February 2014

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

YAHOO WEBCAM IMAGES FROM MILLIONS OF USERS INTERCEPTED BY GCHQ
[SOURCE: The Guardian, AUTHOR: Spencer Ackerman, James Ball]
Britain's surveillance agency GCHQ, with aid from the US National Security Agency, intercepted and stored the webcam images of millions of Internet users not suspected of wrongdoing, secret documents reveal. GCHQ files dating between 2008 and 2010 explicitly state that a surveillance program codenamed Optic Nerve collected still images of Yahoo webcam chats in bulk and saved them to agency databases, regardless of whether individual users were an intelligence target or not. In one six-month period in 2008 alone, the agency collected webcam imagery -- including substantial quantities of sexually explicit communications -- from more than 1.8 million Yahoo user accounts globally. The documents also chronicle GCHQ's sustained struggle to keep the large store of sexually explicit imagery collected by Optic Nerve away from the eyes of its staff, though there is little discussion about the privacy implications of storing this material in the first place. Programs like Optic Nerve, which collect information in bulk from largely anonymous user IDs, are unable to filter out information from UK or US citizens. Unlike the NSA, GCHQ is not required by UK law to "minimize", or remove, domestic citizens' information from its databases. However, additional legal authorizations are required before analysts can search for the data of individuals likely to be in the British Isles at the time of the search. There are no such legal safeguards for searches on people believed to be in the US or the other allied "Five Eyes" nations -- Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
benton.org/node/175506 | Guardian, The | ars technica | The Hill
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A KEY NSA OVERSEER'S ALARMING DISMISSAL OF SURVEILLANCE CRITICS
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Conor Friedersdorf]
National Security Agency Inspector General George Ellard was asked what he would have done if Edward Snowden had come to him with complaints. Ellard says would have said something like, ‘Hey, listen, fifteen federal judges have certified this program is okay.’ “I would also have an independent obligation to assess the constitutionality of that law," Ellard stated. "Perhaps it’s the case that we could have shown, we could have explained to Mr. Snowden his misperceptions, his lack of understanding of what we do.” And if Snowden wasn’t satisfied, Ellard said the NSA would have then allowed him to speak to the House and Senate intelligence committees. ”Given the reaction, I think somewhat feigned, of some members of that committee, he’d have found a welcoming audience,” Ellard said in a reference to outspoken NSA critics on the panel, including Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Mark Udall (D-CO). “Whether in the end he’d have been satisfied, I don’t know,” Ellard added. “But allowing people who have taken an oath to protect the constitution, to protect these national security interest, simply to violate or break that oath, is unacceptable.”
benton.org/node/175507 | Atlantic, The
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NSA DATA COLLECTION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Siobhan Gorman]
The departing National Security Agency chief offered senators an unexpected option for restructuring the agency's US phone-data collection program: narrow it to obtain only terrorism-related data. The remarks by NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander were striking because the government's justification for the data-collection program has been that the NSA needs the full database of Americans' call records to uncover otherwise unknown terrorist connections. But Gen. Alexander instead signaled that the information the NSA needs about terrorist connections might be obtainable without first collecting what officials have termed "the whole haystack" of US phone data. Explaining the option, he told the Senate Armed Services Committee that intelligence agencies could "look at what data you actually need and get only that data." Gen. Alexander suggested that teasing out the relevant data would involve a mechanism under which the NSA would make classified requests to phone companies asking for data only for phone numbers associated with terrorist suspects. He added that a similar model could be established for data swaps between the government and the private sector on cybersecurity threats, as the NSA seeks to "provide early warning for cyber."
benton.org/node/175555 | Wall Street Journal
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CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE DIGITAL AGE

CIVIL RIGHTS PRINCIPLES FOR THE ERA OF BIG DATA
[SOURCE: Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, AUTHOR: Press release]
Technological progress should bring greater safety, economic opportunity, and convenience to everyone. And the collection of new types of data is essential for documenting persistent inequality and discrimination. At the same time, as new technologies allow companies and government to gain greater insight into our lives, it is vitally important that these technologies be designed and used in ways that respect the values of equal opportunity and equal justice. Signatories ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to Public Knowledge aim to:
Stop High-Tech Profiling. New surveillance tools and data gathering techniques that can assemble detailed information about any person or group create a heightened risk of profiling and discrimination. Clear limitations and robust audit mechanisms are necessary to make sure that if these tools are used it is in a responsible and equitable way.
Ensure Fairness in Automated Decisions. Computerized decisionmaking in areas such as employment, health, education, and lending must be judged by its impact on real people, must operate fairly for all communities, and in particular must protect the interests of those that are disadvantaged or that have historically been the subject of discrimination. Systems that are blind to the preexisting disparities faced by such communities can easily reach decisions that reinforce existing inequities. Independent review and other remedies may be necessary to assure that a system works fairly.
Preserve Constitutional Principles. Search warrants and other independent oversight of law enforcement are particularly important for communities of color and for religious and ethnic minorities, who often face disproportionate scrutiny. Government databases must not be allowed to undermine core legal protections, including those of privacy and freedom of association.
Enhance Individual Control of Personal Information. Personal information that is known to a corporation -- such as the moment-to-moment record of a person’s movements or communications -- can easily be used by companies and the government against vulnerable populations, including women, the formerly incarcerated, immigrants, religious minorities, the LGBT community, and young people. Individuals should have meaningful, flexible control over how a corporation gathers data from them, and how it uses and shares that data. Non-public information should not be disclosed to the government without judicial process.
Protect People from Inaccurate Data. Government and corporate databases must allow everyone -- including the urban and rural poor, people with disabilities, seniors, and people who lack access to the Internet -- to appropriately ensure the accuracy of personal information that is used to make important decisions about them. This requires disclosure of the underlying data, and the right to correct it when inaccurate.
benton.org/node/175543 | Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
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INTERNET/TELECOMMUNICATIONS

NEW CHAPTER BEGINS IN NET NEUTRALITY FIGHT
[SOURCE: CNNMoney, AUTHOR: James O'Toole]
The battle for the open Internet has entered a new phase. On one side, federal regulators and content providers are trying to preserve competition and keep all websites equally accessible. On the other, Internet service providers want to hold down their costs while keeping up with Americans' ever-increasing demand for digital content. These goals may be mutually exclusive, and it isn't yet clear which side will emerge victorious. The Federal Communications Commission now faces the challenge of crafting new network neutrality regulations that will withstand legal scrutiny. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said that the agency plans to do just that. The FCC is currently collecting public comments before issuing its new set of regulations. Chairman Wheeler said those rules would prohibit ISPs from blocking websites, force them to disclose how they manage traffic and prevent them from favoring some kinds of traffic over others -- for example, loading Amazon faster than eBay. The agency also wants to enhance competition among ISPs by reversing restrictions on broadband services from local governments.
benton.org/node/175510 | CNNMoney
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CHILL OUT ABOUT THE NETFLIX-COMCAST DEAL
[SOURCE: US News and World Report, AUTHOR: Bret Swanson]
[Commentary] A five-year-old app gets bought for $19 billion (WhatsApp). A Web document sharing firm gets valued at $10 billion (Dropbox). And cable TV firms are losing customers in their main video business. The Internet is booming, challenging established industries all around. Yet many greeted the news that Netflix would connect its video servers directly to Comcast with apocalyptic shrieks of Internet doom. The fears are misplaced. The Internet is changing, as it was always meant to. That’s the genius of its design. Netflix’s decision to send video directly to Comcast, instead of routing it through other network intermediaries first, sets no precedent. Other firms like Google, Amazon and Microsoft have been linking directly to broadband networks for years. So have content delivery networks such as Akamai, Limelight and EdgeCast, which store videos, banner ads and other content closer to end users. The pessimistic charge that the US is failing, however, could send policy in a very different direction. The Netflix-Comcast news led to calls for applying the regulatory regime known as “network neutrality” (twice struck down by the courts) to not just last-mile broadband networks but the whole Internet ecosystem. Others called on the Federal Communications Commission to “reclassify” the Internet as a “Title II” telephone service. Do we really want regulate the Internet like an old monopoly phone network? [Swanson is president of the technology research firm Entropy Economics LLC and a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute’s Center for Internet, Communications, and Technology Policy]
benton.org/node/175542 | US News and World Report
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COMCAST-NETFLIX NOT BAD?
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Robert McMillan]
[Commentary] The Netflix-Comcast deal is a big change in the way the Internet works, and the critics are right that it could represent a new shift in power towards big ISPs, big media companies, and prominent web operations like Netflix. We could see a situation where only deep-pocketed companies can pay for the sort of access Netflix now has. And let’s not forget that Comcast is also a TV and movie corporation that competes with companies like Netflix. It can stream TV and movies over its own network however it wants. But the deal doesn’t have to be a bad thing. The real implications of the agreement won’t be clear until we learn whether up-and-coming players and smaller Internet media companies, the next wave following in the footsteps of Netflix, are shut out of the picture -- whether they end up needing direct access to an ISP like Comcast and whether they can play for it.
benton.org/node/175520 | Wired
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FCC ANNOUNCES MARCH 19 RURAL BROADBAND WORKSHOP
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
The Rural Broadband Workshop will be held on March 19, 2014. The workshop will include an examination of the broadband needs of rural populations and the unique challenges of both broadband deployment and adoption in rural areas. In addition, the discussion will highlight the economic, educational, and healthcare benefits that can be realized through broadband deployment and adoption. The workshop will also examine different business models that have been used to deploy broadband in rural areas, including a discussion of the factors that drive investment decisions and technology choices of different types of providers in rural communities. Finally, the workshop will examine the role that states have played, and can continue to play, in meeting the rural broadband challenge. Additional details concerning the workshop agenda and panelists will be forthcoming.
benton.org/node/175514 | Federal Communications Commission
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MANY DEPEND ON LANDLINES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Hayley Tsukayama]
In a list of “technologies that would be very hard to give up” compiled by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 17 percent of Americans still listed the landline telephone. Compare that with the 10 percent who said “social media” was their must-have technology. Yet, while the landline is still vital to more people than you may expect, its holding power is on a steady slide. Of current landline users, only 28 percent still count it as invaluable. That’s down from the 46 percent of hard-wired faithful who said the same in 2006. As wireless coverage gets more reliable, chances are those numbers will continue to fall. The figure about landlines is just one of many great nuggets about how Americans view and use technology in a report from the research firm, released ahead of next month’s 25th anniversary of the World Wide Web.
benton.org/node/175554 | Washington Post | Pew Report
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS

FCC AIRWAVES AUCTION ENDS AFTER REACHING MINIMUM PRICE SET BY DISH
[SOURCE: Revere Digital, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
In one of the least suspenseful airwaves auctions ever, the Federal Communications Commission announced that bidding for licenses sought by Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network sold for the auction’s minimum price of $1.56 billion. It certainly isn’t the best outcome for government officials hoping to attract the most revenue possible for the airwaves. Proceeds from the auction are set to go toward funding a new mobile network for police and other first responders. Dish is the presumed winner of the airwaves licenses, according to industry analysts who’ve been watching the bidding. The FCC wouldn’t release the name(s) of the winner(s) and said it would take a few days to compile the official results. A Dish spokesman declined to comment, citing anti-collusion rules.
benton.org/node/175536 | Revere Digital | B&C
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REP ESHOO WANTS FCC TO INVESTIGATE BELOW-THE-LINE WIRELESS, WIRED FEES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) -- backed by Reps Howard Coble (R-NC), Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) -- wants the Federal Communications Commission to open a proceeding on below-the-line fees on wired and wireless phone bills. The committee said that from their own experience from the web sites of those companies -- AT&T, Century Link, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Verizon Wireless --"consumers cannot easily obtain a total estimate of their first month’s bill, including all taxes, fees and surcharges, prior to entering personal information, such as name, social security number and credit card information. Given that the combination of such charges can add as much as 42 percent to a consumer’s monthly bill, we believe that further examination by the FCC is warranted."
benton.org/node/175538 | Broadcasting&Cable
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OWNERSHIP

SEN FRANKEN ON COMCAST-TWC
[SOURCE: The Wrap, AUTHOR: Ira Teinowitz]
Sen Al Franken (D-MN) is wondering: If Comcast failed to keep its promises in the NBCUniversal deal, why should it be trusted with Time Warner Cable? Sen Franken is questioning whether Comcast has adequately complied with network neutrality, local content and unbundled access to Internet services -- promises it made as part of the NBC acquisition -- and has raised concerns that the Time Warner deal could raise cable prices. “I am concerned that the proposed acquisition could result in higher prices, fewer choices, and even worse service for consumers,” Sen Franken wrote in a letter sent to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler. “To the extent that Comcast has a history of breaching its legal obligations to consumers, such history should be taken into account when evaluating Comcast’s proposal for future market expansion.” Comcast disputes Franken’s suggestion that it hasn’t made good on its NBCU promises. “Comcast is proud of our track-record on complying with the conditions from our past transactions including NBCUniversal,” said the company. “We’ve gone above and beyond in compliance with most conditions, including our low-income broadband program, the amount of local news programming and investment in local stations, the amount of on-demand programming, especially children’s programming, and many more areas.”
benton.org/node/175552 | Wrap, The
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JOURNALISM

COMMISSIONER CLYBURN DEFENDS CIN STUDY
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn]
At the Media Institute, Federal Communications Commissioner Mignon Clyburn defended the Critical Information Needs study, pointing out a few things that fail to get mentioned in recent coverage and opinion:
On May 24, 2013, the FCC put out for public comment the research design and the intent of a study which sought to gather data and other information about whether there are any market entry barriers, preventing local communities from receiving important information.
The FCC followed what is custom for the FCC, in making all major policy considerations transparent and public, in order to receive a wide range of input from affected parties and the general public.
Studying such barriers, and determining whether there are appropriate policies to remove such barriers, is what Congress directed the FCC to do in Section 257 of the Communications Act.
Understanding the markets the FCC regulates is necessary, critical and urgent, and in a world where technological change happens at breakneck speed, the FCC has three fundamental choices:
1. The FCC can regulate in the dark, without research and critical data;
2. The FCC can do nothing, not act and risk not protecting the public or appropriately balancing the needs of industry, or
3. The FCC can seek a better understanding of the industries it regulates and the environment in which they operate.
benton.org/node/175517 | Federal Communications Commission
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ONLINE PRESS FREEDOM
[SOURCE: Public Broadcasting Service, AUTHOR: Josh Stearns]
[Commentary] The Committee to Protect Journalists released its annual analysis of Attacks on the Press, including a "Risk List" of the places where press freedom suffered most in 2013. Top of the list: cyberspace. CPJ wrote, "We chose to add the supranational platform of cyberspace to the list because of the profound erosion of freedom on the Internet, a critical sphere for journalists worldwide." Including cyberspace is a recognition that, at least in terms of press freedom and freedom of expression, the web is not virtual reality, it is reality. CPJ makes clear that the Internet is a contested terrain, a space of conflict, and very much at risk.
[Stearns is Press Freedom Campaign Director at Free Press]
benton.org/node/175531 | Public Broadcasting Service
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PRIVACY/SECURITY

GOOGLE FIGHTS LAWSUIT
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Joel Rosenblatt]
Google, fighting claims that it illegally scanned private e-mail messages, argues it shouldn’t have to face a single lawsuit that lumps together hundreds of millions of Internet users. Google contends a nationwide grouping of people who sent or received messages through its Gmail service over five years would “amalgamate an unprecedented collection of individuals,” according to a filing in federal court in San Jose (CA). The amount at stake could reach into the trillions of dollars if, as the plaintiffs argue, each person is eligible for damages of $100 a day for violations of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. US District Judge Lucy Koh heard arguments over whether to certify the case as a class action. Her ruling has implications for e-mail privacy cases assigned to her that were filed last year against Yahoo! and LinkedIn, which also have hundreds of millions of users. In each case, class-action status would allow plaintiffs to pool resources and put greater pressure on defendants to settle.
benton.org/node/175553 | Bloomberg
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ADVERTISING

MOBILE POLITICAL ADS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
The Federal Election Commission is deadlocked on whether to exempt mobile ads from the disclaimers that appear by law on political messaging -- throwing a wrench in the plans of a left-leaning communications firm and pitting its strategists against the FEC's Democratic appointees. Revolution Messaging -- whose clients include MoveOn.org, Organizing for America and various Democratic committees -- asked the FEC for permission to eliminate disclaimers from its digital banner ads, arguing that the small screens on mobile devices made it impractical to include the legalese. Republican officials sided with Revolution, saying that a disclaimer was unnecessary; Democratic commissioners disagreed. A second, softer proposal had Revolution committing to shortened disclaimers.
benton.org/node/175533 | Washington Post
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February 2014

House Subcommittee Continues Review of the FTC at 100 in Effort to Modernize Agency for the Innovation Era

Can We all Block the NSA?

Rep Barton: Courts or Congress Will Strike Down FCC's Latest Net Neutrality Effort

Five faulty premises, part 5: Things are better in Europe, Asia, or somewhere else

Don't Expect A Charter-Cox Merger After Time Warner Cable Marries Comcast

The ABCs of school technology programs

February 28, 2014 (Civil Rights Principles for the Era of Big Data)

NSA Chief Opens Door to Narrower Data Collection

17 percent of Americans still can’t part with their landline