node/164964 | AdAge
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THE END OF COOKIES?
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Elizabeth Dwoskin]
The end could be near for cookies, the tiny pieces of code that marketers deploy on Web browsers to track people's online movements, serve targeted advertising and amass valuable user profiles. In the past month, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook have said they are developing systems to plug into and control this river of data in ways that bypass the more than a thousand software companies that place cookies on websites. The moves could radically shift the balance of power in the $120 billion global digital advertising industry -- and have ad technology companies scrambling to figure out their next play. "There is a Battle Royal brewing," says Scott Meyer, chief executive of Evidon, a company that helps businesses keep track of the cookies on their websites. "Whoever controls access to all that data can charge rent for it -- and has a tremendous advantage going forward."
benton.org/node/165079 | Wall Street Journal
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CONTENT

PHOTO AND VIDEO SHARING
[SOURCE: Pew Internet and American Life Project, AUTHOR: Maeve Duggan]
More internet users are sharing photos and videos online. A new study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project shows that 54% of internet users have posted original photos or videos to websites and 47% share photos or videos they found elsewhere online. The mobile landscape has also added to photo- and video-sharing. Apps like Snapchat and Instagram have capitalized on the ubiquity of cell phones and smartphones that make it simple to upload and share images. Some 9% of cell phone owners use Snapchat and 18% use Instagram. This is the first time the Pew Internet Project has asked cell owners about Snapchat and Instagram. Posting and sharing photos and videos is especially popular among women. Some 59% of online women post photos and videos they have taken themselves, while 53% share visual content they found elsewhere on the web. Young people are also especially likely to take and share photos and videos online, including on mobile apps. Among internet users ages 18-29, 81% have uploaded original multi-media, while 68% have reposted photos or videos they found elsewhere online. Some 26% of cell owners age 18-29 use Snapchat, while 43% use Instagram.
benton.org/node/164994 | Pew Internet and American Life Project
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CHILDREN & MEDIA

SETTING LIMITS ON SCREEN TIME
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Andrea Petersen]
Parents should ban electronic media during mealtimes and after bedtime as part of a comprehensive "family media use plan," according to new recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The influential new guidelines are being spurred by a growing recognition of kids' nearly round-the-clock media consumption, which includes everything from television to texting and social media. "Excessive media use is associated with obesity, poor school performance, aggression and lack of sleep," said Marjorie Hogan, co-author of the new policy and a pediatrician. Families should have a no-device rule during meals and after bedtime, the guidelines say. Parents should also set family rules covering the use of the Internet and social media and cellphones and texting, including, perhaps, which sites can be visited, who can be called and giving parental access to Facebook accounts. The policy also reiterated the AAP's existing recommendations: Kids should limit the amount of screen time for entertainment to less than two hours per day; children younger than 2 shouldn't have any TV or Internet exposure. Also, televisions and Internet-accessible devices should be kept out of kids' bedrooms. Doctors say parents need to abide by the family rules, too, to model healthy behavior.
benton.org/node/165088 | Wall Street Journal
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WATCHING STUDENTS ONLINE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Somini Sengupta]
As students complain, taunt and sometimes cry out for help on social media, educators have more opportunities to monitor students around the clock. And some schools are turning to technology to help them. Several companies offer services to filter and glean what students do on school networks; a few now offer automated tools to comb through off-campus postings for signs of danger. For school officials, this raises new questions about whether they should -- or legally can -- discipline children for their online outbursts.
benton.org/node/165086 | New York Times
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

WHAT TED CRUZ DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW
[SOURCE: Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Timothy Karr]
[Commentary] By now it seems pretty clear that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has a plan to occupy the White House. But he doesn't want people to know too much about it. And he definitely doesn't want you to know about the special interests that have already begun to bankroll his political ambitions. That's why the Texas senator's latest crusade targets the Federal Communications Commission -- and its efforts to better identify the funders of political ads. While the Federal Elections Commission has a limited ability to identify the funders of the groups that emerged in the wake of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, the FCC has a clear legal path to transparency. Broadcasters are obliged by law to disclose who pays for political ads in exchange for using the airwaves. Free Press and our allies won a major victory in 2012 when the FCC ordered all television stations to post this information to an online database the agency manages. Now you can go to a single website and find important data on who is spending how much on political ads at major stations in the nation's 50 largest television markets. Communications law expert Andrew Schwartzman, who serves as a legal adviser to Free Press, has petitioned the FCC to enforce existing sponsor identification requirements and disclose the names of principal funders in the body of the ads themselves. And that scares Sen. Cruz and his supporters in groups like the Koch brothers funded-Americans for Prosperity, which raises millions of dollars from anonymous donors to run attack ads against their political foes.
benton.org/node/165014 | Huffington Post
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RADIO

RADIO FACES CHALLENGES
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Robert Cookson]
Radio remains the world’s most popular form of media in terms of audience, with listener figures at their highest levels in decades. The industry, which generated revenues of $44 billion last year, up more than 2 percent on the previous period, continues to attract advertisers. Incumbents such as Clear Channel, Sirius XM and Global Radio have largely survived the rise of digital focused start-ups such as Spotify, Deezer and Pandora. But broadcasters face some of their fiercest competition for years as the world’s biggest technology companies – including Apple and Google – take aim at their business.
benton.org/node/165075 | Financial Times
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TELECOM

SPECIAL ACCESS DELAY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Ryan Knutson]
AT&T is postponing an effective price increase on some of its dedicated data and voice lines after the move was met with strong opposition from customers and competitors who buy the service. AT&T announced earlier this month it would no longer offer extended contracts, and the discounts that come with it, for older types of high-capacity network connections for businesses known as "special access lines." Sprint and other telecommunications companies that buy the connections claimed the move was anticompetitive and complained to the Federal Communications Commission. AT&T and Verizon Communications control 80% of the special access market, Sprint and other rivals say. The connections are used mostly by businesses that need dedicated network connections for such purposes as hooking up ATMs or connecting field offices to a company headquarters. Wireless carriers use them to connect cell towers to the broader network, and the connections are also bought by AT&T's competitors and resold to businesses. On Oct 25, AT&T sent a letter to business customers saying it will postpone the changes for 30 days in order to "address questions and concerns that customers have raised." AT&T must notify the FCC of any changes to its special access lines.
benton.org/node/165081 | Wall Street Journal
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CYBERSECURITY

REQUEST FOR COMMENTS ON DRAFT NIST INTERAGENCY REPORT
[SOURCE: National Institute of Standards and Technology, AUTHOR: Willie May]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks comments on its latest draft of its Guidelines for Smart Grid Cyber Security, which was completed by the NIST-led Smart Grid Cybersecurity Committee (formerly the Cyber Security Working Group) of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel. The document has been updated to address changes in technologies and implementations since the draft’s release in September 2010. In addition, the document development strategy, cryptography and key management, privacy, vulnerability classes, research and development topics, standards review, and key power system use cases have been updated and expanded to reflect changes in the Smart Grid environment since 2010. This is in accordance with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 which requires the Director of the NIST ‘‘to coordinate the development of a framework that includes protocols and model standards for information management to achieve interoperability of smart grid devices and systems.’’ The final version is expected to be posted in the fall of 2013. Comments must be received by December 24, 2013.
benton.org/node/164958 | National Institute of Standards and Technology
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TRANSPARENCY

DATA TRANSPARENCY
[SOURCE: Knight Foundation, AUTHOR: Press release]
A team of American transparency advocates will test a British model for open data standards in the United States, with $250,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Led by open data pioneer Waldo Jaquith, the US team will work with the UK-based Open Data Institute to replicate its model and determine its effectiveness stateside. The institute’s goal is to encourage governments and businesses to adopt open data standards as a way to promote economic growth, innovation and social change. The US team, for example, will connect government agencies, businesses and nonprofits with experts and vendors who can help them be more transparent. The effort will also help these organizations overcome the barriers preventing them from sharing their data, by hosting convenings and creating open source projects that can fill the gaps. The US team is guided by an advisory board consisting of Aneesh Chopra, former U.S. chief technology officer, Daniel X. O’Neil, executive director of the Smart Chicago Collaborative, and Max Ogden, a noted open data developer and alumnus of Code for America.
benton.org/node/165077 | Knight Foundation
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

GOOGLE AMENDS PROPOSAL TO SETTLE EU ANTITRUST INVESTIGATION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Frances Robinson]
Google offered new proposals to address European Union concerns that the company unfairly uses its search engine to promote its own services. The bloc gave Google's rivals four weeks to review the proposals, which change the way the company displays results, particularly for specialized shopping and local searches. The company also lowered from an earlier proposal the prices it charges rivals to appear in results. If the EU accepts Google's proposals, they will be binding on the company for five years. A trustee would be appointed to monitor compliance. The binding offer marks a new step for a company that earlier in 2013 was able to exit a similar investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission after making only voluntary commitments. If the European Commission doesn't accept Google's proposals, it can ask for further changes or begin formal legal antitrust proceedings. The commission has sent a request for information to 125 companies, including all the complainants and rivals who responded to earlier Google proposals. "We're seeking targeted feedback on specific points," a senior EU official said. Google proposed displaying three sets of results from rival search engines in a box under its own shopping results. The rivals still would have to pay through an auction mechanism to be featured, as proposed earlier, but the minimum price for search terms has been cut to three European cents from 10 European cents (to four US cents from 14 US cents).
benton.org/node/164986 | Wall Street Journal | IDG News Service
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Daily Digest

Analysis

October 2013

Tribune Said to Seek $4.1 Billion of Loans for TV Station Deal

Chinese Companies Scale the Great Firewall to Build Brands on Facebook, Twitter

Spectrum auctions: Competitive opportunity or corporate welfare?

NAF’s Cost of Connectivity Report fails a fact check

Qu’ils mangent de la brioche?

New Broadband Study Gives Inaccurate Picture of Telecom Performance

Request for Comments on the Preliminary Cybersecurity Framework

Privacy Expert Group Report on the Review of the 1980 OECD Privacy Guidelines

October 29, 2013 (FCC Meeting Recap; NSA Surveillance)