December 2015

[Commentary] In the 1930s, our country brought electricity and telephone service to communities from coast to coast. In order to compete in today’s global economy, we need to make that same commitment to connecting all Minnesotans with high-speed broadband Internet. There are common sense ways we can increase broadband access.

The first is with funding. The federal government recently awarded more than $85 million to Minnesota for rural broadband deployment. This will help connect more than 170,000 Minnesota homes and businesses to high-speed internet.

Second, I am leading a bipartisan effort with Sen John Thune (R-SD) in calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to modernize its support for rural broadband services to better fit the needs of consumers. Currently, support is tied to traditional telephone service. This means consumers with a package of telephone and broadband service can receive support, but those with stand alone broadband subscriptions are not eligible. These outdated rules create a needless link between customers signing up for services they may not want or need and broadband deployment. Sen Thune and I have been calling on the FCC to update these rules, including leading a bipartisan letter this spring urging the FCC to ensure rural consumers can have access to affordable broadband services without being compelled to purchase other services.

I am also leading a bipartisan bill to reduce the costs of building broadband infrastructure. My legislation would require states and federal agencies to coordinate highway construction with broadband installation – in other words, that they only “dig once” and lay the groundwork for broadband when building or expanding roads. The bill would also cut red tape for companies, states, and local governments that want to install broadband infrastructure on federal land. I also introduced legislation that would provide incentives for wireless carriers to lease unused spectrum to rural or smaller carriers in order to expand wireless coverage in rural communities.

Rep Justin Amash (R-MI) plans to introduce legislation to undo a cybersecurity law that critics say secretly allows the federal government to spy on Americans. The Cybersecurity Act of 2015 (CISA) was included in Congress' year-end spending bill, a piece of must-pass legislation known as the omnibus. “Many of my colleagues remain unaware that a massive surveillance bill was snuck into the omnibus,” Rep Amash said. “And if they are aware, they may have been misled into believing this bill is about cybersecurity.”

Rep Amash opposed CISA’s language in the bill before it passed, going so far as to circulate a letter citing tech companies’ opposition and calling it “anti-privacy legislation,” but to little avail. Rep Amash is part of the House Freedom Caucus, which, citing the omnibus’s large price tag, had already vowed to oppose the bill anyway, forcing House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) to find votes elsewhere.

Microsoft said it plans to begin informing users of its online e-mail and file-storage services if it suspects attackers associated with government agencies have tried to break into their accounts. The company previously offered alerts to users about computer break-ins without providing information about suspected perpetrators. Microsoft said it would notify users when it has reason to believe an attack on a customer account is “state-sponsored.” Microsoft’s new policy mirrors those recently adopted by Facebook and Twitter. Google has issued warnings about state-sponsored attacks since 2012.

These providers don’t specify what countries they believe may be responsible. The move follows a series of highly publicized computer intrusions over the past few years, as well as revelations about US government intelligence-gathering techniques disclosed by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. In some cases, US officials and security researchers say they have uncovered evidence that links a particular attack to a certain country.

In a year that featured a number of prominent news stories, the number of people tuning in to the top 24-hour cable news channels went up, according to Nielsen. Fox News once again dominated the competition in 2015, while CNN had significantly improved ratings and MSNBC had a slight bounce in viewers.

For the 14th consecutive year, Fox News led in total viewers and in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic crucial to advertisers. The network’s average of 1.8 million viewers in prime time placed it second among all cable channels, the highest finish for a cable news channel ever. (ESPN came in first.) CNN had strong growth, with a total-day average of 490,000 viewers, representing its highest viewership in six years and a 23 percent bump over 2014. In the crucial 25-to-54 demographic it was up 18 percent, and the network also had gains of better than 30 percent in prime time in both total viewers and in the 25-to-54 segment. MSNBC had a 2 percent increase in average viewers, to a total-day average of 352,000, but it struggled elsewhere. Coming off a rough performance in 2014, the channel lost an additional 19 percent of its viewers in the 25-to-54 demographic in prime time and 18 percent in that demographic in total-day viewers in 2015.