January 2015

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2015

TODAY: Modernizing Communications Law for American Consumers http://benton.org/calendar/2015-01-14

PRIVACY/SECURITY
   President Obama Announces New Cybersecurity Legislative Proposal and Other Cybersecurity Efforts - op-ed
   President Obama’s privacy and cyber bills are the GOP’s first big test at governing - Washington Post analysis
   Still Waiting for Strong Privacy Laws - NYTimes editorial [links to web]
   Ranking Member Nelson Pushing Consumer Data Protection - press release
   Chairman Nunes backs collection of phone data
   Why Doesn't President Obama's Data Break Privacy Proposal Apply to Agencies? - analysis [links to web]
   Why Google Didn’t Sign President Obama-Backed Student Privacy Pledge
   Lawmakers: Sony hack just the beginning [links to web]
   Twitter takes a free speech stand against US government - analysis [links to web]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   President Obama aims to unleash broadband boost
   Broadband Competition Should Be Encouraged, Not Restricted - op-ed
   The Question of Preemption: The FCC Considers Lifting Municipal Broadband Restrictions - Andrew Jay Schwartzman analysis
   One year after ruling, FCC Open Internet rules hang in balance
   Rep Latta offers bill to block treating Internet as utility
   American Cable Association to FCC: Exclude Smaller Operators From Title II Regime [links to web]
   FCC Can't Pick And Choose Network Neutrality Rules - Harold Furchtgott-Roth op-ed
   Former Congressman Boucher: Congress Should Guide FCC On Network Neutrality [links to web]
   Netflix Internet Service Provider Speed Index for December 2014 [links to web]
   Chairman Goodlatte circulates online sales tax draft

OWNERSHIP
   Conservative PAC Launches Ad Campaign Against Comcast/Time-Warner Merger

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Google won’t fix bug hitting 60 percent of Android phones [links to web]
   AT&T tackles LTE-Broadcast at college football championship [links to web]
   Verizon Aims to Connect Older Cars With $15-a-Month Service [links to web]
   Mobile Entertainment Revenue Approaches US Box Office Totals [links to web]

CHILDREN AND MEDIA
   An Old Fogey’s Analysis of a Teenager’s View on Social Media - danah boyd op-ed [links to web]

CONTENT
   The Future of Search, Brought to You By the Pentagon [links to web]
   Is this the single most important trick to going viral? [links to web]
   Mobile Entertainment Revenue Approaches US Box Office Totals [links to web]
   Amber Alerts Come to Facebook’s News Feed [links to web]
   This is what happens when you create an online community without any rules [links to web]

TELEVISION
   Broadband-Only Homes are Growing and Important, But Actual Numbers are Elusive [links to web]
   We Got a Look at the Future of TV -- On the Web, a la Carte [links to web]
   ESPN Scored Cable's Highest Ratings Ever With College Football Championship [links to web]
   Latinos still missing from the TV screen - Ruben Navarrette op-ed [links to web]

JOURNALISM
   Bill Moyers’s journalism legacy - op-ed [links to web]

GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
   Agency Leaders are gung ho about going digital. So, where are their plans? [links to web]

POLICYMAKERS
   House Commerce Committee Republicans Vote to Give Chairman Upton Subpoena Power
   House lawmakers start caucus focusing on connected devices [links to web]
   Takeaways from CES2015: Wireless Innovation, Diversity and Openness - FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn [links to web]
   Former Congressman Lee Terry Joins Kelley Drye & Warren LLP Government Relations Practice - press release [links to web]

COMPANY NEWS
   Google Is the New Microsoft. Uh-Oh. - Bloomberg analysis [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   France Pushes for Tighter Online Surveillance
   Russia blocks bitcoin websites over “shadow economy” fears [links to web]
   Newspaper in Israel Scrubs Women From a Photo of Paris Unity Rally [links to web]

MORE ONLINE
   9 Things Computer Can Do Now That They Couldn't Do a Year Ago [links to web]

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PRIVACY/SECURITY

PRESIDENT OBAMA ANNOUNCES NEW CYBERSECURITY LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL AND OTHER CYBERSECURITY EFFORTS
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Press Release]
President Barack Obama unveiled the next steps in his plan to defend the nation’s public and private networks. These steps include a new legislative proposal, building on important work in Congress, to solve the challenges of information sharing that can cripple response to a cyberattack. They also include revisions to those provisions of his 2011 legislative proposal on which Congress has yet to take action, and along with them, President Obama is extending an invitation to work in a bipartisan, bicameral manner to advance this urgent priority for the American people. The cybersecurity legislative proposal includes enabling cybersecurity information sharing between the private sector and government, modernizing law enforcement authorities to combat cyber crime, and updating security breach reporting by encouraging a national data breach reporting standards. Other cybersecurity efforts by President Obama include a February 13, 2015 White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection at Stanford University, and the announcement of $25 million in grants over the next five years to support a cybersecurity education consortium with Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
benton.org/headlines/president-obama-announces-new-cybersecurity-legislative-proposal-and-other-cybersecurity | White House, The
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PRESIDENT OBAMA'S PRIVACY AND CYBER BILLS ARE THE GOP'S FIRST BIG TEST AT GOVERNING
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
[Commentary] How the nation's gridlocked legislature handles President Barack Obama's tech-focused legislative proposals will tell us a great deal about what we can expect from President Obama's remaining years in office. Passing the president's initiatives should be relatively straightforward as most of the proposals he has put forward have been the subject of discussion among lawmakers. Privacy and cybersecurity should be low-hanging fruit, said David Vladeck, a Georgetown University law professor. "Both houses of Congress have at various times passed various pieces of legislation on data security," he said. "By and large, these are not contentious issues along partisan lines." But cybersecurity and privacy could trigger a fight among committees for responsibility for the issues. And just because the issues attract bipartisan support doesn't mean it'll be easy to strike a bargain. Expect an intense lobbying effort by industry to defeat any new rules that impose burdensome requirements.
benton.org/headlines/president-obamas-privacy-and-cyber-bills-are-gops-first-big-test-governing | Washington Post
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RANKING MEMBER NELSON PUSHING CONSUMER DATA PROTECTION
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee, AUTHOR: Press Release]
Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL) said he wants Congress to pass legislation in line with President Barack Obama's proposal that would require companies to quickly notify consumers when there are data breaches, and that he intends to file legislation that would do just that. The bill would make companies, under most circumstances, notify consumers of data breaches within 30 days. It also would direct the Federal Trade Commission to develop security standards to help businesses protect consumers' personal and financial data. Additionally, the legislation would provide incentives to businesses who adopt new technologies to make consumer data unusable or unreadable if stolen during a breach. The bill is in the final stages of drafting, and is titled the "Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2015".
benton.org/headlines/ranking-member-nelson-pushing-consumer-data-protection | US Senate Commerce Committee | Multichannel News
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CHAIRMAN NUNES BACKS COLLECTION OF PHONE DATA
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) is pushing lawmakers to reauthorize the government collection of Americans telephone records before the authority expires in Summer 2015. Chairman Nunes also said there is no need to make reforms to the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which has approved the data collection numerous times. “We don’t want to further encumber intelligence and law enforcement communities who already have a difficult task in tracking those who wish to attack Americans at home and abroad,” he said. Civil liberties advocates see the legislation's expiration date deadline as an opportunity to push reforms to the program that authorizes the National Security Agency's collection of Americans’ telephone metadata -- the call times, numbers and durations, but not the content. Chairman Nunes said he plans to talk to lawmakers about the program and provide freshman lawmakers with top-secret briefings on the authorization. Chairman Nunes said a lot of the opposition to the program stems from misunderstanding. But he disagreed that the government should have provided a public outline of the collection before details of it leaked from documents obtained by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Other intelligence programs should also be kept secret, he said, arguing the leaks have done damage to intelligence gathering.
benton.org/headlines/chairman-nunes-backs-collection-phone-data | Hill, The
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WHY GOOGLE DIDN'T SIGN PRESIDENT OBAMA-BACKED STUDENT PRIVACY PLEDGE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Alistair Barr]
A Google spokeswoman said the company didn’t sign the Student Privacy Pledge endorsed by President Barack Obama, which prescribes data-handling policies, because Google’s contracts and policies demonstrate a commitment to student privacy. Other Google student-privacy policies are more nuanced than the pledge President Obama endorsed. The company says it doesn’t sell Google Apps for Education data to third parties and it only shares personal information with third parties in “exceptional circumstances,” such as student requests or when it is required by law. Google says it has its own privacy policies on its Google for Education website and that it does not offer, or plan to offer, ads in its Google Apps for Education services.
benton.org/headlines/why-google-didnt-sign-president-obama-backed-student-privacy-pledge | Wall Street Journal
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

PRESIDENT OBAMA AIMS TO UNLEASH BROADBAND BOOST
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Brooks Boliek, Alex Byers]
President Barack Obama is formally announcing his support for expanding competition in the broadband industry and moving to free up new money to support rural Internet networks. President Obama will unveil steps to support new access to faster broadband offerings, including tools for mayors who want to bring new networks to their cities. He also will announce new opportunities for rural areas to secure federal loans or grants to build out new networks.
benton.org/headlines/president-obama-aims-unleash-broadband-boost | Politico | WH fact sheet | Andrew Jay Schwartzman
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BROADBAND COMPETITION SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED, NOT RESTRICTED
[SOURCE: Revere Digital, AUTHOR: Terrell McSweeny]
[Commentary] The experiences of Chattanooga (TN), Kansas City (MO), and other cities and towns like them concretely demonstrate the benefits of broadband entry for consumers. The Open Technology Institute found that consumers have better options and faster speeds in communities where three or more providers compete. But according to a December 2014 report by the US Department of Commerce, less than one in 10 Americans is served by three or more wireline providers capable of providing 25 Mbps service -- the new threshold for broadband service proposed by Chairman Tom Wheeler of the Federal Communications Commission. The majority of Americans face (at best) a broadband duopoly. The experience of cities like Chattanooga demonstrates that the prospect of new broadband entry actually appears to spur investment by incumbents. Competition -- whether provided by a private entity or a municipality -- works. It is important that legislators and policy makers considering restrictions recognize the vital role competition plays in achieving better, faster Internet services.
[Terell McSweeny is a Commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission]
benton.org/headlines/broadband-competition-should-be-encouraged-not-restricted | Revere Digital
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THE QUESTION OF PREEMPTION
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Andrew Jay Schwartzman]
[Commentary] One of the most controversial issues the Federal Communications Commission will face this fall is whether it can and should preempt (i.e., invalidate) state laws that restrict their municipalities from constructing and operating their own broadband networks. This post does not address the wisdom of these projects, but rather whether the FCC has the legal authority to preempt those state laws.
http://benton.org/node/201960
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OPEN INTERNET RULES HANG IN BALANCE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
On January 14, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out Federal Communications Commission rules that require Internet service providers to give all traffic equal access through their networks. One year later, the FCC is still working to update those rules. “We are on the first anniversary right now of the rules having been struck down,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), an advocate for reclassifying broadband Internet service as a utility, said on the Senate floor. “There is nothing.” The court ruled that because broadband Internet had been classified as an information service, as opposed to a telecommunications service, the FCC’s regulations were invalid. Since then, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has issued an initial proposal for new rules, the public submitted nearly 4 million comments on the subject, President Obama inserted himself into the debate and service providers threatened further litigation. Chairman Wheeler appears poised to issue regulations to reclassify broadband Internet as a utility, similar to traditional telephones, in order to impose the strongest rules possible to ensure that Internet service providers like Verizon and Comcast do not treat traffic to various websites differently.
benton.org/headlines/one-year-after-ruling-fcc-open-internet-rules-hang-balance | Hill, The
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REP LATTA OFFERS BILL TO BLOCK TREATING INTERNET AS UTILITY
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
Rep Bob Latta (R-OH) has reintroduced legislation to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from reclassifying broadband Internet as a utility. Rep Latta, Vice Chairman of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, called the FCC’s plans misguided. His legislation notes that the strict regulations were “designed for the monopoly telephone system in 1934 and has its origins in 19th century shipping regulations.” “These businesses thrive on dynamism and the ability to evolve quickly to shifting market and consumer forces,” he said. “Subjecting them to bureaucratic red tape won’t promote innovation, consumer welfare or the economy.”
benton.org/headlines/rep-latta-offers-bill-block-treating-internet-utility | Hill, The
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FCC CAN'T PICK AND CHOOSE NETWORK NEUTRALITY RULES
[SOURCE: Forbes, AUTHOR: Harold Furchtgott-Roth]
[Commentary] With forbearance, the Federal Communications Commission is telling America that it can pick and choose which telecommunications regulations to apply to the Internet. There is just one major problem with the forbearance approach the FCC contemplates: It likely will never work. Any effort by the FCC to forbear from regulations that apply to telecommunications services will certainly be challenged in court, and the courts will likely take years to decide. The nightmare scenario for the Internet, the American economy, and the American consumer is that the FCC designates the Internet as a telecommunications service but federal law does not allow the FCC fully to apply forbearance. That nightmare is not a remote possibility but an all-too-possible outcome. Neither Congress nor a future FCC can immediately undo the damage of a harmful FCC order on network neutrality. The FCC should reflect carefully on that nightmare before proceeding.
[Harold Furchtgott-Roth is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute]
benton.org/headlines/fcc-cant-pick-and-choose-network-neutrality-rules | Forbes
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ONLINE SALES TAXES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Bernie Becker]
House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) circulated a long-awaited discussion draft on taxing online sales. The draft breaks from online sales tax legislation that passed the Senate in 2013, instead giving states more limited power to tax online sales. Under the discussion draft, only states that joined a multi-state clearinghouse would have the authority to collect sales tax revenue on out-of-state purchases. Retailers would also charge sales taxes based on their own state and local rates -- not the rate of the customer’s. The clearinghouse would then divide the sales tax revenue among its member states. The draft would also only allow retailers to be audited by their own state government.
benton.org/headlines/chairman-goodlatte-circulates-online-sales-tax-draft | Hill, The
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OWNERSHIP

CONSERVATIVE PAC LAUNCHES AD CAMPAIGN AGAINST COMCAST/TIME-WARNER MERGER
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: David Weigel]
Conservative War Chest, a PAC that specializes in 120-second storytelling ads, is arranging a buy in five presidential swing states -- Florida, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. It tells a tale of institutional media bias, warning voters that unless they contact their leaders, a merger's going to happen that will calcify all their problems with the media. "Comcast needs Obama Administration approval to merge with Time/Warner cable, giving it access to two-thirds of American’s homes,” CWC spokesman Mike Flynn said. “The last time Comcast needed a government favor we got Al Sharpton five nights a week. What will we get in exchange for a deal worth billions to Brian Roberts and other owners of Comcast?" The ad campaign is going to be twinned with outreach to the NBC Affiliates Association in a 68-page letter with the goal of persuading them to allow the ads to run.
benton.org/headlines/conservative-pac-launches-ad-campaign-against-comcasttime-warner-merger | Bloomberg
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POLICYMAKERS

HOUSE COMMERCE COMMITTEE REPUBLICANS VOTE TO GIVE CHAIRMAN UPTON SUBPOENA POWER
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The House Commerce Committee has voted generally along party lines to grant Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) subpoena power without having to get the approval of the minority or, failing that, a vote of the entire committee. That means Chairman Upton can compel testimony and witnesses in the committee’s oversight of various agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission. That subpoena power change -- adopted 28 to 23 -- highlighted a contentious start that belied the evocations at the beginning of the meeting of the general bipartisan nature of the committee. The vote was purely along party lines except for chairman emeritus Joe Barton (R-TX), who voted against the move, and after some harsh words from Democrats. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) called it a cheap power grab, and ranking member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) called it a terrible precedent for potential abuse of power, saying it was a "huge mistake" that moved the committee in the wrong direction.
benton.org/headlines/house-commerce-committee-republicans-vote-give-chairman-upton-subpoena-power | Broadcasting&Cable
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

FRANCE PUSHES FOR TIGHTER ONLINE SURVEILLANCE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sam Schechner, Jenny Gross]
France is seeking greater assistance from technology firms as part of a plan to beef up domestic surveillance and add to its already heavy legal arsenal to track terror threats in the wake of the recent deadly attacks. Prime Minister Manuel Valls said France would soon propose a new surveillance law aimed at giving intelligence services “all the legal means to accomplish their mission.” PM Valls said the country would also reinforce domestic intelligence services, boosting staff levels to track a growing number of potential terrorists. “We have to focus on the Internet and social networks, which are more than ever used to recruit, organize and disseminate technical knowhow to commit terrorist acts,” PM Valls said. “We must go further.”
benton.org/headlines/france-pushes-tighter-online-surveillance | Wall Street Journal
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