July 2015

CCA urges FirstNet to take 'granular' approach to broadband network

The Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) is urging the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) to leverage existing facilities of multiple carriers to speed deployment of the nation's first public safety broadband network. The group, which includes more than 100 competitive wireless providers including small, rural carriers, says that allowing bids based on smaller geographic proportions will "widen and deepen" coverage in underserved areas and enhance carrier participation in the national broadband network, according to a filing with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which oversees FirstNet.

According to Tim Donovan, VP of legislative affairs at CCA, the group's members are "excited and enthusiastic" about the possibility of partnering with the forthcoming national first responders' network, contrary to speculation earlier in the year that carriers may shy away from the opportunity. CCA's filing consisted of two major points: First, that FirstNet should leverage existing carrier infrastructure by partnering with CCA members, many of whom have access to coveted rural coverage. In a similar vein, the CCA's second suggestion implores FirstNet to take advantage of roaming in order to build out its network in the most timely manner.

How does Fox choose who gets into the debate? It’s more malleable than it seems.

The first debate is on Aug 6 in Cleveland (OH), the city where a river once caught fire. Fox News, the host, established that only 10 candidates would appear in primetime, selected based on the average of the five most recent national polls. Anyone who didn't make the top 10 but who still averaged more than 1 percent in the polls would get to participate in a forum beforehand, which has become known as the "kiddie table" debate. (That's a rude joke and also a funny one.) As it became apparent that some legitimate politicians would not make the 1 percent limit, Fox killed it. Had they not, the only participants would have been Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Bobby Jindal, as it stands now.

Benton Named Recipient of 2015 Community Broadband Award

The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) Board of Directors named Charles Benton the recipient of NATOA's 2015 Community Broadband Visionary Award to recognize Benton's lifetime of extraordinary support and advocacy for the development and proliferation of local community broadband systems. In announcing the award, NATOA's board wrote: "Charles was an early and consistent champion for digital inclusion and municipal participation in broadband and he encouraged cities, many for the first time, to examine their role in promoting broadband."

"The Benton Foundation is honored to receive the 2015 Community Broadband Visionary Award on behalf of our founder, Charles Benton, who fervently believed that wise telecommunications policy can improve the quality of life for all," said Benton Foundation Executive Director Adrianne B. Furniss. "We are carrying on his work, most recently through the publication of The Next Generation Connectivity Handbook: a Guide for Community Leaders Seeking Affordable Abundant Bandwidth, a comprehensive guide for communities who want better broadband for their residents and businesses. We trust this handbook will empower local leadership to improve broadband deployment and adoption in local communities nationwide."

FCC flooded with net neutrality complaints

Roughly 2,000 complaints about Internet Service Providers have been sent to the Federal Communications Commission by consumers under the FCC’s new network neutrality rules. Consumers filed the complaints through the FCC’s website and selected a menu item labeled “Open Internet/Net Neutrality.” The complaints differ from the formal filings and comments that already appear in the FCC’s public database. The FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau reportedly reviews the complaints before sending them to the Internet providers. Companies have 30 days to respond to customers and the commission. Complaints can also lead to action from the agency’s powerful Enforcement Bureau.

Consumers showed a frustration with various aspects of their Internet service. Many said that their speeds were being capped, with providers sometimes slowing their speeds or charging them once they used a certain amount of data. “It always seems to cap at 30 which is completely unacceptable,” said one customer in Colorado. “It's frustrating how Comcast thinks they can get away with this. I won't even go into detail about how slow our Internet was before we upgraded. All I'll say is that it was far slower than what we were paying for.”

House Talks 'Internet of Things," Data Privacy

The Internet of Things could be more dangerous than consumers think when they install Nest thermostats or other convenient digital devices, some members of Congress argued during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Internet of Things organized by the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet. Representatives and witnesses discussed how the proliferation of data-driven devices could be both useful to consumers -- and also a potentially risky asset. With cars, public transportation systems and consumer devices constantly collecting information about users, "unless cities integrate strong security...[they are] vulnerable to attack," Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said. He mused later, "What do these companies do with the massive amount of data?"

In a press release about his testimony, Charles Duan, Director of the Patent Reform Project at Public Knowledge, said, "Our testimony identifies several areas of interest that will affect the future of the Internet of Things. Patent reform will determine the pace of innovation in the space. Ownership rights over these new devices will be contested and must be protected. The freedom of consumers to tinker with and innovate upon their new products must also be defended. Privacy of broadband Internet communications must be protected strongly by the FCC as these new products start to communicate with the world. And management of wireless spectrum, and particularly expansion of unlicensed spectrum, will be critical to ensuring that the Internet of Things has a platform for communication."

Senate panel passes bill to give public access to more research

A Senate panel passed legislation to require certain federally funded research to be open to the public. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee cleared the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act by voice vote, along with 10 other pieces of legislation. The bill would require every agency with an outside research budget of $100 million or more to make sure any research paper produced is publicly posted for free within a year of publication in a journal. President Barack Obama issued a memorandum in 2013 directing agencies to come up with a plan to publish similar research by agencies. "The public has a right to access government-funded information," the American Library Association said. "This legislation provides the public -- which includes students in libraries and schools across the nation -- with opportunities to learn and grow from scholarly research.”

The sponsors of the legislation have said many times federally funded research remains walled off from the public in scholarly journals that require high subscription fees. They have said the bill would touch about 11 agencies. The legislation has been backed by a number of library and research groups as well as open government organizations. The legislation was introduced last Congress shortly after the death of Aaron Swartz, and at least one publication has described it as the “other Aaron’s law.” Swartz committed suicide after being charged under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) in 2011 and was facing up to 35 years in prison and fines up to $1 million for illegally accessing the network at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in order to download millions of academic journal articles from a subscription service.

E-Mail Privacy Act Has Supermajority Sponsorship

The E-Mail Privacy Act has collected 291 co-sponsors, according to the Digital 4th Coalition, which is enough (two-thirds of the House) to fast track the bill under suspension of House rules, which means the House could theoretically approve it without debate or other normal procedural requirements. The legislation, which updates the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (of 1986), would require law enforcement and government agencies to get a warrant to access e-mails and other private online communications. Or put another way, Internet service providers could not divulge such information without a court order.

"When ECPA was written, the Internet as we understand it did not exist," said bill author Rep Kevin Yoder (R-KS). "Only 340,000 Americans even subscribed to cell phone service. Mark Zuckerberg was only two years old. But as our society and technology has evolved, our digital privacy laws remain stuck in 1986. With our bill now receiving the support of a veto-proof majority of the House of Representatives, the time has arrived to fix that." The House needs to vote on this bill immediately," said Gabe Rottman of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is a member of the coalition. "It is the most co-sponsored bill in this Congress and yet hasn’t been considered by the House or at the committee level. Passage of the Email Privacy Act is long overdue."

Bill to let DHS Monitor Internet Traffic on Gov Systems Advances

A Senate panel voted to set into law the Department of the Homeland Security's responsibility to monitor public Internet traffic on all government systems. The bill is designed to minimize the harm from breaches like those that hit the Office of Personnel Management. The federal government was admittedly slow to scan OPM networks for signs of threats that ultimately manifested in the loss of confidential records on 21.5 million federal employees, national security personnel and their families. Even after the attack, only 45 percent of agencies are using DHS’s network-surveillance technology, according to lawmakers. Under the new Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, DHS would be allowed to override an agency's objections to using the tool, called EINSTEIN. Within a year, DHS would have to deploy the technology "to detect cybersecurity risks in network traffic transiting or traveling to or from an agency information system," and to block that problematic Internet traffic, according to the bill.

During a meeting on July 29, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee made a few changes to the legislation, including adding privacy protections. Then, without objection, members passed the proposal by a roll call vote. The bill was introduced on Monday by committee Chairman Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Ranking Member Sen Tom Carper (D-DE). There now are more civil liberties clauses in the bill. Within six months after being signed into law, DHS would have to report to Congress on "privacy controls" for the intrusion prevention technology, according to the legislation. And the department must "periodically update" a privacy impact assessment of the surveillance technology, the legislation states.

Charter cable deal target Time Warner Cable adds customers

Time Warner Cable is adding more customers as it awaits the government's decision on whether Charter Communications should be allowed to buy it, creating a new cable giant with 24 million subscribers. The New York company said it added 66,000 customers -- the first gain in the second quarter in seven years. Time Warner Cable is in the middle of a turnaround. The company's revenue rose 3.5 percent to $5.93 billion, just shy of Wall Street forecasts, as it added 172,000 Internet customers and lost 45,000 video customers.

Profit declined 7.2 percent to $463 million, or $1.62 per share, as costs rose. The amount the company pays for the channels it pipes to customers -- a big reason customers' bills rise every year -- rose 8.7 per percent to $1.4 billion. Time Warner Cable said its average monthly cost that it pays for content, per customer, rose 11.6 percent to $42.73. Costs for sales and marketing, customer service and technical investments also rose, as Time Warner Cable tries to improve its operations. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to $1.54 per share, short of the average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.82 per share.

Commissioner O’Rielly’s crusade for FCC process reform

[Commentary] Following the harsh spotlight that the network neutrality proceeding placed on the Federal Communications Commission’s operations, there has been renewed interest in the topic of FCC process reform. Perhaps none have taken more interest in this topic than FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, who has penned several blog posts in recent months challenging the commission to change “business as usual” in specific ways. But what does “process reform” mean in practice?

While various groups talk about “FCC process reform,” it quickly becomes clear that they do not all mean the same thing. The 2014 staff report focused largely on ministerial tasks, such as reducing paperwork and improving coordination among the agency’s various bureaus. By comparison, Commissioner O’Rielly has focused on creating systemic change in the way the commissioners of the FCC make decisions. Most law today occurs not in the legislature, but in agencies like the FCC pursuant to power delegated by Congress. The Administrative Procedure Act long ago recognized that process is the lynchpin that allows delegated authority to be exercised by unelected agency officials. It assures Congress and the public that the agency will make an informed decision after carefully considering the views of affected stakeholders. FCC process reform is needed in order to facilitate public insight and transparency, and to improve the overall quality of its final product. Process reform should promote a better, more robust dialogue among the commissioners, and between the commissioners and the public. The commission ignores such reforms at its peril, as it jeopardizes the legitimacy of the agency’s final product.

[Daniel Lyons is an associate professor at Boston College Law School]

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