December 2013

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2013

New America Foundation hosts “Promoting the Free Flow of Information in Sanctioned Countries” http://benton.org/calendar/2013-12-05/

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show
   The NSA says it ‘obviously’ can track locations without a warrant. That’s not so obvious. - analysis
   The NSA could figure out how many Americans it’s spying on. It just doesn’t want to. - editorial
   Libraries fear NSA is targeting their records
   Internet Firms Step Up Efforts to Stop Spying
   NSA Connection Creates Credibility Problems For NIST Encryption Standards
   British news staff may face terrorism charges over Snowden leaks
   NSA spying scandal accelerating China's push to favor local tech vendors [links to web]
   UK tries to apply media bans to Facebook and Twitter users: is that a good idea? [links to web]
   Vice President Biden Faults China on Foreign Press Crackdown

GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
   Healthcare.Gov’s Lessons For Big Government
   Using Personal Devices For Work Creates A Digital Dilemma For Feds [links to web]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   FCC Bureaus Grant Verizon Petition For Declaratory Ruling On Foreign Ownership And Verizon-Vodafone Pro Forma Transfers Of Control - press release
   AT&T, T-Mobile Weigh Bids For Verizon Wireless Spectrum
   Competitive Carriers Association Asks FCC to Create a Wireless Competition Task Force - press release [links to web]
   Where’s all this spectrum going to come from? - op-ed [links to web]
   Senate to hold hearing on incentive auction Dec 10 [links to web]
   U.S. court questions Google defense against Oracle over Android [links to web]

BROADBAND/TELECOM
   Berners-Lee calls for ‘ordinary people’ to protect web
   Controversial landline phone legislation passes Michigan Senate committee [links to web]
   West Virginia at risk of losing $4.4M for broadband expansion [links to web]
   Main Street merchants deserve equal footing with online retailers - SJ Mercury editorial [links to web]
   Comcast Expands Data Capping Trials: Why You Should Care - analysis

ADVERTISING
   FTC Says Sponsored Online Ads Can Be Misleading
   Recalling TV’s Golden Age, Stars Pitch Products Tied to Their Shows [links to web]
   Fox Sells Out the Super Bowl [links to web]

PRIVACY
   Judge throws out Google privacy policy case, notes “users are the real product”
   Keeping Teens ‘Private’ on Facebook Won’t Protect Them - op-ed
   Smarter cell phone privacy protections - SF Chronicle editorial [links to web]

TELEVISION/RADIO
   Rep. Walden: Not So Fast On Retransmission Reform
   ACI Study Blasts Retransmission Regulations, Urges Reform [links to web]
    The Disruption Myth and Digital TV - op-ed [links to web]
   More TV Cord -Cutting In 2013 [links to web]
   Recalling TV’s Golden Age, Stars Pitch Products Tied to Their Shows [links to web]
   Fox Sells Out the Super Bowl [links to web]
   Protecting Sound Recording Artists and Getting It Right This Time - Public Knowledge analysis [links to web]
http://publicknowledge.org/blog/protecting-sound-recording-artists-and-g...

EDUCATION
   13 modern challenges today’s school tech leaders face [links to web]
   Professors in Deal to Design Online Lessons for AP Classes [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Berners-Lee calls for ‘ordinary people’ to protect web
   Vice President Biden Faults China on Foreign Press Crackdown
   British news staff may face terrorism charges over Snowden leaks
   NSA spying scandal accelerating China's push to favor local tech vendors [links to web]
   Britain to give all-clear to Huawei security center [links to web]
   Brazil delays vote on anti-spying Internet bill
   Mexico Agency Said to Find America Movil, Televisa Dominant
   Apple, China Mobile Sign Deal to Offer iPhone [links to web]
   European Commission clears acquisition of Nokia's mobile device business by Microsoft - press release [links to web]
   UK tries to apply media bans to Facebook and Twitter users: is that a good idea? [links to web]
   China passes Japan to become world's 2nd largest IT market [links to web]
   Inside China’s Version of Silicon Valley [links to web]
   ITU achieves major breakthrough in audio standards - press release [links to web]

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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

NSA TRACKING CELLPHONE LOCATIONS WORLDWIDE, SNOWDEN DOCUMENTS SHOW
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani]
The National Security Agency is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world, according to top-secret documents and interviews with US intelligence officials, enabling the agency to track the movements of individuals -- and map their relationships -- in ways that would have been previously unimaginable. The records feed a vast database that stores information about the locations of at least hundreds of millions of devices, according to the officials and the documents, which were provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. New projects created to analyze that data have provided the intelligence community with what amounts to a mass surveillance tool. One senior collection manager, speaking on condition of anonymity but with permission from the NSA, said “we are getting vast volumes” of location data from around the world by tapping into the cables that connect mobile networks globally and that serve US cellphones as well as foreign ones. Additionally, data are often collected from the tens of millions of Americans who travel abroad with their cellphones every year. In scale, scope and potential impact on privacy, the efforts to collect and analyze location data may be unsurpassed among the NSA surveillance programs that have been disclosed since June. Analysts can find cellphones anywhere in the world, retrace their movements and expose hidden relationships among individuals using them.
benton.org/node/169161 | Washington Post | |
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THE NSA SAYS IT ‘OBVIOUSLY’ CAN TRACK LOCATIONS WITHOUT A WARRANT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Andrea Peterson]
[Commentary] In conversations with The Washington Post over Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani's recent story on cellphone location tracking, an intelligence agency lawyer told Gellman, "obviously there is no Fourth Amendment expectation in communications metadata.” But some experts say it's far from obvious that the 1979 Supreme Court case, Smith v. Maryland, on which the Administration bases this view gives the government unfettered power to scoop up Americans' cellphone location data. That Supreme Court case was a very different case in a very different time than the intelligence activities laid bare by documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Michelle Richardson, an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, points out that the type of metadata collected in 1979 was much more limited in scope than what telecom companies have access to now. This is particularly true on the issue of location information, she argues. "It reflects who you know, what you do -- it can reflect if you attend a certain church, or a political rally, or AA meetings." So back then, location tracking was a much more onerous affair, requiring so many resources it was only used for the most serious investigations. Given these new capabilities, Richardson calls Smith v. Maryland "way out of date," adding "it was before cellphones, before the Internet, before services that collect intensely personal information." Until the Supreme Court hears a case applying Smith v. Maryland to location data, we won't know if the Constitution allows the government to obtain this kind of information without a warrant.
benton.org/node/169160 | Washington Post | Huffington Post
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THE NSA COULD FIGURE OUT HOW MANY AMERICANS IT’S SPYING ON. IT JUST DOESN’T WANT TO.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Timothy Lee]
[Commentary] Documents released by whistleblower Edward Snowden reveal that the information includes some data about the locations of Americans, but didn't provide specific estimates about how many Americans were affected. When asked about it, a National Security Agency spokeswoman claimed it would be impossible to come up with an estimate. This seems difficult to believe. The metadata the NSA collects about mobile devices should contain more than enough information to make an educated guess about whether they are associated with an American. By examining a random sample of devices it is tracking, the agency should be able to come up with a reasonable estimate of how many of those devices are associated with a US person. That doesn't translate to a precise count of the number of Americans subject to surveillance. Some Americans own multiple cellphones, and some foreigners might sign up for US cellphone plans. But it should give at least a rough estimate of how many Americans are having their location data scooped up by the NSA.
benton.org/node/169159 | Washington Post
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LIBRARIES FEAR NSA IS TARGETING THEIR RECORDS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kate Tummarello]
The nation’s libraries are backing legislation that would curb the powers of the National Security Agency. Revelations about NSA surveillance have created a “climate of concern” for libraries, which are seeking to defend the freedom to read and research away from the government’s prying eyes. “You need to have some freedom to learn about what you think is important without worrying about whether it ends up in some FBI file,” said Alan Inouye, director of the Office for Information Technology Policy at the American Library Association (ALA). Government snooping of libraries has a long history. Under the Patriot Act, for example, the FBI has the power to compel libraries to hand over user data. But the activities of the NSA seem to go far beyond traditional police work, reflecting an “almost ravenous hunger” for collecting information, according to Lynne Bradley, director of the ALA’s Office of Government Relations. That’s especially troubling to the ALA, as “libraries are all about metadata,” Inouye said. The records that libraries keep -- when a user logs on to a library computer, what websites they visit, when books are borrowed and returned -- seem to fit the mold of what the NSA is seeking.
benton.org/node/169139 | Hill, The
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NSA CONNECTION CREATES CREDIBILITY PROBLEMS FOR NIST ENCRYPTION STANDARDS
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Emma Green]
The Department of Commerce is a big place. It's home to the National Weather Service, the US Patent Office, and the Census Bureau. But following last summer's revelations about National Security Agency surveillance of American citizens, one bureau has gotten more than its usual share of the media's attention: the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which develops the encryption standards used by all public organizations and many private companies to protect their digital infrastructure. Because of a legal requirement, NIST had help from NSA in creating these encryption recommendations, and in September, the bureau "strongly" advised that organizations stop using one part of their standard because of security concerns. While the head of NIST, Patrick Gallagher, testified that the organization is not "not deliberately, knowingly, working to undermine or weaken encryption,” outrage about NSA surveillance has put the bureau in an awkward situation: People aren't sure whether they can trust the digital security standards that NIST puts out. That's why Penny Pritzker, the Hyatt hotel chain heiress and recently confirmed Secretary of Commerce, has been getting questions about national security, including at The Atlantic's forum on small business. "There's a national security approach, as well as an economic approach, to the 'How do we restore trust?' question," Pritzker said. "I put the national security issue in what I call protecting the digital flexibility" of companies.
benton.org/node/169158 | nextgov
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INTERNET FIRMS STEP UP EFFORTS TO STOP SPYING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Nicole Perlroth, Vindu Goel]
For big Internet outfits, it is no longer enough to have a fast-loading smartphone app or cool messaging service. In the era of Edward J. Snowden and his revelations of mass government surveillance, companies are competing to show users how well their data is protected from prying eyes, with billions of dollars in revenue hanging in the balance. Microsoft will be the latest technology company to announce plans to shield its services from outside surveillance. It is in the process of adding state-of-the-art encryption features to various consumer services and internally at its data centers. The announcement follows similar efforts by Google, Mozilla, Twitter, Facebook and Yahoo in what has effectively become a digital arms race with the National Security Agency as the companies react to what some have called the “Snowden Effect.” While security has long simmered as a concern for users, many companies were reluctant to employ modern protections, worried that upgrades would slow down connections and add complexity to their networks. But the issue boiled over six months ago.
benton.org/node/169184 | New York Times | WashPost – Microsoft | NYTimes – Microsoft
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GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE

HEALTHCARE.GOV’S LESSONS FOR BIG GOVERNMENT
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Joseph Marks]
The troubled rollout of HealthCare.gov got a big picture treatment from historians and economists, during a hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. At issue was whether the government is capable of implementing large programs such as Obamacare and the website that supports it or if the inefficiencies inherent in government work make such initiatives impossible. Republican committee members and panelists from the right-leaning Cato Institute and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University outlined the challenges government faces when implementing large programs, including that federal employees are rarely fired or otherwise punished when their systems fail and are rarely rewarded for taking risks or performing above expectation. They also noted that government agencies tend to be more saddled by bureaucracy and more beholden to special interests than the private sector. Democratic members and Karen Kruse Thomas, a historian with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, argued that government is capable of taking on large projects to fix market failures in the private sector and to bring comfort and security to the disenfranchised. They cited social security, Medicare and other social programs as evidence.
benton.org/node/169153 | nextgov
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

FCC BUREAUS GRANT VERIZON PETITION FOR DECLARATORY RULING ON FOREIGN OWNERSHIP AND VERIZON-VODAFONE PRO FORMA TRANSFERS OF CONTROL
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
In the first action applying new foreign ownership rules meant to reduce red tape and facilitate international investment in US wireless networks, the Federal Communications Commission issued a foreign ownership ruling and approved the transfer of control to Verizon Communications of Vodafone’s stake in Verizon Wireless. The actions by the International Bureau, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, and Office of Engineering and Technology came just over one month after the public comment period closed on the petition. In the planned transaction, Verizon, currently the controlling, 55% parent of Verizon Wireless, will acquire, for approximately $130 billion, Vodafone’s U.S. group with the principal asset of the remaining non-controlling 45% interest currently held by Vodafone in Verizon Wireless. As part of the transaction, Verizon will distribute Verizon stock to Vodafone’s shareholders. The declaratory ruling issued by the International Bureau permits Verizon, post-transaction, to have aggregate foreign ownership in excess of the 25% benchmark. None of the non-US shareholders will hold a greater than 5% interest, or a controlling interest, in the outstanding Verizon shares. Earlier this year, the FCC modified the policies and procedures applied to the review of transactions involving foreign ownership of U.S. wireless networks in order to encourage investment while reducing delay, uncertainty and expense. The rules became effective in August.
benton.org/node/169150 | Federal Communications Commission
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BID FOR VERIZON SPECTRUM?
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Ryan Knutson, Thomas Gryta]
AT&T is considering a bid for a block of spectrum licenses held by Verizon Wireless, setting up a potential contest for the airwaves with smaller rival T-Mobile, people familiar with the matter said. The block of airwaves is highly valued for its ability to carry signals for long distances and penetrate buildings. Verizon bought the spectrum for about $2.4 billion, and it is expected to command up to $2.75 billion in a sale, telecom analyst Jonathan Chaplin of New Street Research said. AT&T, like other carriers, is looking around for spectrum to carry growing data traffic, and the Verizon airwaves fit well with its current holdings. T-Mobile, which the people familiar with the matter said is also considering a bid, needs the low-band spectrum to bolster its network, which runs primarily on higher frequencies. The Verizon spectrum is, technically speaking, in the "A block" in the lower 700 megahertz frequency. Availability of such spectrum is limited, and regulators have suggested there should be caps placed on ownership so that it isn't monopolized by industry leaders Verizon and AT&T, which already own roughly 75% of the low-band spectrum currently in use by wireless carriers. A deal for the A-Block could complicate AT&T's effort to keep regulators from imposing ownership limits on lower-band spectrum in upcoming government auctions. T-Mobile and Sprint have argued for such limits.
benton.org/node/169183 | Wall Street Journal
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INTERNET/TELECOM

A CALL TO PROTECT THE WEB
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Robert Cookson]
Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web, has thrown his weight behind a new campaign to encourage people across the world to fight back against online censorship and surveillance. In a letter to the Financial Times, Sir Tim wrote that “now is the time for citizens to mobilize to demand that governments and companies respect and protect our basic freedoms online.” The letter marks the launch of a campaign called the Web We Want, which Sir Tim has set up with a coalition of civil society organizations including Free Press and the Center for Democracy and Technology. “Our aim is that citizens in every country will help to create a national bill of rights for the internet – so that we can all build the web we want, and freely use its power to create the world we want,” he wrote.
benton.org/node/169185 | Financial Times
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COMCAST EXPANDS DATA CAPPING TRIALS: WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
[SOURCE: New America Foundation, AUTHOR: Katie Fiegenbaum]
[Commentary] Starting in December 2013, subscribers to any of Comcast’s broadband services in Atlanta or Maine will face a 300 GB limit. Customers who go over the cap will automatically be charged $10 and allocated 50 GB of additional data. Customers will be notified multiple times by email before hitting the cap, and alerted by phone when the 300 GB has been completely used. This trial also includes a “discount” plan just for Economy Plus subscribers, giving those who use 5 GB or less per month a $5 discount off the cost of the regular plan. 300 GB of data is still a lot for today’s median user. Comcast reports that median usage is 17 GB per month. According to the FCC’s 2013 Measuring Broadband America report, however, the median cable broadband user used about 40 GB per month. Many activities that used to happen offline, like watching movies, playing video games, and listening to music, are now moving online. Streaming HD video from Netflix uses up to 2.8 GB an hour and downloading a single video game can be 7 GB or more of your monthly data. And it’s not just entertainment that uses up data: online education including video lectures is just starting to take off. Though data usage is not going up exponentially, there is a clear trend towards higher data consumption by the median user. The fixed costs for Comcast are hardly high, and the system they propose is hardly fair. Digging up streets and installing wires do require a significant up-front investment, but cable providers paid off their fixed network construction costs a long time ago. Data transit costs have been falling for years and are now estimated to be at most a few cents per extra GB. Public statements from Comcast say that it has more than enough capacity for today’s demands as well as into the future. It’s clear that Comcast does not need increased revenue or huge investments to deal with additional capacity. Instead, these kinds of caps just help wireline providers rake in even larger profits and encourage a climate of broadband scarcity. If you don’t live in Atlanta or Maine, this trial expansion may not seem like a big deal at the moment. But it matters because this is a step in implementing a 300 GB cap as the nationwide policy of the largest cable company and internet provider in the US. And once you’re covered by this kind of cap, the fear of using up your monthly data allowance can limit possibilities for innovation in business, communication, the arts, and education. [Katie Fiegenbaum is policy intern with the Open Technology Institute]
benton.org/node/169171 | New America Foundation
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ADVERTISING

FTC SAYS SPONSORED ONLINE ADS CAN BE MISLEADING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Edward Wyatt]
Advertising that portrays itself as independent, unbiased reporting is drawing increased scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission, officials said, warning of a more vigilant campaign against a deceptive practice that dates back a century but has grown more aggressive on the Internet. Digital advertising, which has the ability to target specific audiences and individuals, has led to a boom in the popularity of what is known online as native advertising, paid links or sponsored content. Those features have previously gone by such names as advertorials or infomercials. But that growth has led to concern among consumer protection officials, at the FTC and elsewhere, that the commerce-driven content can mislead consumers, at times even when the information is labeled advertising. “The delivery of relevant messages and cultivating user engagement are important goals, of course,” Edith Ramirez, the chairwoman of the FTC, said at a conference the agency held to discuss native advertising. FTC officials said that recent surveys on online publishers revealed that 73 percent offered native advertising opportunities on their sites, and that an additional 17 percent were considering offering them in 2013. About 41 percent of brands and one-third of advertising agencies use native, they said.
benton.org/node/169157 | New York Times | Reuters
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PRIVACY

JUDGE THROWS OUT GOOGLE PRIVACY POLICY CASE, NOTES “USERS ARE THE REAL PRODUCT”
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Jeff John Roberts]
A federal court in California has again dismissed a class action lawsuit brought by Google users who claim the search giant broke the law when it combined the privacy policies of Gmail, YouTube and a variety of other services. In a decision in San Jose, US Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal used frank language to shoot down the lawsuit: “[He] must do more than point to the dollars in a defendant’s pocket; he must sufficiently allege that in the process he lost dollars of his own,” wrote, Judge Grewal, explaining that the users had failed to show that Google had harmed them in any meaningful way. Judge Grewal also noted that users in the Google case, and in a stack of similar cases over data privacy, faced a legal hurdle called “injury-in-fact” that the judge said could “reasonably be described as Kilimanjaro.” In Europe, however, it has not been smooth sailing for Google and the new combined privacy policy. In November 2013, a German court slammed the policy as too vague while Dutch authorities warned that “Google spins an invisible web of our personal data, without our consent.”
benton.org/node/169152 | GigaOm
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KEEPING TEENS ‘PRIVATE’ ON FACEBOOK WON’T PROTECT THEM
[SOURCE: Time, AUTHOR: Danah Boyd]
[Commentary] We’re afraid of and afraid for teenagers. And nothing brings out this dualism more than discussions of how and when teens should be allowed to participate in public life. Facebook made changes to teens’ content-sharing options. They introduced the opportunity for those ages 13 to 17 to share their updates and images with everyone and not just with their friends. Until this change, teens could not post their content publicly even though adults could. When minors select to make their content public, they are given a notice and a reminder in order to make it very clear to them that this material will be shared publicly. “Public” is never the default for teens; they must choose to make their content public, and they must affirm that this is what they intended at the point in which they choose to publish. Representatives of parenting organizations have responded to this change negatively, arguing that this puts children more at risk. And even though the Pew Internet & American Life Project has found that teens are quite attentive to their privacy, and many other popular sites allow teens to post publicly (e.g. Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr), privacy advocates are arguing that Facebook’s decision to give teens choices suggests that the company is undermining teens’ privacy. [Boyd is a principal researcher at Microsoft Research]
benton.org/node/169151 | Time
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TELEVISION

REP. WALDEN: NOT SO FAST ON RETRANS REFORM
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Doug Halonen]
House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) made clear his opposition to an effort by the pay TV industry to win quick legislative reforms to water down the broadcast industry’s retransmission consent rights. “A real update of the law should not be hastily slapped together for the benefit of a few players in the industry,” said Rep. Walden in a speech at the Hudson Institute. “A meaningful update of the Communications Act will require a … clearer understanding of the ramifications of any changes on the businesses involved and their consumers.” Rep. Walden, a former radio broadcaster, made clear his skepticism about the urgency of any need for retransmission consent reform. “The vast majority of retransmission consent agreements are revolved quietly, calmly and without incident,” he said.
benton.org/node/169156 | TVNewsCheck
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

BIDEN IN CHINA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Mark Landler]
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. took up the cause of foreign journalists facing banishment from China for news coverage, publicly criticizing the Chinese government’s pressure campaign and privately raising the problems with President Xi Jinping. Vice President Biden also met with correspondents based in China from several news organizations mainly affected by the crackdown, most notably The New York Times and Bloomberg News. The Chinese government has held up renewing the visas of roughly two dozen correspondents from The Times and Bloomberg after each published investigative articles about the wealth of the families of top Chinese leaders. Without new visas, the reporters will be forced to leave China, as soon as within the next few weeks. In a speech to American business people, a day after he met with Mr. Xi, the vice president said the United States had “profound disagreements” with China’s “treatment of U.S. journalists.” “Innovation thrives where people breathe freely, speak freely, are able to challenge orthodoxy, where newspapers can report the truth without fear of consequences,” Vice President Biden said.
benton.org/node/169181 | New York Times
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BRITISH NEWS STAFF MAY FACE TERRORISM CHARGES OVER SNOWDEN LEAKS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: William James, Michael Holden]
British police are examining whether Guardian newspaper staff should be investigated for terrorism offenses over their handling of data leaked by Edward Snowden, Britain's senior counter-terrorism officer said. The disclosure came after Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, summoned to give evidence at a parliamentary inquiry, was accused by lawmakers of helping terrorists by making top secret information public and sharing it with other news organizations. The Guardian was among several newspapers which published leaks from US spy agency contractor Snowden about mass surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA) and Britain's eavesdropping agency GCHQ. Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, who heads London's Specialist Operations unit, told lawmakers the police were looking to see whether any offenses had been committed, following the brief detention in August of a man carrying data on behalf of a Guardian journalist.
benton.org/node/169143 | Reuters
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BRAZIL DELAYS VOTE ON ANTI-SPYING INTERNET BILL
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Ueslei Marcelino]
A vote on a bill that would force Internet giants like Google and Facebook to keep Brazilians' information inside the country will be delayed until next year over disagreements about its content, a senior lawmaker said. The bill would give President Dilma Rousseff powers to order Internet companies to store users' data in local servers, a move seen as response to allegations that the United States spied on her communications and that of thousands of regular Brazilians. The delay is a temporary relief for Google and Facebook, which oppose a requirement they say would increase costs and erect unnecessary barriers in one of the world's largest Internet markets. The postponement of the vote stems from disagreements among government allies in Congress over the requirement and a "neutrality" clause that bars telecom companies from charging different rates for Internet speed. "There are disagreements in the allied base over the neutrality clause and data centers," said the Eduardo Cunha, head of the country's largest political party, the PMDB, in the lower chamber of Congress. "Discussions are stalled. The vote was delayed till next year." The government says the legislation will protect the privacy of Brazilians after documents leaked by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden showed the US National Security Agency spied on ordinary Brazilians, the country's biggest company Petrobras and even Rousseff's own communications.
benton.org/node/169176 | Reuters
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MEXICO AGENCY SAID TO FIND AMERICA MOVIL, TELEVISA DOMINANT
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Patricia Laya]
Mexico’s telecommunications regulator has identified America Movil and Grupo Televisa as dominant companies in a preliminary finding, singling them out for closer scrutiny, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. The two telecommunications giants are the only companies that have received notifications of a dominance finding, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information is confidential. Under a law passed earlier this year, the companies will have an opportunity to challenge the finding, which must be made final by March 9. The decision is the first legal step the Federal Telecommunications Institute must take to develop tighter regulations to make the market more competitive. America Movil, controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, has about 70 percent of Mexico’s mobile-phone customers and about 80 percent of its landlines. Televisa gets about 70 percent of Mexico’s broadcast-television audience. This year’s telecommunications law allows the agency, known as IFT, to regulate prices, force network-sharing or even require a breakup of companies that are declared “preponderant” in their industries. Televisa has received documents from the IFT and is analyzing them so it can respond and participate in the process of identifying preponderant companies in telecommunications and broadcasting, a company official said. A press official with Mexico City-based America Movil declined to comment.
benton.org/node/169174 | Bloomberg | El Punto Crítico
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