CORRECTION: Yesterday’s newsletter included the headline “Scaled-back broadband proposal would build KY state network piece by piece” while, in fact, the article concerned West Virginia’s network. We regret the error.
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2016
Next week’s events -- https://www.benton.org/calendar/2016-02-21--P1W
NEWS FROM THE FCC MEETING
FCC Examines State of Video Programming Diversity - press release
Unlocking Opportunities for Video Programmers of Color - HuffPo op-ed
FCC Proposes Rules to "Unlock the Box" - press release
Stakeholders Weigh In on Set-Top Decision [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Of Double Standards and Situational Policy [links to AT&T press release on set-top boxes]
Set Top Box Competition: What’s Not to Like? - analysis
Cable companies: The FCC may force us to make your life more difficult [links to Washington Post]
Opinion: Proposed FCC rules on cable boxes throw networks into a Google panic [links to Los Angeles Times]
FCC Enhances Accessibility of Video Programming on Television - press release
Unlocking Opportunities for Video Programmers of Color - HuffPo op-ed
Future of TV: FCC Set-Top Item is Google Gift [links to Multichannel News]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
President Obama creates cyber panel, says long-term vigilance needed [links to Benton summary]
How Apple Will Fight US Demand for Access to Attacker's iPhone [links to Bloomberg]
Apple is selling you a phone, not civil liberties - Brookings [links to Benton summary]
The Conscription of Apple's Software Engineers - The Atlantic [links to Benton summary]
What Tim Cook doesn't want to admit about iPhones and encryption - Vox [links to Benton summary]
Vivek Wadhwa: Why Apple’s iPhone battle with the government will likely be a privacy setback [links to Washington Post]
Apple’s Line in the Sand Was Over a Year in the Making [links to New York Times]
US Clash With Apple Was Months in the Making [links to Wall Street Journal]
How Tim Cook, in iPhone Battle, Became a Bulwark for Digital Privacy [links to New York Times]
Apple Privacy Fight Escalates State and Local Cases [links to Wall Street Journal]
FBI's drive against Apple raises specter of privacy threat [links to San Jose Mercury News]
Why Apple's fight with the FBI could have reverberations in China [links to Los Angeles Times]
Michael Wolff: How did Apple become responsible for our security? [links to USAToday]
Encryption isn’t at stake, the FBI knows Apple already has the desired key [links to Ars Technica]
Senator Burr drafting bill to criminalize Apple’s refusal to aid decryption [links to Ars Technica]
Editorial: Why Apple Is Right to Challenge an Order to Help the FBI [links to New York Times]
Editorial -- The FBI vs. Apple: The White House should have avoided this legal and security showdown [links to Wall Street Journal]
Op-ed: Risks for tech industry abound in Apple-FBI faceoff [links to Los Angeles Times]
Editorial: Apple is right; opening cell phone encryption would be disastrous [links to San Jose Mercury News]
Opinion: Apple-FBI fight will leave extensive damage [links to Financial Times]
Opinion: The silver lining in the Apple v. FBI showdown [links to Christian Science Monitor]
AT&T, Verizon Have Different Obligations Than Apple [links to Benton summary]
Why Using the ‘Cloud’ Can Undermine Data Protections [links to Wall Street Journal]
Data Broker Defendants Settle FTC Charges They Sold Sensitive Personal Information to Scammers - press release [links to Benton summary]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
New York’s futuristic new pay phones don’t require any payment at all
CableLabs: Symmetrical Gigabit Service for Cable Broadband on Tap [links to telecompetitor]
Google Fiber: Fixed Wireless for Last Mile May be in Play [links to Benton summary]
Alexa, Unlock the Internet [links to Medium]
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
A new wave of mobile technology is on its way, and will bring drastic change [links to Benton summary]
Google Fiber: Fixed Wireless for Last Mile May be in Play [links to Benton summary]
T-Mobile: 39 Months, $1.75 Billion Plenty for Repack [links to Benton summary]
What the White House Cybersecurity Plan Says About the Internet of Things [links to nextgov]
TELECOM
AT&T Rolls Out Landline Texting for Businesses [links to Wireless Week]
FCC Fines Florida Companies & Owner Over $3.4 Million for Unauthorized Charges, Deceptive Marketing, and Non-Payment of Fees [links to Federal Communications Commission]
OWNERSHIP
Senate Judiciary Leaders ID Key Charter-TWC Issues [links to Benton summary]
More Than 300,000 Oppose Charter-Time Warner Cable-Brighthouse Networks Merger - press release [links to Benton summary]
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
How the Internet has democratized democracy, to Bernie Sanders’s benefit [links to Benton summary]
Study: TV works best for political ads [links to Benton summary]
GfK Study: TV Is Leading Influencer of Voters [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
One estimate says cable news ‘donated’ $2.8 million to Trump in free air time. That’s not quite true. [links to Washington Post]
HEALTH
Teens rarely report online harassment. When they do, they rarely get help. [links to Benton summary]
CONTENT
Future of TV: FCC Set-Top Item is Google Gift [links to Multichannel News]
Apple E-Book Settlement Is Affirmed by Court [links to Wall Street Journal]
Why your Facebook feed is drowning in dreadful sales pitches [links to Washington Post]
How Netflix completely revamped recommendations for its new global audience [links to Verge, The]
JOURNALISM
How to Do Business Journalism on the Internet and Actually Make Some Money [links to Revere Digital]
What being a journalist in the Middle East taught me about how censorship really works [links to Vox]
PHILANTROPY
$18M in Grants to Advance Public Interest Technology - press release
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
We Want Your Ideas on We the People [links to White House, The]
POLICYMAKERS
FCC’s Media Bureau Announces Front Office Staff Appointments - press release [links to Benton summary]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
What being a journalist in the Middle East taught me about how censorship really works [links to Vox]
What’s driving Israel’s media crackdown? [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
Three to become first European mobile operator to block ads [links to Financial Times]
China requires approval for foreign firms to publish online [links to Associated Press]
Teens rarely report online harassment. When they do, they rarely get help. [links to Benton summary]
How Netflix completely revamped recommendations for its new global audience [links to Verge, The]
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NEWS FROM THE FCC MEETING
VIDEO PROGRAMMING DIVERSITY
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) to begin a conversation on the state of independent and diverse programming. The NOI solicits comment on the principal challenges independent video programmers face in gaining carriage of their content on both traditional and emerging distribution platforms. This action will help the FCC assess the current state of video programming diversity and determine whether further action is needed to promote independent programming sources. Independent video programmers repeatedly have expressed concern that some practices of cable operators and other multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) limit their ability to reach viewers. To evaluate these concerns and assess the impact of these practices on the Commission’s goal of fostering a diverse, robust, and competitive programming marketplace, the NOI asks for comment on the general state of the marketplace for independent video programming and the challenges faced by all independent programmers – including new and emerging programmers – in attempting to launch or grow. The NOI specifically invites comment on several issues that independent programmers and other interested parties have raised in other proceedings, including:
Contractual provisions often contained in program carriage agreements, such as most favored nation (MFN) and alternative distribution method (ADM) clauses;
Distribution via over the top (OTT) platforms, and the costs and benefits of foregoing MVPD carriage to pursue OTT carriage;
Program bundling (i.e., the practice by some content companies of requiring MVPDs or other distributors to carry large bundles in order to gain access to marquee programming);
Negotiation tactics alleged to be common among MVPDs that may impede the ability of independent programmers to obtain carriage; and
Claims that MVPDs discriminate against public, educational or government access (PEG) programming by failing to make PEG programming, and information about this programming, adequately available to subscribers.
Lastly, the NOI asks about the FCC’s legal authority in this area and what role, if any, it should play in addressing obstacles that hinder consumers from accessing sources of independent and diverse programming.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-examines-state-video-programming-diversity | Federal Communications Commission
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UNLOCKING OPPORTUNITIES FOR VIDEO PROGRAMMERS OF COLOR
[SOURCE: Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Joe Torres, Michael Scurato]
[Commentary] The Oscars' failure to recognize Black and Latino talent proves, once again, a troubling fact we know all too well: People of color face persistent challenges in convincing industry gatekeepers to produce, distribute and recognize their work. This is why finding new ways to make diverse content available to a greater number of people is essential to ensuring that communities of color are heard and able to tell their own stories, in their own voices, without first seeking permission of any middle man. At its Feb. 18 meeting, the Federal Communications Commission launched a proceeding to consider new rules that would allow third-party set-top boxes to securely access and display our cable programming -- unlocking our cable boxes from the clutches of our cable providers. This could help create a more vibrant media system that would better serve communities of color -- and give diverse content creators a better shot at connecting with their audiences.
[Joe Torres is senior external affairs director at Free Press. Michael Scurato is vice president of policy at the National Hispanic Media Coalition]
benton.org/headlines/unlocking-opportunities-video-programmers-color | Huffington Post
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FCC LAUNCHES SET-TOP BOX PROCEEDING
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission approved a proposal that would tear down anti-competitive barriers and pave the way for software, devices, and other innovative solutions to compete with the set-top boxes that a majority of consumers lease from pay-TV providers today. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) will create a framework for providing innovators, device manufacturers, and app developers the information they need to develop new technologies, reflecting the many ways consumers access their subscription video programming today. The NPRM provides the framework to “unlock the box” for innovators to create competitive solutions – either hardware or software-based apps — that give consumers freedom of choice. Specifically, it recommends that pay-TV providers be required to deliver three core information streams:
Service discovery: Information about what programming is available to the consumer, such as the channel listing and video-on-demand lineup, and what is on those channels.
Entitlements: Information about what a device is allowed to do with content, such as recording.
Content delivery: The video programming itself
The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking also recommends content protection rules that provide MVPDs flexibility. The proposed rules do not mandate a single security system but simply require MVPDs to offer at least one content protection system that is openly licensed on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. This gives MVPDs the ability to create their own content protection system to prevent theft and misuse, while ensuring that manufacturers will be able to build devices that can access protected content from a variety of MVPDs. The proposal seeks to maintain programmers’ existing agreements with MVPDs and full copyright protections and remedies. The proposal tentatively concludes that new device or app developers should certify compliance with similar privacy protections to those that MVPDs comply with today.
Additionally, the NPRM proposes to:
Ensure that children’s programming advertising limits and emergency alerts apply regardless of whether the consumer leases the MVPD’s set-top box or uses a competitive solution to access video programming;
Include a billing transparency rule to ensure that consumers understand their monthly charges for both programming services and equipment lease fees in accordance with section 629; and
Retain the FCC’s rules adopted in a 2010 Report and Order to improve support for consumer-owned CableCARD devices.
It also includes a Memorandum Opinion and Order removing the so-called “integration ban” language from the Code of Federal Regulations, as required under Section 106 of the STELA Reauthorization Act of 2014
benton.org/headlines/fcc-proposes-rules-unlock-box | Federal Communications Commission
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WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE?
[SOURCE: TeleFrieden, AUTHOR: Rob Frieden]
[Commentary] Only in this pay to play, partisan world could two out of three Federal Communications Commission members rise in opposition to an overdue initiative to save consumers billions of dollars. Cable and DBS companies will join the opponents along with sponsored researchers who will trot out all sorts of bogus rationales. I’ll start by using two words to dismiss what appears to be the first gambit rationalizing a monopoly set top box marketplace. The narrative goes something like this: “Why fix something that isn’t broken? Just look at those so-called Tivo boxes. Have you seen their prices? My response in two words: umbrella pricing. Tivo charges what the market will bear, and in an artificially uncompetitive market it can use the outrageous set top box rental box rates to establish an equally outrageous sale price. If the FCC removes the government-sanctioned near monopoly, then cable, DBS and set top box manufacturers simply will have to sharpen their pencils and offer consumers a far better value proposition.
benton.org/headlines/set-top-box-competition-whats-not | TeleFrieden
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FCC ENHANCES ACCESSIBILITY OF VIDEO PROGRAMMING ON TELEVISION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission adopted amendments to its rules on closed captioning of televised video programming to ensure that millions of Americans who are deaf and hard of hearing have full access to programming. This action helps clarify which entities are responsible for which parts of the delivery and quality of closed captions on television. The order clarifies that responsibility for the quality of closed captioning falls on video programmers that prepare or make arrangements for the captions on their television shows, while the delivery and technical aspects of captioning remains the responsibility of distributors (such as cable or satellite companies). The FCC allocates the responsibilities for addressing and resolving closed captioning provision and quality control issues between video programmers and distributors, based on which entity has primary control for each issue. The Order also modifies and improves the captioning complaint procedures and certification process.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-enhances-accessibility-video-programming-television | Federal Communications Commission
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
LINKNYC
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
New York's futuristic, high-tech pay phones -- which are embedded with touchscreen tablets -- are finally going live. The name "pay phone" doesn't quite do it justice, of course. Yes, the city's LinkNYC terminals will allow you to make domestic phone calls. But they'll also let you surf the Web, pull up online maps and connect to city services like 311 and 911. And all of it will be free, thanks to built-in advertising. Powering these features is a series of Android tablets that are built into each of the LinkNYC terminals that are now in use. More terminals will be switched on this summer across the city, making a total of 510 LinkNYC spots. Over the next eight years, as many as 7,500 stations will be built to replace New York's pay phone network. One of the LinkNYC system's most attractive features is an ultrafast, gigabit WiFi hotspot. Currently in beta testing, the WiFi feature has shown download speeds of more than 250 Mbps — way faster than what you probably get at home.
benton.org/headlines/new-yorks-futuristic-new-pay-phones-dont-require-any-payment-all | Washington Post | The Verge
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PHILANTROPY
PUBLIC INTEREST TECHNOLOGY
[SOURCE: MacArthur Foundation, AUTHOR: Press release]
In a joint commitment to uncover new ways the Internet can be used to foster learning and promote justice, MacArthur and the Ford, Knight, Open Society, and Mozilla foundations have committed a combined $18M in grants to strengthen the emerging field of public interest technology. The grants will support a range of initiatives from fellowships that bring technology into journalism, science, and public policy, to a program that partners with civil society and government organizations to explore how technologies impact civil liberties, civil rights, and consumer protection matters. The NetGain partners also released their first report detailing opportunities and best practices for others to join the movement to build and expand public interest technology.
benton.org/headlines/18m-grants-advance-public-interest-technology | MacArthur Foundation | read the NetGain report
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