January 16, 2015 (Bud Paxson)
Headlines will return on TUESDAY, Jan 20 – Happy Dr King day
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015
Bud Paxson, Who Started Home Shopping Network
A quick look at next week’s events http://benton.org/calendar/2015-01-18--P1W
BROADBAND/INTERNET
Broadband: The Electricity of the 21st Century - White House press release
5 Things You Need to Know About President Obama’s Broadband Announcement - press release
NTIA Urges FCC to Lift Bans on Community Broadband
Does the US government really want to get into the broadband business? - analysis
Is public broadband a threat to taxpayers? Let towns decide - GigaOm analysis [links to web]
Big Cable, President Obama spar over government-run broadband networks [links to web]
Broadband facts: GON (Government-Owned Networks) with the wind - op-ed [links to web]
Why the Government should provide Internet access Susan Crawford Q&A [links to web]
Why You Should Live in Ammon, Idaho - op-ed
MMTC Tells Government There is Need for More Than Speed
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
Why two prominent Republicans are now backing network neutrality - Timothy Lee analysis
White House says network neutrality legislation not needed
The Internet Association cheers GOP lawmakers’ net neutrality moves [links to web]
Sen Franken blasts GOP's 'watered-down' Internet proposal [links to web]
How regulations from the rotary-phone era could impact the Internet - Mobile Future op-ed [links to web]
Dispelling the Myth of a Terminating Access Monopoly - Verizon press release [links to web]
Health IT Groups Tell FCC They're Concerned About Title II [links to web]
Fox News Pushes Debunked Claims About Net Neutrality [links to web]
LABOR
Rev Jackson: Tech companies should observe MLK birthday
DIVERSITY
‘Selma’ Snub Means Diversity Is Still Sparse in a White Hollywood [links to web]
HEALTH
Social Media and the Cost of Caring - Pew research
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Secret US cybersecurity report: encryption vital to protect private data
Better cybersecurity defenses require a concerted public-private effort - Washington Post editorial [links to web]
Vice President Biden Announces $25 Million in Funding for Cybersecurity Education at HBCUs - press release [links to web]
Study finds software can’t replace spy agency data gathering [links to web]
Verizon Releases Transparency Report for Second Half 2014 - press release [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Public Knowledge Urges FCC to Address Privacy Concerns with E911 Rules - press release [links to web]
FCC poised to open the floodgates for "wrong number" robocalls to cell phones - press release [links to web]
A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding the Internet of Things [links to web]
Mobile Industry Generated $3.3 Trillion in 2014, Created 11 Million Jobs [links to web]
FCC REFORM
Expanding FCC Use of Electronic Communications - FCC Commissioner Michael O'Reilly [links to web]
LOBBYING
Who needs lobbyists? See what big business spends to win American minds - research
STORIES FROM ABROAD
UK rural companies warn of poor broadband links [links to web]
TV Use Overtakes Radio in Afghanistan - press release [links to web]
BROADBAND/INTERNET
BROADBAND: THE ELECTRICITY OF THE 21ST CENTURY
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Sec Tom Vilsack, Sec Penny Pritzker]
President Barack Obama announced that he is challenging the federal government to remove all unnecessary regulatory barriers to broadband build-out and competition, and is establishing a new Broadband Opportunity Council. The council will bring together more than a dozen government agencies with the singular goal of speeding broadband deployment and improving access in areas that need it most. As part of this effort, the US Department of Agriculture is accepting applications to its Community Connect broadband grant program and will reopen a revamped broadband loan program, which offers financing to eligible rural carriers that invest in bringing high-speed broadband to unserved and underserved rural areas. Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration unveiled our BroadbandUSA initiative aimed at finding new ways to assist communities seeking to ensure their citizens have the broadband capacity they need to advance economic development, education, health care, and public safety. We know that an investment in broadband infrastructure is an investment in a strong, healthy, educated workforce. With President Obama's announcement, the Obama Administration continues to underscore our commitment to keeping America connected and competitive, and to making sure we do our part to give all Americans the opportunity to succeed.
benton.org/headlines/broadband-electricity-21st-century | White House, The
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5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRESIDENT OBAMA'S BROADBAND ANNOUNCEMENT
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: R. Edelman]
Here are five things you need to know about President Obama's announcement on municipal broadband:
1) Fiber optic Internet is really, really fast.
2) Cedar Falls (IA) has really, really fast fiber optic Internet. For everyone in town.
3) Fast, affordable Internet is about a lot more than watching movies or online gaming: Fast broadband can be a magnetic force for a local economy.
4) But it's not available all across the country: Around half the country's rural population cannot even get access at a quarter of the speed of Cedar Falls.
5) President Obama's announcements will help bring faster, cheaper Internet for more Americans.
benton.org/headlines/5-things-you-need-know-about-president-obamas-broadband-announcement | White House, The
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MUNICIPAL BROADBAND LETTER
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: Lawrence Strickling]
In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, Lawrence Strickling of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration wrote, “Working with existing service providers is often a very strong option for communities. But in cases where existing providers are not meeting a community's needs, the community should have the flexibility to explore other options, including various types of public-private partnerships or municipal broadband. One such option is for communities to build and operate their own broadband infrastructure. This choice is certainly not always, or even typically, the best solution for a community, particularly where existing service providers are willing and able to meet communities' evolving needs. But allowing communities to consider and leverage a full range of options allows for communities to most efficiently and successfully meet the needs of their citizens. Such flexibility should be encouraged, not limited…. The Administration urges the FCC to ensure that communities have the tools necessary to satisfy their citizens' demand for broadband.”
benton.org/headlines/ntia-urges-fcc-lift-bans-community-broadband | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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DOES THE US GOVERNMENT REALLY WANT TO GET INTO THE BROADBAND BUSINESS?
[SOURCE: Quartz, AUTHOR: Tim Fernholz]
[Commentary] The White House isn’t really expecting municipal Internet to make a major dent the market share of existing cable providers. As with the short-lived “public option” for health insurance before it was cut from President Barack Obama’s health care proposal, the idea here -- and on a much smaller scale -- is to hold telecoms’ feet to the fire by providing a baseline level of service. And the cable industry’s unease suggests that this would be the exact result. While government-run networks might not be the ultimate solution to providing better broadband service, it’s worth seeing if open access to publicly-financed local networks can be.
benton.org/headlines/does-us-government-really-want-get-broadband-business | Quartz
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WHY YOU SHOULD LIVE IN AMMON, IDAHO
[SOURCE: Medium, AUTHOR: Susan Crawford]
[Commentary] Why should you live in Ammon, Idaho? Because it has a dark fiber network -- thin, flexible strands of glass that are capable of carrying an unlimited amount of information in the form of pulses of light, but haven't yet been "lit" by the electronics that trigger lasers to create those pulses and transmit them through the glass. Once installed, upgrades to dark fiber come in the form of the electronics that create and receive those pulses of light; the strands of glass themselves won’t have to be replaced for many decades. Dark fiber is like a street grid: Towns and cities with unlit fiber networks in place are creating a fertile field for private competition, innovation, economic growth, and social justice without providing end-user services themselves. Once in place, dark fiber is like an inexhaustible natural resource, enriching both citizenry and commerce.
[Susan Crawford is the author of "The Responsive City"]
benton.org/headlines/why-you-should-live-ammon-idaho | Medium
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MORE THAN SPEED
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council said that President Barack Obama’s recent broadband proposal lacks two important elements: 1) addressing the continuing second-class digital citizenship for people of color, seniors, people with disabilities, and the poor and 2) a plan for ending digital redlining, which MMTC defines as “the refusal to build and serve lower-income communities on the same terms as wealthier communities.” "Government must look behind the bright lights of better, faster, cheaper broadband and provide safeguards to ensure that broadband networks are not deployed in a manner that ultimately redlines communities based on socio-economic factors and widens the digital divide," MMTC wrote. [Maybe we could look in Title II for solutions?]
benton.org/headlines/mmtc-tells-government-there-need-more-speed | Broadcasting&Cable
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY
WHY TWO PROMINENT REPUBLICANS ARE NOW BACKING NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Vox, AUTHOR: Timothy Lee]
[Commentary] Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) and House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) endorsed network neutrality and called for a bipartisan compromise to defend it. This is the most conciliatory note senior Republicans in Congress have sounded on this issue in years. Chairman Thune has been calling for Congress to overhaul telecommunications law for a while, but when he talked about the topic a year ago, he didn't specifically endorse network neutrality regulations. In April, Chairman Upton called network neutrality regulations "a solution in search of a problem." Now the two men say they want to "prohibit blocking and throttling" and make it illegal for internet service providers to "charge a premium to prioritize content delivery." In other words, they're in favor of network neutrality. It would be a mistake for Democrats to dismiss Chairmen Thune and Upton's overtures out of hand. Legislation can do two things: it can cement network neutrality rules into law, and it can build bipartisan support for the concept. That would make it more likely that network neutrality will be protected regardless of who wins the White House in 2016.
benton.org/headlines/why-two-prominent-republicans-are-now-backing-network-neutrality | Vox
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WHITE HOUSE SAYS NET NEUTRALITY LEGISLATION NOT NEEDED
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Alina Selyukh, Roberta Rampton]
The White House said legislation was not necessary to settle so-called "network neutrality" rules because the Federal Communications Commission had the authority to write them. The Obama Administration's comments, while not entirely rebuffing the Congressional Republican legislative effort, could make some Democrats wary of joining it. "In terms of legislation, we don’t believe it’s necessary given that the FCC has the authorities that it needs under Title II," a White House spokesperson said. "However, we always remain open to working with anyone who shares the president's goal of fully preserving a free and open internet now and into the future."
benton.org/headlines/white-house-says-network-neutrality-legislation-not-needed | Reuters
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LABOR
OBSERVING MLK BIRTHDAY
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Jessica Guynn]
Rev. Jesse Jackson is calling on technology companies to observe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday on Jan 19. "It is a cherished national holiday when we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, his life of struggle and the legacy he left for our ongoing struggle for civil and human rights," Rev Jackson wrote in a letter to the companies. "This Monday only a handful of technology companies will close their doors and honor the King Holiday." Government offices close on the federal holiday to honor the slain civil rights leader but many businesses stay open including in Silicon Valley where the tech industry has been under persistent fire for its lack of diversity, particularly African Americans. Facebook, Google, Twitter and Yahoo give employees the day off. Apple and Microsoft do not. They are not alone. Thirty-seven percent of employers give employees a paid day off on the holiday, about the same percentage as Presidents' Day, according to a national survey. But more employers are observing the national holiday.
benton.org/headlines/rev-jackson-tech-companies-should-observe-mlk-birthday | USAToday
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HEALTH
SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE COST OF CARING
[SOURCE: Pew Internet and American Life Project, AUTHOR: Keith Hampton, Lee Rainie, Weixu Lu, Inyoung Shin, Kristen Purcell]
Overall, frequent Internet and social media users do not have higher levels of stress. In fact, for women, the opposite is true for at least some digital technologies. Holding other factors constant, women who use Twitter, e-mail and cellphone picture sharing report lower levels of stress. At the same time, the data show there are circumstances under which the social use of digital technology increases awareness of stressful events in the lives of others. Especially for women, this greater awareness is tied to higher levels of stress and it has been called “the cost of caring.” Stress is not associated with the frequency of people’s technology use, or even how many friends users have on social media platforms. But there is one way that people’s use of digital technology can be linked to stress: Those users who feel more stress are those whose use of digital tech is tied to higher levels of awareness of stressful events in others’ lives. This finding about “the cost of caring” adds to the evidence that stress is contagious. In sum, social media users are not any more likely to feel stress than others, but there is a subgroup of social media users who are more aware of stressful events in their friends’ lives and this subgroup of social media users does feel more stress.
benton.org/headlines/social-media-and-cost-caring | Pew Internet and American Life Project
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PRIVACY/SECURITY
ENCRYTION VITAL TO PROTECT PRIVATE DATA
[SOURCE: The Guardian, AUTHOR: James Ball]
A secret US cybersecurity report warned that government and private computers were being left vulnerable to online attacks from Russia, China and criminal gangs because encryption technologies were not being implemented fast enough. The document from the US National Intelligence Council, which reports directly to the US director of national intelligence, made clear that encryption was the “best defence” for computer users to protect private data. The advice, in a newly uncovered five-year forecast written in 2009, contrasts with the pledge made by UK Prime Minister David Cameron to crack down on encryption use by technology companies.
benton.org/headlines/secret-us-cybersecurity-report-encryption-vital-protect-private-data | Guardian, The
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LOBBYING
WHO NEEDS LOBBYISTS? SEE WHAT BIG BUSINESS SPENDS TO WIN AMERICAN MINDS
[SOURCE: Center for Public Integrity, AUTHOR: Erin Quinn]
Forget lobbying. When Washington, DC’s biggest trade associations want to wield influence, they often put far more of their money into advertising and public relations, according to a new Center for Public Integrity investigation. It’s been well-publicized how much industry spends on lobbying the government, but little is known about how much money goes toward influencing the public. Of $3.4 billion in contracts reported by the 144 trade groups from 2008 through 2012, more than $1.2 billion, or 37 percent, went toward advertising, public relations and marketing services, more than any other category. The second-highest total, $682.2 million, or 20 percent of the total, was directed toward legal, lobbying and government affairs.
benton.org/headlines/who-needs-lobbyists-see-what-big-business-spends-win-american-minds | Center for Public Integrity
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