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  2. January 2016

January 2016

Senate floor fight on Internet tax ban expected soon

Supporters of a long-term ban on state and local taxes of Internet access are confident they will have the votes in a soon-expected floor fight. A customs bill that includes the indefinite ban on Internet access taxes is expected to move soon, according to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD). And he predicted opponents will not have the votes to strip it out.

"I think you can expect that that there'll be some procedural attempts to strip that out, but I don't think the votes are going to be there," he said. "I think it is going to be a very hard vote for people to vote to say as a matter of policy and practice in this country that we're going to allow taxes to go into place — we're going to allow states to impose taxes on the Internet." Chairman Thune, one of the key sponsors of a long-term ban, said many outside groups have been whipping the vote, which he predicted would be "fairly close." "If the customs conference report moves, and I think it will move soon, I believe that the Internet tax moratorium will be included in it as it was reported from the House," he said.

Ex-NSA boss says FBI director is wrong on encryption

The FBI director wants the keys to your private conversations on your smartphone to keep terrorists from plotting secret attacks. But the former head of the US National Security Agency -- the supreme experts on communications -- said that would be a terrible idea. General Michael Hayden, now retired, expressed his unwavering support for encryption, a feature that protects voice calls or texts by turning data into nonsensical, indecipherable code. "I disagree with [FBI director] Jim Comey," Hayden said. "I actually think end-to-end encryption is good for America."

At issue here is whether companies like Apple and Google should offer encryption to customers. It safeguards their devices from anyone trying to break in, whether it's criminal hackers or snooping federal agents. The Obama Administration, initially irked by the challenge posed to surveillance, has dropped any plans to push for laws that bar or limit encryption. But FBI Director James Comey continues to rail on tech companies for helping terrorists "go dark." He criticizes how tech companies have handed customers the only key to unlock their devices and chat logs. Director Comey wants companies to retain keys -- that open a "back door" in devices -- so that law enforcement can access them when needed to solve crimes."I know encryption represents a particular challenge for the FBI," Hayden said. "But on balance, I actually think it creates greater security for the American nation than the alternative: a backdoor."

FirstNet Posts Multibillion RFP for Public Safety Broadband Network

The federal government’s vision for a unified national public safety broadband network, primarily for use by first responders, is one step closer to reality. FirstNet, the group leading that effort, posted a much-awaited request for proposal seeking tech partners to provide the infrastructure for that system, including radio access network services, deployment and maintenance.

The network is intended to stretch across 56 states and territories; FirstNet has a $7 billion budget authority and is pledging up to $6.5 billion for these task orders. FirstNet, an independent authority within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, plans to make an award in the fourth quarter of the 2016 calendar year, the RFP said. Proposals are due April 29, and applicants must submit questions and capability statements by Feb. 12 and March 17, respectively. The contract has an up to 25-year term, according to FirstNet. The RFP was posted after more than a year of discussion with technology companies and public safety groups about the network’s requirements; FirstNet has issued 13 requests for information and a collection of draft RFP documents.

We Should Not Have to Fight for the Right to Read

[Commentary] At the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), we have worked for nearly a century to break down societal barriers and eliminate discrimination by achieving equal access to the world of copyrighted works. But for all the promise of technology to provide equal access to copyrighted works, the copyright laws that protect those works have sometimes served to impede that technology.

While we were relieved in 2015 to see the Librarian of Congress adopt the Copyright Office's recommendation to once again recognize a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) exemption that allows people with vision loss to read their lawfully obtained books, there is something fundamentally wrong with a process that makes people who are blind or visually impaired have to, over and over again, beg for protection from potentially significant civil and criminal penalties, just for finding a way to access books they have a right to read. Consumers shouldn't be on the hook for needing to repeatedly explain themselves; our copyright law should reward those rights owners who don't shut out people with disabilities and should penalize those who do.

[Mark Richert, Esq is the Director of Public Policy at the American Foundation for the Blind]

The FCC's Half-Shoveled Sidewalk: Forbearance and Universal Service

At its December open meeting, the Federal Communications Commission acted on a petition for forbearance that was filed by USTelecom. While the FCC granted some of the relief that was sought, it denied USTelecom’s request for forbearance from universal service obligations in places where price cap incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) receive no high-cost universal service support. In explaining this denial, the FCC sounds an awful lot like a kid explaining why he shoveled only part of the sidewalk.

Under the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the FCC has a duty to ensure that sufficient universal service support is available to support the universal service requirements that the Commission may adopt under the Act. As Commissioner Pai pointed out in his separate statement, the FCC has utterly shirked this responsibility. By his calculations based on the FCC’s own cost model, there is a more than $1 billion gap between the cost of serving these areas and the expected revenues from doing so. If the FCC doesn’t want to fund universal service obligations in these areas, it should just get rid of them, as USTelecom asked it to do. Unfortunately, the FCC appears determined to try to maintain the obligations without taking responsibility for them. I think it’s time for someone – like an appellate court or Congress – to tell them to pick up the shovel and do the job right.

Encryption, Broadband Privacy, Data Security Enforcement Crowd 2016 Agenda

[Commentary] Terrorist attacks in France and California may spur Congress to seek limits on consumer-encrypted communications. But even if the attacks have shifted somewhat the political environment, weakening encryption faces an uphill battle. Privacy activity beyond Capitol Hill also will garner attention in 2016, including broadband rulemaking at the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC's more aggressive stance on privacy issues and the Federal Trade Commission's exercise of data security enforcement authority are also on the front burner.

The Verge Co-Founder Josh Topolsky Is Raising Money to Launch a Media Startup

Joshua Topolsky, co-founding editor of Vox Media sister site The Verge and most recently head of digital at Bloomberg, is working on a new digital media project that will cover a broad range of topics including politics, culture and business. The holding company name is Independent Media (for which Topolsky has already claimed a URL) and the new site, which doesn’t have a name yet, will be supported by ad partnerships, apprently. Topolsky is also said to be exploring commerce and events businesses as well. According to sources, Topolsky aims for the new business to be akin to luxury lifestyle brand Monocle, which publishes a magazine 10 times a year as well as producing a website, a radio show and events. The editor wants to build an audience with the wallet and sensibility of old media prestige brands like the New Yorker or Vanity Fair, they say.

Gigabit connections to rise tenfold in 2016, says Deloitte

Driven by telecommunication company and cable providers like AT&T and Comcast, the number of gigabit Internet connections is projected to rise tenfold to 10 million by the end of 2016, with residential connections accounting for about 70 percent of the total, says Deloitte Global. The research firm said that rising demand will be fueled by increasing availability and a decline in broadband service prices. In 2015, Deloitte noted that the number of Gbps tariffs almost doubled in just three quarters, from just over 80 to more than 150. The 10 million subscribers are likely to be a portion of 250 million customers expected to be on networks capable of gigabit speeds by the end of 2016.

Pricing for gigabit services has continued to drop over the past three years. As of the end of 2012, the average entry level price was over $400. This is in contrast to the end of the third quarter of 2015, where the average had fallen to under $200, and the lowest package from Singtel was priced at under $50. Deloitte predicts that there will be 600 million subscribers on networks offering a gigabit tariff by 2020, or over half of the world's connected homes.

Data Preview: What’s New in the July 2015 CPS Computer and Internet Use Supplement

In July 2015, National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) commissioned the Census Bureau to conduct the latest Computer and Internet Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS). NTIA uses this survey to help understand why, where, and how Americans use the Internet, as well as what barriers stand in the way of effective Internet use. We are awaiting the results of the latest survey, which has been significantly redesigned to fit the changing technological landscape.

NTIA has developed a more person-centric survey instrument, as opposed to household-centric questioning, that gathers data on the range of devices people use, the places they are used, and how they are used. We increased the flexibility of the survey instrument by making it easier to add device, location, and online activity categories while preserving our ability to track changes over time. We’re taking advantage of the new structure by asking Americans about wearable devices for the first time, as well as whether they use the Internet to interact with household equipment, like a connected thermostat or security system. We also reserved space in the survey to ask questions about policy issues. In 2015, we gathered data on privacy and security by asking how frequently households have been affected by data breaches, whether privacy or security concerns have hampered online activities, and what people are most worried about when it comes to online privacy and security risks.

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