January 2014

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

Receive Headlines updates all day long via Twitter @benton_fdn

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   NSA Spying on Apps Shows Perils of Google+, ‘Candy Crush’
   Sen Rand Paul: ‘We will go’ to the Supreme Court on NSA surveillance [links to web]
   The NSA saga: Surprising turns and ominous allegations - AEI op-ed [links to web]
   CFPB Director: Yes, We Have Data. No, We're Not The NSA. [links to web]
   Here’s why tech companies’ NSA ‘transparency reports’ are mostly a PR stunt - analysis
   Secure the Future of the Internet - op-ed
   More Transparency Needed in DOJ Agreement on Surveillance - Internet Infrastructure Coalition press release [links to web]
   The NSA has a new, first time ever, privacy officer [links to web]
   With Social Media’s Rise, the Pulpit Isn’t Just the President’s Anymore
   Congressman Grimm Threatens Reporter After State of the Union Interview: ‘I Will Break You in Half’ [links to web]

PRIVACY/SECURITY
   Lavabit case highlights legal fuzziness around encryption rules
   Lavabit to have its day in federal appeals court [links to web]
   Chairman Rockefeller to Target: Why Haven't You Reported Data Breach to The Securities and Exchange Commission - press release [links to web]
   Rep Issa: Administration lying about HealthCare.gov [links to web]
   FTC's Rich Plugs Legislation, Pledges to Protect Privacy [links to web]
   Wisconsin to Adopt Social Media Privacy Law [links to web]
   Why Is Facebook's App Asking To Read Your Text Messages? [links to web]
   How the smartest tech companies plan to autocomplete our lives - op-ed

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   This small loophole could give the FCC much greater control of the Internet
   GOP senators to feds: Leave the Internet alone
   Why the FCC’s Open Internet Order can’t ensure real net neutrality - op-ed [links to web]
   Akamai’s state of the Internet: America gets with faster broadband
   Gigabit Communities: Technical Strategies for Facilitating Public or Private Broadband Construction in Your Community - research
   Minnesota has more work to do for statewide broadband, report say
   Commerce Promotes Digital Economy at State of the Net - press release [links to web]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Snowden docs reveal British spies snooped on YouTube and Facebook
   US Looks At Ways To Prevent Spying On Its Spying
   Dominant Wireless Broadband Providers Overcharge US Consumers by $15 Billion Per Year - press release
   TV Stations in Los Angeles to Share a Channel to Free Up Spectrum
   US Skeptical on Sprint's Possible T-Mobile Deal
   Shareholders Approve $130 Billion Verizon Wireless Deal [links to web]
   AT&T faces off the T-Mobile threat with 800,000 customer additions [links to web]
   Tablet Ownership Rate Reaches New High of 44 Percent, According to CEA’s Tablet Report - press release [links to web]
   Sprint Takes Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology to Rooftops with Help From Department of Energy - press release [links to web]
   NFL to block mobile streaming video in Super Bowl stadium [links to web]

TELEVISION
   Sen. Thune Expects Senate to Revisit Subscription TV Laws
   Don’t be surprised if your TV soon seems to know everything about your politics
   TV Stations in Los Angeles to Share a Channel to Free Up Spectrum
   USDA Investments In Rural Public Television Stations - press release [links to web]
   Local TV news audiences bounce back - research [links to web]
   In the War for TV Audiences, Video-on-Demand Has More Users -- But Streaming Services Win More Hearts - press release [links to web]
   Twitter Execs Say Platform Will Impact TV Ad Rates at Next Upfronts [links to web]

CONTENT
   House Judiciary Ponders Fair Use [links to web]
   What The Internet Thinks About Chicago [links to web]

EDUCATION
   President Obama touts education technology, 21st century skills
   First-and-10 for tech in the classroom
   US sanctions lead Coursera to block online learning in Iran and Cuba

JOURNALISM
   President Obama lunches with network anchors [links to web]
   Colorado Lawmakers Reject Journalist Protection Proposal [links to web]
   Future of News Audiences: what’s next as young fail to become strong news consumers [links to web]
   New fund to give $1 million in micro-grants to innovative nonprofit news and public media projects - press release [links to web]

GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
   Government Web Satisfaction Drops after HealthCare site Launch [links to web]

POLICYMAKERS
   Rep Nadler to lead Dems on House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet [links to web]
   The NSA has a new, first time ever, privacy officer [links to web]
   What's Next for Alyce Myatt and the Media Arts? [links to web]
   System error: How bad analysis poisons tech policy - op-ed [links to web]

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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

LEAKY APPS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Jordan Robertson]
The US and UK have infiltrated mobile software for details about users’ comings and goings and social affiliations. Among the so-called leaky apps with the greatest privacy perils are Google Plus, Pinterest’s online bulletin board and “Candy Crush Saga,” the most popular game on Facebook, according to an analysis by Zscaler Inc. Zscaler’s analysis found that 96 percent of the top 25 social-networking apps request e-mail access, 92 percent ask for access to users’ address books and 84 percent inquire about their physical locations. Sutton said most people give the apps what they want. Applications for smartphones and tablets present a challenge when it comes to security because, unlike with computer software, most apps depend almost entirely on ads to make money. While technology companies often encrypt what they collect to shield it from prying eyes, the advertising services they work with frequently don’t, said Kevin Mahaffey, co-founder and chief technology officer of Lookout. Lookout studied 30,000 apps and found that 38 percent of those for Android systems could determine locations, that half could access the unique code assigned to a person’s device and that 15 percent could grab phone numbers. The reach of apps, and of the networks advertisers use to pass data around, make them natural eavesdropping targets and are aiding a shift in the focus of surveillance efforts away from personal computers, Mahaffey said.
benton.org/node/173413 | Bloomberg
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HERE’S WHY TECH COMPANIES’ NSA ‘TRANSPARENCY REPORTS’ ARE MOSTLY A PR STUNT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Andrea Peterson]
[Commentary] Transparency reports produced by technology companies are about good public relations. These transparency reports are better than nothing, but they don't represent a meaningful way to measure the true scope of governments' access to private data. A growing number of tech companies release transparency reports covering some of this information. But the varied release schedules, differing structures, and disparate hosting of this information make it difficult to compare them. And there are doubtless many lower-profile companies that receive government orders and requests but aren't providing the public with statistics. So as long as this data can only be seen on a piecemeal, company-by-company basis it's impossible to gauge the larger picture. And as Alex Abdo, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project, suggests, the disclosure of orders and requests by tech companies will still leave surveillance activities that occur without their cooperation in the dark -- activities which the Edward Snowden documents suggest have vast privacy implications.
benton.org/node/173368 | Washington Post
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SECURE THE INTERNET FUTURE
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Peter Singer, Ian Wallace]
[Commentary] In 2014, President Obama should pursue policies guaranteeing an open, free-market Internet. Instead of waiting out the international blowback from Edward Snowden’s National Security Agency revelations, the President needs to lead a new strategy against those governments who want to regulate the way the global Internet is run. This is an important period for the future of global governance, the information economy and what the Internet means for how states relate to one another. If we allow embarrassment from the Snowden revelations to prevent us from taking a proper leadership role, we will not only exacerbate the already considerable damage done to US standing, but we will hand a gift to those who would diminish both US and global democratic interests.
benton.org/node/173360 | Brookings
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SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE PRESIDENT’S PULPIT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ashley Parker]
Twitter has fast become the conventional-wisdom clearinghouse and real-time echo chamber for major political events, so it was not surprising when Twitter also became the forum where opinion on President Obama’s State of the Union address seemed to crystallize before he had even finished speaking. “The media party line where everyone can listen in,” said Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist. “The town hall for the media and political elite,” said Erik Smith, a Democratic strategist and founder of Blue Engine Message and Media. The power of Twitter to shape the debate (for better or worse) was on display shortly before President Obama began, when Rep Randy Weber (R-TX) posted an error-riddled message that called the President a “Socialistic dictator,” and quickly went viral. Indeed, Twitter’s ability to focus the pundit class helps explain why, in the fierce competition to control the political narrative, lawmakers, candidates, operatives and even the President are increasingly turning to it and other social media. The battle is the same as before, but they are now hoping to prevail 140 characters at a time.
benton.org/node/173416 | New York Times
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PRIVACY/SECURITY

LAVABIT CASE HIGHLIGHTS LEGAL FUZZINESS AROUND ENCRYPTION RULES
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: Joab Jackson]
While privacy advocates may see Lavabit as bravely defending US privacy rights in the online world, federal judges hearing its appeal of contempt-of-court charges seem to regard the now defunct encrypted email service as just being tardy in complying with government court orders. Attorneys from both Lavabit and the US government agreed that the legal issues between them could have been resolved before heading to court, though neither party seemed to have an adequate technical answer of how Lavabit could have successfully passed unencrypted data to a law enforcement agency in order to meet the government's demands. Three judges from the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond (VA) heard Lavabit's appeal of a contempt-of-court ruling, which it had incurred for not turning over to the government unencrypted data of a single user, presumably Edward Snowden. Judges Roger Gregory, Paul Niemeyer and Steven Agee presided over the hearing.
benton.org/node/173385 | IDG News Service
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HOW THE SMARTEST TECH COMPANIES PLAN TO AUTOCOMPLETE OUR LIVES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Dominic Basulto]
[Commentary] Just like Google autocompletes our search requests, the biggest tech companies appear to be looking to autocomplete our thoughts and actions in ways that almost seem like science fiction. It’s not just that companies such as Amazon and Google know what your tastes and preferences are, they are now able to act on them in the real world by delivering real products and services. What’s interesting about all of this “autocomplete” business is that the most valuable Internet companies will be those that can act on our lives in the real world by delivering physical products and services. It’s a lot more valuable to know that someone enjoys a certain type of book -- and then ships that book to a person -- than it is to use that knowledge just to throw up some social ads about new book releases. That might place pressure on a company such as Facebook -- which already knows so much about our everyday connections -- to start acquiring companies that can offer what Amazon and Google promise to be able to do one day.
[Basulto works at Bond Strategy]
benton.org/node/173342 | Washington Post
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

THIS SMALL LOOPHOLE COULD GIVE THE FCC MUCH GREATER CONTROL OF THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler is tipping his hand a bit more on network neutrality. While Chairman Wheeler wouldn't say outright how he intends to respond to a recent court decision overturning his agency's rule barring Internet providers from blocking Web traffic, he appears to be leaning increasingly toward using the FCC's existing legal authority to regulate broadband providers. Industry watchers say this approach would likely turn on a part of the Communications Act known as Section 706, which gives the FCC authority to promote broadband deployment. "The court took a look at the anti-discrimination and non-blocking structure," Chairman Wheeler said, "not the concepts. ... I interpret what the court did as an invitation to us, and I intend to accept that invitation." The "invitation" to which Chairman Wheeler refers is that while the DC Circuit court showed the FCC how it could implement net neutrality regulations without running afoul of its charter, it placed no constraints on Section 706. Some insiders, including industry representatives and public advocates, now say that Section 706 actually gives the FCC much more power than we thought. While the agency can't lay down a blanket rule prohibiting ISPs from abusing their power, it could go after offending companies on a case-by-case basis. As long as the FCC can argue that a company is hindering the rollout of broadband or broadband competition (a pretty vague definition), the agency may be able to regulate ISPs, content intermediaries, and possibly Web services like Google and Netflix themselves. This means that even if Chairman Wheeler's FCC chooses not to regulate Facebook, the government of the future conceivably might. “What we’re talking about is that the Internet is evolving so rapidly that we want to look at case sets as well as generic concept rules,” Chairman Wheeler said. “What we don’t want to do is to say that somehow we’re smarter than the net."
benton.org/node/173359 | Washington Post | The Hill
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GOP SENATORS TO FEDS: LEAVE THE INTERNET ALONE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
Federal regulations threaten to strangle the growth of the Internet economy, Republican lawmakers warned. Speaking at the 10th annual State of the Net policy conference, Sen John Thune (R-SD), the Senate Commerce Committee’s top ranking Republican and co-chairman of the Congressional Internet Caucus, challenged federal officials to stop meddling online. “There are exceptions of course, but far too often, when you hear someone say, ‘We need regulations to protect the Internet,’ what they’re actually saying is they don’t really trust the entrepreneurs and Internet technologists to create the economic growth and to increase public welfare,” Sen Thune said.
Also at State of the Net, Sen Rand Paul (R-KY) said that while the government might have helped create the Internet, the rapid explosion of online companies was only possible because federal officials got out of the way. “It was a place where people went where they weren’t told what to do,” Sen Paul said. He said other sectors of the economy have been hurt by regulations that have prevented companies from thinking outside the box. “That’s what we need to protect against with the Internet, is that it’s been a very free and open place, but we don’t want to let government get too involved with it, because I think that will stifle innovation,” he said.
benton.org/node/173370 | Hill, The | Sen Thune
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NEW STATE OF THE INTERNET REPORT
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Lauren Hockenson]
The US has shot up rapidly in its adoption of high-speed broadband, up to 20 percent in some states, according to Akamai’s latest State of the Internet report for the third quarter of 2013. Things seem to be on the up-and-up for American broadband connections, especially after data from Akamai’s Q2 report indicated that the country might be loosening its grip at the top tier of speeds. The biggest difference can be seen in the country’s overall average connection speed, which increased to 9.8 Mbps. The boost means that 49 out of 50 states have increased their average connection speeds since Q3 2012 -- Vermont is the only exception, down almost 10 percent from 2012. Akamai attributed the increase to an uptake of high broadband (speeds over 10 Mbps) across the country, up more than 20 percent in some states. While the U.S. remains unable to crack the top 10 nations for peak speeds, the 40 percent increase in high broadband adoption means it ranks eighth in the world for broadband activity above 10 Mbps.
benton.org/node/173348 | GigaOm
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GIGABIT COMMUNITIES
[SOURCE: CTC Technology & Energy, AUTHOR: Joanne Hovis, Andrew Afflerbach]
Local governments have long pioneered efforts to expand broadband availability and competition; for more than a decade, they have tested public projects and public–private partnerships to deliver new broadband services. As they look to the future, localities that choose not to build their own networks can facilitate private investment in gigabit-speed networks by optimizing local processes at key touchpoints that impact deployment times and costs. The key ingredient for private investment in gigabit deployment is true partnership. It is not enough for the locality to undertake all these steps if there is no willing and able private partner—one that is committed to building next-generation infrastructure rather than simply reducing costs on existing legacy networks. The strategies that local governments can pursue to advance private broadband deployment fall into three general categories: (1) facilitating access to key assets such as fiber, conduit, utility poles, and real estate; (2) making useful information available; and (3) streamlining and publicizing essential local processes.
benton.org/node/173337 | CTC Technology & Energy
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MINNESOTA HAS MORE BROADBAND WORK TO DO
[SOURCE: St. Paul Pioneer Press, AUTHOR: Julio Ojeda-Zapata]
Minnesota is no broadband backwater but remains well short of its goal to make high-speed Internet available to every resident. But the state has made progress, according to a report by the Governor's Task Force on Broadband. The state defines "broadband" as Internet connections with minimum download speeds of 10 to 20 megabits per second and minimum upload speeds of 5 to 10 megabits. Just over 71 percent of Minnesota households have such broadband access via wired providers, such as Comcast. Factoring in wireless broadband, typically via cellphone service, that figure comes to nearly 75 percent. This is an increase of 18 percentage points since April 2011. This is the first task force report that regards wireless-data access as robust and speedy enough to fit the state's definition of broadband. Such cellular service is primarily provided via Long Term Evolution data networks operated by wireless carriers AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. Among US states, Minnesota ranks 23rd in average broadband speeds, according to the report, and eighth in broadband adoption. The District of Columbia, Massachusetts and Virginia rank the highest.
benton.org/node/173375 | St. Paul Pioneer Press
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

SNOWDEN DOCS REVEAL BRITISH SPIES SNOOPED ON YOUTUBE AND FACEBOOK
[SOURCE: NBC, AUTHOR: Richard Esposito, Matthew Cole, Mark Schone, Glenn Greenwald]
The British government can tap into the cables carrying the world’s web traffic at will and spy on what people are doing on some of the world’s most popular social media sites, including YouTube, all without the knowledge or consent of the companies. Documents taken from the National Security Agency by Edward Snowden detail how British cyber spies demonstrated a pilot program to their US partners in 2012 in which they were able to monitor YouTube in real time and collect addresses from the billions of videos watched daily, as well as some user information, for analysis. At the time the documents were printed, they were also able to spy on Facebook and Twitter. Documents taken from the NSA by Edward Snowden detail how British cyber spies demonstrated a pilot program to their US partners in which they were able to monitor YouTube in real time. Click on the image to read the documents in pdf form. Representatives of Facebook and Google, which owns YouTube, said they hadn’t given the British government permission to access data and were unaware the collection had occurred. A source close to Google who asked not to be identified when discussing company policy said the company was “shocked” to learn the UK could have been “grabbing” its data. National security experts say that both the US and British operations are within the scope of their respective national laws.
benton.org/node/173353 | NBC | The Hill
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US LOOKS AT WAYS TO PREVENT SPYING ON ITS SPYING
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Stephen Braun]
The US government is looking at ways to prevent anyone from spying on its own surveillance of Americans' phone records. As the Obama Administration considers shifting the collection of those records from the National Security Agency to requiring that they be stored at phone companies or elsewhere, it's quietly funding research to prevent phone company employees or eavesdroppers from seeing whom the US is spying on. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has paid at least five research teams across the country to develop a system for high-volume, encrypted searches of electronic records kept outside the government's possession. The project is among several ideas that would allow the government to discontinue storing Americans' phone records, but still search them as needed.
benton.org/node/173351 | Associated Press
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DOMINANT WIRELESS BROADBAND PROVIDERS OVERCHARGE US CONSUMERS BY $15 BILLION PER YEAR
[SOURCE: Consumer Federation of America, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) released a report demonstrating that the recent analyses of broadband prices and services from the Phoenix Center and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) are fundamentally flawed and purposefully misleading. “CFA’s comprehensive, fact-based analysis stands in stark contrast to the error and bluster we’ve seen from the Phoenix Center and ITIF,” said Dr. Mark Cooper, Director of Research at CFA and author of the report. CFA’s latest report was filed as an ex parte supplement to the record in several ongoing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proceedings that are vital to broadband policy and on the agenda for the FCC Open Meeting on January 30, 2014. “The FCC prides itself on being a data-driven organization, and in these proceedings seeks an accurate picture of the status of prices and product offerings in broadband Internet access service to inform sound broadband policy,” Cooper said. “However, there is little factual data to be found in the Phoenix Center/ITIF reports. Indeed, by simply correcting their math, we show that the dominant incumbents actually overcharge customers by about $15 billion per year for wireless service.” “Utilizing data from the New America Foundation (NAF) global survey of rates, terms and conditions of wireline and wireless service, CFA found that U.S. providers charge more, offer slower speeds and, in the case of mobile broadband, have lower caps and more onerous penalties for exceeding those caps than their non-U.S. counterparts,” Cooper added. The report, entitled Abuse of Market Power for Broadband Internet Access Service: Blind Theory and Bonehead Analysis Can’t Hide the Problem, presents evidence of errors in the Phoenix Center and ITIF’s analyses.
benton.org/node/173336 | Consumer Federation of America | Comparing Apples to Apples
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LOS ANGELES TV STATIONS TO TRY SPECTRUM SHARING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Edward Wyatt]
Two broadcast television stations in Los Angeles will become the first participants in a pilot test of the government’s plans to eventually free up and auction off more airwaves for use in wireless broadband. KLCS, a public broadcaster, and KJLA, a small multilingual programmer, will participate in a channel-sharing experiment that is being devised with the trade association for wireless phone carriers. The wireless companies are eager to get broadcasters to give up airwaves so they can buy them and use them for high-speed wireless Internet connections. The experiment is intended to show the extent to which broadcast channels can be squeezed together on the electromagnetic spectrum without degrading the quality of their signals. If the experiment goes as planned, no changes will be visible to consumers, who will continue to tune in to the same channels on their television sets. But the eventual result could be quite significant for consumers -- less wireless phone congestion and better connections for smartphones to fast wireless Internet service. Government officials, though not involved in this trial, are likely to be watching the results closely. If successful, the trial will go a long way toward proving the viability of the plans of the Federal Communications Commission for what it calls an incentive auction of airwaves. In those auctions, television stations that give up some or all of their space on the broadcast spectrum will receive money from the auction sales.
benton.org/node/173383 | New York Times | CTIA | House Commerce Committee | Broadcasting&Cable
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US SKEPTICAL OF SPRINT/T-MOBILE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Ryan Knutson, Brent Kendall]
Apparently, Sprint board members Masayoshi Son and Dan Hesse met recently with Justice Department officials who said they would view a Sprint acquisition of wireless rival T-Mobile with skepticism. The conversation, which occurred in January, shows the seriousness of Son's interest in a deal, and his highest hurdle. US antitrust authorities regard the current lineup of four national mobile-phone carriers as important to maintaining a competitive market, and department officials indicated at the meeting that a deal combining Sprint and T-Mobile could face regulatory difficulties. It doesn't appear the meeting has deterred Son, who has been the driving force behind the effort to merge Sprint, the third-largest US carrier by subscribers, with No. 4 T-Mobile. The Justice Department meeting was one of a series of discussions Son and Hesse plan to hold with regulators and lawmakers. The discussions involve more issues than just the possible T-Mobile deal, including the introduction of new technologies and wireless competition in an industry considered heavily regulated, said a person familiar with the talks.
benton.org/node/173414 | Wall Street Journal
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TELEVISION

SEN THUNE EXPECTS SENATE TO REVISIT SUBSCRIPTION TV LAWS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Sen John Thune (R-SD), ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, warned against applying "archaic telephone regulations to the digital ecosystem." He also said he expected the Senate to "revisit the laws governing subscription television services." While arguing for not grafting old regulations on new technology, Sen Thune pointed out that while the private sector gave the world the iPhone, Wi-Fi and more, the government "has come up with things like an 'Internet kill switch,' the International Telecommunications Union, net neutrality, SOPA/PIPA, and the NSA." Sen Thune said that the three things Congress needs to do foster innovation, including by getting out of the way of it, are: 1) Get rid of obsolete laws; 2) modernize the ones that don't need scrapping -- like the subscription TV service laws written "before streaming video, before cloud DVRs, and even before satellite TV became widespread" and ripe for update; and, finally, an area where the government needs to be active 3) protecting the Internet from threats abroad.
benton.org/node/173373 | Broadcasting&Cable
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DON’T BE SURPRISED IF YOUR TV SOON SEEMS TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR POLITICS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
By now, you're probably aware that much of your online behavior is tracked, logged and probably sold to third parties so that marketers can better target you with ads. Television is a bit of a different story. Take traditional, over-the-air broadcast. For advertisers, it's the media equivalent of a sawed-off shotgun: not terribly accurate, but extremely effective when it does find the mark. Now, however, targeted advertising on television has taken a big leap forward. And it could represent the next evolution in data-empowered politics. Here's how it works: While your set-top box is idle, it'll tune into a channel that's playing the ad you're meant to see. It'll record the ad using DVR, then insert it into your regular programming while you're watching a show -- replacing or bumping the ad that was supposed to air instead. This can be replicated for any household that subscribes to Dish or DirecTV, so a political strategist can pick you out and feed you a unique message.
benton.org/node/173341 | Washington Post
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EDUCATION

E-RATE, CONNECTED IN SOTU
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Dennis Pierce]
During his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama said efforts are under way to connect more schools and students to broadband Internet service “without adding a dime to the deficit.” “Last year, I also pledged to connect 99 percent of our students to high-speed broadband over the next four years. Tonight, I can announce that with the support of the [Federal Communications Commission] and companies like Apple, Microsoft, Sprint, and Verizon, we’ve got a down payment to start connecting more than 15,000 schools and 20 million students over the next two years, without adding a dime to the deficit,” he said. In an accompanying fact sheet, the White House said that in the coming weeks the President would announce "new philanthropic partnerships" with those and other companies on wired and wireless broadband deployment to schools.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said, “Harnessing the power of digital technology is central to improving our education system and our global competitiveness. In the Internet age, every student in America should have access to state-of-the-art educational tools, which are increasingly interactive, individualized and bandwidth-intensive. The Federal Communications Commission shares the President’s commitment to seizing the opportunities of digital learning, which is why we’ve already launched an effort to modernize our successful E-Rate program -- the nation’s largest education technology program. By applying business-like management practices to E-Rate, we can take steps this year that will make existing funds go farther to significantly increase our investment in high-speed broadband connectivity for schools and libraries for the benefit of our students and teachers. Together, with my fellow Commissioners, Congress, educators and other stakeholders, we can ensure that all of America’s students get a 21st-century education.”
benton.org/node/173417 | eSchool News | FCC Chairman Wheeler | B&C | The Hill
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FIRST-AND-10 FOR TECH IN THE CLASSROOM
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Betsy Corcoran]
[Commentary] Analysts are famous for "reading between the lines" of company earnings reports. But it doesn't take years of experience to connect two points in Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer's remarks about iPads to get a glimpse of our future classrooms: "And this football season, nearly every team in the NFL use iPads as playbooks, replacing their traditional three-ring paper binders. In the education market, schools continue to choose iPad and the great content available across apps, books and courses." Football players, airline employees from the cabin staff to the folks doing check in, sales managers at healthcare companies -- the list goes on. Schools are lurching their way toward wired classrooms. Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, has said that there were "5 exabytes of information created between the dawn of civilization through 2003 but that much information is now created every two days." An "Exabyte" is 1 billion gigabytes -- an unfathomable amount of data. Pundits quibble about the numbers, but they don't disagree about this: More data is coming. And if our kids are going to flourish in a world in which data surrounds them like air, they will need every tool at their disposal to make sense of it. Just like football players are chucking three-ring binders for tablets, our schools will too. [Betsy Corcoran is CEO of EdSurge, the leading news and information service on education technology]
benton.org/node/173361 | USAToday
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SANCTIONS AND ONLINE EDUCATION
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Sarah Mishkin]
US sanctions on nations such as Iran and Cuba are making it harder for students there to access online education, as US regulators have decided that US companies and universities need special permission to make online courses available to sanctioned nations. Coursera, a major provider of massive open online courses or Moocs, has begun blocking access to its site for users in Iran, Sudan and Cuba while it works with US regulators to secure an exception from the nation’s trade sanctions on those nations.
benton.org/node/173411 | Financial Times
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