BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2015 (Thanks for the ride, Cubs)
FCC Open Meeting Today. See the Agenda: https://www.benton.org/node/217853
INTERNET/BROADBAND
NTIA Sends Twenty-Fifth Quarterly Status Report to Congress Regarding BTOP - research
Hillary Clinton and Net Neutrality: Being pro-business doesn’t mean hanging consumers out to dry - Hillary Clinton op-ed
LEAP Broadband Library Program Targets Five States
Frontier: FCC's 10/1 Mbps Lifeline proposal could lock out rural customers [links to Benton summary]
CenturyLink brings 1 Gig service to Utah's Lehi and Park City businesses [links to Benton summary]
Comcast charging Atlanta customers $35 surcharge for unlimited cable broadband [links to Fortune]
USA Fiber Exec Explains Dark Fiber Peering [links to telecompetitor]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
OMB Unveils Major Rewrite of Federal IT Policy
Federal CIO Wants New Policy for Refreshing Aging Federal IT Systems [links to Benton summary]
The White House Releases New Strategy for American Innovation, Announces Areas of Opportunity from Self-Driving Cars to Smart Cities [links to White House, The]
PRIVACY/SECURITY
Homeland Security will now get warrants for Stingray surveillance
Law enforcement: Phone spying software not capable of collecting content
Editorial: Will China keep its cyber promises? [links to Washington Post]
Timothy Lee: The Senate's cybersecurity bill could make it easier for the NSA to spy on you [links to Vox]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Comcast Moves Closer to Offering Cell Service, Activates Deal With Verizon
Verizon is running out of spectrum but could get escape hatch by leasing Dish's airwaves, analysts say
Sprint Will Pay $2.95 Million Penalty to Settle FTC Charges It Violated Fair Credit Reporting Act [links to Federal Trade Commission]
Deutsche Telekom Said to Consider Sale of T-Mobile Netherlands to Fund Acquisition of US Spectrum [links to Bloomberg]
FCC Adopts Incentive Auction Channel Sharing Second Recon Order [links to Federal Communications Commission]
Verizon Capex Seen Favoring Wireless, Distributed Antenna System Vendors [links to Benton summary]
TELECOM
FCC to Publish Consumer Complaint Details to Deter Robocalls
FCC Fines Six Companies $30M for Deceptive Marketing of Calling Cards [links to Federal Communications Commission]
CONTENT
Couple sues Pandora and SiriusXM over copyright in pre-1972 songs [links to Ars Technica]
ADVERTISING
Advertisers May Suffer 'Political Crowd Out' as 2016 Elections Near [links to AdAge]
Report: For Every $3 Spent on Digital Ads, Fraud Takes $1 [links to AdAge]
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Hillary Clinton and Net Neutrality: Being pro-business doesn’t mean hanging consumers out to dry - op-ed
Advertisers May Suffer 'Political Crowd Out' as 2016 Elections Near [links to AdAge]
JOURNALISM
The Timothy McVeigh case and its impact on media law - CJR analysis [links to Benton summary]
DIVERSITY
Facebook's latest diversity strategy? Talking to moms and dads
POLICYMAKERS
US Deputy Chief Technology Officer Ryan Panchadsaram is leaving his White House post [links to nextgov]
COMPANY NEWS
Comcast Moves Closer to Offering Cell Service, Activates Deal With Verizon
CenturyLink brings 1 Gig service to Utah's Lehi and Park City businesses [links to Benton summary]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
What Really Sank Safe Harbor? - IAPP op-ed [links to Benton summary]
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
BTOP REPORT
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: ]
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration sent to Congress this Quarterly Report on the status of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. This Report focuses on the Program’s activities from January 1 to March 31, 2015 and the following areas of Program implementation and project oversight:
Program status and progress of broadband projects, including closeout efforts, extensions, and Program expenditures.
State Broadband Initiative, including the National Broadband Map and recipient progress.
Monitoring and grants administration for broadband projects and the results of those efforts.
benton.org/headlines/ntia-sends-twenty-fifth-quarterly-status-report-congress-regarding-btop | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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BEING PRO-BUSINESS DOESN'T MEAN HANGING CONSUMERS OUT TO DRY
[SOURCE: Quartz, AUTHOR: Hillary Clinton]
[Commentary] Monthly prices for high-speed broadband are far higher on average in some major American cities than in Toronto, London, and Tokyo. In part, that’s because most of our communities are subject to local monopolies for service. Three-quarters of US households have at most one option for purchasing the Internet service families now depend on for shopping, streaming, and doing homework. When alternatives do emerge, however, as they have in places like Kansas City (MO), prices go down and speeds go up. As president, I will take on this fight.
First, I will take steps to stop corporate concentration in any industry where it’s unfairly limiting competition. Closing loopholes and protecting other standards of free and fair competition -- like enforcing strong net neutrality rules and preempting state laws that unfairly protect incumbent businesses -- will keep more money in consumers’ wallets, enable startups to challenge the status quo, and allow small businesses to thrive.
[Hillary Clinton is the former Secretary of State, and is currently seeking the 2016 Democratic nomination for President]
benton.org/headlines/hillary-clinton-and-net-neutrality-being-pro-business-doesnt-mean-hanging-consumers-out | Quartz | The Hill
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LEAP BROADBAND LIBRARY PROGRAM TARGETS FIVE STATES
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
Five states will take part in a two-year initiative that aims to develop strategies to increase broadband capacity to local libraries. The Library E-rate Assessment Planning (LEAP) initiative, spearheaded by the American Library Association and the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA), will focus on Alaska, California, Iowa, Kentucky and North Dakota. The five states were chosen based on criteria such as a state-level commitment to increasing broadband capacity in state libraries, as well as a local environment conducive to developing “creative solutions replicable in other states.” Specific LEAP goals include:
Developing a broadband capacity vision and goals for each state
Developing a baseline assessment to identify barriers to increasing broadband capacity
Addressing the broadband capacity gap among libraries in each state, with a focus on reaching benchmarks adopted by the Federal Communications Commission
Developing tools for local libraries to successfully participate in the E-rate program
Documenting the impact of LEAP broadband library strategies on local library broadband capacity
benton.org/headlines/leap-broadband-library-program-targets-five-states | telecompetitor
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
OMB UNVEILS MAJOR REWRITE OF FEDERAL IT POLICY
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Jack Moore]
The White House unveiled a broad rewrite of the federal government’s strategy for buying, managing and securing agency IT systems. The Office of Management and Budget Circular A-130, as it’s known, hasn’t been significantly update since the pre-smartphone days of 2000. A 2014 update to federal cybersecurity legislation mandated an A-130 update. Federal Chief Information Officer Tony Scott and other federal officials announced the new policy. The updated guidance aims to “ensure that the federal IT ecosystem operates more securely and more efficiently while saving tax dollars and serving the needs of the American people,” the post stated. Scott, Office of Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Anne Rung and Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Howard Shelanski signed off on the draft of the new plan. The new policy lays out guidance for managing IT investments, improving information security practices and streamlining the process for acquiring new technology. The administration is taking comments on the plan for the next 30 days. A final version of the new policy is expected to released in December.
benton.org/headlines/omb-unveils-major-rewrite-federal-it-policy | nextgov
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PRIVACY/SECURITY
HOMELAND SECURITY WILL NOW GET WARRANTS FOR STINGRAY SURVEILLANCE
[SOURCE: The Verge, AUTHOR: Russell Brandom]
The Department of Homeland Security has a new, more constitutional policy for cell-site simulators, also known as Stingrays. Rolled out Oct 21, the new policy follows in the footsteps of the previously announced Justice Department policy, requiring explicit warrants for the deployment of the technology, except in exceptions already made by the Fourth Amendment or "exigent circumstances" like threats to human life or destruction of evidence. "As with any law enforcement capability, the Department of Homeland Security must use cell-site simulators in a manner that is consistent with the requirements and protections of the Constitution, including the Fourth Amendment," the policy reads. It's one of the few public acknowledgements that DHS is using the technology, which has remained shrouded secrecy despite being in use for more than 10 years.
benton.org/headlines/homeland-security-will-now-get-warrants-stingray-surveillance | Verge, The
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SOFTWARE NOT COLLECTING CONTENT
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
Officials from the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that cell phone spying technology used by federal law enforcement will not have the software capability to scoop up individuals' actual communications, like texts or pictures. The devices will not be configured to collect the actual content from people's phones. Justice Department lawyer Elana Tyrangiel said, "The kind of configuration we are talking about — [with] an understanding I am a lawyer and not a technologist — is the software configuration, not an 'on' and 'off' switch where someone could switch it on and off," she added. DHS lawyer Seth Stodder said: "I know for a fact that the cell site simulators that DHS uses do not collect content, and cannot collect content."
benton.org/headlines/law-enforcement-phone-spying-software-not-capable-collecting-content | Hill, The |
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
COMCAST MOVES CLOSER TO OFFERING CELL SERVICE, ACTIVATES DEAL WITH VERIZON
[SOURCE: Revere Digital, AUTHOR: Ina Fried]
Comcast is getting closer to entering the cellphone business. In recent months, the cable giant notified Verizon it intends to exercise its option to resell cellular service using the carrier’s network, apparently. Comcast and several other cable operators got the option several years back as part of a spectrum deal with Verizon. Verizon confirmed that at least one of the cable companies was exercising its option to tap Verizon’s network for a cellular service. “We have an existing [cellular service] agreement and we were informed that they are going to execute on that agreement,” Verizon CFO Fran Shammo said. One of the key questions is whether the companies are going to revise the years-old deal, which was crafted before data became the central part of cellphone service rather than voice minutes or texts. “I am not going to get into whether we are discussing revising the agreement or the terms and conditions of that since it’s under NDA and we will see how this plays out,” Shammo said. “Obviously, the industry is moving. Cable is going to do what they are going to do and we’re going to do what we’re going to do.”
benton.org/headlines/comcast-moves-closer-offering-cell-service-activates-deal-verizon | Revere Digital
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VERIZON IS RUNNING OUT OF SPECTRUM BUT COULD GET ESCAPE HATCH BY LEASING DISH'S AIRWAVES, ANALYSTS SAY
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Phil Goldstein]
Verizon Wireless is going to run out of spectrum over the next few years but could get a lifeline if it strikes a spectrum leasing agreement with Dish Network, according to a report from analysts at New Street Research. In a research note, New Street analysts Jonathan Chaplin, Spencer Kurn and Vivek Stalam repeated a contention they made in July that Verizon will run out of spectrum capacity in the next two to three years even if it refarms all of the spectrum it is currently using for 2G and code-division multiple access (CDMA) services. The analysts acknowledge that their "supply/demand analysis is inherently simplistic. Neither network engineers nor spectrum bands are created equal; Verizon has consistently delivered a better experience with fewer cell sites and less spectrum than peers. The analysis is intended to demonstrate that Verizon will run out of capacity before others will. If usage continues to grow, they will need significantly more spectrum or they will lose share."
benton.org/headlines/verizon-running-out-spectrum-could-get-escape-hatch-leasing-dishs-airwaves-analysts-say | Fierce
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TELECOM
FCC TO PUBLISH CONSUMER COMPLAIN DETAILS TO DETER ROBOCALLS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
To better crack down on unwanted robocalls and telemarketers, the Federal Communications Commission says it's going to publish the details of consumer complaints. The data will be used by phone companies to develop automated blocking services that can actively identify telemarketers and prevent them from ever reaching you in the first place. And it's fairly granular: The first data dump from the FCC includes information such as the phone number that originated the call, and the state in which it took place, as well as the kind of message the recipient got. Over time, these self-reported call records should help carriers pinpoint the source of annoying (and illegal) callers. Which means that if you get an unwanted junk call, you should definitely think about reporting it. Because now you have concrete proof that your complaint is being heard.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-publish-consumer-complaint-details-deter-robocalls | Washington Post
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DIVERSITY
FACEBOOK'S LATEST DIVERSITY STRATEGY? TALKING TO MOMS AND DADS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Tracey Lien]
The world’s largest social network, Facebook, has a new plan to tackle the tech industry’s lack of diversity: go after parents. Its latest initiative, TechPrep by Facebook, tries to get more students into the computer science and engineering pipeline by arming parents with basic resources to encourage their children in that direction. The initiative takes the form of a bilingual website (available in English and Spanish) that explains to parents what computer programming is and the career opportunities available to those in the tech industry. It also provides information on the years of study required and starting salary comparisons. According to Facebook’s global director of diversity, Maxine Williams, the company decided to pursue the project because data from advisory firm McKinsey & Co. showed that parents and guardians are top motivators in Latino and black communities, but lack of access and exposure to computer science know-how often served as a barrier to entry. Through TechPrep, Facebook is hoping to create a more inclusive pipeline that will, in time, enter the tech workforce.
benton.org/headlines/facebooks-latest-diversity-strategy-talking-moms-and-dads | Los Angeles Times | Washington Post
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