BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015
First Responder Network Authority Board Meeting and New America Foundation Panel "Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens" -- https://www.benton.org/calendar
TELECOM
Another Step Toward Fairness in Inmate Calling Services - FCC Commissioner Clyburn press release
Fact Sheet: Ensuring Just, Reasonable, and Fair Rates for Inmate Calling Services - Fact Sheet
Breaking the Cycle of Prison Poverty One Phone Call at a Time - FCC Commissioner Clyburn speech [links to Benton summary]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
2015 E-Rate Funding Decisions Update from the Universal Service Administration Company - press release
Lifeline: Bringing Broadband into the 21st Century - PK press release [links to Benton summary]
NTIA’s Strickling on Economic and Social Benefits of an Open Internet - speech [links to Benton summary]
Statewide Fiber Networks Interconnect, Enhancing Ethernet Offerings [links to Benton summary]
Can the Internet hear me now? - GigaOm analysis
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Senators press Defense and intelligence officials on rules of war for cyberspace at Armed Forces Committee hearing
In Cyber-Heavy Week, Lawmakers Grill Obama Officials [links to Benton summary]
Why Microsoft's data access case matters to everyone on the Internet - op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Nationwide 'Suspicious Activity' Files Now Document Sketchy Online Activity [links to Benton summary]
Coalition of tech companies and civil liberties groups petition the White House to oppose guaranteed access to encrypted data [links to Hill, The]
The 9-Point Federal Plan to Kill Cyberattacks With Mobile [links to nextgov]
Who's Really in Charge of Federal Cybersecurity And Is It Time For A White House CISO? [links to Benton summary]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Sirius, T-Mobile Spat Over Airwave Interference
NAB Blats FCC's White Space Plan [links to TVNewsCheck]
Competitive Carriers Association Members Likely Incentive Auction Players [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Sprint to Hike Unlimited Data Plan Costs by $10 Starting Oct. 16 [links to Revere Digital]
Apple’s iPhone 6s Plus Costs an Estimated $236 to Make -- $749 to Purchase [links to Revere Digital]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
A Lifesaving Smartphone App Inspired by a Brush With Tragedy
New Research Details Ways to Improve Voice Quality of Emergency Communications - press release [links to Benton summary]
CONTENT
Adblock Plus to Allow Independent Board to Decide Which Ads Are `Acceptable’
NYTimes Writer Puts Mobile Ad Blockers to the Test [links to New York Times]
How Many Websites Are There? About A Billion [links to Atlantic, The]
EDUCATION
How TV Can Make Kids Better Readers [links to National Public Radio]
JOURNALISM
AP to expand data-driven journalism with $400,000 from Knight Foundation - press release [links to Benton summary]
How The Associated Press is using automation to rethink the way it does news [links to Poynter]
For ultra-Orthodox newspapers, women and the Web present growing challenges [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
DIVERSITY
Tech Companies Try to Make More Room for Women [links to Wall Street Journal]
Sheryl Sandberg: When Women Get Stuck, Corporate America Gets Stuck [links to Wall Street Journal]
PATENTS
Google, Microsoft Resolve Patent Fight Over Phones, Xbox [links to Bloomberg]
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
CNBC Says next Republican presidential debate will have stricter polling criteria for inclusion [links to New York Times]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
3 Hillary Clinton Emails Deemed ‘Secret’ in State Dept. Review of 6,300 Pages [links to New York Times]
Hillary Clinton Emails Had a Two-Month Gap [links to Wall Street Journal]
Twitter Has A 136-Page Handbook For Politicians. It's Hilarious [links to National Public Radio]
Secret Service official suggested a leak to embarrass Rep. Chaffetz [links to Los Angeles Times]
LOBBYING
Cable Companies Enlist Local Charities to Lobby for Mega-Merger
POLICYMAKERS
With Librarian of Congress Stepping Down, An Opportunity to Bring the LOC into the Digital Age
COMPANY NEWS
New TiVo DVR will skip through entire commercial break [links to Associated Press]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
EU to Rule on European, US Data Pact in Early October
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TELECOM
ANOTHER STEP TOWARD FAIRNESS IN INMATE CALLING SERVICES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn]
On Sept 30, Chairman Wheeler and I circulated an Order that would establish a reasonable rate structure for all inmate calls, regardless of where they originate and terminate, and limit costly fees that drive up the price families pay to stay in touch with their loved ones. The FCC’s rate caps would fully accommodate the security requirements of inmate calling. These caps also would provide sufficient revenue for correctional institutions to recover the costs of providing calling service and a fair return for providers while delivering reasonable rates for inmates and their families. Additionally, the Order would put in place a process by which the FCC will continue to collect and monitor data on rates and fees, and consider whether to revisit and further adjust these reforms based on the evolution of the market. This action will protect some of society’s most vulnerable people from being taken advantage of, while strengthening families. I look forward to working with my colleagues to take another major step forward in this journey which began more than a decade ago.
benton.org/headlines/another-step-toward-fairness-inmate-calling-services | Federal Communications Commission
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FACT SHEET: ENSURING JUST, REASONABLE, AND FAIR RATES FOR INMATE CALLING SERVICES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn ask their fellow commissioners to consider an item that will ensure that the rates for inmate calling services (ICS) are just, reasonable, and fair for all types of calls: local, long distance, and international. Under the leadership of Commissioner Clyburn as acting chair, in 2013 the FCC capped interstate calling rates, reining in high rates for long-distance calls across state lines. Now, in partnership with Commissioner Clyburn, Chairman Wheeler is proposing to cap rates for ALL ICS calls -- local, long distance, and international -- while limiting or banning excessive fees on calls. These new caps reduce the average rates for the vasts majority of inmate calls substantially, from $2.96 to no more than $1.65 for a 15-minute intrastate call, and from $3.15 to no more than $1.65 for a 15-minute interstate call.
benton.org/headlines/fact-sheet-ensuring-just-reasonable-and-fair-rates-inmate-calling-services | Federal Communications Commission
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
CAN THE INTERNET HEAR ME NOW?
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Brian Hall]
[Commentary] For the past two decades, the web has been optimized for sight and touch. This is about to change in a big way. Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, and the Amazon Echo are ushering in an era of voice-controlled devices and services. Soon, Facebook M will join the fray. These digital assistants all reveal the beginnings of a transformation within the Internet. We will increasingly interact with the web and all it contains primarily using our voice. There’s one glaring problem with this brave new world: as the Internet of Things talks back to us, much of what it has to say will be for our ears only. How do we keep these conversations private and personal? Answer: With hearables. I spoke to several in the budding hearables industry. All, no surprise, are big believers in the technology. There was probably a time when we might all fret over the intrusiveness of a voice speaking directly into our ear. But with Siri and Cortana becoming more commonplace, and with a billion people constantly staring into their smartphones, the idea of the web inside our ear may actually be long overdue.
benton.org/headlines/can-internet-hear-me-now | GigaOm
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SECURITY/PRIVACY
SENATORS PRESS DEFENSE AND INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS ON RULES OF WAR FOR CYBERSPACE AT ARMED FORCES COMMITTEE HEARING
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Kaveh Waddell]
A week after President Barack Obama announced an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping to limit corporate espionage -- a tentative step toward setting up norms of state behavior on the Internet -- a panel of Senators on Sept 29 urged cybersecurity officials in the Defense Department to go further in establishing clear rules of war for cyberattacks. As members of the Senate Armed Forces Committee pushed for a more clearly delineated cyber policy -- and better follow-through to make US intentions clear -- the committee's Chairman, Sen John McCain (R-AZ), suggested the lack of such policy is illegal. In a heated exchange, Chairman McCain pressed Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work on his department's progress in developing an "integrated policy" for cybersecurity, a task Congress assigned the department in the fiscal year 2014 Defense reauthorization bill. Chairman McCain said, "We have not got a policy, and for you to sit there and tell me that you do -- a 'broad-strokes strategy' -- frankly is not in compliance with the law."
benton.org/headlines/senators-press-defense-and-intelligence-officials-rules-war-cyberspace-armed-forces | National Journal
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
SPAT OVER AIRWAVE INTERFERENCE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Thomas Gryta]
Sirius XM customers in a few big cities have been complaining about losing their satellite radio signal and the company says it has found the culprit: interfering T-Mobile cellphone towers. T-Mobile US says it isn’t doing anything wrong. Instead, it blames Sirius XM’s radios for the problem. Now Sirius XM Holdings Inc. has escalated the dispute to the Federal Communications Commission, asking the agency to intervene. A senior FCC official said the agency is trying to understand the cause of the problem because all of the involved airwaves have been in use for years. The official said it still too early in the process to assign blame or responsibility. The conflict between Sirius and T-Mobile derives from a quirk of physics, caused by something known by radio engineers as intermodulation. This happens when two airwave frequencies combine to create a third, similar to ocean waves coming together and making a new distinct wave. In this case, two airwave frequencies used by T-Mobile have produced a new frequency inside Sirius radios that is disrupting service. Both parties agree on the physics but they disagree on the fix.
benton.org/headlines/sirius-t-mobile-spat-over-airwave-interference | Wall Street Journal
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
ONE TOUCH 911
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Glenn Rifkin]
Michael Martin, an entrepreneur and recent Harvard Business School graduate, teamed up with Nick Horelik, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate with a doctorate in nuclear engineering, to start RapidSOS, a start-up offering a smartphone app that, with the touch of an icon, connects cellphone callers with 911 dispatch centers; it is not unlike summoning an Uber car. RapidSOS has created a program called One-Touch-911 that uses cloud telecommunications and data analytics to push essential information, including a user’s exact location, into the 911 system. With the tap of an icon on a smartphone, the call is connected to the nearest three-digit emergency number, so it will work not only in North America but also in 135 countries, and it can also transmit via Wi-Fi. Included in the free app are features to send medical information and pictures and video, language translation aids and geography-based alerts that provide instructions for users in emergency situations. The data is transmitted directly to the nearest 911 dispatch center in a way that is compatible with the emergency system. “That means there is no new training or new equipment required for them,” Martin explained. “It looks like a landline call to them except with a host of new information coming through.”
benton.org/headlines/lifesaving-smartphone-app-inspired-brush-tragedy | New York Times
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EDUCATION
E-RATE FUNDING UPDATE FROM USAC
[SOURCE: Universal Service Administration Company, AUTHOR: Mel Blackwell]
The Federal Communications Commission provided a target of September 1 to complete all “workable” E-rate applications. The Universal Service Administration Company (USAC) adjusted the date to September 24 to reflect the effect of the three week FCC Form 471 deadline extension. USAC received approximately 48,000 applications of which about 42,000 were classified as “workable,” by September 24. With the help of the E-rate community, USAC reviewed and committed 41,852 applications, 225 applications short of the target. These remaining applications will be completed by October 2. In total USAC has approximately 6,000 “unworkable” applications remaining. While the definition of “unworkable” is clear in the FCC order, the term does not fully capture the reality of these applications. For the most part, these applications are, in fact, workable, but they do require additional review and information requests of varying scope. However, nearly all of these are in process and USAC projects that most will be completed in the next 90 days. This issue is particularly important because these applications represent over $1 billion in value and thus represent a greater proportion of the program dollars than application volume. As USAC works to finalize these remaining applications, it also has begun a review of its internal review processes and procedures so that it can meaningfully accelerate the pace of decisions for all Funding Year 2016 applications.
benton.org/headlines/2015-e-rate-funding-decisions-update-universal-service-administration-company | Universal Service Administration Company
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ADVERTISING
ADBLOCK PLUS TO ALLOW INDEPENDENT BOARD TO DECIDE WHICH ADS ARE 'ACCEPTABLE'
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jack Marshall]
Popular ad-blocking tool Adblock Plus plans to allow an independent review board to determine whether ads qualify as “acceptable” and are allowed to pass through its filters, parent company Eyeo GmbH said. Currently, Adblock Plus allows ads from some 700 companies to pass through its filters by default, provided those ads meet its “acceptable ads” policy and aren’t too disruptive or intrusive to users. Eyeo has accepted payment from around 70 of those companies, including Google, Microsoft and Taboola, in exchange for including them in the acceptable ads program. Eyeo’s business model has faced criticism from some in the digital media industry. Specifically, critics suggest it’s inappropriate for Eyeo itself to help decide which ads are and aren’t “acceptable,” given the fact it’s being paid by some of the companies whose ads are allowed to pass through its Adblock Plus filters. Eyeo said it now plans to form an independent board to decide what does and does not constitute “acceptable” advertising. The board will include representatives from online publishers and media companies, marketers, advertising companies and consumers. It’s expected to be in place during the first half of 2016.
benton.org/headlines/adblock-plus-allow-independent-board-decide-which-ads-are-acceptable | Wall Street Journal
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LOBBYING
LOCAL CHARITIES BACK CABLE MERGER
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Brendon Sasso]
Charter Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks have donated millions of dollars over the years to charities and nonprofits. Now those groups are repaying that generosity by endorsing the cable companies’ massive three-way merger. Dozens of small nonprofits—from the Hispanic Leadership Alliance to a Tennessee chapter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure—have filed letters with the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency to approve the deal. The letters from the nonprofit organizations often highlight Charter’s commitment to offer low-cost Internet to low-income families, its promise to expand high-speed Internet to more areas, or its decision to carry TV channels aimed at minority communities. But many of the organizations also explicitly point to financial support from the cable companies as a reason for endorsing the deal.
benton.org/headlines/cable-companies-enlist-local-charities-lobby-mega-merger | National Journal
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POLICYMAKERS
LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS STEPPING DOWN
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Nancy Scola]
Under the leadership of current Librarian of Congress James Billington, the Library of Congress has earned a reputation as a technology laggard with a spotty record on everything from digitizing records to improving archaic IT systems. And so, as the 86-year-old Billington steps down, tech advocates are pushing for an Internet-savvy replacement -- seeing a rare chance to modernize a cultural and policy-making institution that’s fallen far behind in the digital age. The challenges in modernizing the Library of Congress are daunting. The institution has neglected to digitize many of the country’s founding documents; George Washington’s papers are online, for example, but Thomas Jefferson’s largely aren’t. The Copyright Office, housed inside the library, is largely paper-based, full of row upon row of musty card catalogs. A highly publicized project to archive every Twitter message -- announced five years ago -- has yet to materialize. And a spring report from the Government Accountability Office found that the Library could not calculate how many computers it has. “The Librarian of Congress should be like the Pope of libraries,” setting the tone and the agenda for libraries as a whole, says John Blyberg, director of the highly-regarded public library system in Darien (CT). “People in that position are going to need the technical chops to understand what the issues are,” while having political savvy to operate in Washington, he said.
benton.org/headlines/librarian-congress-stepping-down-opportunity-bring-loc-digital-age | Politico
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
EU TO RULE ON EUROPEAN, US DATA PACT IN EARLY OCTOBER
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Natalia Drozdiak]
The European Union’s highest court said it would decide on Oct 6 on a highly publicized case that could invalidate a data-transfer agreement between the EU and the US that is crucial to thousands of businesses. Judges at the European Court of Justice will deliver their decision less than two weeks after an adviser to the court published a nonbinding recommendation that the long-standing agreement, known as Safe Harbor, should be invalidated. A court decision scrapping Safe Harbor risks wreaking havoc on the companies that use the framework to transfer data for everything from payroll information to company phone books. The 15-year-old trans-Atlantic deal allows firms, such as Facebook and Yelp, to store Europeans’ data in the US as long as the companies agree to comply with Europe’s stricter privacy laws. Yves Bot, an advocate general to the high court, said the deal should be nullified because Europeans’ data is unprotected in the US, “because the surveillance carried out by the US is mass, indiscriminate surveillance.” US officials criticized Bot for basing his opinion on “inaccurate assertions” about US intelligence practices.
benton.org/headlines/eu-rule-european-us-data-pact-early-october | Wall Street Journal
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