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February 2016

What’s Missing in the Encryption, Privacy and Security Debate

[Commentary] Currently, there is a heated ongoing debate among politicians, government agencies and technology providers regarding the use of encryption and whether law enforcement agencies should have a so-called backdoor into encrypted devices in order to track down and prosecute criminals and terrorists. As we continues to grapple with these issues, there are four key considerations surrounding the secure design of mobile devices we should keep in mind in both a government and private sector context.

  1. Security must be built into mobile devices from the outset.
  2. Military-grade encryption is needed in today’s security landscape.
  3. Security vendors must be held to higher standards when it comes to protecting their customers’ data.
  4. Internet of Things security and mobile device security standards must also improve.

[Guccione is CEO of Keeper Security]

Congressional Rural Broadband Caucus Launches

The Congressional Rural Broadband Caucus is a new, bipartisan caucus formed by Reps. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Bob Latta (R-OH), Mark Pocan (D-WI), and Peter Welch (D-VT), who will serve as co-chairs. The caucus also includes Reps. Mike Bost (R-IL), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa), Frank Lucas (R-OK), James McGovern (D-MA), Luke Messer (R-IN), Rick Nolan (D-MN), Rob Woodall (R-GA).

The caucus held its first meeting Feb. 3 and included the Competitive Carriers Association, which represents competitive wireless providers, in its initial panel discussion on the opportunities and challenges of bringing broadband to rural America.

Idea to be retired: Decentralized IT governance

[Commentary] The pendulum has long-since swung away from decentralization and back to centralization, but we have been slow to recognize it and adapt. A decentralized approach is unsuited to a future IT environment characterized by continual reduction of on-premises systems, near limitless bandwidth, and the majority of government systems migrated to the cloud. In order to recognize benefits including standardization, efficiencies of scale and scope, and lower coordination costs, we must act now to structurally align our IT governance to the new realities of cloud-based centralization. We must acknowledge that centralized IT governance is the superior model and that decentralization is an idea that needs to die.

[Denford is an associate professor and interim dean of Continuing Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada]

It's the Internet, Stupid

[Commentary] The good news is that presidential candidates are starting to talk about Internet issues. The bad news is that presidential candidates are starting to talk about Internet issues.

Since the 2012 election, the Internet has emerged as a widely discussed political topic. Advocates of an open and accessible Internet number in the tens of millions and include people of every political stripe living in every part of the United States. This growing community supports Net Neutrality, worries about government and corporate violations of their privacy, and believes the Internet is a crucial platform that everyone should be able to access at affordable prices. Whether you’re one of the more than 10 million people who protested congressional efforts to pass Internet-censoring copyright legislation or one of the millions who urged the Federal Communications Commission to adopt real network neutrality protections, you’re part of a growing political base that expects our elected leaders to support our rights to connect and communicate.

That’s a good thing, right? Here’s the problem. Presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle haven’t caught up with the rest of us. When facing intelligent questions about their views on important Internet issues, they just plain get it wrong most of the time.

Additional Coordination and Performance Measurement Needed for High-Speed Internet Access Programs on Tribal Lands

Although all 21 tribes the Government Accountability Office interviewed have some access to high-speed Internet, tribes and providers GAO interviewed cited barriers to increasing access.

The Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund subsidy programs and the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service grant programs are interrelated in that they seek to increase high-speed Internet access in underserved areas, including tribal lands. GAO's previous work on overlap, duplication, and fragmentation has shown that interagency coordination on interrelated programs can help ensure efficient use of resources and effective programs. However, FCC and USDA do not coordinate to develop joint outreach and training. This could result in an inefficient use of federal resources and missed opportunities for resource leveraging between FCC and USDA.

FCC has placed special emphasis on improving Internet access on tribal lands following the issuance of the National Broadband Plan, which called for greater efforts to make broadband available on tribal lands. However, FCC has not developed performance goals and measures for improving high-speed Internet availability to households on tribal lands. Without these goals and measures FCC cannot assess the impact of its efforts. The National Broadband Map includes data on Internet availability on tribal lands that could allow FCC to establish baseline measures for Internet availability on tribal lands.

Further, FCC also lacks performance goals and measures for tribal institutions—such as schools and libraries. Specifically, FCC's E-rate program provides funds to ensure that schools and libraries have affordable access to modern broadband technologies, but FCC has not set any performance goals for the program's impact on tribal institutions. Nor has FCC defined “tribal” on the E-rate application. Without such information, it will be difficult to accurately track progress in making broadband available in tribal institutions.

GAO recommends that FCC (1) develop joint training and outreach with USDA; (2) develop performance goals and measures for tribal areas for improving broadband availability to households; (3) develop performance goals and measures for improving broadband availability to tribal schools and libraries; and (4) improve the reliability of FCC data related to institutions that receive E-rate funding by defining “tribal” on the program application. FCC agreed with the recommendations.

Google’s Free Gigabit Internet for Public Housing Is No Replacement for Reform

[Commentary] A huge corporation helping to fix America’s ailing public housing infrastructure raises some important questions. Most importantly: is it even a private company’s job to fix what is a national problem of public concern?

The buddy-buddy nature of the partnership between Google and the Department of Housing and Urban Development will no doubt rub some civic-minded observers the wrong way, along with the apparent unwillingness of Sec Julián Castro to consider public solutions. And, let’s be real, an internet connection and good press for Google is no replacement for, oh, I don’t know, maybe addressing the social and economic issues that led to this problem in the first place? But it’s also true that free Google Fiber is way better deal than what some other communities are getting from the ConnectHome project.

E-mail privacy legislation moving forward in House

The House Judiciary Committee will vote in March on e-mail privacy legislation that has failed to move despite widespread support in recent years.

Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) said the legislation is necessary to update a 1986 law to explicitly require the government to obtain a warrant when it is seeking to access e-mails or other electronic communications. “It’s clear that the law needs to be modernized and updated to ensure it keeps pace with ever-changing technologies so that we protect Americans’ constitutional rights and provide law enforcement with the tools they need for criminal investigations in the digital age,” he said. Advocates for reform have become impatient in Congress. The announced vote came after Rep Suzan DelBene (D-WA) had earlier in the day wanted to add the privacy bill as an amendment to a separate vote in the committee. However, the vote was delayed. "With 308 of my colleagues – a majority of both Republicans and Democrats – and a majority of the Judiciary Committee in support of the bill, the markup should be brief and the bill should swiftly move to the House floor for passage,” said Rep Kevin Yoder (R-KS), one of the primary sponsors of the bill. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved its version of reform in 2015, but it has not received a vote on the floor.

Senators blast Comcast, other cable firms for “unfair billing practices”

Six Democratic Senators criticized Comcast and other TV and broadband providers for charging erroneous fees, such as cable modem rental fees billed to customers who bought their own modems. The Sens have written a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler asking the commission to "stop unfair billing practices."

In 2015, more than 30 percent of complaints to the FCC about Internet service and 38 percent of complaints about TV service were about billing, wrote Sens Ron Wyden (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Al Franken (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). The senators described Comcast, the nation's largest cable and broadband company, as a repeat offender. "We are troubled upon hearing complaints of consumers being charged the modem rental fee after they have returned the rented equipment to Comcast or being charged the rental fee having never rented a modem in the first place," the Sens wrote. "Not only are the majority of customers using automatic payment systems and may not personally authorize every erroneous charge, many consumers report having to call and remedy this problem throughout several billing cycles. In fact, customer help boards found online at Comcast’s Help and Support Forum contain complaints about this exact problem." Comcast increased its monthly modem rental fee from $8 to $10 (in late 2014) "and makes an estimated $275 to $300 million a quarter from these fees," the letter said. The problem is made worse by lack of competition, the Sens wrote.

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