April 2014

The Nobility of E-Rate

[Commentary] In the library community, one of today’s highest profile, exciting national policy topics is modernization of the E-rate program.

We propose three initiatives:

School-library wide area network partnerships. Modify E-rate program rules, eliminate barriers, and provide incentives for schools and libraries to deploy high-capacity broadband in cooperation, rather than in isolation. Where this can occur, significantly improved economies will likely be realized.
Scalable technologies deployment program. Some libraries with poor broadband connectivity are in close proximity to broadband providers that can ensure scalable broadband at affordable initial construction charges and recurring costs after the deployment is complete. We urge the FCC to provide incentives and rule and process changes to encourage these efforts.
Network diagnostics and technical support program. Provide assistance to libraries in planning, purchasing, and implementing network infrastructure and Internet access through state library agencies or in partnership with such agencies.

[Inouye, PhD is Director of the American Library Association's Office for Information Technology Policy in Washington, DC]

NIST Removes NSA-Tainted Algorithm From Cryptographic Standards

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has finally removed a cryptographic algorithm from its draft guidance on random number generators, more than six months after leaked top-secret documents suggested the algorithm had been deliberately sabotaged by the National Security Agency.

The announcement came as NIST opened to a final round of public comments its revised Special Publication 800-90a, which contains three algorithms now that the Dual Elliptic Curve Deterministic Random Bit Generator has been removed following negative feedback from the public.

According to documents leaked by former contractor Edward Snowden in September, NSA “became the sole editor” of Special Publication 800-90 and allegedly introduced weaknesses to the now-removed algorithm.

NIST responded swiftly to that news, recommending against using the standards and suggesting reopening them to public scrutiny in an effort to rebuild trust with the public.

Broadcasters victorious as radio bill gains 219 sponsors

A broadcaster-backed effort to keep local radio stations from paying musicians for songs has gained the support of more than half of the House of Representatives.

As some members push measures that would require AM/FM radio stations to pay for the songs they play, 219 members of the House have signed onto the Local Radio Freedom Act. That resolution -- introduced by Reps Michael Conway (R-TX) and Gene Green (D-TX) in early 2013 -- prohibits "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge” on local AM/FM radio stations.

The Senate companion resolution was introduced in 2013 by Sens John Barrasso (R-WY) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND); 12 other senators back it. Though AM/FM radio stations do not currently have to pay artists for songs the stations broadcast, some members of Congress are pushing bills that would require radio stations to pay these “royalty fees.”

According to the National Association of Broadcasters, the large number of supporters backing the Local Radio Freedom Act indicates that many in Congress agree that radio royalty fees aren’t needed.

Why the British Library Is Spending $55 Million on News Archives

Just 2 percent of the British Library's massive archive of print newspapers have been digitized. That's going to change. The institution is completing a seven-year effort to upgrade its news archives, a $55 million (£33 million) project that's aimed at expanding the library's definition of "news."

Curator Luke McKernan said that "news" can mean "anything of relevance to a particular community at a particular point in time." Most people by now will acknowledge that news is recorded in newspapers and on Facebook and on Twitter and on blogs, etc., etc., but McKernan said he's also thinking about "diaries, oral history, recordings, maps, posters, letters," and so on.

McKernan wants to establish links between different kinds of resources, a strategy that's becoming increasingly important as institutions like libraries rethink how their resources will fit into a larger network of interconnected data and information online.

Mobile Technology in Politics More Potential Than Reality

Although most Americans now own mobile communication devices or otherwise have access to the Internet, no more than 23% have used them for a variety of political interactions.

These results suggest that the potential use of mobile communication for connecting voters and potential voters to politics has yet to be fully realized.

The poll finds that about seven in 10 Americans use either a smartphone or a tablet, and that overall 83% are connected to the Internet through a phone, tablet, or personal computer. Between 20% and 23% of those interviewed report receiving electronic communication from political interest groups, using social media to share political opinions posted by someone else, receiving electronic requests to contact elected representatives on behalf of a cause, or receiving direct electronic communications from elected officials or from political parties. Slightly fewer, 16%, say they post their own political opinions directly on social media. Less than 10% say they have received instant communication about an incipient or ongoing political rally or political protest or made a monetary donation using a smartphone or tablet.

Other findings are that younger Americans are more likely to be politically connected via social media and that Republicans are slightly more likely to use mobile devices.

Michael Powell, Top Cable Lobbyist, Argues Against Broadband as Utility

America’s infrastructure is crumbling, says former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell, the chief executive of the cable industry’s trade association.

Roads are in poor condition, bridges are structurally deficient, drinking water systems are near the end of their useful life and portions of the electric grid suffer regular blackouts. All of which, Powell says, proves that the country’s broadband networks cannot be considered a public utility and left in the hands of government oversight.

“Because the Internet is not regulated as a public utility, it grows and thrives, watered by private capital and a light regulatory touch,” Powell said in Los Angeles at the Cable Show, the annual meeting of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. “It does not depend on the political process for its growth, or the extended droughts of public funding,” Powell said. “This is why broadband is the fastest deploying technology in world history, reaching nearly every citizen in our expansive country.”

Powell’s remarks were in response to recent calls for the Federal Communications Commission to reclassify high-speed Internet service as a “common carrier,” a public utilitylike network that should be subject to strict regulation.

Sen Franken: FCC chief's plan for ‘fast lanes’ will ‘destroy’ Internet

Sen Al Franken (D-MN) called a proposal at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allow Internet “fast lanes” an “affront to net neutrality" that will "destroy" the open Internet.

In a letter, Sen Franken asked FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to reconsider his current plans to rewrite the agency’s net neutrality rules in a way that allows some content companies to pay for better access to Internet providers’ subscribers.

“This proposal would create an online ‘fast lane’ for the highest bidder -- shutting out small business and increasing costs for consumers,” Sen Franken wrote. “I strongly urge you to reconsider this misguided approach and recommit to protecting the Open Internet for all Americans.”

Will the FCC Create an Internet for the 1%?

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission just released information about new draft rules for an open Internet. The proposed rules reportedly would allow for broadband providers to make companies that provide services on the Internet pay for fast lane service, as long as that payment is considered “commercially reasonable.”

But what happens when what one company considers “commercially reasonable” is not considered so by another? Will this guideline work favorably for some companies who can afford to negotiate and not others? What are the implications for startup communities? How can harm to companies and consumers be measured under these rules?

For consumers, artists, activists, and creators, creating a premium Internet should raise serious concerns. Reclassifying broadband as a Title II service is the best way going forward for strong net neutrality. The digital divide in this country is real enough to too many people due to the lack of competition in the broadband market.

As income inequality rises in the United States, we are quickly approaching a future that resembles an airport, with expensive Internet connections, lack of free public Wi-Fi, high cost services, and expensive and prioritized access for those who can afford it, that caters to an elite business class.

Netflix and Opponents: Deciphering Paid Peering and Dueling Diagrams

[Commentary] Netflix and Entropy Economics have issued dueling network diagrams aimed at supporting opposing points of view on paid peering -- an issue that has been hotly debated since Netflix signed a paid peering deal with Comcast earlier this year.

Yet the diagrams have a striking similarity when it comes to showing how Netflix connects to Comcast. It’s possible that by keeping up the pressure about traffic exchange, Netflix is hoping to pressure regulators into imposing some sort of obligations on Comcast and Time Warner Cable as a condition of approval of Comcast’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable.

Now that Charter is involved in that deal as well, it may not be exempt either. And conditions written into merger approvals sometimes have a way of gaining traction beyond the merged companies.

Regulators should tread carefully before imposing any major new traffic exchange requirements. Considering the complexity of the issue and how quickly practices change, it’s difficult even to determine what those requirements might be. The true cost of interconnection is dependent on a wide range of factors. And only the network operators know and understand the dollar values underlying these factors.

How Brazil Has Leapt Ahead Of The US With An Internet Bill Of Rights

Brazil is a place where the Internet landscape is diverging from the United States in a way that benefits ordinary digital citizens: On April 21, Brazil's congress passed a legally binding “Internet Bill of Rights.”

The Brazilian Internet Bill of Rights, called the Marco Civil, guarantees network neutrality, regulates government surveillance on the Internet, and places limits on data companies can collect from Brazilian customers. In addition, Internet service providers won't be held liable for content published by their customers and will be legally required to remove offensive material via court order.

President Dilma Rousseff said “The Marco Civil guarantees net neutrality, a fundamental principle for maintaining the free and open nature of the Internet. The new Marco Civil establishes that telecommunications companies must treat any and all data packages equally, and also forbids the blocking, monitoring, filtering, or analysis of the content of such packages. Our model for the Marco Civil can now influence the global debate on the path to ensuring real rights in the virtual world.”

Benton

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