May 2015

PRIVACY/SECURITY

REPUBLICANS MAY OFFER SHORT-TERM EXTENSION OF PATRIOT ACT
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Dustin Volz]
Republican leaders in the Senate may attempt to offer a short-term extension to the expiring surveillance authorities of the Patriot Act, even as they again vow not to take up the issue before first passing legislation on Iran nuclear negotiations and an international trade deal. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his chamber would not address government spying reform or highway infrastructure funding, despite fast-approaching deadlines for both looming at the end of May, until it cleared the deck on Iran and trade. But Majority Leader McConnell's top deputy, Majority Whip John Cornyn, said a shorter reauthorization to the Patriot Act authorities could be in the works. "That's one of the possibilities, because we're going to run into some real time constraints," Majority Whip Cornyn told reporters, when asked specifically about a short extension. Majority Leader McConnell in April introduced a fast-track bill that would extend until 2020 the three provisions of the Patriot Act due to expire June 1, including the controversial Section 215, which the National Security Agency uses to justify its bulk collection of US phone records. It is unclear how long a shorter extension might be, though it would likely be far shorter than the five and a half years favored by Majority Leader McConnell so far. Multiple sources said an extension ranging from four to six months was one option being considered. But any clean reauthorization still puts the Senate squarely at odds with the House, which is expected to easily pass a comprehensive surveillance-reform bill when it returns from recess. That package, the USA Freedom Act, would effectively end the NSA's call-data dragnet. Majority Leader McConnell, though, suggested that he was not inclined to take up the House's Freedom Act as a starting point for Senate negotiations but that his bill would instead be open to amendments.
benton.org/headlines/republicans-may-offer-short-term-extension-patriot-act | National Journal
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RIGHT, LEFT UNITE TO BLAST MAJORITY LEADER MCCONNELL OVER PATRIOT ACT MOVE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
A coalition of advocacy groups from all sides of the political spectrum has joined forces to warn against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) plan to renew expiring portions of the Patriot Act without changes. Traditionally conservative organizations such as FreedomWorks and Gun Owners of America joined the American Civil Liberties Union, NAACP and dozens of other groups to warn the Senate Majority Leader against his “clean” reauthorization of the national security law. “In the absence of meaningful reform, it is unacceptable to rubber stamp reauthorization of an authority that the government has used to spy on millions of innocent Americans,” the groups told Majority Leader McConnell and other leaders of Congress. “These bulk surveillance programs raise serious constitutional concerns, erode global confidence in the security of digital products, and are unnecessary for national security,” they added. The backlash from both sides points to the perilous path for backers of Majority Leader McConnell’s effort, which is likely to engender opposition from liberal and conservative groups alike. Majority Leader McConnell wants to extend without changes three provisions of the Patriot Act set to expire at the end of May, including the section that the National Security Agency has relied on to collect records about millions of Americans’ phone calls. Instead, civil libertarians have demanded that the Congress reform the law before reauthorizing it.
benton.org/headlines/right-left-unite-blast-mcconnell-over-patriot-act-move | Hill, The
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SURVEILLANCE PLANES SPOTTED IN THE SKY FOR DAYS AFTER WEST BALTIMORE RIOTING
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Craig Timberg]
As Benjamin Shayne settled into his back yard to listen to the Orioles game on the radio the night of May 2nd, he noticed a small plane looping low and tight over West Baltimore (MD) -- almost exactly above where rioting had erupted several days earlier, in the aftermath of the death of a black man, Freddie Gray, in police custody. What Shayne’s online rumination helped unveil was a previously secret, multi-day campaign of overhead surveillance by city and federal authorities during a period of historic political protest and unrest. Discovery of the flights -- which involved at least two airplanes and the assistance of the FBI -- has prompted the American Civil Liberties Union to demand answers about the legal authority for the operations and the reach of the technology used. Planes armed with the latest surveillance systems can monitor larger areas than police helicopters and stay overhead longer, raising novel civil liberties issues that have so far gotten little scrutiny from courts. Civil libertarians have particular concern about surveillance technology that can quietly gather images across dozens of city blocks -- in some cases even square miles at a time -- inevitably capturing the movements of people under no suspicion of criminal activity into a government dragnet. The ACLU plans to file information requests with federal agencies on May 6th, officials said. "We have the right to demand to know what’s happening,” said Jennifer Lynch, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group based in San Francisco (CA). “Whether the government will respond to that, that’s the question.”
benton.org/headlines/surveillance-planes-spotted-sky-days-after-west-baltimore-rioting | Washington Post
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

PREPARED REMARKS OF FCC CHAIRMAN TOM WHEELER AT NCTA - INTX 2015
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler]
You are no longer the "cable" industry. You are the leading association of leading broadband providers...You don't have a lot of competition, especially at the higher speeds that are increasingly important to the consumer of online video...More competition would be better. That is why we granted the preemption petitions filed by two communities that wished to expand their gigabit networks into surrounding areas, including where people had no broadband at all....By bringing competitive alternatives to television viewers, this industry did just that -- and the video business was changed forever. Then your industry went on to upgrade, compete with the telecommunications companies, and dominate broadband. Now the question is whether consumers will have competitive alternatives for broadband. To harken backto what you did before, will you now plant a flower in the competitive broadband desert?...It is time to look forward, not backward. This is not the time to dwell on the reasons why both the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice reached the conclusion that the proposed [Comcast/Time Warner Cable] transaction would not be in the public interest. But it is important to understand that the tipping point from cable to broadband came while the transaction was under review....We recognized that broadband had to be at the center of our analysis, and that video was, in essence, an application that flows over networks and that could be supplied both by the owners of facilities and by competitors that use broadband pathways to compete against the owners of those broadband pathways...Michael Powell told Congress that "cable broadband providers are unequivocally committed to building and maintaining an open Internet experience." We welcome that pledge. Maintaining, improving, and protecting the broadband transmission system is the right thing to do. America depends on it.
benton.org/headlines/prepared-remarks-fcc-chairman-tom-wheeler-ncta-intx-2015 | Federal Communications Commission | Broadcasting&Cable
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OWNERSHIP

CABLEVISION 'INTERESTED' IN PARTNERING WITH TIME WARNER CABLE
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: Chris Ariens]
Less than two weeks after Comcast's proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable came to a bitter end, another cable company says the time is still right for consolidation. And it's all about geography. Cablevision CEO Jim Dolan hinted that his company, which operates in the outer boroughs of New York City as well as New Jersey and Long Island, might make a good partner for TWC, which operates as Manhattan's main cable system. "If we focused on the markets, I think that would bring more to the consumer, and I think it would make the business more valuable," Dolan said. Dolan said he hasn't yet talked about a deal with Time Warner Cable CEO Rob Marcus, who he saw for the first time "in months" on May 6th. "We're interested," said Dolan. "They'd have to see the value in it too. I'm sure I'll talk to them about the value of it, because I think it's there." Time Warner Cable has a market cap of $43 billion, seven times the size of Cablevision's $5.8 billion.
benton.org/headlines/cablevision-interested-partnering-time-warner-cable | AdWeek
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CONTENT

PANDORA WIN
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ben Sisario]
In Pandora Media’s second victory against the music industry in a week, a federal appeals court affirmed a judge’s ruling about royalty rates for the millions of songs represented by Ascap. Just two days after Pandora received a favorable decision from the Federal Communications Commission over its efforts to buy a South Dakota radio station -- a move that could allow Pandora to pay lower royalty rates to songwriters -- the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York, affirmed a ruling from Judge Denise L. Cote of United States District Court in New York that set a rate of 1.85 percent for the public performance of songs in Ascap’s catalog for Pandora and other Internet radio services. In another issue that has roiled the music industry, the appeals court also agreed with Judge Cote about the way that music publishers can make deals with Ascap to represent their songs. Pandora’s case against Ascap -- a major clearinghouse for songwriting rights -- had been precipitated by the publishers withdrawing digital rights to their catalogs, a move that forced Pandora to negotiate directly with the publishers, and resulted in higher royalty rates. Judge Cote ruled that this violated the terms of the federal regulations, known as a consent decree, under which Ascap has operated since 1941.
benton.org/headlines/pandora-wins-appeals-court-ruling-ascap-royalty-rates | New York Times
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US IS PROBING APPLE OVER ITS DEALS FOR BEATS MUSIC
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: David McLaughlin, Lucas Shaw, Tim Higgins]
Apparently, US antitrust officials are scrutinizing Apple’s efforts to line up deals with record labels as it prepares to debut a new version of the Beats Music streaming service. The Federal Trade Commission is looking at whether Apple is using its position as the largest seller of music downloads through its iTunes store to put rival music services like Spotify at a disadvantage, apparently. The FTC’s inquiry could complicate Apple’s planned revamp of Beats Music in summer 2015. Apple has approached more than a dozen artists including Florence and the Machine for limited exclusive rights to music and partnerships to help bolster the service, people familiar with the effort have said. FTC officials have discussed Apple’s practices with more than one record label, according to music-industry executives with knowledge of the matter. Apparently, the FTC's investigators, still in the early stages, of their inquiry, are asking whether Apple’s efforts will change the way music labels work with other streaming services, for example curtailing ad-supported music and pushing more songs into paid tiers of service at higher rates. Apple hasn’t made such demands on the labels, according to the music-industry executives.
benton.org/headlines/us-probing-apple-over-its-deals-beats-music | Bloomberg
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LABOR

INTEL DIVERSITY EFFORT
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Michelle Quinn]
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich announced that the company had made significant strides in four months in its goal to make its workforce more diverse. Forty-one percent of hires so far in 2015 have been "diverse," which means women or people who are Latino, Native American or African-American, he said. That compares with 32 percent last year. Intel's goal is 40 percent for this year. Of Intel's senior hires, 17 percent are Latino, Native American and African-American, compared with 6 percent last year, and 33 percent are women, up from 19 percent from 2014. "This is real progress," Krzanich said. "We are trying to do inside a corporation what society has tried to do for years." Krzanich also announced that the company by 2020 would spend $1 billion annually with minority suppliers compared with $150 million currently.
benton.org/headlines/intel-fleshes-out-its-diversity-effort | USAToday
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

STATE DEPT: CLINTON'S PERSONAL E-MAIL USE 'NOT ACCEPTABLE'
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal e-mail account run through a private server was "not acceptable" and happened without key officials’ knowledge, a top State Department recordkeeper said. “I think the message is loud and clear that that is not acceptable,” Joyce Barr, the State Department’s assistant secretary for the bureau of administration, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "The actions that we’ve taken in the course of recovering these e-mails has made it very clear what the responsibilities are with regard to recordkeeping,” she added in remarks at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on government transparency. Clinton has said that she had determined that roughly half of the 60,000 e-mails sent through her personal account were official government business and should be turned over to the government for safe-keeping. The rest of them were deleted, she has said. However, that determination was made by Clinton’s team alone, Barr acknowledged, and federal officials essentially have to take her word for it that all relevant communications are in the government's hands. “We have been told that she has provided those to us,” she said.
benton.org/headlines/state-dept-clintons-personal-e-mail-use-not-acceptable | Hill, The
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COPS INCREASINGLY USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO CONNECT, CROWDSOURCE
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Sara Wilson]
Law enforcement has long used public tip lines and missing persons bulletins to recruit citizens in helping solve crime and increasing public safety. Though the need for police departments to connect with their communities is nothing new, the array of technologies available to do so is growing all the time -- as are the ways in which departments use those technologies. In fact, 81 percent of law enforcement professionals use sites such as Facebook and Twitter on the job. And 25 percent use it daily. Much of law enforcement is crowdsourced -- Amber alerts are pushed to smartphones, seeking response from citizens; officers push wanted information and crime tips to users on Facebook and Twitter in the hopes they can help; and some departments create apps to streamline the information sharing. Take the Johns Creek (GA) Police Department, which has deployed a tool that allows additional citizen engagement and crowdsourcing. “Law enforcement is sometimes behind, but we saw the need. We realized that we needed to use social media,” explained Lt. Jon Moses, noting that Johns Creek PD was using Facebook and Twitter, but wanted to add features. Using a mobile app -- the SunGard Public Sector P2C Converge app, which is branded specifically for Johns Creek PD as JCPD4Me -- the department can more smoothly manage public safety announcements and other social media interactions. The JCPD4Me app provides news bulletins, information on arrests and traffic accidents, missing persons info, most wanted, and news and events. It also provides links to other city services, such as the Johns Creek Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube feeds, among many other things.
benton.org/headlines/cops-increasingly-use-social-media-connect-crowdsource | Government Technology
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POLICYMAKERS

MISSING CHARLES
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Michael Copps]
[Commentary] Charles Benton has been gone less than a week, but I miss him already. I miss him as friend, as a thoroughly delightful person, and -- apropos to this testimonial -- a dauntless and effective champion of the public interest. I could not have admired this good man more. Charming and gentle, yes, but tenacious and indefatigable too, he left this world much better than he found it. I can see him now, making his way down the long hallway to visit me at the Federal Communications Commission. As the years went by, it was with the help of a walker, trudging slowly but with always a big smile on his welcoming face, and somehow managing to convey behind him a wheeled cart, filled with a prodigious stack of materials he wanted to talk about and share with me. I treasured those visits, and I always will. Charles exuded genuineness. No Washington double-speak for him, no hidden agendas, nothing coy, nothing pertinent held back. It was just Charles being Charles, telling it like he saw it (which was usually exactly like it was), and asking for nothing other than public policy to make peoples’ lives better. At first I wondered where his deep dedication to the public interest came from. I knew he descended from a distinguished family and a privileged background. But this was no case of noblesse oblige, no second or third generation sense of obligation to pay something back for the advantages he had enjoyed. This was instead public interest in his bones, his heart, and his brain. So, Farewell, my friend! Your accomplishments, your courage, your grace and simple kindness, live on in us all. Thank you for being not just a national treasure, but a beloved comrade and a truly formative influence in my life. My thanks, my love, go with you.
benton.org/blog/missing-charles
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PLEASE DON'T CALL NEW MINOW A PHILANTHROPIST
[SOURCE: Crain’s Chicago Business, AUTHOR: Lisa Bertagnoli]
Newton Minow, former Federal Communications Commission Chairman, has given plenty of money and time to good causes; he just doesn't like the label of philanthropist. A short list of Newton Minow's accomplishments: helping pass the All Channel Receiver Act of 1961, which mandated UHF receptors in US-made television sets and thus enabled the growth of public television. Becoming WTTW-TV/Channel 11's second chairman and helping it become the most-watched public television station in the country. Writing an elegant “ask” that raised $100,000 to support WTTW's 2014 broadcast of the BBC series “The Story of the Jews” with Simon Schama. Underwriting fellowships and scholarships at Northwestern University and its Feinberg School of Medicine, New Trier High School and the Chicago History Museum. Calling bad television “a vast wasteland,” in a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961, to emphasize the importance of public service.
benton.org/headlines/please-dont-call-newt-minow-philanthropist | Crain’s Chicago Business
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

TECH GROUPS FIND FLAWS IN EU ONLINE PROPOSAL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
US technology firms are voicing major concerns with a European proposal that they say could discourage the creation of new online business and target US companies. The European Commission unveiled a 16-point plan meant to ease the flow of online commerce across the continent, rather than having it siloed in individual countries. While technology groups have applauded aim of the proposal, they took issue with certain pieces of it. One of the moves calls for a full review of search engines, social media platforms and app stores. The commission wants to explore more regulation on how companies use information, their pricing policies and the transparency of their search results. It also wants to determine if these companies are steering customers away from competitors in favor of their own services and what can be done about it outside current anti-trust law. The Information Technology Industry Council has noted that leaked documents showed nearly all the businesses that the commission wants to review are major US tech companies -- from Amazon and Yahoo to Microsoft and Google. The group asserted current law is already sufficient to crack down on abusive behavior. The Center for Democracy and Technology noted that the “platforms” being discussed are not well defined, and the proposal “could very well discourage the very development of the new enterprises and business models the commission seeks to foster.” The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) said that European companies could be hit hardest by new regulations on online platforms.
benton.org/headlines/tech-groups-find-flaws-eu-online-proposal | Hill, The | ITI op-ed
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Benton

Daily Digest

Analysis

May 2015

The Accessible Technology Challenges Facing Millennials

FCC Chairman Wheeler Reclaims Independence with Comcast Denial

Slants Route May Help Redskins

May 7, 2015 (Patriot Act; News from NCTA; Cablevision and TWC)

Intel fleshes out its diversity effort

The Snowden Blindfold Act

The USA Freedom Act: A smaller Big Brother