December 2014

Sony Tells Media Not to Use Leaked Documents

Sony Pictures Entertainment has retained David Boies, one of the nation’s most prominent attorneys, in an effort to stop news publications from using stolen documents that have been leaked online.

Boies sent a letter to media organizations including The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and Bloomberg News. The letter requested that the companies destroy any contracts, e-mails and other internal information that has been released on the Internet following a cyberattack on the Sony-owned studio three weeks ago. “If you do not comply with this request and the Stolen Information is used or disseminated by you in any manner,” the letter reads, “[Sony Pictures] will have no choice but to hold you responsible for any damage or loss arising from such use or dissemination by you.”

Cybersecurity Legislation Passes

The House and Senate have passed cybersecurity legislation that is meant to produce consistent guidelines on protecting information online under a partnership between government and the private sector.

The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014 passed both House and Senate. The bill, formerly the Cybersecurity Act of 2013, was introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D- WV) more than a year ago (it is co-sponsored by ranking member Sen. John Thune (R-S.D)). The bill 1) creates an industry-driven process for creating voluntary cybersecurity critical infrastructure standards, under the watchful eye of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), that will be "non-regulatory, non-prescriptive and technology neutral"; 2) coordinates and "strengthens cybersecurity R&D; 3) boost cybersecurity education and awareness; and 4) "advances" technical standards.

With hackers running rampant, why would we poke holes in data security?

[Commentary] The best defense against hackers is clear: strong data encryption and more secure technology systems. The leaders of US intelligence agencies hold a different view.

Most prominently, James Comey, the FBI director, is lobbying Congress to require that electronics manufacturers create intentional security holes -- so-called back doors -- that would enable the government to access data on every American's cellphone and computer, even if it is protected by encryption. Unfortunately, there are no magic keys that can be used only by good guys for legitimate reasons. There is only strong security or weak security. Technology is a tool that can be put to legitimate or illegitimate use. And advances in technology always pose a new challenge to law enforcement agencies. But curtailing innovation on data security is no solution, and certainly won't restore public trust in tech companies or government agencies. Instead we should give law enforcement and intelligence agencies the resources that they need to adapt, and give the public the data security they demand.

How to change what the tech workforce looks like

[Commentary] Silicon Valley firms, located in one of the most diverse places in the US, are mostly staffed by whites and men. But is anything likely to change in 2015? Or the next year, or next? Yes, I'd cautiously say, because the conversations outside the companies are helping the efforts of those inside to make the business case for the issue. "This topic has gone mainstream," said Rosalind Hudnell, vice president of human resources at Intel and the firm's chief diversity officer.

The Internet’s Future Lies Up in the Skies

[Commentary] The business of getting bits to people and their devices has barely begun. Most people don’t have access to the Internet, and of those who do, most are on connections you, the reader, would find unacceptably slow. The solution to the related challenges of getting Internet to the next four billion people, and making it fast, will very likely be Internet from the sky. A new generation of launch and satellite technology, plus new ideas about what constitutes a satellite, are transforming the sky above our heads into waypoints for data that could reach our mobile devices as quickly as from terrestrial networks, with the advantage of global coverage.

Telecoms Are Hit by Cellphone Cost Worries

What difference does a month make? In telecom, the answer is about $45 billion. That’s how much market value Verizon Communications, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile US have lost collectively since mid-November amid a fast-moving reassessment of the industry’s value by investors. The lost value is greater than the current market capitalization of Sprint and T-Mobile combined, and it reflects concern that cellphone service will be costlier to deliver and less lucrative to sell. Two events sparked the change of heart. The first was the government’s ongoing sale of wireless licenses, which kicked off Nov. 13 and as of Dec 12 had drawn more than $43.7 billion of bids. The other was a warning from Verizon that competitive pressure was forcing it to offer discounts that would hurt its profits.

Apple Heads to Court in E-Book Appeal

When Apple entered the electronic-books market in 2010, founder Steve Jobs described its pricing agreements with publishers as an “Aikido move” against competitor Amazon. A federal judge called them something else: price-fixing.

On Dec 15, the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to consider whether the deals amounted to a deft market maneuver or an illegal conspiracy. The ruling that follows could have ramifications far beyond the publishing industry by revealing “what kind of proof shows a conspiracy between manufacturers and a powerful distributor,” said Harry First, a law professor at New York University. “This is a broad problem that many industries face. It’s not just Apple,” First said.

Apple Should Win Its E-Book Appeal

Apple’s appeal is important to more than the company.

The Second Circuit has the opportunity to consider the appropriate antitrust rules governing competition between marketing platforms—an important legal and economic issue that federal Judge Denise Cote ignored. Is it illegal for companies subject to a dominant marketer of their product -- in this case Amazon -- to meet and determine how to protect their interests? The court did acknowledge the legitimate fears of the publishers that to challenge Amazon’s policies alone would lead to Amazon’s retaliation, as it did with Macmillan and Hachette. Now the Second Circuit has the opportunity to provide guidelines about how firms like Apple, interested in providing platform competition but needing a critical mass of producers to do so, can compete without running afoul of the antitrust laws.

What Apple and the major booksellers did to get a foothold in a market dominated by Amazon was not restraint of trade. It was competition, and progress.

[Priest teaches antitrust law at Yale Law School.]

Sen Leahy is trying to shame Internet providers for not renouncing fast lanes

Sen Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is calling out a number of Internet providers for their "unfortunate" failure to commit to swearing off Internet "fast lanes", otherwise known as "paid prioritization".

"This is disappointing," Sen Leahy said. "I was disappointed that some Internet service providers in their responses brushed aside these concerns dismissively." Although the Internet service providers told him they didn't currently have plans to engage in paid prioritization, they declined to rule out starting such programs in the future, as Sen Leahy asked.

Wider Broadband Helps Growth, But Not Like Battling Some Illnesses

Expanding broadband Internet access may produce more global economic benefit than tackling HIV or preventing deforestation, but wouldn’t match gains from improving nutrition for kids or eradicating malaria.

The Copenhagen Consensus Center, a non-profit group that asks teams of economists to study global development initiatives, found that expanding wired broadband networks to reach 30 percent of the world’s people by 2030, up from 10 percent now, would generate $21 of economic benefit for every $1 spent. Earlier studies by the center found that $1 spent to alleviate childhood malnutrition would do $45 of good, while $1 spent on malaria would produce $35 of benefit. Each $1 spent to treat and research vaccines for HIV would generate $11 of gains. Expanding broadband access through wireless networks would be cheaper than building fixed wireline networks, however the benefits would be smaller, according to the group’s latest study.

Benton

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