January 2014

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.

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.

At the State of the Net conference, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker shared the Department’s commitment to promoting policies that support America’s digital economy. And she pledged to act as the champion of good Internet policy that supports entrepreneurs, businesses, and their workers.

At the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), we’re working to fulfill that pledge by continuing to work -- both domestically and internationally -- to champion the multistakeholder model for developing Internet policies. The Internet is a diverse, multi-layered system that thrives only through the cooperation of many different parties. Solving policy issues in this space requires engaging these different parties -- businesses, policymakers, civil society leaders, and others. They are all partners in the process, each with the ability to participate and have a voice in the outcome.

[Lawrence E. Strickling is Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator]

The United States Department of Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development announced investments in rural telecommunications infrastructure and equipment to expand access to education and economic development for rural residents.

USDA Rural Development is awarding grants through the Public Television Digital Transition Grant program. Six grants total more than $2.5 million. In Alaska, USDA has selected Bethel Broadcasting for a $718,656 grant to help station KYUK buy digital production equipment. The station will convert to digital a low-power transmitter for public channels that are part of the Alaska Rural Communications Service. Digital transmission is important to remote towns like Bethel, which can only be reached by air. Bethel has more than 60 percent Yup'ik Eskimo residents and serves as an administrative and transportation hub for nearly 60 surrounding Native Alaskan villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region. Public Television Digital Transition grants may be used to acquire and install facilities and software necessary for the transition. The grants also may be used for associated engineering and environmental studies.