May 2015

Russia 'will block' Google, Twitter and Facebook if they withhold blogger data

Russia’s media watchdog has written to Google, Twitter and Facebook warning them against violating Russian internet laws and a spokesman said they risked being blocked if they did not comply. Roskomnadzor said it had sent letters this week to the three US-based Internet companies asking them to comply with laws that critics of President Vladimir Putin have decried as censorship.

“In our letters we regularly remind [companies] of the consequences of violating the legislation,” said Roskomnadzor spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky. He added that because of the encryption technology used by the three firms, Russia had no way of blocking specific websites and so could only bring down particular content it deemed in violation of law by blocking access to their whole services. To comply with the law the three firms must hand over data on Russian bloggers with more than 3,000 readers per day and take down websites that Roskomnadzor saw as containing calls for “unsanctioned protests and unrest”, Ampelonsky said.

Edward Snowden: Sen Rand Paul's 'Filibuster' Is a 'Sea Change'

With a little help from his friends at the American Civil Liberties Union, Edward Snowden conducted a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" session on May 22. The ex-spy spoke about reforms to the National Security Agency and the Patriot Act. Section 215 of the act, which the NSA uses as the legal justification for the data collection program that Snowden revealed two years ago, is set to expire June 1 unless Congress extends it. In his answers, he expressed significant skepticism that the US government will stop spying on its citizens altogether, but still encouraged users to call their member of Congress and urge them to vote against the Patriot Act extension. He also answered questions ranging from his take on Sen Rand Paul's (R-KY) recent self-described filibuster, to the state of Russian cuisine, to his favorite book. Asked about his thoughts on Sen Paul's filibuster, Snowden wrote, "It represents a sea change from a few years ago, when intrusive new surveillance laws were passed without any kind of meaningful opposition or debate."

FCC Seeks Comment on Proposed Eligible Services List For the E-Rate Program

The Wireline Competition Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission seeks comment on proposed eligible services list (ESL) for the schools and libraries universal support mechanism (more commonly known as the E-rate program) for funding year 2016. They invite stakeholders to comment on any aspect of the proposed ESL, and particularly welcome comments based on applicants and other interested parties experience with using the ESLs for recent funding years. The FCC has identified the more significant changes between the funding year 2015 ESL and the proposed funding year 2016 ESL, and seek comment on whether we should adopt or modify those changes.

FCC Makes DBS Pay Per-Sub User Fee

The Federal Communications Commission has decided to charge direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) providers a regulatory fee based on a per-subscriber basis, as it does cable and telecommunications multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs). That came in an order released May 21, where the FCC said in seeking comment on its proposed fees for 2015 ($339,844,000) that it had decided to add DBS to the cable and IPTV category. The FCC also asked, in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, whether it should reduce the cable per-sub fee for 2015 to reflect that DBS has joined the group.

The American Cable Association and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association have been asking the FCC to treat DBS the same when it came to fees. Back in September 2014, the FCC adopted a number of changes to how it collects regulatory fees ($339,844.00 for 2014) from MVPDs, broadcasters and others. As part of that, it also adopted a further notice of proposed rulemaking, the proposal being to start charging DBS operators a per-sub fee, as it does cable operators. Satellite companies now pay a per-license fee.

‘Phase One’ of Communications Law Rewrite Weighed Down by Net Neutrality

A House Republican effort to rewrite portions of the nation’s telecommunications policy is off to a rocky start. Blame it on network neutrality. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), said the Federal Communications Commission’s decision in February to classify the Internet as a public utility effectively derailed plans to review and update the Communications Act. “It kind of put a full nuclear discharge in the middle of our whole plan to do a rewrite of the Comms Act,” Chairman Walden said before a markup in his Communications and Technology subcommittee. He referred to the slate of bills approved at a markup as “phase one of the Communications Act update.” But a series of party-line votes underscored how net neutrality could be a sticking point for Chairman Walden’s efforts to revise the law. Before the markup, Chairman Walden said that the push for FCC transparency constitutes the first step in a “title by title” review of the Communications Act. “You’ve got to start somewhere and this is where we’re starting,” he said.

Broadband in Greenland: How non-neutral traffic management betters society

[Commentary] At first glance, it might seem that there is little to learn from the experience of a state-owned broadband network with data caps on DSL. When it comes to delivering important social services in remote areas, however, Greenland is an interesting case study. The country’s harsh climate and dispersed population have forced prioritization in the management of the network, showing that even when resources are extremely limited, choices that maximize benefits for society can still be made. Despite its geographic challenges, Greenland’s Internet penetration rate tops 90 percent. State-owned TELE Greenland delivers unique and vital telecommunications infrastructure in an extreme environment. Traditional fixed line telephony and ADSL are available to essentially everyone on the island. 3G mobile coverage is available in all cities, and 4G/LTE is available in major cities. However, ensuring the delivery of important social service goes beyond application design. By necessity, it has required TELE Greenland to manage and prioritize Internet traffic through the use of data caps, effectively limiting transmission of less socially valuable content, like the streaming of video entertainment. As such, volume-based pricing is offered on fixed broadband.

When a subscriber hits the data limit, the connection is throttled or slowed. The cap is in place so that heavy users do not monopolize the network to the detriment of others. These practices also allow TELE Greenland to recover extremely high capital and operating costs to build and maintain networks. To be sure, users who want to stream video can pay for a package with a higher speed and data cap. The key lesson from Greenland for the US is that constraints, whether climate, cost or distance, can drive efficient application design and delivery. In order to get the most from limited network resources, we should think like the Greenlanders.

[Layton studies Internet economics at the Center for Communication, Media, and Information Technologies (CMI) at Aalborg University in Copenhagen, Denmark.]

DC Chorus Sings Praises of FCC’s Rosenworcel

Industry players, public-interest groups and prominent members of Congress weighed in May 21 on President Barack Obama's intention to renominate Jessica Rosenworcel for a second term on the Federal Communications Commission, echoing a theme of public service and passionate advocacy for her positions.

Benton Foundation Executive Director Adrianne B. Furniss said, "The Federal Communications Commission is playing a crucial role in shaping our digital future. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel understands quickly-evolving technologies and has the vision to see how these changes will impact the traditional, American values of access, equity and diversity. In her time at the FCC, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel has been a vocal advocate for harnessing telecommunications to build stronger schools, improve city services, and unleash more Americans' creative potential. This is critical to US competitiveness in the global economy. Commissioner Rosenworcel has also ensured our telecommunications policies honor public safety, universal access, competition and consumer protection. The Benton Foundation looks forward to continuing to work with Commissioner Rosenworcel on many issues and especially on the 'the homework gap' in which households without broadband struggle to get their children the connectivity they need to do basic schoolwork."

Univision Acquires The Root

Univision Communications has acquired The Root, an online news, opinion and cultural site targeting African-Americans. The Root was launched in 2008 by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Donald Graham, CEO and chairman of Graham Holdings. As a result of the acquisition, The Root will use Univision’s extensive digital production facilities and publishing infrastructure but will retain its editorial team.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. “This bold new partnership between Univision and The Root underscores the ties that have long bound people of color together throughout the Western Hemisphere and is a sign of even greater levels of communication, collaboration and exchange between these culturally vital groups of people,” said Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University and chairman of The Root.

Why network TV is collapsing, in two data sets

[Commentary] The 2014–'15 TV season ended May 20, and over at Advertising Week, Jason Lynch pulls out the year-end Nielsen ratings data for the big four broadcast networks. He zeroes in on the numbers in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic -- the one advertisers most care about -- and as you can see, those numbers are really, really close. NBC: 2.4; CBS: 2.3; ABC: 2.2; Fox: 1.9. The real value in Lynch's post is that he compares the networks through the years, so you can see just how much the 18–49 ratings gulf has been narrowing in recent years, as more and more young viewers embrace watching on their DVRs or streaming platforms.

Look, for instance, at the final numbers for just five years ago -- the 2009–'10 TV season. Fox 3.7; CBS 3.2; ABC 2.7; NBC 2.7. Aside from NBC and Fox swapping positions, what's most interesting here is how much space there was between the top two spots in 2010, then how much space there was between CBS and the bottom two networks. (Also of note: NBC was in last place in 2010 and still posted a better number than its first-place finish in 2015.) It might be more useful to think of the 18–49 numbers for the 2014–'15 season this way: the top three networks finished in what's basically a tie for first place, with Fox just barely missing out. And not one of the four came close to its numbers from just five years ago.

The a la Carte Conundrum: How Much Would You Pay for These Channels?

[Commentary] It should be no surprise that most Americans say they would prefer to create their own television bundle by picking and choosing which networks are included from an a la carte menu. A recent poll from Reuters/Ipsos found that 77 percent of Americans would like "a la carte pricing." The 23 percent minority is probably concerned that the price for individual channels would rise too high for their wallets. Fortunately, the pollsters were also curious to see how much people would be willing to pay for certain networks individually.

Surprisingly, many respondents understood just how much it would cost for their favorite channels in an a la carte model. In fact, based on the poll results, a certain subset of networks could be better off going a la carte: cable news networks such as Time Warner's CNN, Twenty-First Century Fox's Fox News, and Comcast subsidiary NBC/Universal's MSNBC. The Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 46 percent of respondents would spend as much as $10 per month for these three networks. That is a pretty significant jump from the rates the companies currently charge cable companies to carry their channels to all 100 million or so pay-TV subscribers.

Benton

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