Visionary Film Distributor and Philanthropist Helped Reinstitute Presidential Debates
Charles Benton was a determined, passionate, and agile businessman and philanthropist who, over many decades, pursued a vision of empowering people to use the latest communications tools to improve the lives of all.
The Federal Communications Commission oversight hearing in the House Communications Subcommittee began with some fireworks. "Under the current power structure at the FCC the Chairman has incredible authority that none of the other commissioners has because the Chairman alone controls access to FCC information, he or she can call in their own 'validators' to get the inside track and become a well-tuned chorus of support for their pet policies," said Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) in his opening statement. “'Friends of the Chairman's get special perks to weigh in and access information that the rest of the public doesn’t get to see, and that other commissioners can’t even discuss. Commissioner [Michael] O’Rielly exposes this charade for what it is in his testimony. None of us on this committee would tolerate the insult to our First Amendment rights that the commissioners at the FCC must suffer at the hands of the Chairman." Chairman Walden also said the FCC was not "some venture capital firm" but an agency that reported to Congress -- FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler formerly headed such a firm. Chairman Wheeler was in the room as one of two witnesses at the hearing.
When House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo (D-CA) got her chance to speak, she said she did not like Chairman Wheeler being welcomed to the committee and used as a piñata. She upbraided Chairman Walden for using terms like "charade" and suggested the reform proposals were a way to get back at the FCC for Republican's failure to stop it from approving Title II regulations for Internet service providers. House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Rep Frank Pallone (D-NJ) echoed her concerns.
In his testimony, Chairman Wheeler pointed out that the average time between an order's release during his stewardship had been 1.8 days, versus 8.7 days under former FCC Chairman Michael Powell and 10.7 days under former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, both Republicans. He also said that the number of items decided on delegated authority, which he pointed out were implementing decisions the commission had already voted on, was at a 15-year low. Chairman Wheeler took aim at the Republican reforms bills, while pledging to produce some reforms out of the FCC's own reform task force--created in March--by the time Congress returned from its August recess. Commissioner Michael O'Rielly, who was the other witness at the hearing, leveled his process criticism, but also talked about working with the Chairman to clear out thousands of indecency complaints to help further up station license renewals.
Republicans and Democrats are pushing competing bills to reform the Federal Communications Commission ahead of a House Energy and Commerce hearing on April 30. GOP leaders on the committee have taken a more active role in FCC oversight after the agency earlier in 2015 approved controversial network neutrality rules, which are almost universally opposed by Republicans. Democrats, supportive of the FCC action, are pushing back with their own set of proposals.
One of the GOP bills would require the commission to publicly release draft rules three weeks ahead of a vote -- at the same time FCC commissioners get a full look at them. Another bill would force the FCC to publish finalized rules the day they are approved. The third proposal would require the FCC to publicly list the actions the FCC takes at the staff level. Democrats are similarly against the proposals, saying they would tie the agency in knots. They have floated four smaller changes. One Democratic proposal would require the commission to regularly report to Congress on the number of pending decisions and how long they have been open. Another would require the commission to post its policies and procedures online and update changes. A bill by Ranking Member Anna Eshoo (D-CA) would create procedures to allow the commission to meet in private. A similar proposal has been sponsored by Sen Dean Heller (R-NV) in the Senate. The final draft bill would require the FCC to explore ways to increase access for small businesses during the rule-making process. Alongside the competing congressional proposals, the FCC is in the early stages of conducting its own internal review of procedures, after pressure from Republicans and FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly.
I want to talk about what I call the Homework Gap, the gap between homework that requires access to broadband, and households that do not subscribe to broadband service. There is no one single silver bullet or quick fix. It is going to take a lot of cooperative effort and a bunch of creative ideas. Here are mine.
The Lifeline program supports telephone access in 14 million low-income households across the country. But it needs a reboot. We need to modernize it. Instead of having the program only support voice service, we should allow participants to choose between applying the same support to either voice service or broadband service. This simple change would both update the program and help bring more broadband to low-income households with school-aged children. Second, we need more Wi-Fi. Third, we need to keep tabs on innovative broadband access programs all across the country -- and no shame, copy them. Thank you for your study today and thank you to everyone here for the terrific work you do to expand opportunity and access.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for May's Open Commission Meeting schedule for Thursday, May 21, 2015:
Accessible Emergency Information: The FCC is expected to consider a proposal to extend accessibility rules for emergency alerts to "second screens," including tablets, smartphones, laptops, and similar devices. The Second Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would take additional steps to make emergency information in video programming accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
Extend and Make Permanent 'iCanConnect' Program: The FCC is expected to consider an Order to extend the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program and consider a Proposed Rulemaking to permanently extend the program. The program provides up to $10 million annually from the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Service Fund to support programs that distribute communications equipment to low-income individuals who are deaf-blind.
Rep John Yarmuth (D-KY) has introduced a bill that would direct the Federal Communications Commission to require the on-air sponsorship identifications on TV and radio political ads from PACs and nonprofits to better identify the actual funders of those ads. According to Rep Yarmuth's office, the Keeping Our Campaigns Honest Act would direct the FCC to use its existing authority to "require disclosure of the donors behind Super PACs and 501(c)(4) organizations that are flooding the nation’s airwaves with anonymous ads."
Specifically, the bill would "direct the Federal Communications Commission to revise its sponsorship identification rules so as to require the disclosure of the names of significant donors to persons paying for or furnishing broadcast matter or origination cablecasting matter that is political matter or matter involving the discussion of a controversial issue of public importance." Campaign finance reform groups have been urging the FCC to use that authority to require more detailed disclosures, in part as a way to better identify the direct corporate and union campaign speech funding allowed under the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. "The American people are owed a level honesty when it comes to identifying who is trying to influence their vote,” Rep Yarmuth said. “So long as these individuals are allowed to continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars attempting to impact our elections and our democracy, they should also be required to step out into the light and let voters know just who they are.” Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) are among the lawmakers co-sponsoring the bill.
Even as a House bill was being introduced to get the Federal Communications Commission to require more detailed disclosures of the funders of political ads from PACs and nonprofits, Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL) was writing FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to give him notice that he, too, would be introducing a similar bill. He called on the FCC to "immediately launch a long-overdue rulemaking to update its sponsorship identification requirements," but also said he would be introducing a bill that would require it to issue new rules. “In an era where billions of dollars are being spent to market products and influence political races with TV advertising, it is high time that the FCC update its rules to ensure viewers know who actually is footing the bill for these advertisements,” Ranking Member Nelson wrote. The senator pointed out that two years ago he raised the issue of the need for full disclosure and argued the agency could require more detailed information without legislation to require it.
A group of Senate Democrats led by Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has introduced a new data privacy and security bill. According to Ranking Member Leahy's office, the bill, the Consumer Privacy Protection Act:
"Requires companies who store sensitive personal or financial information on 10,000 customers or more to meet consumer privacy and data security standards to keep this information safe, and notify the customer within 30 days of a breach."
"Establishes a broad definition of information that must be protected, including social security numbers; financial account information; online usernames and passwords; unique biometric data, including fingerprints; information about a person’s physical and mental health; information about a person’s geolocation; and access to private digital photographs and videos."
"Requires companies to inform federal law enforcement of all large breaches, as well as breaches that involved federal government databases or law enforcement or national security personnel." "Guarantees a federal baseline of strong consumer privacy protections for all Americans."
The bill would supersede weaker state laws, but not stronger ones. Preemption of stronger state laws for a weaker national standard has been a recurring Democratic criticism of Republican-backed privacy bills.
In its quest to craft a comprehensive federal cybersecurity research and development strategic plan, the National Science Foundation has decided to leave no technological stone unturned -- even if it’s in the private sector. On April 27, a notice in the Federal Register stated the agency would be reaching beyond the confines of the federal government’s knowledge and seek input from the public about NSF’s strategic plan. The announcement was triggered by 2014’s Cybersecurity Enhancement Act, created to cut down on cyberrisks threatening critical infrastructure. One of the act’s sections directed certain agencies to development a strategic plan to manage cybersecurity research funded by the federal government. At least 10 agencies affiliated with the National Science and Technology Council and the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program have until the yearend to create a plan. Other agencies may be included at the discretion of the president and the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The Federal Register announcement included a wide array of questions for the public to answer. But individuals were encouraged to answer as few or as many as they wanted. Among other questions, the request for information asked citizens to describe innovative technologies that have the ability to protect both digital infrastructure and consumer privacy. It also asked which research subjects found in White House’s 2011 Strategic Plan for the Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Program should be included in the new framework, and which ones should be eliminated altogether. Submissions may not exceed 25 pages and must be received by June 19.
Boingo Wireless, the leading DAS and Wi-Fi provider, and Sprint announced a multi-year Wi-Fi agreement, enabling access to seamless and secure Boingo Wi-Fi networks in 35 major US airports. Leveraging Boingo’s industry-leading network technology, connecting to Wi-Fi will become as easy and safe as cellular. Sprint devices within proximity of a Boingo hotspot can automatically connect to the Wi-Fi network seamlessly, providing service at the fastest speeds available, be that cellular from Sprint or Wi-Fi from Boingo.
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