September 2014

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2014

Today: Building a Community Broadband Roadmap: Lessons in Implementation and FCC Chairman Wheeler on the Future of Broadband http://benton.org/calendar/2014-08-31--P1W/

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   How Amazon Plans to Storm Cable's Castle - op-ed
   Will network neutrality politics scuttle the FCC's upcoming incentive auction? - George Ford op-ed
   AT&T names St. Louis as latest 1 Gbps fiber broadband market [links to web]
   Jackson to get C Spire’s high-speed internet [links to web]

OWNERSHIP
   A lot of people don’t like the Comcast-Time Warner merger, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be approved
   FCC should push Comcast to get Internet to more low-income families - Los Angeles Times editorial
   Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Received More Than $100,000 from Comcast Before Boosting Merger
   Comcast, TW Cable Set October Shareholder Votes [links to web]
   ‘SpinCo’ To Be Called GreatLand Connections [links to web]
   Department of Justice OK With Scripps/Journal Meld [links to web]
   4chan adopts DMCA policy after celebrity photo postings [links to web]
   In Television Deals, NFL Plays by Its Own Rules [links to web]
   Michael Bloomberg to Return to Lead Company He Founded [links to web]

PRIVACY/SECURITY
   Verizon To Pay $7.4 Million To Settle Consumer Privacy Investigation - FCC press release
   Mysterious Phony Cell Towers Could Be Intercepting Your Calls
   Sec Holder, Director Clapper support Senate NSA reform bill [links to web]
   First US appeals court hears argument to shut down NSA database [links to web]
   Is Internet privacy a lost cause? - analysis [links to web]

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
   FCC Moves Quickly to Reject Political Ad Sponsorship ID Complaints - analysis
   Common Cause lashes out against FCC over political disclosure rules

JOURNALISM
   Is it time to end media blackouts? [links to web]

LABOR
   Jesse Jackson targets Amazon over diversity [links to web]

CONTENT
   How misinformation goes viral: a Truthy story [links to web]
   4chan adopts DMCA policy after celebrity photo postings [links to web]

TELEVISION
   Groups Ask Broadcasters to Eschew Use of Redskins [links to web]
   In Television Deals, NFL Plays by Its Own Rules [links to web]

EDUCATION
   Broadband and the future of learning - Richard Adler op-ed

HEALTH
   Evidence Grows That Online Social Networks Have Insidious Negative Effects [links to web]

LOBBYING
   Viacom hires ex-House chairman Howard Berman as Russia lobbyist [links to web]
   USTelecom hires Wynn as lobbyist [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   The Long Tail of the Arab Digital Spring - analysis
   China to Limit Foreign TV Shows on Video-Streaming Sites [links to web]

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INTERNET/BROADBAND

NET NEUTRALITY AND AMAZON
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Susan Crawford]
[Commentary] Amazon's announcement that it would buy Twitch Interactive, a hugely popular game-streaming service that is just over three years old, marks a key moment for telecommunications policy in the US. But the reason might be unexpected. What is crucial is that the destiny of Twitch, Netflix and any other future high-capacity streaming service -- think telemedicine, education and civic engagement -- is utterly dependent on the goodwill of just four companies: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Verizon Communications and AT&T. Each of those four companies, in turn, has the ability and incentive to extract unconstrained tribute from anyone wanting to reach their subscribers. The Federal Communications Commission must intervene decisively to both reassert its authority and help US mayors fix this situation by calling for the construction of open fiber networks without a built-in conflict of interest. [Crawford is a visiting professor in intellectual property at Harvard Law School]
benton.org/headlines/how-amazon-plans-storm-cables-castle | Bloomberg
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NET NEUTRALITY AND THE INCENTIVE AUCTION
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: George Ford]
[Commentary] Sometime in 2015, the Federal Communications Commission plans to hold a voluntary incentive auction in which it will attempt to entice broadcasters to relinquish some of their prime spectrum for mobile broadband use. Should the FCC allow the politics of net neutrality to interfere, however, the commission could blow one of the last great opportunities both to alleviate spectrum exhaust and to make a significant contribution toward deficit reduction without raising taxes. Both the White House and the FCC are threatening to subject the mobile broadband industry to stringent net neutrality rules -- or, worse, to reclassify mobile broadband as a Title II common carrier telecommunications service. Should they make good on their threat, such heavy-handed regulation would make the broadcast spectrum less valuable and, in turn, depress much-needed auction revenues, throwing the success of the auction into doubt. [Ford is the chief economist of the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies]
benton.org/headlines/will-network-neutrality-politics-scuttle-fccs-upcoming-incentive-auction | Hill, The
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OWNERSHIP

WILL COMCAST-TWC BE APPROVED?
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
The people have spoken about Comcast's bid for Time Warner Cable, and thousands are concerned that the merger could squash competition and harm consumers. But that doesn't mean regulators won't approve the deal, some analysts say. Regulators may not like how big the resulting company would be, but they may find that competition won't necessarily be reduced, because the companies operate in separate markets, Paul De Sa, an analyst at Bernstein Research. "As no commenter has made the case that Comcast and TWC compete against each other in any major market . . . we believe it is unlikely that the DOJ (or States) would succeed in blocking the merger in Court for violating antitrust laws, and it is improbable that the FCC alone would prevent the transaction from closing by referring it to a hearing on non-antitrust "public interest" grounds," De Sa wrote. Telecom and media analyst Craig Moffett of Moffett Nathanson research gives the deal an 80 percent chance of approval, calling it "very likely" but not certain.
benton.org/headlines/lot-people-dont-comcast-time-warner-merger-doesnt-mean-it-wont-be-approved | Washington Post
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INTERNET ESSENTIALS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] To win federal regulators' approval for its acquisition of NBC Universal, cable giant Comcast promised in 2011 to offer low-cost Internet connections to millions of low-income households in its service area for three years. Now, eager for the green light to acquire another cable operator -- Time Warner Cable -- Comcast has pledged to extend its generous discounts to TWC's turf as well. But such commitments to narrow the digital divide are meaningless if regulators don't demand results. Comcast has kept its pledge to offer broadband to low-income families. But if the FCC is to approve another blockbuster merger for the company, it should insist that Comcast try harder to sell it. That means more effective outreach -- for example, by working through nonprofits that have a record in bringing services to low-income and immigrant-heavy communities -- as well as an easier sign-up process, more technical assistance and family-friendly equipment. Comcast can't be expected to close the digital divide alone, but it can do a better job of hooking up the low-income residents on its turf.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-should-push-comcast-get-internet-more-low-income-families | Los Angeles Times
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COMCAST AND MAYOR EMANUEL
[SOURCE: International Business Times, AUTHOR: Christopher Zara]
Some of that support from public officials for Comcast’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable has followed big campaign contributions from Comcast executives. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wrote a letter to the Federal Communications Commission on Aug. 22 saying he believes the merger would be good for the Windy City, maintaining and enhancing Comcast’s “generous presence” in the area. During his political career, Mayor Emanuel and political committees he controls has received more than $100,000 from Comcast and its employees.
benton.org/headlines/chicago-mayor-rahm-emanuel-received-more-100000-comcast-boosting-merger | International Business Times
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PRIVACY/SECURITY

VERIZON TO PAY $7.4 MILLION TO SETTLE CONSUMER PRIVACY INVESTIGATION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau has reached a $7.4 million settlement with Verizon to resolve an investigation into the company’s use of personal consumer information for marketing purposes. The Enforcement Bureau’s investigation uncovered that Verizon failed to notify approximately two million new customers, on their first invoices or in welcome letters, of their privacy rights, including how to opt out from having their personal information used in marketing campaigns, before the company accessed their personal information to market services to them. In addition to the $7.4 million payment, Verizon has agreed to notify customers of their opt-out rights on every bill for the next three years. FCC will put systems in place to monitor and test its billing systems and opt-out notice process to ensure that customers are receiving proper notices of their privacy rights. Any problems detected that are more than an anomaly must be reported to the FCC within five business days, and any noncompliance must be reported as well.
benton.org/headlines/verizon-pay-74-million-settle-consumer-privacy-investigation | Federal Communications Commission | Consent Decree | Washington Post
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INTERCEPTORS
[SOURCE: Popular Science, AUTHOR: Andrew Rosenblum]
ESD America created a map indicating 17 different phony cell towers known as “interceptors,” detected by the CryptoPhone 500 around the United States during the month of July 2014 alone. Interceptors look to a typical phone like an ordinary tower. Once the phone connects with the interceptor, a variety of “over-the-air” attacks become possible, from eavesdropping on calls and texts to pushing spyware to the device. Who is running these interceptors and what are they doing with the calls? Les Goldsmith, the CEO of ESD America, says we can’t be sure, but he has his suspicions.
benton.org/headlines/mysterious-phony-cell-towers-could-be-intercepting-your-calls | Popular Science
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

POLITICAL AD SPONSORSHIP ID
[SOURCE: CommLawCenter, AUTHOR: Scott Flick]
[Commentary] With television stations' political files now available online, the Campaign Legal Center, Sunlight Foundation, and Common Cause have been jointly filing complaints against TV stations alleging various errors and omissions in online public file paperwork relating to political ad buys by third-party advertisers. These three organizations expanded their campaign (no pun intended) substantially in mid-July, when they filed complaints against a Washington (DC) and a Portland (OR) TV station. Rather than paperwork problems, however, these complaints claimed that the stations had failed to accurately disclose on-air the true identity of the sponsor behind certain "Super PAC" political ads. In both cases, the complainants asserted that their own research indicated the PACs were mostly or entirely funded by a single individual, and that the stations should have therefore identified that individual rather than the PAC as the sponsor of the political spot. While there is ample precedent for requiring broadcasters to be comfortable that the sponsorship information in a political spot is accurate, the most recent complaints concerned broadcasters for two reasons.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-moves-quickly-reject-political-ad-sponsorship-id-complaints | CommLawCenter | Broadcast Law Blog
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POLITICAL DISCLOSURE RULES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Tim Devaney]
Public interest groups say they are disappointed that federal regulators will not require broadcasters to reveal the "true identity" of corporations that pay for political advertisements. One day after the Federal Communications Commission rejected a petition to strengthen the disclosure rules for political ads, Common Cause and other groups accused the agency of "shirking its responsibilities." The public interest groups say the FCC's long-standing political disclosure rules are outdated in the wake of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision in 2010, allowing corporate spending on campaigns. Under the current rules, corporations can hide behind vague third parties that take their money to pay for the ads, the groups said. "When you see paid for by 'Americans for Prosperity,' well that doesn't really tell you who provided the money, who is the real sponsor," said Dale Eisman, spokesman for Common Cause. But Common Cause wants the FCC to require broadcasters to identify the corporations and wealthy individuals who fund these "fronts," Eisman explained. "The viewer ought to know who is exactly paying for this commercial, who would the candidate owe something to because they helped them?" he said.
benton.org/headlines/common-cause-lashes-out-against-fcc-over-political-disclosure-rules | Hill, The
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EDUCATION

BROADBAND AND EDUCATION
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Richard Adler]
[Commentary] High-speed broadband networks will not only accelerate learning, but they will also enable students to acquire the skills that they need to flourish in a post-industrial society. If the US is to keep its place in a hyper-connected, hyper-competitive world, if schools are to remain relevant in preparing students for the world they will live in, the shift to this new approach to learning is urgent and mandatory, not optional. The technology to support connected learning is already here; now we need to ensure that all Americans have access to it and make sure that its potential for learning is realized.
[Adler is a distinguished fellow at the Institute for the Future]
benton.org/headlines/broadband-and-future-learning | ComputerWorld
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

THE LONG TAIL OF THE ARAB DIGITAL SPRING
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Stuart Brotman]
[Commentary] The digital aspect of the Arab Spring has long-tail implications. These are the rapid developments in the diffusion of digital communication technologies and services that virtually every country in the Arab Middle East is experiencing, regardless of how much political turmoil and instability is at play in any particular locale. The data conveys the picture with just a few quick points of reference:
Forty percent of mobile phones in the region are smartphones.
Nearly three-fourths of all residents in the United Arab Emirates own a smartphone -- the highest penetration in the world (South Korea is second).
Saudi Arabia has the highest Twitter penetration of anywhere in the world (about a third of its population, compared to only 11 percent in the US).
There is continued growth of Arabic as a percent of tweets in the Middle East/North Africa region. Now nearly 75 percent of all tweets are in Arabic.
Across the Arab Middle East, two hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.
Saudi Arabia is the leading country in the world in terms of YouTube viewers -- 90 million daily views to YouTube; overall, the region is ahead of both Europe and Asia, and just behind North America, as the world’s leading region for YouTube viewers.
benton.org/headlines/long-tail-arab-digital-spring | Brookings
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