February 29, 2016 (Happy Leap Day!)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2016 (HAPPY LEAP DAY)
A New Era of Broadband Deployment
This week’s events -- https://www.benton.org/calendar/2016-02-28--P1W
INTERNET/BROADBAND
One year later, network neutrality fight enters new phase
One year later, network neutrality still faces attacks in court and Congress
Commissioner Pai Remarks: Internet Regulation First-Year Report Card - speech
Happy Net Neutrali-versary! - op-ed
Why net neutrality hasn't always been a partisan issue
Standing with Louisville - Google press release [links to Benton summary]
AT&T gave $62K to lawmakers months before vote to limit muni broadband [links to Benton summary]
WIRELESS
Sometimes the Best Things in Life Really Are Free - CTIA press release
Here are the five most important trends for marketers to emerge from this year’s Mobile World Congress [links to Revere Digital]
APPLE VS FBI
First Amendment Expert Wayne Giampietro Agrees with Apple’s ‘Code is Speech’ Argument [links to Washington Post]
GOP Candidates Unanimous: Apple Must Comply With Court Order On Terrorist's Phone [links to Fast Company]
Apple's lawyer: If we lose, it will lead to a 'police state' [links to CNN Money]
Lawyer For Apple: 'What In The Law Requires Us To Redesign The iPhone?' [links to National Public Radio]
Apple: The FBI Should Ask the NSA to Hack Shooter’s iPhone [links to Vice]
Police chief: There’s a “reasonably good chance” not much is on seized iPhone [links to Ars Technica]
Jesse Jackson tells Apple boss Tim Cook: ‘we applaud your leadership’ [links to CNN Money]
Apple's Tim Cook to shareholders: Taking on the FBI is the right thing to do [links to Benton summary]
It would cost Apple $101K to help the FBI hack an iPhone [links to CNNMoney]
Editorial: CEO Tim Cook’s case for not aiding the FBI’s antiterror effort looks worse than ever [links to Wall Street Journal]
When the government took on Microsoft [links to USAToday]
MORE SECURITY/PRIVACY
Federal Efforts in Data Privacy Move Slowly
Groups press for action on requiring warrants for e-mails
Hackers did indeed cause Ukrainian power outage, US Department of Homeland Security report concludes [links to Ars Technica]
Baltimore hackers say they reveal potentially deadly cybersecurity weaknesses at area hospitals [links to Baltimore Sun]
Dept of Commerce Official: People Won't Contribute to Digital Economy If They Think Data is Unsafe [links to Benton summary]
With increased government data requests, Congress should act [links to International Association of Privacy Professionals]
Pentagon chief to appeal to Silicon Valley for help with cybersecurity [links to Los Angeles Times]
TELEVISION/RADIO
FCC Probes Cable Firms’ Influence on Web TV
With Chris Rock, the Oscars Find a Lucky Pairing of Host and Subject [links to New York Times]
TV Networks Recast the Role of Commercials [links to Benton summary]
Opinion: Our relationship with TV is messed up. It’s time for a change. [links to Washington Post]
Why You Should Own Your Cable Box [links to Vice]
Task force aims to preserve radio history [links to American Public Media]
Vice Media to Launch Its Own Cable TV Channel [links to Wall Street Journal]
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Donald Trump: We're going to 'open up' libel laws
TV Pundits Praise Hillary Clinton On Air, Fail to Disclose Financial Ties to Her Campaign [links to Benton summary]
CONTENT
The Need for Fair Use Guidelines for Remixes - NTIA [links to Benton summary]
MPAA, Studios Slapped With Class-Action Lawsuit Over Smoking in Films [links to TVNewsCheck]
DIVERSITY
With Chris Rock, the Oscars Find a Lucky Pairing of Host and Subject [links to New York Times]
Google gives $1M to Bryan Stevenson's racial justice effort [links to Benton summary]
TV Must Tackle Diversity, Too [links to Multichannel News]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Donald Trump Elicits Shock and Biting Satire in European Media [links to New York Times]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
NET NEUTRALITY’S NEW PHASE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: David McCabe]
The fight over network neutrality is entering a new phase, one year after the Federal Communications Commission approved the landmark Internet rules. Regulators are moving to develop new standards, even as critics push forward to have the courts or Congress curb or strike down the rules down entirely. The debate is now focused on two questions: If the courts or Congress will block or temper the rules; and if not, how the FCC will implement them. A three-judge panel is weighing whether the FCC overstepped its powers when it reclassified Internet service to give it authority on the issue. And a new challenge to the rules came recently in the form of legislation from conservative lawmakers — including two presidential candidates — to repeal the regulations entirely. Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) bill says the Internet rules would have "no force or effect" and would keep the FCC from enacting such measures in the future.
benton.org/headlines/one-year-later-network-neutrality-fight-enters-new-phase | Hill, The
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NET NEUTRALITY STILL UNDER ATTACK
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
On February 26, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 along party lines to enforce net neutrality rules and preempt state laws that prevent the expansion of municipal broadband networks. But whether either decision will survive past Tom Wheeler’s chairmanship is still an open question. Republicans in Congress have tried to overturn them, and lawsuits against the commission are still pending. Trade groups representing Internet service providers sued to halt the net neutrality rules and a related reclassification of broadband as a Title II common carrier service. Judges at the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, heard oral arguments in December and could issue a decision in the next few months (though no one knows exactly when). North Carolina and Tennessee sued the FCC to preserve state laws that prevent municipal broadband networks from expanding to surrounding cities and towns. Oral arguments in that case are scheduled for March 17. Meanwhile, Republicans have made numerous efforts to eliminate or minimize the impact of the FCC’s rulings, so far unsuccessfully. Some proposals would have simply wiped out the net neutrality rules entirely, such as one bill called the “Internet Freedom Act.” Other proposals are more subtle but could significantly reduce the FCC’s power to enforce rules meant to protect consumers.
benton.org/headlines/one-year-later-network-neutrality-still-faces-attacks-court-and-congress | Ars Technica
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COMMISSIONER PAI INTERNET REGULATION FIRST-YEAR REPORT CARD
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai]
One year ago today, the Federal Communications Commission decided to join 20th century regulation and the 21st century Internet together in not-so-holy matrimony. It’s fitting that the traditional one-year anniversary gift is paper—for that’s pretty much all that utility-style regulation has produced over the last 12 months. Reams of paper have been spent on litigation. Mountains more have been built counseling Internet service providers on the new requirements. And there are even stacks and stacks of paper that have been filed responding to the agency’s Paperwork Reduction Act analysis. All this has been a gift to the legal profession. But for most Americans, the marriage has been a dud. No, the Title II Order was not the product of an expert agency looking at the facts and making an independent judgment. It was the product of raw political power. So what were the results? Unfortunately, for those of us who cherished the free and open Internet, nothing we didn’t predict.
1 We knew that President Obama’s plan to regulate the Internet would harm investment and slow down broadband deployment. And one year later, we are already seeing those results.
2 We knew that President Obama’s plan would give the FCC the power to micromanage virtually every aspect of how the Internet works.
3 We knew that President Obama’s plan would create massive uncertainty.
benton.org/headlines/commissioner-pai-remarks-internet-regulation-first-year-report-card | Federal Communications Commission | Multichannel News
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HAPPY NET NEUTRALITY ANNIVERSARY
[SOURCE: Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Craig Aaron]
[Commentary] One year ago, I witnessed something that may never be seen again inside the windowless hearing room at the Federal Communications Commission: multiple standing ovations. There was also whooping. The occasion, on Feb. 26, 2015, was the historic vote by the FCC to safeguard the open Internet by passing strong Net Neutrality rules and re-establishing the agency's clear authority under Title II of the Communications Act. Which was a long way of saying: We saved the Internet! Woo-hoo! You should celebrate this first Net Neutrali-versary and remember how sweet that first victory felt. So pop some champagne as you pop open your laptop. Crank up the Kool & the Gang on YouTube to celebrate that you still can. Go ahead and give yourself a standing ovation. Then, get ready. This won't be the last time you're called on to save the Internet.
[Aaron is President and CEO, Free Press]
benton.org/headlines/happy-net-neutrali-versary | Huffington Post | Timothy Karr
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WHY NET NEUTRALITY HASN'T ALWAYS BEEN A PARTISAN ISSUE
[SOURCE: Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Max Lewontin]
In recent years, network neutrality regulations have become a more overtly political issue that often pits Democratic proponents against Republican opponents. But a look back at media reports on the issue over more than a decade shows that this issue hasn’t always been as nakedly partisan, though it’s arguably long been divisive. More than a decade ago, a proposal by former Federal Communications Commission head Michael Powell that is sometimes seen as an early version of net neutrality barely merited a mention when Powell, a Republican, left the commission in 2005. The proposal, unveiled in a speech in Boulder (CO) in 2004, called for four “Internet freedoms” for consumers: the ability to access content freely, to use a variety of Internet applications without interference, to add “personal devices” to a users’ network, and to obtain information about their service plans. Instead, media accounts of his departure point to Powell’s role in the FCC’s “indecency crusade” following Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction” during the 2004 Superbowl, and to his focus on maintaining a free market among cable and phone providers, arguing that came at consumers’ expense. Since his 2004 proposal, Powell who is now head of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, has often differentiated his proposals from the abstract idea of “net neutrality.” “The open Internet is a good thing,” he said at a conference in 2006 at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York, the Hollywood Reporter noted. “But ‘net neutrality’ is an invitation to draw government into the Internet in a much bigger way than people have anticipated." Companies also appeared to support Powell’s Internet freedoms, with one executive saying the principles could transcend partisan differences.
benton.org/headlines/why-net-neutrality-hasnt-always-been-partisan-issue | Christian Science Monitor
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WIRELESS
FREE DATA OFFERINGS
[SOURCE: CTIA, AUTHOR: Scott Bergmann]
More services and more data, but without more cost. That’s as consumer friendly as you can get. And unsurprisingly, consumers have embraced free data offerings. Free data offerings:
Enhance competitive choice. FCC Chairman Wheeler was right – free data services are “highly innovative and highly competitive.” We want operators competing for customers on price, quality and new offerings like free data. It is competition that compels companies to roll out new ways of improving service and consumers win.
Encourage experimentation. Free Data may be new to wireless, but it is a common business practice across our economy from toll-free calling to free shipping. The FCC has recognized that toll-free provides callers “with a ‘free’ and convenient way to contact businesses” and “have proven successful for businesses.” Likewise, free shipping offers consumers significant benefit. A recent survey found that over 80% of consumers rated free shipping as “very important” or “important” in making their online shopping decisions. The same pro-consumer concepts apply for Free Data. We want wireless operators to find new ways to deliver for consumers.
Meet demand for more data. Consumers demand more and more mobile data, particularly for video services. We want to help meet that demand and promote usage on our smartphones and tablets to embrace the connected life and the Internet of Things (IoT). Free data helps us do that. Consumers can watch more without paying more each month, and they already are doing just that. T-Mobile reported that customers of its Binge On service are watching more than twice the amount of streaming video as they did before. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings noted that his service is “seeing a great reception amongst our users and we’re seeing viewing going up. We hope those kinds of programs expand.” So do we.
Help bring everyone online. Over 31.5 million American adults are smartphone-only, and for many low-income and minority communities mobile broadband is the first (and sometimes only) connection to the Internet. Total cost is identified as a key factor for adoption, so finding ways to offer consumers more services and data without driving up cost is an idea we should all embrace.
Deliver a better consumer experience. Above all else, we should look at how the average consumers benefits from new plans. Without question, consumers are benefiting from these free data offerings.
benton.org/headlines/sometimes-best-things-life-really-are-free | CTIA
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PRIVACY
FEDERAL DATA PRIVACY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Natasha Singer]
In February 2012, the White House introduced a blueprint for the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, intended to give Americans the ability to exercise control over what personal details companies collected from them and how the data was used. In his introduction to the report, President Obama went further, writing that his “administration will work to advance these principles and work with Congress to put them into law.” Four years later, however, the effort has produced few new data controls for consumers, even as advocates say the need is greater than ever because of the advent of Internet-connected technologies that collect data on people’s sleep habits, the temperature in their houses and the like. “Why has President Obama’s proposal to establish a consumer privacy framework not moved forward?” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a research center in Washington that initially supported the administration’s effort. “It’s an important question.” The story of how some of the country’s leading civil society advocates came to lose faith in the White House’s privacy initiative does not follow the typical plot of Washington gridlock. It is a tale of clashing visions for American society and commerce. And it provides an instructive preview of looming battles among government agencies for control over industries like drones, smartphones and gadgets yet to come.
benton.org/headlines/federal-efforts-data-privacy-move-slowly | New York Times
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PRIVACY BILL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
Tech and privacy advocates are pressuring House Republicans to take up an e-mail privacy bill without considering amendments that they say would water it down. The privacy bill has been held up for years, despite general agreement in Congress that the government should be required to obtain a warrant before going to technology companies and demanding copies of e-mails. The fight is centered now on the House Judiciary Committee, which is led by Rep Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). Chairman Goodlatte has promised to mark up the email privacy bill in March 2016, but has yet to set a date. A coalition of several high-profile groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, are pushing for Chairman Goodlatte to move forward immediately. The groups have promised to flood Goodlatte’s office with calls and e-mails urging him to take up the broadly supported bill and avoid harmful amendments.
benton.org/headlines/groups-press-action-requiring-warrants-e-mails | Hill, The
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA
DONALD TRUMP: WE'RE GOING TO 'OPEN UP' LIBEL LAWS
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Hadas Gold]
Donald Trump said he plans to change libel laws in the United States so that he can have an easier time suing news organizations. During a rally in Fort Worth (TX), Trump began his usual tirade against newspapers such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, saying they're "losing money" and are "dishonest." The Republican presidential candidate then took a different turn, suggesting that when he's president they'll "have problems." "One of the things I'm going to do if I win, and I hope we do and we're certainly leading. I'm going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. We're going to open up those libel laws. So when The New York Times writes a hit piece which is a total disgrace or when The Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they're totally protected," Trump said.
benton.org/headlines/donald-trump-were-going-open-libel-laws | Politico | Hollywood Reporter | Recode
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TELEVISION
CABLE AND WEB TV
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: John McKinnon]
The Federal Communications Commission is probing whether big cable firms use special contract provisions to discourage media companies—from Walt Disney Co. to smaller firms—from running programming on the Internet. It is part of a broader attempt by the FCC to address one of the big conundrums of the telecom age: Why has television been so slow to come to the Internet, despite technical breakthroughs that made it possible long ago. The FCC is expected to act soon to curb such contracts on the part of two big cable firms, Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable, if the agency approves their merger. Consumer advocates hope that change would set a precedent that could eventually cover the industry as a whole.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-probes-cable-firms-influence-web-tv | Wall Street Journal
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