July 13, 2015 (FCC Agenda)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, JULY 13, 2015
This week’s agenda includes an FCC meeting (agenda below) https://www.benton.org/calendar/2015-07-12--P1W
AGENDA
FCC Confirms Agenda for Open Meeting Thursday, July 16, 2015 - press release
FCC Announces Upcoming Webinar on TV Channel Sharing - press release [links to web]
Advancing Technology Transitions by Protecting Consumers, Competition and Public Safety in an IP-World - press release
How Washington is getting ready for the fiber-optic future of communications
INTERNET/BROADBAND
A Human Rights Debate Reaches the FCC - Kevin Taglang analysis
Senators want FCC to investigate high Internet, cable prices
Twenty years of the Commercial Internet - Shane Greenstein analysis
Broken cable reportedly disconnected US island territory from Internet [links to web]
WIRELESS
Apple’s Share of Smartphone Industry’s Profits Soars to 92% [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Charter is 'naive' about DoJ concerns, analyst Greenfield says
Liberty Media's Malone: Cable will be fine in 'random access' world being shaped by Netflix [links to web]
Spotify makes case against Apple in Congress [links to web]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Senate Passes Emergency Warning Update Bill
JOURNALISM
Race and the Media: How a New Generation of Activists Is Challenging the Narrative - Joseph Torres op-ed
NPR’s vision for collaborative news coverage holds promise, but challenges remain - op-ed [links to web]
MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
NY Times keeps Sen Cruz off bestseller list [links to web]
PRIVACY/SECURITY
OPM chief Katherine Archuleta resigns [links to web]
The cyber defense crisis - WashPost editorial [links to web]
This is why the government keeps getting hacked - op-ed [links to web]
US government’s reported number of wiretaps don’t add up
Enhancing the Digital Economy Through Collaboration on Vulnerability Research Disclosure - press release
Encryption stalemate: A never-ending saga? - AEI op-ed [links to web]
Privacy advocates ask regulators to take a closer look at gadgets that are ‘always on’ [links to web]
When government shares data about itself - editorial
TRANSPORTATION
Auto Makers Try to Stop the Gear Heads - op-ed [links to web]
GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS
When government shares data about itself - editorial
The Secret Startup That Saved the Worst Website in America [links to web]
FCC REFORM
Setting Timelines for Revisiting Agency Decisions - FCC Commissioner O'Rielly press release
COMPANY NEWS
Comcast Offers Its Alternative to Cable TV, Using the Web [links to web]
Why Sony decided to jump into streaming video, and where it’s going next [links to web]
AT&T can stop workers from wearing 'Inmate' shirts, court says [links to web]
Sundar Pichai of Google Talks About Phone Intrusion [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Continental Grift - Susan Crawford op-ed
The ‘Chilling Effect’ of China’s New Cybersecurity Regime - analysis [links to web]
AGENDA
FCC CONFIRMS AGENDA FOR OPEN MEETING ON JULY 16
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Thursday, July 16, 2015 and will consider the following items:
Incentive Auction Procedures: The FCC will take the next to commencing the incentive auction in the first quarter of 2016 by considering the Procedures Public Notice, which adopts a balanced set of auction procedures that will ensure an effective, efficient, and timely auction. The Public Notice establishes and provides information on final procedures for setting the initial spectrum clearing target, qualifying to bid, and bidding in the reverse and forward auctions.
Mobile Spectrum Holdings: The FCC will consider an Order on Reconsideration addressing petitions for reconsideration of certain aspects of the Mobile Spectrum Holdings Report and Order
Competitive Bidding: The FCC will consider a Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, Third Order on Reconsideration and a Third Report and Order that provides meaningful opportunities for small business, rural telephone companies, and businesses owned by members f minority groups and women to participate in the provision of spectrum-based services, and also strengthens the FCC's rules to protect against unjust enrichment to ineligible entities.
Enforcement Bureau: The FCC will consider an enforcement item.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-confirms-agenda-open-meeting-thursday-july-16-2015 | Federal Communications Commission
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ADVANCING TECHNOLOGY TRANSITIONS BY PROTECTING CONSUMERS, COMPETITION AND PUBLIC SAFETY IN AN IP-WORLD
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler]
The transition to efficient, modern communications networks is bringing new and innovative services to consumers and businesses. The Federal Communications Commission’s approach to these technology transitions is simple: the shift to next-generation fiber and IP-based networks from analog switch- and copper-based networks is good and should be encouraged. But advances in technology will never justify abandonment of the core values that define the relationship between Americans and the networks they use to communicate. After an open, rigorous process, I will be circulating to my fellow Commissioners an item that would update the FCC’s rules to help deliver the promise of dynamic new networks, provide clear rules of the road for network operators, and preserve our core values, including protecting consumers and promoting competition and public safety. Our new proposed rules would require providers of IP-based phone services to offer consumers the option to buy backup power. And I would stress the word option. It would be up to consumers to make the best choice for themselves. But to ensure that consumers understand their options, providers would be required to inform customers about service limitations from electricity outages and how to minimize those risks through backup power. We propose requiring that consumers be notified before the copper networks that serve their homes and businesses are retired. The item would require that replacement services be offered to competitive providers at rates, terms and conditions that are reasonably comparable to those of the legacy networks. This would be an interim solution pending the completion of a broader wholesale access proceeding. Bottom line: there has been competition for wholesale services before the technology transitions, and there will be competition in this market after these transitions. Again, we want to facilitate the transition to IP networks, which is why, consistent with longstanding policy, the proposed rules would NOT require FCC approval before carriers retire copper networks, as long as no service is discontinued, reduced or impaired.
benton.org/headlines/advancing-technology-transitions-protecting-consumers-competition-and-public-safety-ip | Federal Communications Commission | FCC Fact Sheet | The Hill | The Verge | Public Knowledge
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HOW WASHINGTON IS GETTING READY FOR THE FIBER-OPTIC FUTURE OF COMMUNICATIONS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
In moving us onto ever newer, ever faster networks, America's telecommunication firms are phasing out their old copper lines and installing high-speed fiber optics. The result? Soon, all our phone calls will be handled by the nation's carriers as data packets. This technological transition will enable new features, such as high-definition voice, and could grant new capabilities to our first responders. But although it will offer benefits, the change could also create unintended complications for some consumers. To protect them, federal regulators are proposing a number of new rules on telecom carriers that could be voted on as early as August. One would require companies to offer an optional battery that could be installed in your home so that if the power ever goes out your phone service will keep working. The old copper system didn't need batteries because copper lines can conduct electricity. But fiber optics can't, meaning a power outage could prevent consumers from making emergency calls. Under Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal, which is being circulated July 10, telecom firms would have to tell their customers about their new systems' power requirements and offer a backup that provides at least eight hours of additional power. Other protections will be aimed at ensuring that small businesses, schools and hospitals can continue to buy services from telecom companies at competitive wholesale rates. Consumer advocates and some in the telecom industry are welcoming the FCC's move, saying it will spur competition and innovation.
benton.org/headlines/how-washington-getting-ready-fiber-optic-future-communications | Washington Post
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
A HUMAN RIGHTS DEBATE REACHES THE FCC
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
[Commentary] Over the past two weeks, a debate at least three years old has reached the Federal Communications Commission: Does everyone have a fundamental right to access the Internet? That is -- Is Internet access a human right? Strong arguments, it appears, can be made in a philosophical debate about Internet access as a human right. Although Vinton Cerf’s op-ed may be one the strongest arguments backing FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly’s recent stance, Cerf also highlights why Commissioner O’Rielly’s speech was so surprising. As he himself stressed in the same speech in June, Commissioner O'Rielly, as an FCC Commissioner, must follow the law. And, as Commissioner Clyburn noted in her response, Congress has directed the FCC to ensure that everyone, regardless of income, has access to advanced communications services. Congress also directed that such access should be affordable. Which means that Congress mandated closing the digital divide highlighted above. So why would a Commissioner O'Rielly basic principle for regulators be that Internet access isn’t a human right when Congress has already made it a civil right?
https://www.benton.org/blog/human-rights-debate-reaches-fcc
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SENATORS WANTS FCC TO INVESTIGATE HIGH INTERNET, CABLE PRICES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: David McCabe]
A group of senators including Sens Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are asking the Federal Communications Commission to look into pricing for Internet service around the country. "Many Americans have very few, if any, options when it comes to choosing their local cable and Internet providers. And, as the telecommunications industry becomes increasingly concentrated, this lack of choice has resulted in huge price increases and often poor service for consumers,” wrote Sens Sanders and Warren as well as Sens Al Franken (D-MN) and Ed Markey (D-MA). Specifically, they mentioned the proposed merger of Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable, which they said would “only increase concentration in the cable and broadband markets.” The Senators asked FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to provide them with information about the average cost of broadband by state and provider, as well as for urban and rural customers. “The Commission’s collection of pricing information is critical to upholding its mission to protect consumers, and promote competition, and deploy broadband across America,” they said.
benton.org/headlines/senators-want-fcc-investigate-high-internet-cable-prices | Hill, The
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TWENTY YEARS OF THE COMMERCIAL INTERNET
[SOURCE: Digitopoly, AUTHOR: Shane Greenstein]
[Commentary] In August 1995, Netscape held its initial public offering and caught the attention of every participant in computing and communications. It was a catalytic event for the commercial Internet, and it started the beginning of a long boom in investment by private firms, households, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists. With the 20th anniversary approaching, it’s time to look back on events and highlight the big lessons. Looking back on these events with a wide lens, it is now possible to ask, why did the privatization of the Internet turn out so well? How could such an event unleash a wide and profound set of economic outcomes? The answer involves “innovation from the edges” -- multiple perspectives originating from multiple places in an industry with little or no concentrated decision making. Innovation from the edges played an important role in all the key events.
benton.org/headlines/twenty-years-commercial-internet | Digitopoly
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OWNERSHIP
CHARTER IS 'NAIVE' ABOUT DOJ CONCERNS, ANALYST GREENFIELD SAYS
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Daniel Frankel]
Although most analysts expect federal regulators to approve Charter Communications' bid to simultaneously buy Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, BTIG Research analyst Richard Greenfield remains highly skeptical. In his latest blog post, Greenfield described Charter's public interest statement for the deal as "naive." In Charter's public interest statement, the company contends that cable companies operate in distinct regional markets, and that there is no national market for broadband. "The DoJ sees both video and broadband as national markets, with harms increasing with scale. The DoJ simply believes that bigger is badder," Greenfield wrote. He pointed to recent comments made by Nancy Rose, deputy attorney general for economic analysis for the Department of Justice, as bolstering his view. "As you listen to the DoJ," the analyst adds, "it is very difficult to see how the government can approve the creation of a company nearly the size of Comcast (and given New Charter's growth, it could be larger than Comcast in a few years), particularly as it is far from clear what concessions would alleviate the government's underlying concerns without true competition materializing. … The DoJ believes there is fallacy in thinking about consolidation of cable as having no impact on competition just because they operate in geographically distinct markets with no overlapping customers."
benton.org/headlines/charter-naive-about-doj-concerns-analyst-greenfield-says | Fierce
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
SENATE PASSES EMERGENCY WARNING UPDATE BILL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Senate has passed the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Modernization Act of 2015 (S 1180). The bill would expand and update IPAWS, which can deliver alerts to multiple platforms (TV, radio, cell phones, computers, home phones and electronic billboards), boost training and increase collaboration. It was co-sponsored by Sens Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO). Congress has long been working on improving emergency alerts via the broadcast and cable Emergency Alert System (EAS), Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) and FEMA's IPAWS system. There is also a House version of the bill. IPAWS allows emergency authorities to write their own messages, authenticates them and delivers them to the various platforms, including TV and radio stations and cable systems.
benton.org/headlines/senate-passes-emergency-warning-update-bill | Broadcasting&Cable
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JOURNALISM
RACE AND THE MEDIA
[SOURCE: Medium, AUTHOR: Joseph Torres]
[Commentary] When it comes to race, there are so many lessons our nation has either failed to remember or willfully ignored. Over the past year, police brutality has drawn national media coverage following the killings of unarmed Black men, women and children. And the subsequent protests have also grabbed the press’ attention. But activists of color are troubled that so much of the reporting has framed protesters as criminals and failed to address the larger issues of systemic racism, such as the over-policing of communities of color. However, a new generation of racial justice leaders -- from Black Lives Matter organizers to immigration-rights activists -- is using the Internet and social media to challenge traditional media’s stereotypical coverage of their communities. At the same time, they’re urging the media to pay greater attention to Black women, Latinos and Native Americans, who have also been victims of police brutality but whose stories often go untold. And perhaps unexpectedly they’ve played a key role in policy debates over the future of the open Internet, safeguarding the structures that will be critical to any effort to challenge and change the media narrative on race -- so we’re not repeating the same stories 50 years from now in the ongoing fight for racial justice.
[Joseph Torres is the senior external affairs director for the public interest group Free Press]
benton.org/headlines/race-and-media-how-new-generation-activists-challenging-narrative | Medium
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PRIVACY/SECURITY
US GOVERNMENT'S REPORTED NUMBER OF WIRETAPS DON'T ADD UP
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: David Kravets]
The government published its latest Wiretap Report on July 1. The headline finding was that encryption wasn't foiling federal and state law enforcement officials, despite a growing chorus of people suggesting that we're all gonna die unless the tech sector builds backdoor access into their products to enable government access. In all, the federal agency that overseas the courts reported to Congress that there we're 3,554 wiretaps in 2014, about 1 percent less than the year prior. Of the total, only four were thwarted via encryption. But the reported number of wiretaps by the Administrative Office of the US Courts (AO) simply doesn't add up. That's according to Albert Gidari, one of the nation's top privacy lawyers who often works on behalf of Microsoft. He says "there is a bigger story" that calls into question the AO's accounting: In aggregate, the four [major wireless] companies state that they implemented 10,712 wiretaps, a threefold difference over the total number reported by the AO. Note that the 10,712 number is only for the four companies listed above and does not reflect wiretap orders received by other telephone carriers or online providers, so the discrepancy actually is larger." "Are wiretaps being consistently under¬reported to Congress and the public?" he asks. "Based on the data reported by the four major carriers for 2013 and 2014, it certainly would appear to be the case." Gidari said "we are still off by 30 percent" even if "all four carriers got the same order and it covered multiple devices."
benton.org/headlines/us-governments-reported-number-wiretaps-dont-add | Ars Technica
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ENHANCING THE DIGITAL ECONOMY THROUGH COLLABORATION ON VULNERABILITY RESEARCH DISCLOSURE
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: Angela Simpson]
Promoting and preserving the digital ecosystem is a core mission of the Department of Commerce, and the security and resiliency of that ecosystem is vital. For the digital economy to thrive, users must trust that their personal data and the systems and websites they use every day are as secure as possible. To help support this goal, the Department of Commerce announced in March an initiative to address key cybersecurity issues facing the digital economy that could be best addressed by a consensus-based multistakeholder process. Based on input from a broad range of stakeholders, we are announcing that the first cybersecurity multistakeholder process will launch in September and will focus on vulnerability research disclosure. The goal of this process will be to bring together security researchers, software vendors, and those interested in a more secure digital ecosystem to create common principles and best practices around the disclosure of and response to new security vulnerability information. We welcome broad participation and diverse perspectives, particularly from small businesses, independent security researchers, and those with experience on all sides of the disclosure question. Our meetings will be webcast to allow participation by those unable to attend in person.
benton.org/headlines/enhancing-digital-economy-through-collaboration-vulnerability-research-disclosure | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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WHEN GOVERNMENT SHARES DATA ABOUT ITSELF
[SOURCE: Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] A massive and disturbing US government data leak is making news. But at the same time, much progress is being made on the flip side of the issue of government-held data: releasing more, and more-easily-understood, information that citizens have a right to know about how government operates, including what decisions it’s making and how it’s spending their tax dollars. Transparency in government operations is a key to open and clean government. While the new age of cloud storage can lead to hacks and leaks, it also offers an unprecedented opportunity for citizens to really see how their government runs. This transparency can help governments build a stronger relationship of trust with citizens, and even help the governments themselves root out corruption as they gain a clearer picture of their own operations. Government makes two data pacts with citizens: It must safeguard the personal information on citizens that it collects. But it also must make its own workings as public as possible. As American governments are struggling with the first task, they’re making encouraging progress on the second.
benton.org/headlines/when-government-shares-data-about-itself | Christian Science Monitor
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FCC REFORM
SETTING TIMELINES FOR REVISITING AGENCY DECISIONS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly]
Quite frankly, in the age of hyper-speed “Internet years,” the Federal Communications Commission’s approach to some issues is stuck in the age of rabbit ears, and this problem is expanding exponentially right along with our rules. While the Federal Communications Commission has statutory obligations to periodically review certain aspects of its rules, such as section 11 of the Communications Act, these requirements are generally given short shrift, when they are adhered to all. This is certainly an area where the agency needs to make significant improvement, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards anytime soon. More broadly, the FCC needs to adopt procedures to proactively reexamine its rules and policies across its many proceedings. In particular, I have consistently pushed to add sunset provisions to agency orders. Let’s face it: nothing produces an honest assessment of a rule or program like its pending expiration. And the length of any particular provision may depend on a number of factors, including the state of the market, how detailed the rules are, and the resources needed to update the regulations. In most cases, however, I expect that an evaluation of rules adopted in this fast changing sector should occur within five years. If it is not worth the cost to review the rules within five years, then I seriously question the benefit of retaining them or enacting them in the first place. The FCC deals with some of the most cutting edge issues and technologies. It also has a full docket. That is a recipe for precipitating, one small drop at a time, a swelling tidal wave of outdated rules and burdens. Perhaps if the agency made routine use of sunset provisions, these requests would not be viewed as votes of no confidence but rather as good government measures designed to ensure that our rules continue to serve their intended purposes, to the benefit of all.
benton.org/headlines/setting-timelines-revisiting-agency-decisions | Federal Communications Commission
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
CONTINENTAL GRIFT
[SOURCE: Medium, AUTHOR: Susan Crawford]
[Commentary] In June, when the Financial Times included a sponsored magazine insert created by Ernst & Young (“Helping Businesses Raise, Invest, Preserve and Optimize Capital”), there were some unintended laughs. The cover model of the slick publication was the Deutsche Telekom CFO Thomas Dannenfeldt, staring straight into the photographer’s lens. Dannenfeldt, the cover copy proclaimed, has ideas about “transforming Deutsche Telekom to create a new legacy.” And here is the joke: the giant incumbent European telecommunications company Dannenfeldt works for brazenly proclaims that benefits would accrue if it were allowed to be more like Comcast in the US: huge, unregulated, and able to charge luxury prices for services that, to consumers, feel more like a utility. And so, pointing to the US high-speed Internet access market as a success, it is urging European regulators to drop the requirement that it share its copper access lines with competitors -- a key element of European competition policy that has driven consumer prices down. Proponents argue that the American model will strengthen European network operators, drive infrastructure investment, and improve Europe’s competitive position in the global digital economy across market segments. But if what European policy makers want is to foster economic growth and reduce inequality, the American model isn’t a great one. The better answer for Europe? Set an extinction date for the obsolete copper wires now sold by incumbents, provide loan guarantees for companies willing to install wholesale passive fiber lines, ensure that those wholesale facilities are made available to competing providers at reasonable rates, and set the global standard for making basic fiber-optic-plus-Wi-Fi services available to all at a reasonable price.
[Susan Crawford is co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University]
benton.org/headlines/continental-grift | Medium
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