September 2015

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2015

Like to get your news via RSS? Plug https://www.benton.org/headlines/feed into your reader.

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Broadband Opportunity Council Report and Recommendations - research
   See also: How to Modernize Federal Programs to Expand Program Support for Broadband Investments
   Delivering on Broadband Opportunity - White House press release [links to web]
   Strengthening Our Digital Infrastructure Is Key to America’s Path Forward - NTIA press release
   The Story of the FCC's Net Neutrality Decision and Why It Won't Stand Up in Court - FCC Commissioner Pai analysis
   Web companies are fighting in court for the FCC’s network neutrality rules
   Worst-Connected US Cities In 2014 - National Digital Inclusion Alliance press release
   FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler at NTCA Fall Conference -- Rural Broadband Subsidies Must Be Well Spent - speech
   Tennessee explains why it should be able to limit city-run ISPs
   City makes rule favoring Google Fiber, gets sued by cable company

OWNERSHIP
   Facebook’s Restrictions on User Data Cast a Long Shadow
   Team Telecom Reviews Need More Structure - FCC Commissioner O'Rielly press release
   TWC shareholders approve Charter takeover
   FCC Denies ASCAP Challenge to Pandora Decision [links to web]

EDUCATION
   New Survey Shows Parents Overwhelmingly Support Using Student Data to Improve Education - press release

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
   Who’s behind those annoying political ads? - Newton Minow, Michael Copps op-ed

TELEVISION
   What’s behind the continuing wave of television mergers? - analysis
   Merger Muscle Might Help Networks Resist Netflix
   It's a Golden Age for TV, But Not So Much for Broadcast [links to web]
   Cutting the Cord: Streaming video cuts into pay-TV subscriber base [links to web]
   NAB to FCC: Cable Market Is Anything But Competitive [links to web]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   An obscure battle over wireless airwaves comes to USC Trojan football [links to web]

SECURITY/PRIVACY
   Spy panel drops controversial mandate on Web firms, amid pressure
   What's Your Return on Complying with the Data Act? - op-ed [links to web]
   Cybersecurity: Still failing after all these years - Jeffrey Eisenach/AEI op-ed [links to web]
   Feds invest $3.7 million in securing online data [links to web]

DIVERSITY
   When it comes to diversity in tech, look to small companies for leadership - op-ed [links to web]
   Are relationships a missing link in media’s ongoing diversity problem? [links to web]

HEALTH
   Final Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015-2020 Released - HHS press release
   Why Pharma Wants to Put Sensors in This Blockbuster Drug [links to web]

CONTENT
   Pandora wins round at US Copyright Office [links to web]
   Google Advertisers Win Appeal to Sue as Group Over AdWords [links to web]
   NYT makes 50 of its best pieces of journalism free to read [links to web]
   When journalism, virtual reality, and unclear App Store guidelines collide - op-ed [links to web]
   The Allure of an Ad-Free Internet [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Chinese censorship costing US tech firms billions in revenue
   BT unveils plans for improving UK broadband [links to web]
   In South Korea, a child-monitoring app is raising security concerns. Why? [links to web]
   Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom join forces for aircraft broadband [links to web]

back to top

INTERNET/BROADBAND

BROADBAND OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: US Department of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack]
The Broadband Opportunities Council presents four overarching recommendations:
1) Modernize Federal programs to expand program support for broadband investments.
2) Empower communities with tools and resources to attract broadband investment and promote meaningful use.
3) Promote increased broadband deployment and competition through expanded access to Federal assets.
4) Improve data collection, analysis and research on broadband.
To pursue these objectives, Federal Agencies will take dozens of actions over the next 18 months. These include commitments to:
Modernize Federal programs valued at approximately $10 billion to include broadband as an eligible program expenditure, such as the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Community Facilities (CF) program, which will help communities around the country bring broadband to health clinics and recreation centers.
Create an online inventory of data on Federal assets, such as Department of the Interior (DOI) telecommunications towers, that can help support faster and more economical broadband deployments to remote areas of the country.
Streamline the applications for programs and broadband permitting processes to support broadband deployment and foster competition.
Create a portal for information on Federal broadband funding and loan programs to helpcommunities easily identify resources as they seek to expand access to broadband.
The Council proposes continuing actions in support of its mission, including monitoring agencies’ progress in implementing the action items in the Report and exploring additional steps to further
the goals set forth in the Presidential Memorandum.
benton.org/headlines/broadband-opportunity-council-report-and-recommendations | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

STRENGTHENING OUR DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE IS KEY TO AMERICA'S PATH FORWARD
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: NTIA Deputy Secretary Bruce Andrews]
The White House released a report from the Broadband Opportunity Council, a group established by President Barack Obama that Commerce Secretary Pritzker co-chaired. At the Commerce Department, we will play an ongoing role in ensuring that the Council’s important work is carried out. Assistant Secretary of Commerce and National Telecommunications and Information Adiminstration Administrator Lawrence Strickling will continue to co-chair the Council on Secretary Pritzker’s behalf. NTIA, under its BroadbandUSA initiative, will continue to work closely with communities seeking to expand their broadband capacity through technical assistance, publications and regional workshops such as the Digital New England Summit on September 28. As part of the Council’s recommendations, BroadbandUSA will create a main access portal to link federal broadband resources, policies, and grant guidance. It is also collaborating with members of the Broadband Opportunity Council on how best to move forward and implement key recommendations to improve broadband access. With these actions and more to come, we can ensure that America’s path forward is built on a foundation designed to accommodate the pace of change in today’s global economy.
benton.org/headlines/strengthening-our-digital-infrastructure-key-americas-path-forward | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

THE STORY OF THE FCC'S NET NEUTRALITY DECISION AND WHY IT WON'T STAND UP IN COURT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Law Journal, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai]
[Commentary] We often forget that within a generation -- a blink of history's eye -- the Internet has fundamentally transformed how people in the United States and around the globe live. And it simply wasn't broken, as even the Federal Communications Commission conceded. This is why I have called network neutrality a solution that won't work to a problem that doesn't exist. And this is why, in my view, the FCC's regulations are not a model for the future. They are a relic of the past. Time will tell whether these regulations are deemed to comport with the law. But we can already draw an unfortunate policy lesson: the bipartisan era in which the Internet was seen as a vibrant and competitive free market, unfettered by heavy-handed regulation, has come to an end.
benton.org/headlines/story-fccs-net-neutrality-decision-and-why-it-wont-stand-court | Federal Communications Law Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

WEB COMPANIES ARE FIGHTING IN COURT FOR THE FCC'S NET NEUTRALITY RULES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
A top Washington trade group for Internet companies such as Dropbox, Facebook and Netflix is now defending federal regulators in a major court battle over network neutrality, adding a legal brief to the flurry from both sides of the debate. Arguing that the Federal Communications Commission acted legally when it rolled out strong new rules for broadband companies this year, the Internet Association said that the regulations help protect consumers from Internet providers who control access to the Web. The "friend-of-the-court" filing called for the FCC's net neutrality order to be fully upheld -- endorsing for the first time the legal approach the FCC used to implement its regulations. "Consumers and innovators will benefit from the Internet openness promoted by the FCC’s net neutrality Order," it reads.
benton.org/headlines/web-companies-are-fighting-court-fccs-net-neutrality-rules | Washington Post
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

WORST-CONNECTED US CITIES IN 2014
[SOURCE: National Digital Inclusion Alliance, AUTHOR: Angela Siefer]
The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) releases two new rankings of America's "25 Worst-Connected Cities in 2014" -- for all households, and for households with annual incomes below $35,000. Using data from the 2014 American Community Survey (ACS) released by the US Census Bureau, NDIA ranked all 184 US cities with more than 50,000 households by their percentages of households with no Internet at home. The 25 Worst-Connected Cities in terms of overall household Internet coverage range from Brownsville (TX) (45 percent of households with no Internet access) to Providence (RI) (29 percent). Immediately below Brownsville on the list are Detroit (MI), Jackson (MS), Laredo (TX) and Hialeah (FL) -- all with overall non-connection rates above 35 percent.
benton.org/headlines/worst-connected-us-cities-2014 | National Digital Inclusion Alliance
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

FCC CHAIRMAN TOM WHEELER AT NTCA FALL CONFERENCE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler]
I want to dive into the things we need to be doing to make our universal service programs smarter and more effective -- and by we I mean both the Federal Communications Commission and the members of NTCA - The Rural Broadband Association. Let's start by looking at our Congressional mandates. Congress told us that universal service means access to "reasonably comparable service" at "reasonably comparable rates." We should unpack these two aspects of our mandate a little bit. I'm circulating to my fellow Commissioners a public notice to remind everybody that this support should only be used for its intended purpose -- getting communications networks to rural America. We've seen examples in recent news of bad apples who abuse the fund for their own personal gain, and it is important that we take steps to ensure that those bad apples do not distract from the important work that you are doing to serve your communities.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-chairman-tom-wheeler-ntca-fall-conference | Federal Communications Commission
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

TENNESSEE EXPLAINS WHY IT SHOULD BE ABLE TO LIMIT CITY-RUN ISPS
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
Tennessee has continued its fight against a city that wants to expand municipal broadband service, arguing in a legal brief that the Federal Communications Commission can't preempt state laws that limit the rights of cities and towns to offer Internet access. In a brief filed Sept 18 in a federal appeals court, Tennessee argued that states have an "inviolable right to self-governance," which means that a state may delegate powers to its political subdivisions -- i.e. cities and towns -- as it sees fit. The brief was in support of the lawsuit Tennessee filed against the Federal Communications Commission in March, shortly after the FCC voted to preempt the broadband-limiting state law. "Far from being a simple matter of preemption, as the FCC claims, this intervention between the State and its subordinate entities is a manifest infringement on State sovereignty," Tennessee's lawyers wrote. The FCC is scheduled to file its response to Tennessee by November 5.
benton.org/headlines/tennessee-explains-why-it-should-be-able-limit-city-run-isps | Ars Technica
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

CITY MAKES RULE FAVORING GOOGLE FIBER, GETS SUED BY CABLE COMPANY
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
Cox Communications has filed a lawsuit against Tempe (AZ) seeking to invalidate new rules designed to bring Google Fiber to the city. Tempe violated federal law "by establishing a discriminatory regulatory framework" that exempts Google from obligations imposed on similar companies, Cox said in a lawsuit filed in US District Court in Arizona. Tempe created a new license category for "video services providers," which are to be treated differently from cable operators like Cox, the lawsuit said. Although the Google Fiber network uses fiber optics instead of coaxial cable, pay-TV companies that offer video service over fiber are considered cable TV operators by the Federal Communications Commission. Cox argued that Tempe's licensing scheme will exempt Google from various consumer protections related to service standards, consumer information, and billing.
benton.org/headlines/city-makes-rule-favoring-google-fiber-gets-sued-cable-company | Ars Technica
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

OWNERSHIP

FACEBOOK’S RESTRICTIONS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Deepa Seetharaman, Elizabeth Dwoskin]
Facebook’s restrictions on its user data, which were announced in 2014 and put into effect in May, are rippling through academia, business and presidential politics. Dozens of startups that had been using Facebook data have shut down, been acquired or overhauled their businesses. Political consultants are racing to find new ways to tap voters’ social connections ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The new rules reflect Facebook’s shifting attitude toward third parties using its data, considered one of the world’s richest sources of information on human relationships. Facebook said it reversed course after users raised concerns about their data being shared with outsiders without their knowledge.
benton.org/headlines/facebooks-restrictions-user-data-cast-long-shadow | Wall Street Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

TEAM TELECOM REVIEWS NEED MORE STRUCTURE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly]
The Federal Communications Commission has clarified our past broadcast foreign ownership restrictions and now needs to consider ways to take the next step. I have made the case previously that this means we must clearly permit greater foreign ownership in order to open the doors to new capital and opportunities for US broadcasters while at the same time hopefully laying the groundwork for similar treatment of US investors abroad. And I very much appreciate the Chairman’s commitment to move forward on this issue in the near term. The biggest obstacle to making improvements quickly, however, is the opaque and sometimes unending review process used by what's commonly known as Team Telecom (i.e., a working group of representatives from the Federal government entities charged with ensuring national security: the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, Justice, State, Treasury, and Commerce, as well as United States Trade Representative and the FBI). The way to break the stalemate is to set a definitive process that the FCC will follow in working with Team Telecom.
benton.org/headlines/team-telecom-reviews-need-more-structure | Federal Communications Commission
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

TWC SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE CHARTER TAKEOVER
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Daniel Frankel]
Time Warner Cable shareholders have approved the company's $56.7 billion takeover by Charter Communications. The preliminary vote count at TWC's special shareholder meeting comes after Charter announced in May that it intends to acquire both TWC and Bright House Networks to form the second biggest U.S. cable company behind Comcast. Separately, Charter shareholders are also set to vote today on the $10.4 billion Bright House proposal, as well as the related sale of $5 billion in stock to Liberty Broadband. The shareholder votes come just over a week after the Federal Communications Commission started its regulatory review of Charter's purchases. In a note to investors, New Street Research said that while Charter CEO Tom Rutledge has said the deals will close in 2015, a more plausible timeline calls for a February-March close.
benton.org/headlines/twc-shareholders-approve-charter-takeover | Fierce
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

EDUCATION

NEW SURVEY SHOWS PARENTS OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORT USING STUDENT DATA TO IMPROVE EDUCATION
[SOURCE: Future of Privacy Forum, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Future of Privacy Forum released new survey data showing that a majority of parents support using student data to improve education. While support for using data in the classroom is strong, parents remain concerned about the level of student data privacy and security in U.S. K-12 schools. The survey, which was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of Future of Privacy Forum from March 26 -- April 2, 2015, included 1,002 parents in the United States with children between the ages 0-17 (of which 672 have children in public school grades K-12). According to the survey, most parents (71 percent) say their child uses technology provided by school and over half (58 percent) say they have used school-related technology. A majority of parents (76 percent) understand what data are being collected and how they are used. The results here demonstrate a strong baseline of knowledge and communication between schools and parents. In general, parents are very aware of, engaged with, and concerned about technology and student data use in schools. While they are eager for the individual learning benefits that educational data can provide, parents are also concerned about the security of their child’s personal information. Educators, education service providers, advocates, and policymakers should embrace the opportunity to work with parents as partners in addressing these issues.
benton.org/headlines/new-survey-shows-parents-overwhelmingly-support-using-student-data-improve-education | Future of Privacy Forum | Future of Privacy Forum Survey
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

WHO'S BEHIND THOSE ANNOYING POLITICAL ADS?
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Newton Minow, Michael Copps]
[Commentary] After a summer dominated by Donald Trump, the only thing we know for certain about the 2016 election is that tons of money, including hundreds of millions of dollars from anonymous donors, will be poured into contests for president, Congress, governorships and down-ballot offices. Most of it will be used to pay for political advertising. In this age of unprecedented dark money, reform might seem hopeless. Thankfully, it isn’t. True, Capitol Hill hasn’t accomplished much in recent years, but the Federal Communications Commission can require effective “sponsorship identification” (SID) rules thanks to a little-known section of the Communications Act (Section 317). Imagine that: instead of being given the name of a nebulous political action committee at the end of each political or controversial issue commercial, voters might hear an on-air in the ad a list of the top four or five individual donors. The FCC exists to enforce the provisions of the Communications Act – all of them. It is time to act. The FCC can update its rules and put them into effect in plenty of time for the 2016 campaigns. But it needs to get on with this job right away.
[Minow served as chair of the Federal Communications Commission from 1961 to 1963. Copps served as FCC chair in 2009]
benton.org/headlines/whos-behind-those-annoying-political-ads | Hill, The
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

TELEVISION

WHAT'S BEHIND THE CONTINUING WAVE OF TELEVISION MERGERS?
[SOURCE: Poynter, AUTHOR: Rick Edmonds]
[Commentary] The recent deals in the local broadcast and cable industries have everything to do with scale and leverage in various contract negotiations. Besides the regular bonanza of political advertising, local television have been prospering as cable systems pay ever increasing retransmission fees. The bigger the station group the better deal it can strike. Todd Schurz, CEO of the family-owned firm, said the company’s stations, most of them top-rated in their markets were too small a group -- and not just for retransmission. Scale also matters, he said, “in negotiations with distributors -- networks and programs and with vendors too. When we looked to the future, we concluded we are no longer the best owners.” With cord-cutting and digital streaming on the increase, cable may not be quite the license to print money it was five years ago. But it remains a very profitable business with a sweet business model — both subscribers and advertisers willing to open their wallets.
benton.org/headlines/whats-behind-continuing-wave-television-mergers | Poynter
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

MERGER MUSCLE MIGHT HELP NETWORKS RESIST NETFLIX
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Jon Lafayette]
With the sale of Cablevision Systems and the acquisition of Time Warner Cable by Charter Communications getting closer to completion, the chatter is getting louder that programmers will have to merge to maintain leverage against consolidated distributors. In a report, Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson Research points to another adversary stronger programmers would be better able to stand up to: Netflix. “Cable networks consolidation could also lead to upside if the larger portfolios take a more thoughtful longer view on selling their content to subscription video on demand services,” Nathanson said. Smaller companies seem more likely to take the short-term earnings -- and resulting executive compensation -- that dealing with Netflix produces.
benton.org/headlines/merger-muscle-might-help-networks-resist-netflix | Broadcasting&Cable
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

SECURITY/PRIVACY

WEB MANDATE DROPPED
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee have abandoned an effort to force social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter to report instances of “terrorist activity” to the federal government. The decision from committee leaders comes after deep opposition from tech companies who had protested the measure as well as Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR), who blocked it from moving to the Senate floor. “Going after terrorist recruitment and activity online is a serious mission that demands a serious response from our law enforcement and intelligence agencies,” Sen Wyden said. “Social media companies aren’t qualified to judge which posts amount to ‘terrorist activity,’ and they shouldn’t be forced against their will to create a Facebook Bureau of Investigations to police their users’ speech.”
benton.org/headlines/spy-panel-drops-controversial-mandate-web-firms-amid-pressure | Hill, The | National Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

HEALTH

FINAL FEDERAL HEALTH IT STRATEGIC PLAN 2015-2020 RELEASED
[SOURCE: Department of Health and Human Services, AUTHOR: Press release]
The US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), in collaboration with over 35 federal partners, released the updated Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015–2020 (Plan). The final Plan represents the collective strategy of federal offices that use or influence the use of health information technology (health IT). The Plan’s work aims to improve the health IT infrastructure, help transform health care delivery, and improve individual and community health. The Plan sets a blueprint for the federal partners to implement strategies that will support the nation’s continued development of a responsive and secure health IT and information use infrastructure.
benton.org/headlines/final-federal-health-it-strategic-plan-2015-2020-released | Department of Health and Human Services | ONC Plan
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

STORIES FROM ABROAD

CHINESE CENSORSHIP
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Julie Makinen]
Chinese officials want to showcase technology as a bright spot of cooperation when President Xi Jinping travels to the United States. He will visit the Microsoft campus near Seattle for a forum of tech titans from both countries, but the discussion almost certainly will paper over an uncomfortable fact: Chinese government censorship is costing US tech companies billions of dollars in revenue — and the "Great Firewall" isn't likely to come down soon. Although the Great Firewall's free-speech ramifications are often discussed, its financial impact has received scant analysis. The economic repercussions of this protectionism could be most severe in California, home to the biggest US companies that have been cut off from China's netizens. The censorship shuts out the state's tech giants — Google, Facebook, Twitter — along with upstarts such as Snapchat, Dropbox, Ustream and Wordpress. How much the Communist Party's Great Firewall costs California companies is difficult to estimate, because the companies have not disclosed how much they believe they have lost. No industry trade association has put forth comprehensive figures. But basic number-crunching puts the forfeited sums and missed opportunities at billions of dollars a year as the number of Internet users in China has exploded to 668 million.
benton.org/headlines/chinese-censorship-costing-us-tech-firms-billions-revenue | Los Angeles Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top