November 2015

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said he thought T-Mobile's Binge On zero rating plan was the sort of highly innovative approach the FCC's new network neutrality rules were predicted to thwart, but clearly didn't. Chairman Wheeler appeared to endorse the Binge On offering, calling it pro-competitive and innovative.

"It is clear in the Open Internet order that we are pro-competition and pro-innovation and clearly, this meets both of those criteria," he said. "It is highly innovative and highly competitive." He then said that it appeared the plan does not violate the brightline no paid prioritization rule, but took something off the endorsement. He said the FCC would keep an eye on Binge On per the general conduct standard in those new Open Internet rules, which allows the FCC to look at such business models on a case-by-case basis. That rule, he elaborated, says a carrier "should not unreasonably interfere with the access to someone who is trying to get to an edge provider and an edge provider who is trying to get to a consumer. So, what we are going to be doing is watching Binge On, keeping an eye on it, and measure it against the general conduct rule."

During a Federal Communications Commission oversight hearing in the House Communications Subcommittee on Nov 17, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler pledged to call that day to talk with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the use of the Internet by terrorists and gangs. That was prompted by questions, in the wake of the Paris attacks and ongoing urban violence, about whether the FCC could to anything to disrupt social media or other Internet communications used by terrorists.

Apparently, the Chairman had indeed made the call, but had yet to connect with the Facebook founder, though the source added their staffers have engaged on the issue. But Chairman Wheeler made clear during the hearing that the FCC does not regulate edge providers, and apparently understands that Facebook works aggressively to make sure terrorists and terrorist groups are not using their site, removing content that supports them. Facebook's policy, "clarified" back in March in an update to its community standards, is that no organization involved in "terrorist activity or organized criminal activity" can have a Facebook page, in addition to removing any content that "expresses support for groups that are involved in [that] violent or criminal behavior. Supporting or praising leaders of those same organizations, or condoning their violent activities, is not allowed."

AT&T Laboratories is asking the Federal Communications Commission to grant it an experimental license to test antenna technology manufactured by Tarana Wireless. AT&T wants to test the Tarana AbsoluteAir2 CN1 and CN6 concentrator node models with two edge node radio models. The radios will be installed and tested by AT&T Laboratories personnel using microwave radio and digital communications test equipment, the application states. AT&T's application calls for using 3300 MHz to 3650 MHz. Each radio will use a digitally modulated 10 MHz, 20 MHz or 40 MHz channel in the band.

Much of the experimentation will be centered around the evaluation of the integrated adaptive antenna system in a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environment, according to the application, so the exact antenna gains and beamwidths to be realized are unknown. However, it also says the maximum gain of any antenna deployed will not exceed 18 dBi. AT&T plans to distribute the radio units at various outdoor locations around the AT&T Labs facility in Middletown (NJ) Radios will be mounted on rigid masts not to exceed a height of 40 feet above the ground level or on building rooftops no more than 10 feet above the roof. Tarana, which was founded in 2009 by a team of engineering researchers associated with the University of California, Berkeley, unveiled in February 2013 its plans to bring to market what it described as the world's first universal small cell backhaul solution designed to meet all mobile carrier requirements and to be deployed anywhere small cells are located.

The TV is on in the background, and you’re replying to a quick e-mail on your phone nearby. You don’t know it, but the devices are communicating. During a commercial, the TV emits an inaudible tone and your phone, which was listening for it, picks it up. Somewhere far away, a server makes a note: Both devices probably belong to you. This information about which devices belong to whom is immensely valuable to advertisers hoping to target ads specifically to you.

In a simpler time, targeted marketing was easy. Most people had a computer at work and maybe another at home. Now, between laptops, phones, tablets, wearables, and Internet-enabled cars and TVs, advertisers have access to more information than ever before for ad targeting. They just need to figure out which devices live under the same roof. That’s harder than it sounds. Unless you’re logged into a service on all your devices-- for example, by using Google’s various services everywhere -- advertisers need to get creative to stitch together a portrait of you. Verizon’s “supercookies” -- a snippet of code injected into mobile users’ web requests -- silently identify and track its customers, sharing the information with AOL’s wide-reaching ad network. Vizio Smart TVs tie customers’ viewing habits to a home Internet address and sell the information to advertisers. And both programs require customers, who are often unaware of the programs, to opt out of them if they don’t wish to be tracked. But a newer method of cross-device tracking wanders into the realm of science fiction. According to a filing from the Center from Democracy and Technology, a digital human rights and privacy advocacy organization, companies have figured out how to use inaudible sounds to establish links between devices.