December 2014

7 internet policy ideas that everyone can agree on

[Commentary] Here are seven common-sense reforms we think policy experts across the political spectrum could get behind:

1) Rein in surveillance by the National Security Agency
2) Get rid of bad software patents
3) Reduce excessive copyright protections
4) Don't weaken smartphone encryption
5) Free up more electromagnetic frequencies (spectrum) to speed up mobile networks
6) Remove government oversight of Internet names and addresses
7) Don't let the United Nations expand its role in Internet governance

[Eli Dourado is the director of the Technology Policy Program at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Danielle Kehl is a policy analyst at the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute]

Chairman Rogers confident NSA programs won’t die

Outgoing House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) said there are still "hurdles" in Congress's path, but lawmakers should be able to come together and hammer out a bill to reauthorize a core National Security Agency program in early 2015. He said "the adults in the room will understand that we have to have these provisions and push back on what I believe is the wrong narrative of what is actually happening," he added, alluding to fears about the agency's ability to invade people's privacy.

FCC E-Rate Decision Draws a Crowd

The Federal Communications Commission drew plenty of reaction to its decision to expand the E-rate program. Republicans called it an ill-targeted spending spree. Democrats called it the launch of a necessary digital upgrade for the nation's school kids.

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association said, "While we agree with and applaud these goals, we remain concerned that certain elements in today’s items may lead to wasteful and inefficient spending. As a result, we fully expect that the Commission and Congress will need to remain vigilant in reviewing the implementation of these programs to ensure that contributions paid by consumers to support universal service are spent wisely."

But the FCC was getting more green lights than caution signals.

The smart choice for smarter students

[Commentary] Eighteen years ago I coauthored, along with Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), a bipartisan initiative called E-rate. The E-rate program has been a resounding success, establishing basic connections to the Internet for 99 percent of our schools and libraries. Yet, basic connectivity is no longer sufficient. It is urgent we now upgrade every school and library to the gigabit broadband and Wi-Fi essential to fulfilling the promise of digital learning in the 21st century.

While South Korea replaces printed textbooks with connected devices, Singapore wires its schools to gigabit broadband, and Australia and New Zealand bring high-speed fiber to their rural schools, an astonishing 63 percent of America’s schools, representing nearly 40 million students, lack the necessary broadband speeds. We cannot countenance a new digital divide creating an opportunity divide for America’s young men and women. The proposal before the Federal Communications Commission is the smart choice for smarter children, and I can think of no better investment for the next generation -- and beyond.

[Olympia Snowe served as senator from Maine from 1995-2013]

FCC Gets Spectrum of Reaction on Incentive Auction Vote

The Federal Communications Commission got plenty of reaction to its vote seeking comment on the details of a proposed broadcast incentive auction mechanism, including details about bidding on both the reverse end -- broadcasters volunteering to give up spectrum at a price -- and the forward end -- wireless companies buying up those spectrum licenses.

One thing that caught the attention of Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker was the FCC's use of an 84 MHz clearing target, rather than the 126 MHz the FCC used in estimates it offered up to broadcasters on how much their spectrum might be worth. The National Association of Broadcasters, which has sued the FCC over portions of its auction framework, was keeping its powder dry and accentuating the positive. The Consumer Electronics Association, which wants the FCC to get on with the auction -- now scheduled for 2016 -- to free up wireless spectrum for all the tablets and computers and smart phones its members produce, signaled it thought the FCC was on the right track.

FCC Okays Scripps/Journal Merger

The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has approved the license transfers in the Scripps/Journal Communications deal to merge their broadcast station groups and spin off their newspaper holdings into a separate company. The deal requires the divestiture of two Journal stations, a radio and TV, and for the FCC to extend a failing station waiver, which the FCC will do. Journal will have to sell one of its FM stations in Wichita (KS), whose ownership had been grandfathered.

FCC Okays Media General/LIN Merger

The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has approved the Media General/LIN Media meld and a complicated series of associated transactions that are seeing stations go to Hearst, Meredith and Sinclair to comport with FCC local ownership rules. The FCC said one of the public interest benefits of the deal was that the spin-offs would not create any new duopolies, suggesting duopoly avoidance is an FCC goal.

FCC Seeks Comments on Technological Advisory Council Report on Mobile Device Theft Prevention

The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology and the Consumer and Governmental Affairs and Wireless Telecommunications Bureaus generally seek comment on recommendations on mobile device theft prevention. OET and the Bureaus seek specific comments on recommendations for industry that can be implemented in the near term to provide timely benefits to consumers.

Interested parties may file comments on or before January 30, 2015 and reply comments on or before February 17, 2015.

Seeking coders, tech titans turn to schools

[Commentary] The $30 million campaign financed by the tech industry to promote computer science education has been a smash success, but has also stirred unease from some educators concerned about the growing influence of corporations in public schools. The surging interest in coding has startled educators who have been quietly toiling for years, with far less visibility, to expand computer science instruction. On the policy front, the coalition has pushed 16 states in the past year to count computer science classes toward high school math or science graduation requirements.

Google: We don't spy on you

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt pushed back against criticism that his company is spying on its users. “I hear this perception that somehow we’re not playing by the rules of modern society,” he said. "I think it’s wrong." “Google has worked very hard to improve your privacy," he added. "We do need to retain a certain amount of information for our systems to work, but unlike many others we make it very easy for you to delete that, mask it or avoid it entirely." “I today believe that if you have important information, the safest place to keep it is in Google,” he said, “and I can assure the safest place to not keep it is anywhere else.”

Benton

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