BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2015
Planning a course for 2016? See how Headlines can help in the classroom https://www.benton.org/headlines/classroom
SURVEILLANCE
Why it’s so hard to keep up with how the US government is spying on its own people - analysis
File Says NSA Found Way to Replace E-mail Program
Police used apparently illegal wiretaps to make hundreds of arrests
The Decline of Antiterror Surveillance [links to Wall Street Journal]
Federal Judge: Stingrays are “simply too powerful” without adequate oversight [links to Benton summary]
Electronic snooping by NSA won't stop ISIS - San Jose Mercury News editorial [links to Benton summary]
Ben Carson open to surveillance of mosques, churches, and schools [links to Hill, The]
Sen Paul: ‘Dishonest’ officials using Paris to promote surveillance [links to Hill, The]
Chairman McCaul: ‘Biggest threat today’ is terrorists using encryption [links to Hill, The]
Influencers: Paris attacks don't justify government access to encryption [links to Christian Science Monitor]
Amie Stepanovich: Encryption makes us more secure, not less [links to Christian Science Monitor]
CYBERSECURITY
Civil liberties advocates are trying to bring to light a secret legal document that could upend the congressional fight over cybersecurity [links to Hill, The]
PRIVACY
Reddit to start honoring Do Not Track requests [links to Hill, The]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Comcast May Have Found a Major Network Neutrality Loophole
Comcast’s Stream TV service is sparking a controversy over the future of the Internet
Comcast’s Latest Zero-Rating Plan Threatens Video Choice - Public Knowledge
GOP: FCC Should Make Small Business Waiver Permanent on Open Internet Transparency Rules
Internet Television -- an Anniversary [links to Huffington Post]
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
NBC gives equal time to Trump's GOP rivals
Snapchat would like you to give it some of your billions of dollars, politicians - analysis
Jeb Bush loses TV ad edge to Marco Rubio [links to Benton summary]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Public Knowledge, Other Consumer Groups Urge FCC to Protect Text Messaging Users - press release
Let's Get Serious About the Repack Gap - Harry Jessell editorial [links to Benton summary]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
The 911 System Isn’t Ready for the iPhone Era - FCC Chairman Wheeler op-ed
Is Facebook a proto-state? - op-ed [links to Benton summary]
CIVIC ENGAGMENT
Steven Kull: Ordinary Americans can show Congress how to save the U.S. Postal Service [links to Washington Post]
Beyond Distrust: How Americans View Their Government [links to Pew Research Center]
GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
FCC proposes millions in fines, collects $0
ADVERTISNG
Programmatic, Anti-Ad Blockers and Digital Audiences Will Drive the 2016 Elections - op-ed
James Murdoch Says Digital Advertising Needs An Overhaul [links to Huffington Post]
Yahoo testing system to lock out users who employ adblockers [links to Benton summary]
Young ‘digital natives’ naive about Internet advertising [links to Benton summary]
The Ad Council Adapts to Stay Relevant in an Age of Social Action [links to New York Times]
COMPANY NEWS
More than half of Americans now watch Netflix [links to Quartz]
Sprint to get $1.1B in cash thanks to handset leasing vehicle [links to Fierce]
How Reuters is using automation to analyze its polling data [links to Poynter]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
As France and Belgium Strengthen Security, a Classic Debate Arises [links to New York Times]
Privacy, Public Safety Collide as Terror Groups Collaborate on Social Media [links to Government Technology]
Google aims for China launch of Google Play app store in 2016 [links to Reuters]
Palestinians to Get Own Broadband Networks [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Facebook tries to head off court order in Belgium
Cisco Spends $700 Million on UK Video Firm Acano [links to Revere Digital]
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SURVEILLANCE
WHY IT'S SO HARD TO KEEP UP WITH HOW THE US GOVERNMENT IS SPYING ON ITS OWN PEOPLE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Andrea Peterson]
[Commentary] Since 2013, Americans have gained immense insight about how the government conducts digital spying programs, largely thanks to the revelations made by former security contractor Edward Snowden. But a new report shows it's really hard to keep track of all the ways the United States is snooping on its own people. There is a reason for all the secrecy: The government argues it has a vested interest in keeping capabilities secret so that terrorists and other targets aren't able to figure out how to evade surveillance. That's one of the reasons some intelligence officials were quick to blame Snowden in the wake of the recent Paris attacks, arguing his revelations may have given terrorists a road map for how evade detection. The lack of transparency and public awareness of how Americans' data was being collected is also one of the reasons Snowden said he was compelled to come forward with information about government spying. “My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them,” he wrote in a note that accompanied the first document he leaked to The Washington Post. But big disclosures such as Snowden's come along rarely. And now we're seeing that reporting on these programs is like a sort of like playing whack-a-mole: Even if one program appears to have ended, others spring up in their place -- and the general public often doesn't learn about them until years after they've taken effect.
benton.org/headlines/why-its-so-hard-keep-how-us-government-spying-its-own-people | Washington Post
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FILE SAYS NSA FOUND WAY TO REPLACE E-MAIL PROGRAM
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Charlie Savage]
When the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of records about Americans’ e-mails came to light in 2013, the government conceded the program’s existence but said it had shut down the effort in December 2011 for “operational and resource reasons.” While that particular secret program stopped, newly disclosed documents show that the NSA had found a way to create a functional equivalent. The shift has permitted the agency to continue analyzing social links revealed by Americans’ e-mail patterns, but without collecting the data in bulk from American telecommunications companies -- and with less oversight by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The disclosure comes as a sister program that collects Americans’ phone records in bulk is set to end in Nov. Under a law enacted in June, known as the USA Freedom Act, the program will be replaced with a system in which the NSA can still gain access to the data to hunt for associates of terrorism suspects, but the bulk logs will stay in the hands of phone companies. The newly disclosed information about the e-mail records program is contained in a report by the NSA’s inspector general that was obtained through a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act. One passage lists four reasons that the NSA decided to end the e-mail program and purge previously collected data. Three were redacted, but the fourth was uncensored. It said that “other authorities can satisfy certain foreign intelligence requirements” that the bulk e-mail records program “had been designed to meet.” The report explained that there were two other legal ways to get such data. One was the collection of bulk data that had been gathered in other countries, where the NSA’s activities are largely not subject to regulation by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and oversight by the intelligence court. Because of the way the Internet operates, domestic data is often found on fiber optic cables abroad. The NSA had long barred analysts from using Americans’ data that had been swept up abroad, but in November 2010 it changed that rule, documents leaked by Edward J. Snowden have shown.
benton.org/headlines/file-says-nsa-found-way-replace-e-mail-program | New York Times | The Hill
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POLICE USED APPARENTLY ILLEGAL WIRETAPS TO MAKE HUNDREDS OF ARRESTS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Brad Heath, Brett Kelman]
Prosecutors in the Los Angeles (CA) suburb responsible for a huge share of the nation’s wiretaps almost certainly violated federal law when they authorized widespread eavesdropping that police used to make more than 300 arrests and seize millions of dollars in cash and drugs throughout the USA. The violations could undermine the legality of as many as 738 wiretaps approved in Riverside County (CA) since the middle of 2013.. Prosecutors reported that those taps, often conducted by federal drug investigators, intercepted phone calls and text messages by more than 52,000 people. Federal law bars the government from seeking court approval for a wiretap unless a top prosecutor has personally authorized the request. Congress added that restriction in the 1960s, when the FBI had secretly monitored civil rights leaders, to ensure that such intrusive surveillance would not be conducted lightly. In Riverside County -- a Los Angeles suburb whose court and prosecutors approved almost one of every five US wiretaps in 2014 -- the district attorney turned the job of reviewing the applications over to lower-level lawyers, interviews and court records show. That practice almost certainly violated the federal wiretapping law and could jeopardize prosecutors’ ability to use the surveillance in court.
benton.org/headlines/police-used-apparently-illegal-wiretaps-make-hundreds-arrests | USAToday
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
STREAM TV
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Klint Finley]
Comcast may have found a major loophole in the Federal Communication Commission’s network neutrality regulations. The company launched a new streaming video service for Comcast broadband customers called Stream TV. The service allows you to watch HBO as well as live local television stations on your computer, tablet or laptop. The catch is that the service will only work from your home. That may sound like a big limitation, but it comes with a big perk for some users: Stream TV won’t count towards the 300GB data limit imposed on some Comcast broadband users. Since users who exceed that 300GB threshold are charged an extra $10 for every extra 50GB they use, up to $30 per month1, the $15-a-month Stream TV offering could be appealing to users worried that other video services, such as Netflix or Sling TV, will eat through their data allotment. Comcast says this isn’t a violation of network neutrality law because, although you’re viewing Stream TV on your computer via your Comcast broadband connection, the service isn’t technically offered over the Internet, but over Comcast’s cable television network, much like its Xfinity Xbox 360 service, which allowed Xbox users to view video that didn’t count against their data limits.
benton.org/headlines/comcast-may-have-found-major-network-neutrality-loophole | Wired
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COCMAST'S STREAM TV SERVICE IS SPARKING A CONTROVERSY OVER THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
It turns out that Comcast's new video app, Stream TV, comes with a big asterisk: If you have access to the service and you are one of the growing number of customers who has to abide by Comcast's 300 GB monthly data cap, Stream TV won't count against it. In essence, you'll be able to watch as much Stream TV as you want and never hit your limit. While "unlimited" may sound enticing, critics are seizing on the program as a potential violation of network neutrality -- the rules passed by the federal government earlier in 2015 that seek to prevent Internet providers from unfairly favoring some online content, including their own, over that of others. If big cable and telecommunication companies were allowed to do this, they could unfairly crush competitors and make it hard for consumers to get rival services from Netflix or a start-up, these critics worry. But, likely to the alarm of net neutrality advocates, the government's rules might not even apply to Stream TV -- and that's exactly how Comcast hopes regulators will see it. "This is a cable video service" not cable Internet service, said Comcast spokesperson Lisa Scalzo. That might seem like a meaningless distinction, but it could make all the difference. That's because the government's net neutrality rules only cover some digital communications, while leaving other types out. If Comcast can successfully argue its point, then the Federal Communications Commission may be unable to bring its net neutrality rules to bear against Stream TV, even if it might want to.
benton.org/headlines/comcasts-stream-tv-service-sparking-controversy-over-future-internet | Washington Post | Multichannel News
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COMCAST'S LATEST ZERO-RATING PLAN THREATENS VIDEO CHOICE
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: John Bergmayer]
[Commentary] Comcast's exemption of Stream TV from data caps presents a straightforward example of the anticompetitive problems zero-rating can raise, and provides little consumer benefit. Comcast is attempting to frame its self-serving, discriminatory actions in a way designed to slip through real or imagined loopholes or exceptions to both the Open Internet rules or its merger commitments, but none of these attempts work. Over and above the legal and technical issues are the competitive issues. Comcast is the nation's most dominant video distributor and the largest broadband provider. Because (unlike T-Mobile) it has a legacy video business to protect, it is easier to see how it might have an anticompetitive motive. Because it is so large, its actions will have a disproportionate effect. Also, most of Comcast's customers do not have other choices of truly high-speed (25 Mbps and up) broadband. That means that if competing video services are disadvantaged on Comcast's network, it's not like they can encourage Comcast's customers to switch to another provider. Although some network neutrality advocates might have a different take on T-Mobile’s zero-rating, Comcast’s program raises a host of issues under the Open Internet rules, the consent decree, and -- most importantly -- general principles of competition.
benton.org/headlines/comcasts-latest-zero-rating-plan-threatens-video-choice | Public Knowledge
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GOP: FCC SHOULD MAKE SMALL BUSINESS WAIVER PERMANENT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Almost three dozen Republican members of Congress, including the leadership and membership of the House Commerce Committee and Communications Subcommittee and Small Business Committee, have called on Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to make the small business exemption from the FCC's enhanced transparency rules under the new Open Internet order permanent. The FCC granted a temporary exemption for small Internet service providers (100,000 subscriber or fewer), but the FCC sought comment on whether that was the right number, and whether the exemption should expire or be made permanent. Cable operators, led by the American Cable Association, have asked that the exemption be made permanent given the particular challenges of smaller operators in complying. The legislators agree. "We applaud the Commission's action in granting this temporary exemption and urge you to make it permanent," they told Chairman Wheeler in a letter Nov. 19. They took the opportunity to take aim at the new requirements in general, saying that "the enhanced transparency requirements jeopardize the ability of small Internet Service Providers to offer broadband services to our constituents..."
benton.org/headlines/gop-fcc-should-make-small-business-waiver-permanent-open-internet-transparency-rules | Broadcasting&Cable
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
NBC GIVES EQUAL TIME TO TRUMP'S GOP RIVALS
[SOURCE: CNN Money, AUTHOR: Dylan Byers]
NBC has started offering Republican presidential candidates free air time during the week of Nov 23 to match the 12 minutes given to Donald Trump on "Saturday Night Live". The offer, made in compliance with the Federal Communications Commission's "equal time" rules, would allow candidates to air their own content at specific times on stations where they requested time. John Kasich, Mike Huckabee, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki and Jim Gilmore had filed requests with NBC stations following Trump's "SNL'" appearance on Nov. 7. At least two of the candidates -- Graham and Pataki -- have been offered 12 minutes on their requested stations during the 9 p.m. hour on Friday, Nov. 27, as well as 12 minutes during the "Saturday Night Live" broadcast on Saturday, Nov. 28. The Graham campaign sent its request to stations in Iowa and New Hampshire. The Pataki campaign's request went to stations in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and New York.
benton.org/headlines/nbc-gives-equal-time-trumps-gop-rivals | CNN Money
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SNAPCHAT WOULD LIKE YOU TO GIVE IT SOME OF YOUR BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, POLITICIANS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Philip Bump]
[Commentary] There is a truly stunning amount of money that's about to flow across the country into direct mail suppliers, to Facebook and to local television stations. Billions of dollars, literally, handed over to political consultants and then on to content distributors so that you, humble reader, will be persuaded to get off your couch one Tuesday next November and cast a vote. Snapchat, as we've noted before, has two advantages that it can leverage in trying to lure candidates. One is that it has a (hard to verify) massive number of views of its videos. The other is that most of its users are young. For a campaign that wants to entice younger voters, that's precisely the combination you'd want. But the question arises in that second word: voters. How can candidates know that the people looking at their snaps (as the images and videos on the service are called) are even voters worth targeting? What if a campaign is paying thousands of dollars to run an ad on Snapchat -- an ad that can't include links back to campaign Web sites, mind you -- and no actual voters are looking at it?
benton.org/headlines/snapchat-would-you-give-it-some-your-billions-dollars-politicians | Washington Post
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WIRELESS
PROTECT TEXT MESSAGES
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Shiva Stella]
Public Knowledge, Common Cause and Free Press filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission urging it to recognize that carrier-provided text messaging is a telecommunications service that benefits from the protections of Title II of the Communications Act. John Bergmayer, Senior Staff Attorney at Public Knowledge, said, “As a policy matter, text messaging remains an important, universally accessible means of communication, and discrimination in text messaging can affect public safety, innovation, and free speech. As a legal matter, given that voice and data are both telecommunications services, the FCC should recognize that text messaging is also telecommunications. This is why we’re asking the FCC to protect text messaging users with the tools it has under Title II of the Communications Act.”
benton.org/headlines/public-knowledge-other-consumer-groups-urge-fcc-protect-text-messaging-users | Public Knowledge
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
911 SYSTEM
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler]
[Commentary] In 1999, Congress established 911 as the nationwide emergency number, and called for a system that would use the best technology available to deliver emergency assistance. Now, 16 years later, our emergency response system faces an emergency of its own in the form of outdated technology. To fix this, our emergency responders — police, fire and ambulance — urgently need the help of government leaders at all levels. Simply put, the communications technology behind the 911 system is dangerously out of date. Currently, the centers handle about 240 million calls a year, an increasing number of them from cellphones. But many local 911 call centers can’t receive a text, photo or video from a person in need — capabilities that are considered commonplace for any American with a smartphone. Worse, while our nation makes the transition to broadband networks, too many of our 911 call centers rely on decades-old telephone technology — technology that is no longer being supported by commercial vendors and prone to failure. The market forces driving the broadband revolution will soon have the nation’s 911 system resting on a foundation of sand. As for next steps, our laws need to reflect the changing realities on the ground. We must make the benefits of NG911 available to all Americans, not just those fortunate enough to live in a few well-resourced communities. Only Congress can provide what state and local authorities require to deliver effective 911 services to all their citizens. This includes one-time funding assistance to 911 jurisdictions to get them through the NG911 transition. Done right, smart federal investment will actually lower costs by shortening the transition period and enabling 911 authorities to retire costly legacy facilities more quickly.
benton.org/headlines/911-system-isnt-ready-iphone-era | New York Times
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GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
FCC FINES
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Alex Byers]
The Federal Communications Commission has yet to collect more than $100 million in fines it's announced against companies in the past two years, sparking criticism from members of Congress who say the agency is chasing headlines without following through on enforcement. Among the outstanding cash: about $100 million in penalties proposed in 2013 against nearly a dozen companies accused of defrauding the FCC's Lifeline program, as well $35 million against a Chinese company for allegedly selling illegal wireless jamming equipment in June 2014. While the FCC says it's scored important consumer protection wins even without the collection of some penalties, its frequent press releases about enforcement actions — with collection of fines lagging far behind — have irked key lawmakers who oversee the agency. "If an enormous fine is announced and it's never prosecuted, it makes you wonder what's the purpose?" said House telecom subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR). "The question is, are they just after headlines or some sort of performance metric? I don't know."
benton.org/headlines/fcc-proposes-millions-fines-collects-0 | Politico
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ADVERTISNG
PROGRAMMATIC, ANTI-AD BLOCKERS AND DIGITAL AUDIENCES WILL DRIVE THE 2016 ELECTIONS
[SOURCE: Revere Digital, AUTHOR: Paula Minardi]
[Commentary] Undoubtedly, US consumer viewing habits have undergone a transformation since the 2012 elections, with digital, social and mobile content and ad views skyrocketing at the expense of traditional media. Outcomes of the 2016 elections are at stake, as candidates who are best able to harness these shifts in the coming year will be more successful in reaching their constituencies, managing campaign war chests effectively and, ultimately, prevailing in their battles for office. In turn, the ability of content providers to leverage the digital ad technology that has evolved in response to changing consumption behaviors will prove vital in maximizing their 2016 political ad revenues. With the growing challenge of reaching fragmented audiences and elusive voters, candidates are not only increasing their advertising, but launching their campaigns and disseminating their messages across a wider range of digital platforms than in previous elections. Content providers need to be ready to connect them with voters via the latest video ad technology available. Campaigns and content providers looking to win in 2016 should point in the direction of digital platforms to find their voting audiences, use data-led programmatic advertising to target them and anti-ad blockers to meet them where they are.
[Paula Minardi, is the broadcast industry marketing manager at Ooyala]
benton.org/headlines/programmatic-anti-ad-blockers-and-digital-audiences-will-drive-2016-elections | Revere Digital
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
FACEBOOK TRIES TO HEAD OFF COURT ORDER IN BELGIUM
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: David McCabe]
Facebook is mounting a defense against charges of improperly handling consumer data that were brought by Belgian regulators and affirmed by a court in the country. Executives from the company met with regulators at the Belgian Privacy Commission. Though it’s a relatively small case, it could be a bellwether for how European regulators reconcile the practices of American technology giants with Europe’s stricter privacy rules. The regulators are concerned about Facebook’s practice of tracking people who are not users of the site but visit without signing up. In June, they brought the charges against the company, and a court ordered the company to halt the practice earlier in Nov for non-users in Belgium. Facebook argues the cookies used to collect the data serve a security purpose. “There’s a huge problem of account takeovers on the Internet right now,” Alex Stamos, the company’s head of security, said, according to the Journal. “Every day we catch about 400,000 attempts globally to log into an account with the correct username and password but it actually not being the user themselves.” The court that found against Facebook ordered the company to pay more than $250,000 per day once it officially received the court’s order. The Journal reported that the company has yet to receive the document because it is still being translated into English. Though the company’s executives met with regulators to see if they could find a solution to the issue before the court order went into effect, the company has also said it intends to appeal the ruling to a higher court. The case is being closely watched as part of a larger debate over how European regulators should treat the data security practices of American companies.
benton.org/headlines/facebook-tries-head-court-order-belgium | Hill, The
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