BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015 (8)
Small Business & Emerging Technologies Fair in NYC https://www.benton.org/calendar/2015-10-16
FCC AGENDA
FCC Confirms Oct 22 Meeting Agenda - public notice
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Battling to become gigacities
Cities combat state laws in the quest for faster, cheaper Internet
Want fast Internet? Move to Chattanooga [links to Hill, The]
Video: Building the gigabit economy [links to Washington Post]
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai on Promoting Broadband Deployment throughout America - press release
Verizon: Cable monopoly, property access hampered its New York City FiOS build
Nearly 200 School District Superintendents Urge FCC to Modernize Lifeline Program to Help Close the “Homework Gap” - press release
Advertisers admit it: ‘We messed up’ the Web
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Senators praise FCC for prison calling proposal [links to Benton summary]
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
Nonprofits using WiMAX sue Sprint, alleging violation of contracts ahead of network shutdown
Twenty-one Verizon LTE in Rural America (LRA) participants have launched their 4G LTE service [links to Verizon]
PATENTS
University Seeking $400 Million From Apple in Patent Dispute [links to Bloomberg]
OWNERSHIP
Is Change Here to Stay? - op-ed
Altice Files Cablevision Deal With FCC
ACA: Charter-TWC Deal Needs Strong Conditions [links to Benton summary]
Meredith: Media General Can Study Nexstar Bid [links to TVNewsCheck]
Karmazin: Much More Media Ownership Consolidation Needed [links to Benton summary]
PRIVACY/SECURITY
US Firms Fight Global Cyberweapon Deal
Bipartisan Senate and House Tech Leaders Press Commerce Department, FTC on Need to Protect Data Flows in Wake of European ‘Safe Harbor’ Ruling - press release [links to Benton summary]
OPM: ‘There’s No Way’ to Isolate Background Check Systems from the Internet [links to nextgov]
Researchers show how mass decryption is well within the NSA's $11 billion budget [links to Ars Technica]
The Drone Papers: Docs Expose Obama’s Drone Wars [links to Intercept, The]
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
Why National CineMedia Is Saying 'No' to All Political Advertising [links to AdWeek]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Can social media change the way lawmakers connect with constituents?
CONTENT
Advertisers admit it: ‘We messed up’ the Web
Finding ‘Who’ and ‘Where’ Within the Sports Cyber-Betting Universe [links to New York Times]
Street Artists Infiltrate ‘Homeland’ With Subversive Graffiti [links to New York Times]
Comcast to Launch Seeso, a Comedy-Focused Subscription Video Service [links to Wall Street Journal]
24 words that mean totally different things now than they did pre-Internet [links to Washington Post]
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FCC AGENDA
OCT 22 AGENDA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Thursday, October 22, 2015. Here’s the agenda. The FCC will consider:
A Report and Order and Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would adopt comprehensive reform of intrastate, interstate, and international Interstate Inmate Calling (ICS) calls to ensure just, reasonable and fair ICS rates, and seek comment on additional measures the Commission could take to ensure that interstate and intrastate ICS are provided consistent with the statute and public interest.
A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would streamline the foreign ownership review process for broadcast licensees and applicants, and standardize the review process for broadcast, common carrier and aeronautical licensees and applicants.
A Report and Order addressing when and in what areas 600 MHz Band wireless licensees will be deemed to “commence operations” for the purposes of establishing when the secondary and unlicensed users must cease operations and vacate the 600 MHz Band in those areas.
A Third Report & Order and First Order on Reconsideration that adopts rules to govern interservice interference between broadcast television stations and wireless licensees in the 600 MHz Band following the incentive auction and sets out protection criteria for television stations and wireless operations in the band.
A Second Order on Reconsideration to provide additional flexibility to broadcasters interested in the incentive auction channel sharing option by clarifying that “back-up” channel sharing agreements are permitted under the rules and providing more time for successful incentive auction bidders to transition to shared facilities after the auction.
A Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on whether to modify, in part, the four-year compensation rate plan for video relay service (VRS) and whether to adopt measures that may enhance the functional equivalence of VRS. In the same item, the Commission will consider an Order to modify, in part, the currently applicable VRS compensation rates pending action on the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes to create new flexible use service rules in certain bands above 24 GHz to support multiple uses, including mobile wireless.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-confirms-oct-22-meeting-agenda | Federal Communications Commission
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
BATTLING TO BECOME GIGACITIES
[SOURCE: Aljazeera, AUTHOR: Kristyn Martin]
Amid concerns in some markets that big telecoms and cable companies are providing service that is too slow and too expensive, some cities are starting their own Internet services, spending millions of dollars to bring super-high-speed, or gigabit, Internet service to their communities through a new fiber-optic infrastructure. Proponents call it the single most important piece of infrastructure of the 21st century, attracting businesses, bolstering education and raising property values. But it’s a layer of competition the telecom giants don’t support. The industry says it shouldn’t have to compete against a government entity and are pulling out all the stops to prevent these cities from going gig — suing them and even influencing restrictive laws in 19 states. One place this battle has materialized is Chattanooga, Tennessee.
benton.org/headlines/battling-become-gigacities | Aljazeera
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CITIES COMBAT STATE LAWS
[SOURCE: Aljazeera, AUTHOR: Kristyn Martin]
Across the US, cities are deciding to compete with cable and telecom giants and invest in the latest technology for superfast Internet: fiber optics. It’s called gigabit Internet. Almost 90 cities have it — provided through the local electric utility or in partnership with a private company. It’s changing the landscape. Competition is thriving. Incumbent providers are lowering their prices and increasing speeds in cities with the service. But the giants are striking back — through litigation or by working with lawmakers — on the grounds that it is unfair to have to compete with a city-owned business, funded by taxpayer dollars. There are 19 states that have laws on the books that restrict or prohibit city-led broadband. One of those states with restrictive laws is Tennessee, where utilities that provide high-speed Internet service may not expand past their service areas. This poses a problem for rural areas like Tennessee’s Bradley County, just 30 miles east of Chattanooga. Country roads lead to a picturesque landscape of grazing cattle and cornfields. But its Internet landscape — that’s a different story.
benton.org/headlines/cities-combat-state-laws-quest-faster-cheaper-internet | Aljazeera
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PAI ON BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai]
The American government needs to embrace the IP transition. Consumers and private enterprise already have done so, recognizing that next-generation technologies such as optical fiber and wireless broadband offer higher quality, more efficient services than the old twisted copper pairs of yesteryear. Over the past two days, I have had the opportunity to visit two companies that are working to deploy these technologies to all Americans. And I learned there just how important the IP Transition is for every citizen, and how regulatory policy can promote or impede broadband deployment.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-commissioner-ajit-pai-promoting-broadband-deployment-throughout-america | Federal Communications Commission
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NYC FIOS
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Sean Buckley]
Verizon told the New York City Council during a hearing that it has met its obligations of homes passed with FTTH and that property owner disputes have hampered its ability to reach a number of potential customers. Verizon told city councilors that one of the key challenges it has faced in delivering service to more customers is getting permission from property owners and landlords to extend its fiber network infrastructure into their facilities. Unlike the cable operators, which were able to enjoy a monopoly on the city's video services markets, Verizon has faced a number of uncooperative building owners. "The incumbents likely faced far less opposition from apartment building owner/managers than Verizon now faces," Verizon said. "This is because a building that denied access to the incumbents would not receive any cable television service at that time, whereas residents in buildings that deny access to Verizon today will in most cases simply not have the benefit of a second provider in the building." Verizon said that requests for FiOS service were delayed or turned down because it could not get access to the property. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/headlines/verizon-cable-monopoly-property-access-hampered-its-new-york-city-fios-build | Fierce | ars technica
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LIFELINE SUPPORT
[SOURCE: Alliance for Excellent Education, AUTHOR: Press release]
Nearly 200 school district superintendents urged the Federal Communications Commission to modernize the Lifeline program in an attempt to help close the “homework gap,” through a letter organized by the Alliance for Excellent Education and the Leading Education by Advancing Digital (LEAD) Commission. The district leaders asked that Lifeline—which served more than 12 million households last year with discounted monthly telephone service—provide affordable, high-quality broadband service for low-income families so that students are able to access the internet at home.
benton.org/headlines/nearly-200-school-district-superintendents-urge-fcc-modernize-lifeline-program-help-close | Alliance for Excellent Education | The Hill
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
NONPROFITS SUE SPRINT
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Phil Goldstein]
Sprint is facing a lawsuit from two nonprofit groups that have been providing mobile WiMAX Internet service to low-income students and families. The groups allege that they had been offering unlimited WiMAX service to more than 300,000 customers. With Sprint's impending shutdown of the legacy Clearwire WiMAX network in Nov 2015, Mobile Beacon and Mobile Citizen are being pushed to accept LTE data service that will throttle the speeds of customers after they hit a cap of 6 GB of data, in violation of their contract with Sprint. Mobile Beacon and Mobile Citizen filed the lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston and claimed they serve 429 schools, 61 libraries and 1,820 nonprofits who are dependent on the WiMAX service for Internet access. "However, our customers tell us that the benefits of one modem have a multiplier effect," said Kristen Perry, a spokeswoman for Voqal, the parent organization of Mobile Citizen.
benton.org/headlines/nonprofits-using-wimax-sue-sprint-alleging-violation-contracts-ahead-network-shutdown | Fierce | ars technica
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OWNERSHIP
IS CHANGE HERE TO STAY?
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Michael Copps]
[Commentary] A barrage of consolidation proposals flooding the FCC and the Department of Justice since April proves that “consolidation mania” is alive and well—and actually accelerating. What we are witnessing is a game of steady monopolization of broadband markets across the land and a tit-for-tat consolidation in cable and broadcast for control over programming. Wall Street is profiting from all the jousting for position, the media follows it as a spectator sport among industry behemoths, and the public interest—things like consumer prices, a truly Open Internet, diversity of content, and real competition—well, it just plain hemorrhages. Let’s briefly look at just two of the merger transactions currently being discussed.
https://www.benton.org/blog/change-here-stay
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ALTICE-CABLEVISION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Altice has officially filed its application with the Federal Communications Commission to buy Cablevision, telling the FCC the deal has no anticompetitive issues, will reduce vertical integration of programming and distribution, and should get expeditious treatment. The FCC will still have to establish protective orders for how to deal with sensitive information, and set a comment cycle, but the deal is now in front of the commission officially, including the public interest statement. Altice is also trying to buy Suddenlink, a deal it announced in June. The combination of Suddenlink's 1.5 million subs — Altice's first proposed U.S. broadband video play — combined with Cablevision's 3.5 million would make it the fourth largest cable operator in the US.
benton.org/headlines/altice-files-cablevision-deal-fcc | Broadcasting&Cable
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SECURITY
CYBERWEAPON DEAL
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Damian Paletta]
An international effort to prevent cyberweapons from reaching malicious regimes is at risk of coming apart amid objections from US companies who claim it would upend the way they use and sell legitimate spyware. In the wake of the Arab Spring uprising, the US and 40 other nations decided that virtual weapons should be subject to the same export control rules that have been used on heavy or unconventional weaponry like tanks and chemical weapons. But as the rules are still being written, it appears that cyber arms control is proving even harder than the traditional kind. A central problem: Officials can’t agree on the legal distinction between nefarious computer programs that spy on networks and the software that helps companies avoid hackers. Some believe there is no distinction. The debate has become so tangled that US officials are considering whether to ask the 40 other countries involved—including Russia, France, and the UK—to rework the proposal, potentially delaying its implementation by at least a year.
benton.org/headlines/us-firms-fight-global-cyberweapon-deal | Wall Street Journal
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
SOCIAL CONGRESS
[SOURCE: Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Max Lewontin]
The Congressional Management Foundation released survey results finding that on social media, a relatively small number of comments can grab the attention of lawmakers and their staff. Less than 30 comments on a lawmaker’s own post on sites like Facebook and Twitter would prompt congressional staff to pay attention, 80 percent of staffers said. The key ingredient in prompting a response? Time. While 54 percent of the staffers said they would review comment posted 6 hours ago, only 23 percent said they would review a comment older than a week. Less than 10 comments would prompt action from 35 percent of the 116 House and Senate staff surveyed, buoyed by lawmakers’ growing use of social media. Twenty-five percent of those surveyed said it didn’t matter how old the comments were, they would still review them, though it’s unclear what action would result. The report’s authors pointed to the power of social media to connect lawmakers more directly with their constituents.
benton.org/headlines/can-social-media-change-way-lawmakers-connect-constituents | Christian Science Monitor | read the report
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CONTENT
ADVERTISERS MESSED UP THE WEB
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
The Interactive Advertising Bureau, a top trade group for advertisers, is apologizing for having "messed up" the Web. The systems that allowed marketers to track and target advertisements "have slowed down the public internet and drained more than a few batteries," said Scott Cunningham, senior vice president of technology at the Interactive Advertising Bureau. "We were so clever and so good at it that we over-engineered the capabilities of the plumbing laid down by, well, ourselves." As a result, companies such as Apple, Facebook and Google have developed their own coping mechanisms. Apple offers consumers news content in its Apple News app, bypassing the public Web. Facebook's Instant Articles, which allow publishers to partner with Facebook so their content loads more quickly, follows the same logic. And Google's Accelerated Mobile Pages project tries to strip Web sites of all but their most essential code, enhancing efficiency. Many of these efforts have frightened publishers and other content companies that rely on advertising for revenue. And now that anxiety appears to be infecting advertisers themselves. In response, IAB says it's launching a LEAN ads program — for Light, Encrypted, Ad-choice supported and Non-invasive. Essentially, what IAB is promising are guidelines for friendlier, more secure advertisements. For beleaguered consumers who are looking for a respite from the barrage of low-quality ads online, this could be a promising first step.
benton.org/headlines/advertisers-admit-it-we-messed-web | Washington Post | Interactive Advertising Bureau
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