January 2015

Ensuring rural access to reasonably priced video programming

[Commentary] The ability of providers of all kinds -- but especially small, rural providers -- to obtain video content at affordable rates and under reasonable terms and conditions will not only improve competition in the video services market but will also spur broadband investment and adoption in rural service areas.

In its response to a House Commerce Committee’s white paper, the National Telephone Cooperative Association offers several simple, common sense updates to the laws that govern the video services marketplace. These updates are essential given the significant changes in video markets over the past 20-plus years since the laws were last updated. We think giving video providers the freedom to purchase broadcast content from neighboring markets would inject much-needed competitive market forces into a tired and protectionist retransmission consent regime, thereby enabling rural providers to pass cost-savings on to consumers. Also, the revised legislation should put control back in consumers’ hands by eliminating forced tying and tiering by all content providers. These practices unnecessarily increase rural providers’ and consumers’ costs and make it nearly impossible for providers to offer tailored, affordable service packages. We look to Congress as it proceeds with this important legislative update, and we encourage policymakers to ensure that any statutory update regarding video policy upholds the core principles of universal service, consumer protection and competition.

[Shirley Bloomfield is Chief Executive Officer of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association]

Netflix Deals With Broadband Providers Said to Get FCC Oversight

Apparently, US regulators plan to issue rules in February allowing them to review the terms Internet service providers demand for accepting heavy Web traffic from companies such as Netflix.

Such agreements aren’t regulated now, and the move -- part of highly anticipated network neutrality rules -- would mark an expansion of the Federal Communications Commission’s authority over the Internet. Cable providers led by Comcast have argued against restrictions on what they can charge content providers while companies such as Netflix sought to ban any fees.

Apparently, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has decided the rules will permit the agreements but include a procedure for companies to ask for agency review. With an oversight procedure, the FCC could order an Internet service provider to stop demanding unfair fees, or to improve its connection, said Harold Feld, Senior Vice President of Public Knowledge. Contracts would be considered against a standard of whether they are “just and reasonable,” Feld said.

Happy Data Privacy Day. Legally speaking, you’re mostly on your own.

[Commentary] January 28 is Data Privacy Day -- an actually recognized pseudo-holiday that the US Congress first made official in 2009, two years after the European Council did the same.

It's nice to have a day on which we all personally recognize the importance of data privacy. Because, legally speaking, we're more or less on our own. Apart from specific kinds of data such as health information, financial information, and student records, there really isn't a broad privacy law here in the U.S. of A. To be fair, privacy is a tricky thing. We all profess to want it, but then give it away all the time -- especially in a modern age when pieces of personal information are not only social currency but also more or less the basis for the entire world of online commerce. And even in cases where people agree on the principles of what should go into privacy legislation, the details are another matter entirely.

Google says it fought gag orders in WikiLeaks investigation

Google has fought all gag orders preventing it from telling customers that their e-mails and other data were sought by the US government in a long-running investigation of the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, which published leaked diplomatic cables and military documents.

Google’s long battle to inform its customers about the warrants and court orders has been fought largely in secret because of the court-imposed gags, hampering its effort to counter the impression that it has not stood up for users’ privacy. In the latest instance, the three WikiLeaks staff members revealed that Google notified them on Dec 23 that their e-mails were the subject of search warrants -- almost three years after the broad warrants were issued by a magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Virginia. Google’s belated disclosure contrasts with the way in which Twitter, the microblogging platform, was able to quickly inform several of its customers in 2011 that the federal government had demanded their subscriber data in the WikiLeaks inquiry. Google’s delay was not the result of foot-dragging but of opposition from prosecutors who were upset by the backlash that followed the disclosure of their court orders to Twitter.

Remarks of Matthew Berry, Chief of Staff to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai at the American Enterprise Institute

The Federal Communications Commission is being run in an extremely partisan and divisive manner. Consider the following statistic. In the last fifteen months, there have been more party-line votes at FCC meetings than there were under Chairmen Martin, Copps, Genachowski, and Clyburn combined. Time and time again, Republican offices have been willing to meet the Chairman’s Office more than halfway to reach consensus. But time and time again, our outstretched hand of compromise has been slapped away...It appears likely that the Commission will vote in February to impose heavy-handed Title II regulation on our nation’s broadband providers. But it should be obvious that most members of the FCC don’t actually believe that Title II regulation is a good idea. Rather, the FCC is heading down the Title II path because of inappropriate interference by the White House in the Commission’s deliberations.

Prepaid Mobile Provider TracFone to Pay $40 Million to Settle FTC Charges It Deceived Consumers About ‘Unlimited’ Data Plans

TracFone, the largest prepaid mobile provider in the US, has agreed to pay $40 million to the Federal Trade Commission to settle charges that it deceived millions of consumers with hollow promises of “unlimited” data service.

The FTC’s complaint against TracFone alleges that since 2009, TracFone has advertised prepaid monthly mobile plans for about $45 per month with “unlimited” data under various brands, including Straight Talk, Net10, Simple Mobile, and Telcel America. But despite emphasizing unlimited data in its advertisements, TracFone drastically slowed or cut off consumers’ mobile data after they used more than certain fixed limits in a 30-day period. Beginning Jan 28, consumers who had a Straight Talk, Net10, Simple Mobile, or Telcel America unlimited plan before January 2015 can to file a claim for a refund. Refunds will be paid to consumers whose data service was slowed or cut off. Consumers who had an unlimited plan but are unsure if their data service was slowed or cut off should still file a claim to find out if they are eligible for a refund.

Tons of AT&T and Verizon customers may no longer have “broadband”

At the current broadband definition of 4Mbps downstream and 1Mbps up, only 6.3 percent of US households have no access to wired broadband. That doesn’t mean the other 93.7 percent are using broadband, but they could buy it from at least one wired Internet provider in their city or town.

Under the Federal Communications Commission’s proposed new definition of 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up (which is opposed by Internet providers), 19.4 percent of US households would be in areas without any wired broadband providers. And 55.3 percent would have just one provider of “broadband,” with the rest being able to choose from two or more.

Rural areas are far less likely to have fast Internet service than urban ones. A big portion of AT&T and Verizon subscribers will no longer have “broadband” if the FCC changes the definition. The nation’s two largest traditional telephone companies have each deployed a lot of fiber, but still have plenty of DSL customers.

Cable Companies are Making Things Up Again

[Commentary] The National Cable and Telecommunications Association, the cable industry trade association, argues the proposal by the Federal Communications Commission to redefine "highspeed broadband" from 4 Mbps down/1 Mbps up to 25 Mbps down/3 Mbps up simply isn't necessary to meet the legal definition of "high-speed, switched, broadband telecommunications capability that enables users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video telecommunications using any technology.”

As it turns out, the way most Internet service providers advertise to their customers gives every indication that much greater speeds than a mere 4 Mbps/1Mbps are needed for a high-quality experience in photo sharing, music downloads, and video streaming. The exact opposite of the message they are sending to the FCC not to break from that standard. Either the companies are misleading customers to push them to higher-priced bundles that they maybe don’t really need, or they are misleading the FCC to avoid more accurate broadband deployment standards (not to mention a more accurate market dominance analysis for proposed mergers). But it can’t be neither. This effort seems unlikely to forestall the FCC’s proposal at this point in the game, no matter what NCTA says.

American Cable Association to FCC: No Enhanced Transparency Rules

The American Cable Association has told the Federal Communications Commission it should not adopt enhanced transparency rules in the new Open Internet order FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler plans to vote on in February. ACA said that if the FCC proceeds, it should exempt the medium-sized and smaller cable operators ACA represents, and should apply the rules to edge providers.

How net neutrality rules can fix Verizon’s supercookie problem

The Federal Communications Commission is on the cusp of proposing new rules for the Internet, and it may have a chance to kill two birds with one stone: along with preserving so-called “network neutrality,” the rules, if the FCC reclassifies broadband access as a Title II telecommunications service, could serve to stop the use of “supercookies” that phone carriers like Verizon are using to track their wireless subscribers.

Verizon’s support for supercookies could one day lead to class-action lawsuits, as some have suggested. The Title II designation is the only legal avenue the agency can use to stop broadband companies from favoring some websites over others, but it also contains important authority for the FCC to protect privacy.

Benton

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