BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015 (Magic number still 8)
Who Owns the Broadband Pipes and Who Gets Service: Robbie's Round-Up
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Opening Bid Prices for FCC Reverse Auction Announced - public notice
Decision Time on the Incentive Auction - FCC press release
How next year's wireless auction could give T-Mobile a shot in the arm
Sprint to throttle “unlimited data” after customers use 23GB per month
PATENTS
Apple Ordered to Pay $234 Million in Patent Lawsuit [links to Wall Street Journal]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Are Verizon and AT&T ‘locking up’ the market for business Internet? The FCC will investigate.
Sens Tester, Daines and FCC Chairman push for more broadband
Utah Effect: Why the state has faster Internet than most of the nation — especially Idaho
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Inmate phone providers threaten legal action over new rules
CONTENT
Google’s Digital Library Wins Court of Appeals Ruling
SURVEILLANCE/SECURITY
Targeted Surveillance, Civil Rights, and the Fight for Democracy - Malkia Cyril speech
Computer and Communications Industry Association comes out against CISA [links to Hill, The]
HEALTH
‘Most-Connected Hospitals’ List [links to US News and World Report]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
GSA Now Taking Bids on $50 Billion Telecom Contract [links to nextgov]
POLICYMAKERS
FCC’s Consumer Bureau Chief Appoints Open Internet Ombudsperson - press release
FCC Chairman Wheeler Names Twelve Members to the Board of Directors of the Universal Service Administrative Company - public notice [links to Benton summary]
FCC Seeks Nominations for Six Board Member Positions on the Universal Service Administrative Company Board of Directors - public notice [links to Benton summary]
US Patent and Trademark Office Opens New Regional Office in Silicon Valley to Empower Entrepreneurs and Create Local Jobs [links to Department of Commerce]
Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker Awarded Trade Leadership in the Digital Age Award From National Foreign Trade Council [links to Department of Commerce]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
EU privacy regulators give EU, US three months to find new data pact [links to Benton summary]
Protect the Open Internet from Incursion by Trade Agency, Advocates Tell Administration - Public Knowledge
Russian Hackers of Dow Jones Said to Have Sought Trading Tips [links to Benton summary]
IBM Allows Chinese Government to Review Source Code [links to Benton summary]
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
OPENING BID PRICES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
The Federal Communications Commission’s Incentive Auction Task Force and the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau released the opening bid prices for each full power and Class A station eligible to participate in the reverse auction (Auction 1001). To participate in the reverse auction, a full power or Class A broadcast television licensee must file an application during the filing window specified in the Auction 1000 Application Procedures Public Notice. The filing window for the reverse auction will open at noon ET on December 1, 2015, and close at 6:00 p.m. ET on December 18, 2015. The application must be submitted prior to the closing of the filing window. Late applications will not be accepted. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said, “For potential Incentive Auction participants, today is a watershed moment. For all practical purposes, we’ve fired the starting gun: the release of final opening bid prices – combined with the detailed application procedures and other data released yesterday – provides broadcasters with all of the information they need to decide whether to apply to participate in the auction. Stations that miss the December 18th deadline will not be able to participate in this historic auction. Commission staff stand ready to educate and assist applicants as they prepare.”
benton.org/headlines/opening-bid-prices-fcc-reverse-auction-announced | Federal Communications Commission | Application Procedures PN | Reverse Auction Opening Prices | FCC Chairman Wheeler
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DECISION TIME ON THE INCENTIVE AUCTION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Gary Epstein, Howard Symons]
Oct 16 wraps up an important week for the Incentive Auction with the release of two critical items: the Application Procedures Public Notice and the final opening bid prices for broadcast stations. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler called this a “watershed moment” for auction participants, and he’s exactly right. Broadcasters and potential forward auction participants now have in their hands all of the information they will need to decide whether to participate in the auction. We have set 6 p.m. on December 18, 2015, as the date by which interested broadcasters must file their applications; forward auction bidders must file by 6 p.m. on January 28, 2016. After years of planning and deliberations, this thing is real.
benton.org/headlines/decision-time-incentive-auction | Federal Communications Commission
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T-MOBILE AND SPECTRUM AUCTION
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Marguerite Reardon]
T-Mobile has found itself in an unlikely position, one that bodes well for its prospects in next year's government auction of wireless spectrum. T-Mobile, Sprint and a cavalcade of regional carriers spent the past two years lobbying for the Federal Communications Commission to set aside a swath of spectrum specifically for smaller players. Spectrum is the radio airwaves that ferry voice calls, text messages and cat videos to our smartphones. With that reserve in place, it appears T-Mobile may be the only player still interested. Sprint said it would skip the auction, and some regional carriers now appear gun-shy as well. It's unclear whether Google, satellite TV provider Dish Network or cable companies will participate. It's a surprising turn for the auction, which could shake up the wireless industry by giving more players access to the kind of low-band spectrum that can cover wider distances and improve in-building coverage.
benton.org/headlines/how-next-years-wireless-auction-could-give-t-mobile-shot-arm | C-Net|News.com
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SPRINT TO THROTTLE
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
Sprint will throttle speeds for "unlimited data" customers after they use 23GB in a month. Sprint noted that what it calls "prioritization" will apply "only in times and locations where the network is constrained," so customers should still be able to use their phones at normal speeds most of the time. The policy appears to affect only customers who sign up for unlimited data plans from now on and customers who "upgrade their handset on or after October 16 and remain on an existing unlimited data plan." The throttling will apply for the remainder of the monthly billing cycle after the customer uses 23GB. While customers may have their data rates slowed, paying for unlimited data allows them to escape overage charges. Sprint CTO John Saw explained that the system "is intended to protect against a small minority of unlimited customers who use high volumes of data and unreasonably take up network resources during times when the network is constrained." About three percent of postpaid subscribers are using a disproportionate amount of data, he wrote.
benton.org/headlines/sprint-throttle-unlimited-data-after-customers-use-23gb-month | Ars Technica
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
SPECIAL ACCESS PROBE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
The Federal Communications Commission announced a probe into the $40 billion market for business broadband, responding to accusations by Sprint, Level 3 and others that large Internet providers — chiefly AT&T and Verizon — have tried to lock up the market for high-speed data connections powering everything from ATMs to credit card readers to Web connections at offices, universities and libraries. The agency plans to examine the terms and conditions of contracts worth roughly $20 billion for "special access" services. It won't investigate the prices large incumbents charge to rivals and business customers, but AT&T warned in a statement that the FCC's probe could lead to the agency directly regulating the prices it and other companies could charge for business broadband. Among the practices the FCC will look into? Contracts that last as long as 7 to 10 years, which critics say suppresses competition by making it impossible for would-be challengers to lure those customers away. Also, high fees that allegedly deter business customers from switching providers or canceling service, because it would be more expensive to do so than to continue paying for service. The investigation, according to an FCC official, will also consider so-called "percentage commitments." These deals force companies to buy a certain amount of their total broadband service from a given provider — or face penalties or restrictions.
benton.org/headlines/are-verizon-and-att-locking-market-business-internet-fcc-will-investigate | Washington Post | Multichannel News
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MONTANA BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Great Falls Tribune, AUTHOR: Kristen Cates]
With laptops and tablets for all elementary students and the support of local Internet providers, the students at Fairfield Elementary School are faring pretty well when it comes to Internet accessibility. But as Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, Montana's senators, school officials and providers discussed, only 49 percent of Montana's public schools have access to high-speed Internet. "Fairfield was a school that was an early adopter (of technology) and worked diligently," said Kirk Miller, executive director of School Administrators of Montana. "That isn't the case with much of the rest of Montana." According to a report given to the Montana Legislature's interim economic affairs committee in August, only 13 percent of Montanans have access to Internet with speeds of 25 megabits per second, compared with 83 percent of the U.S. population, according to a 2014 report from the FCC.
benton.org/headlines/sens-tester-daines-and-fcc-chairman-push-more-broadband | Great Falls Tribune
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UTAH’S BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Salt Lake Tribune, AUTHOR: Matt Canham]
Believe it or not, Utah has the highest Internet speeds in the Intermountain West and among the highest in the nation, while Idaho is at the other end of the spectrum. The difference, according to experts, comes down to competition among Internet providers, government investment and a population packed tightly. "One of the things Utah has done to set us apart is the level of collaboration between public and private," said Kelleigh Cole, the broadband outreach director for the state of Utah. As an example, she said the Utah Department of Transportation works with Internet service providers to install fiber during construction, and if a partner isn't available, the state will install conduits it will later exchange for other services. The Utah Education and Telehealth Network (UETN) also helps schools districts get federal grants to boost Internet availability, allowing more students to do more online in a given classroom. This coordinated effort means high-speed service can reach even the state's more far-flung places.
benton.org/headlines/utah-effect-why-state-has-faster-internet-most-nation-especially-idaho | Salt Lake tribune
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS
INMATE PHONE PROVIDERS THREATEN LEGAL ACTION
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
The largest players in the prison pay phone industry made a last-minute blitz against a set of regulatory changes that they predict will have a "devastating" effect on their business. In meetings and letters to the Federal Communications Commission, the industry leaders threatened legal action if the rules to cap inmate phone rates are not changed before a vote Oct 22. "Representatives of the various parties reiterated that their companies would suffer irreparable, immediate harm under the regulatory approach described in the fact sheet, and further forecast that this harm would be sufficient to support a stay of the order in court," three industry leaders wrote in a filing after a call with commission staff. Rather than taking specific issue with the price caps, the companies have targeted another portion of the order dealing with so-called kickbacks that they generally pay prisons to house the phones. The companies outlined a detailed set of changes and issued a sort of ultimatum — promising to "not seek judicial review" if the commission bends.
benton.org/headlines/inmate-phone-providers-threaten-legal-action-over-new-rules | Hill, The
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CONTENT
GOOGLE WINS COURT CASE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Alexandra Alter]
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that Google’s effort to build a digital library of millions of books was “fair use” and did not infringe on the copyrights of authors. “The purpose of the copying is highly transformative, the public display of text is limited, and the revelations do not provide a significant market substitute for the protected aspects of the originals,” Judge Pierre N. Leval wrote, explaining the court’s decision. The ruling affirmed a decision that was reached two years ago in a lower court. In that case, the court rejected the claims by the Authors Guild, a writers’ organization, that Google’s book scanning project is a commercial venture that violates authors’ copyrights and drives down sales by making portions of their work available online free. This week’s court decision is the latest blow for the Authors Guild, which has been fighting Google for a decade. A representative of the Authors Guild said the group planned to take the case to the Supreme Court. “America owes its thriving literary culture to copyright protection,” said Mary Rasenberger, executive director of the Authors Guild in New York. “We are very disheartened that the court was unable to understand the grave impact that this decision, if left standing, could have on copyright incentives and, ultimately, our literary heritage.’’
benton.org/headlines/googles-digital-library-wins-court-appeals-ruling | New York Times | USA Today | WSJ | ALA | Public Knowledge
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SURVEILLANCE/SECURITY
SURVEILLANCE AND CIVIL RIGHTS
[SOURCE: Center for Media Justice, AUTHOR: Malkia Cyril]
The decentralized power of the Internet has made much of this moment possible. But I ask myself, will the technology serve a future of equity and democracy? Will it fuel a new era of civil action, a renaissance of human rights? Or will it drive a widening wealth gap, a more militarized state, a political economy characterized by structural inequality and persistent discrimination? I submit that the answer to that question is up to you. Look around, see who is and who is not in this room. On the one hand, this digital age and era of big data holds extraordinary promise for all of us. It allows us to reach into parts of the world we never could before, learn in seconds what might have taken months or years. But, while these technological advances may speed and ease what this nation and economy can do, the issue at hand is what we will do.
benton.org/headlines/targeted-surveillance-civil-rights-and-fight-democracy | Center for Media Justice
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POLICYMAKERS
FCC’S CONSUMER BUREAU CHIEF APPOINTS NEXT OMBUDSPERSON
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief Alison Kutler appointed Michael A. Janson to serve as the next Open Internet ombudsperson, the public’s primary point of contact within the agency for formal and informal questions and complaints related to the Open Internet rules. Janson succeeds Parul Desai who will return to her previous position as an attorney advisor within the FCC’s Audio
Division in the Media Bureau, where she will lead outreach efforts. During her tenure as the agency’s first ombudsperson, Desai helped establish protocols and systems for managing incoming questions and for helping move concerns toward resolution. The Open Internet rules established “an ombudsperson to assist consumers, businesses, and organizations with open Internet complaints and questions by ensuring these parties have effective access to the Commission’s processes that protect their interests.” The establishment of the ombudsperson position came as a result of suggestions from a wide array of commenters during the Open Internet proceedings. The FCC’s ombudsperson helps ensure that small and often unrepresented groups reach the appropriate bureaus and offices to address specific issues of concern.
benton.org/headlines/fccs-consumer-bureau-chief-appoints-open-internet-ombudsperson | Federal Communications Commission
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
OPEN INTERNET AND TRADE
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Shiva Stella]
Public Knowledge and 11 other organizations submitted comments to the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Danny Marti, urging the Obama Administration’s chief intellectual property official to protect the Open Internet from a federal trade agency’s overreaching attempts to block data transmissions. Signatories include R Street Institute, EFF, The Harry Potter Alliance, Engine Advocacy and others representing a broad spectrum of consumer, business and public interests. The comments responded to last year's decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission to block Internet data transmissions on the theory that those transmissions were acts of "importation" regulable by the Tariff Act of 1930. Concerned with the potential widespread effects on Internet freedom if the ITC maintained power to block information, the comments ask Marti to intervene appropriately in the ITC's future decisions.
benton.org/headlines/protect-open-internet-incursion-trade-agency-advocates-tell-administration | Public Knowledge
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