February 2015

INTERNET/BROADBAND

GENERAL CONDUCT STANDARD
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
There was some concern in cable and Internet circles that the Federal Communications Commission's seven-factor test for deciding if an Internet service provider practice hurts consumers or edge providers could put the agency in the business of making content calls on free expression on the Internet. That test, among the new proposed network neutrality rules under a Title II order scheduled to be voted by the FCC Feb. 26, has raised concerns about an online indecency regime or even political litmus tests. A vague general conduct standard could give the FCC too much leeway to regulate outside of "bright-line" regulations -- no blocking, no throttling, no paid prioritization -- that give the industry some certainty, even if they don't like those constraints. Apparently, the seven factors include 1) the effect on free expression, 2) the effect on competition, innovation, investment or deployment, 3) whether the practice is application agnostic, 4) whether the end-user remains in control, 5) whether it is a standard, and 6) what technology is used, mobile or fixed. The FCC plans to apply that test to interconnection issues, zero-rating plans, and anything else that falls outside its bright line rules.
benton.org/headlines/fccs-general-conduct-standard-draws-concern | Multichannel News
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NET NEUTRALITY TIFF OVER TOLL-FREE DATA PITS VERIZON AGAINST VENTURE CAPITALISTS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Todd Shields]
A week before the Feb 26 Federal Communications Commission vote on network neutrality rules, a battle is flaring over whether it’s fair for wireless companies to exempt services such as music streaming from counting against subscribers’ data caps. Venture capitalists have been asking FCC members to prohibit wireless providers from allowing content companies to pick up the tab for usage associated with their data traffic rather than having the consumer pay. They said it violates the concept that all Web traffic should be treated equally.To offer such toll-free services “creates hurdles for startups who lack the resources to pay for such preferential treatment,” a group including Union Square Ventures’ Nick Grossman and Brad Burnham said in a Feb. 12 meeting with FCC officials. They were joined by companies including online marketplace Etsy and social network FourSquare. Verizon has told regulators that letting Web companies, rather than subscribers, pay for data usage can save money for consumers. T-Mobile said its Music Freedom offering, which streams songs that don’t count against data caps, helps differentiate it from competitors
benton.org/headlines/net-neutrality-tiff-over-toll-free-data-pits-verizon-against-venture-capitalists | Bloomberg
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POLL FINDS SKEPTICISM ON NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
A poll conducted by Hart Research and released by the Progressive Policy Institute indicate that three-fourths of Americans aren't familiar with what network neutrality is and just one out of three Americans support the idea of regulating Internet service like phone lines. The poll also found that 79 percent of respondents want the Federal Communications Commission to release the exact wording and details of its rules before the vote, a step FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has declined to take, much to the consternation of his critics. The survey polled 800 adults earlier in February and has a margin of error of 3.46 percent.
benton.org/headlines/poll-finds-skepticism-net-neutrality | Hill, The
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PAI-WRIGHT OP-ED
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, FTC Commissioner Joshua Wright]
[Commentary] If you like your wireless plan, you should be able to keep it. But new federal regulations may take away your freedom to choose the best broadband plan for you. It's all part of the federal government's 332-page plan to regulate the Internet like a public utility -- a plan President Barack Obama asked the Federal Communications Commission to implement in November and that is coming up for a vote Feb. 26. While the plan contains no shortage of regulations, the most problematic may be the new "Internet conduct" rule. It's a vague rule that gives the FCC almost unfettered discretion to micromanage virtually every aspect of the Internet, including the choices that consumers have for accessing it. If a company doesn't want to offer an expensive, unlimited data plan, it could find itself in the FCC's cross hairs. But restricting service plan options is inherently anti-competitive and anti-consumer. The inevitable results will be higher prices and less service for consumers along with an especially adverse impact on small providers and upstart competitors trying to differentiate themselves in a crowded market. The plan has not been made public. And the FCC has made it clear that it won't be released until after the agency's commissioners vote on it. This is not right. We should have an open, transparent debate about whether the president's plan for Internet regulation is right for America's consumers. In our view, it most certainly is not.
benton.org/headlines/internet-isnt-broken-president-obama-doesnt-need-fix-it | Chicago Tribune
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NEW SQUABBLES AS NET NEUTRALITY COMES DOWN TO THE WIRE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
Public bickering among members of the Federal Communications Commission is reaching a new high just days before a controversial vote on network neutrality rules. The five-member commission is no stranger to infighting, due in part to its split between three Democrats and two Republicans. But the recent squabbling comes amid the highest-profile issue the commission has tackled in years, and could point to lasting tensions. FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, one of the two Republican commissioners on the panel, has repeatedly gone to the public to drum up opposition to the rules, which he warns will overstep the agency’s authority and doom people’s easy access to the Internet. He wrote an op-ed in The Chicago Tribune, along with Federal Trade Commissioner Joshua Wright, warning that the looming rules “may take away your freedom to choose the best broadband plan for you.” Commissioner Pai's Chief of Staff accused FCC leadership of trying to “block” his office’s press releases by taking one release down to note that it was from the commissioner’s office, not the FCC as a whole. Commissioner Pai has also appeared on radio and TV shows across the country, talking to pundit Sean Hannity and a slew of local broadcast stations. Backers of the new rules are more critical of Commissioner Pai, and have accused him of using the issue to raise his own profile.
benton.org/headlines/new-squabbles-net-neutrality-comes-down-wire | Hill, The
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AT&T JUST SHOWED US THE ONLY WAY WE'LL GET BETTER INTERNET SERVICE
[SOURCE: Time, AUTHOR: Jacob Davidson]
[Commentary] How to do we make our Internet better? AT&T gave us an answer: more competition. AT&T's price-matching move in Kansas City (MO) with Google Fiber confirms what many analysts have long said about Internet service. Namely, that when it comes to giving consumers what they really care about -- how well their favorite sites perform -- the only sure fix is to make companies fight over your business. Unfortunately for the rest of us, most of the country still lacks a competitive broadband market. In reclassifying broadband, the Federal Communications Commission declined to force existing broadband companies lease their infrastructure to competing providers. This requirement, known as “last-mile unbundling,” has been widely used outside the US to lower the barrier to entry for new broadband providers and create a more competitive market. In rejecting an unbundling rule, the FCC has essentially left the task of expanding available broadband options to municipal networks and the very few private companies large enough to take on Big Cable. For the average Internet user, this means two things. If you live in a Google Fiber city, your service will continue to get better as broadband providers fight for your business. Conversely, if you don’t have Google Fiber in your area and your city won’t invest in its own high speed network, don’t expect your Internet service provider to make any massive upgrades anytime soon.
benton.org/headlines/att-just-showed-us-only-way-well-get-better-internet-service | Time
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REMARKS BY FCC COMMISSIONER CLYBURN AT FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS BAR ASSOCIATION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn]
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn of the Federal Communications Commission, in a speech at the Federal Communications Bar Association said, "We must double-down on our efforts, to ensure that affordable broadband is available to everyone. The FCC has done a valiant job reforming the majority of our universal service programs, which is enabling the deployment of robust networks. But we have fallen short, when it comes to the adoption side of the house and have failed to reform the program best positioned to close the broadband gap. A rebooted Lifeline program, and I don’t mean just adding broadband to the mix, but taking a fresh look at this 30-year-old program, is the most efficient way to truly address those chronic, digital divides. Last November, I outlined five underlying principles, which should guide a comprehensive modernization of our only needs-based, Universal Service Program." Ensuring just and reasonable rates for inmate calling, promoting new entry and reducing barriers to deployment, and promoting deployment and a free and Open Internet were other areas Commissioner Clyburn discussed.
benton.org/headlines/remarks-fcc-commissioner-clyburn-federal-communications-bar-association | Federal Communications Commission
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PRIVACY

PUTTING A PRICE ON PRIVACY: $29
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Vikas Bajaj]
[Commentary] Want a slice of privacy with your high speed Internet service? That will be $30 a month. That’s the pitch AT&T is making to customers in Kansas City (MO) and Austin (TX) where it sells an ultra-fast Internet service that it calls GigaPower. Customers can buy the service for a starting price of $70 a month if they agree to have AT&T track their Internet browsing under a program called Internet Preferences. Customers who refuse tracking have to pay $29 a month more. Phone and cable companies have generally not engaged in closely tracking customers' activities, but AT&T's move suggests that more network operators might go in this direction. The Federal Communications Commission should pay close attention to programs such as these to see if they violate its privacy rules. The FCC is expected to vote on Feb. 26 on a proposal that would treat broadband as a telecommunications service, which will give it more authority over services like GigaPower.
benton.org/headlines/putting-price-privacy-29 | New York Times
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DON'T LET AT&T MISLEAD YOU ABOUT ITS $29 "PRIVACY FEE"
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
[Commentary] $29 isn’t actually the price that AT&T charges per month for privacy. After I tried to sign up for AT&T’s GigaPower service to find out more about the pricing and the disclosures associated with the plan, the actual costs were closer to $44 or even $62 per month. This time around the price differentials are $44 for gigabit internet and $66 for HD TV and HBO Go plus gigabit Internet. AT&T also makes it tough to find the alternative to its Internet Preferences plan (the plan that monitors your web surfing). You have to read the fine print and click to search for options that don’t include the AT&T Internet Preferences plan (they don’t call it something straightforward like the “Ma Bell’s Watching You Plan”). So it’s tough to avoid the spying plan, but it’s even tougher to actually fact check AT&T to discover the associated fees that make the cost of privacy so much higher than the advertised $29 a month. The media may be lauding AT&T for putting a $29 monthly price on the value of consumer privacy. But when I look at the practice, I see a company that has little competition, manipulating consumers into choosing to give up their privacy.
benton.org/headlines/dont-let-att-mislead-you-about-its-29-privacy-fee | GigaOm
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LABOR

APPLE’S LABOR
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Hayley Tsukayama]
Apple’s latest report on the conditions in its supplier factories included an announcement that it was banning “bonded labor” in its supply chain. The move applies to workers who travel across borders and pay to get jobs in its supplier factories. Yet since the report came out, reaction is already fading. Some industry observers applauded Apple’s action and moved on. But it’s worth pausing a second to consider what the somewhat dry language in Apple’s announcement is really talking about. After all, the thing Apple banned would be beyond intolerable to any American worker. The process works like this: Employment agencies recruit workers. They then charge them placement fees for jobs, often in foreign countries. Those fees end up putting workers in debt to the agency. If that wasn't bad enough, according to Apple's own audits, some agencies held the passports of bonded workers in safes until their debts were paid off. It's pretty close to what some might call indentured servitude. And that's what Apple -- the tech company that has taken a lot of heat and also offers the most information about its factory conditions -- has only just stopped.
benton.org/headlines/conditions-people-who-make-your-gadgets-are-improving-barely | Washington Post
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POLICYMAKERS

FCC INDEPENDENCE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Reed Hundt]
[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission is independent of the executive branch and accountable to Congress and the courts. Congress expects FCC chairmen to take personal responsibility for the agency’s decisions. That is a good way for FCC commissioners to think about their roles as they are buffeted by political winds in an era of divided government. Regulatory agencies exist because Congress cannot shoulder the burden of passing laws that are as technical or time-sensitive as regulations. Congress needs regulators to turn its laws into detailed, practical rules. In addition, Congress sometimes asks agencies to balance competing goals. One senator exaggerated only somewhat when he said of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, “We put one thing in and then we put the opposite in. You figure it out when you write the rules.” That is the law FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and the rest of the commission must interpret as they weigh their final decision on network neutrality. However, although Congress routinely delegates much power to agencies whose leaders are picked by the president, it does not want the president to dictate the actions of those agencies. The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) of 1946 describes the compromise. An independent regulatory agency can act only in accordance with federal statutes and on the basis of a public record. The judiciary can amend or reject agency rules that it considers to be inconsistent with or beyond the legislative mandate or not supported by the public record. Indeed, the commission must tackle the net-neutrality issue precisely because the court threw out its previous decision on the topic. Stretched across the three poles of government -- executive, legislative and judicial -- the FCC is in a free-fire zone of vigorous input. But under the APA, anyone telling the FCC what to do in making a rule must speak in public. It is not in any way unusual for the executive branch to advise the FCC in public about what rules to write.
[Hundt was chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 1993 to 1997]
benton.org/headlines/network-neutrality-battle-really-about-fcc-independence | Washington Post
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SCRUTINY OF FCC MOUNTS WITH THIRD INVESTIGATION
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
Congressional committees are lining up to investigate the Federal Communications Commission. The House Commerce Committee became the latest panel to launch a probe into whether the agency is fulfilling its responsibilities in a manner that's independent and transparent. The panel’s investigation, however, goes far beyond the FCC’s development of net neutrality rules -- something that other committees have made their sole focus. The committee, which has oversight over the agency, wants answers as to whether the FCC is avoiding important commission votes by letting bureaus inside the agency handle issues. It is also investigating allegations that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s office has not always given commissioners -- Republicans in particular -- adequate time to review some orders before a vote. The committee wants to know the FCC’s policies when responding to Congress, citing an incident in 2014 when it took months to get an answer from the agency about performance measures. The House Oversight Committee and the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee launched investigations earlier in February into the specific question of whether the White House had undue influence on the agency’s net neutrality rules.
benton.org/headlines/scrutiny-fcc-mounts-third-investigation | Hill, The | House Commerce Committee
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HERE'S WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE'S FIRST CHIEF DATA SCIENTIST WILL DO
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Jack Moore]
Not only is the Obama Administration hiring its first federal chief data scientist, it’s hiring the man widely credited with coining the term “data scientist”: DJ Patil. As the Administration’s top data guru, Patil’s marching orders include working on the Obama Administration’s “Precision Medicine Initiative,” a $215 million project that aims to provide more effective medical treatments specifically tailored to patients’ genetic makeup. Patil will also "help shape policies and practices to help the US remain a leader in technology and innovation, foster partnerships to help responsibly maximize the nation’s return on its investment in data and help to recruit and retain the best minds in data science to join us in serving the public,” said US Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith. It won’t be Patil’s first stint in government. Before his private-sector career took off, Patil worked on a Defense Department project, “where he directed new efforts to bridge computational and social sciences in fields like social network analysis to help anticipate emerging threats to the United States,” Smith said.
benton.org/headlines/heres-what-white-houses-first-chief-data-scientist-will-do | nextgov
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