June 2016

FCC MEETING

PROCESS REFORM FOR EXECUTIVE BRANCH REVIEW OF CERTAIN FCC APPLICATIONS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission proposed changes to its rules and procedures to improve the timeliness and transparency of the review process for certain applications and petitions for declaratory ruling with reportable foreign ownership. The Commission has routinely referred certain applications with reportable foreign ownership to relevant Executive Branch agencies for coordination and expertise on national security, law enforcement, foreign policy, and trade policy matters. These applications can include, for example, requests for international section 214 authorizations, submarine cable landing licenses, and the transfer or assignment thereof. Over time, the number of applications with reportable foreign ownership has increased and, as part of our effort to reform the Commission’s processes, Commission staff have been working with the Executive Branch and industry on ways to improve
the process. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted proposes the following:
Threshold Information: As requested by the Executive Branch, the Notice proposes to require applicants with reportable foreign ownership to provide information on ownership, network operations, and related matters at the time they file their applications. The process would replace the current practice of the Executive Branch seeking such threshold information directly from the applicants after the Commission refers the applications.
Certifications: The Notice proposes to add a certification requirement to the rules. It seeks comment on NTIA’s proposal that all applicants, with or without foreign ownership, certify to certain mitigation provisions when they file their applications, which the Executive Branch says will expedite its review.
Timelines: Although NTIA did not propose time frames for review, the Notice proposes to adopt a 90-day time frame for Executive Branch review, with an additional one-time 90-day extension in rare circumstances provided the Executive Branch provides a status update every 30 days.
benton.org/headlines/process-reform-executive-branch-review-certain-fcc-applications | Federal Communications Commission | Wheeler Statement | Clyburn Statement | Rosenworcel Statement | Pai Statement | O'Rielly Statement | Broadcasting&Cable
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FCC ADOPTS RULES ON RELIABLE SUBMARINE CABLE INFRASTRUCTURE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules that require submarine cable licensees to report significant outages to the FCC to help safeguard this critical communications infrastructure and promote reliable communications for businesses and consumers. There are approximately 60 submarine (that is, undersea) cables that provide connectivity – voice, data and Internet service – between the mainland US and Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, as well as the connectivity between the US and the rest of the world. Submarine cables are vital to America’s economic and national security, yet in the past licensees have only reported outages to the FCC on a voluntary and inconsistent basis. When the FCC has received information on outages, it has been too limited to be of use. The new outage reporting rules will enable the FCC to monitor the operational status of submarine cables and assist the agency in ensuring the reliability of this communications infrastructure. The rules require submarine cable licensees to report major outages to the agency’s Network Outage Reporting System (NORS). Other communications providers – including wireline, wireless, and satellite – already report outages to NORS. This has allowed the FCC to analyze outage trends, spot systemic issues, and work with providers to develop solutions to make communications more resilient and reliable.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-adopts-rules-reliable-submarine-cable-infrastructure | Federal Communications Commission
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

EXECUTIVE ORDER -- GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Press release]
It is in the national interest for the Federal Government to support innovation, global entrepreneurship, and the American private sector. Linking entrepreneurs with capital, new networks, and markets and providing skills and training will allow them to grow their businesses and positively impact their communities. It is also necessary that we help enable our global partners to invest in the tools and infrastructure that make this possible, including high-speed broadband; business incubators and accelerators; regional economic development programs and extension services; international people-to-people exchange programs; and the technical, export, and business assistance and mentoring that entrepreneurs need worldwide in order to drive economic growth and job creation.
Sec. 7: Accelerating Entrepreneurship and Economic Opportunity by Expanding Internet Access Globally: State, in coordination with other agencies, multilateral institutions, foreign countries, and stakeholders, shall work to actively promote global Internet connectivity. Specifically, the Global Connect Initiative shall focus on encouraging foreign countries to prioritize Internet connectivity in development plans, promoting the formation of region-specific multi-sector working groups to ensure technical and regulatory best practices, and encouraging the development of digital literacy programs in developing nations.
US development and financing agencies have surpassed the $1 billion mark over the past year in financing and investment for global ICT and connectivity projects, bringing Internet access to millions around the world. These efforts represent the Administration’s commitment to closing the digital divide and bring an additional 1.5 billion people online by 2020 through the Global Connect Initiative.
benton.org/headlines/executive-order-global-entrepreneurship | White House, The | Fact Sheet | Public Knowledge
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CHAIRMAN WHEELER: STILL EYEING ZERO RATING PLANS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler says the FCC is continuing to vet information about zero rating plans to decide how they square with the general Internet conduct standard that allows the commission to identify practices that impede an open Internet. That update, in a press conference following the FCC's monthly meeting, came as network neutrality groups pressed the FCC to take action on the strength of over 100,000 complaints. Asked whether the FCC would take action on the plans following a federal appeals court's ruling upholding its ability to impose a general conduct standard, Chairman Wheeler said the reason the FCC did not have specific language on zero rating plans in the Open Internet Order is because it is a broad issue, not a "one-size-fits-all situation." He said the FCC continued to collect information, as it has been for months, and remained in ongoing discovery mode. He also said he appreciated the input he had gotten on the issue, which included an event staged in advance of the meeting.
benton.org/headlines/chairman-wheeler-still-eyeing-zero-rating-plans | Federal Communications Commission
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NET NEUTRALITY ADVOCATES TO FCC
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Marguerite Reardon]
Representatives from Fight the Future, the Center for Media Justice and Free Press on June 24 hand-delivered a 6-foot tall package containing 100,000 letters of complaint to the Federal Communications Commission. They ask the agency to take action against AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile and Verizon for violating the agency's Open Internet order by offering so-called zero-rating service plans. Zero-rating is a practice in which wireless and broadband providers exempt certain applications or services from monthly data caps. T-Mobile's Binge On service, which allows customers to stream unlimited video from certain services, is one example. Verizon's FreeBee program allows content owners to pay for a customer's data usage while using their service. While the practice offers some benefits to customers, critics say it violates the agency's Net neutrality principles, which requires all services on the Internet be treated the same. They claim it puts smaller competitors at a disadvantage and highlights the fact that data caps are unnecessary. Carriers say they are simply experimenting with new business models that will make their service more affordable for consumers.
benton.org/headlines/net-neutrality-advocates-fcc-put-kibosh-internet-freebies | C-Net|News.com
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TITLE II, CITIES, AND THE BROADBAND AGENDA AHEAD
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Blair Levin]
[Commentary] The recent Court of Appeals decision upholding the Federal Communications Commission decision to classify broadband providers as common carriers is a huge personal victory for President Barack Obama and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. It’s also a huge institutional victory for the FCC, establishing a clear foundation for it to establish rules for communications networks in the broadband era. What does this mean for the future of the nation’s broadband agenda? Some claim the heart of agenda is price regulation. I disagree. The core of common carrier obligations is non-discrimination. The FCC now has power to protect consumers from the harmful effects of network content discrimination. Such protection is critical. It is also fundamentally defensive. That is, it can protect against bad things, but it cannot compel good things. There are other FCC efforts, such as privacy protections, that similarly seek to prevent harm. The country is making progress on the first front. It has a three-pronged broadband agenda: getting affordable, abundant bandwidth everywhere, getting everyone online, and using the platform to better deliver public goods and services. Here, cities play a more significant role.
benton.org/headlines/title-ii-cities-and-broadband-agenda-ahead | Brookings
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INVESTMENT AND NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Matt Wood]
[Commentary] L. Gordon Crovitz claims that the 2015 network neutrality protections passed by the Federal Communications Commission and upheld in court “stifle the internet and discourage investing in broadband” (“A Shadow Falls Over Silicon Valley,” Information Age, June 20). Crovitz cites telecom-industry economist Hal Singer to support this notion. Singer’s flawed analysis is flat-out wrong. It uses selective data and excludes investments from the real total reported by broadband companies. My organization Free Press ran the actual numbers and found that broadband-industry capital expenditures increased in 2015, as did the industry’s profits and revenue. Unlike Singer’s, our analysis is based on a thorough review of these companies’ public statements as well as their quarterly and annual reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The increases in 2015 reflect economic common sense and the sentiment that these phone and cable companies themselves conveyed to the investment community both before the FCC’s vote and in the year since. While industry analysts and real investors understood the FCC’s actions correctly, ISP lobbyists and their paid loyalists in Washington continue predicting gloom and doom. Yet they fail to explain how a regulatory mechanism for preserving the internet as an open platform—which has been a cash cow for the industry—harms the broadband market. Their declarations about investment and profit declines are devoid of real evidence. They’re scare tactics.
[Wood is Policy Director at Free Press]
benton.org/headlines/investment-and-network-neutrality | Wall Street Journal
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ICANN AND OVERREPRESENATTION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Byron Holland]
[Commentary] There are many governments (and apparently L. Gordon Crovitz) that don’t understand how the internet actually operates. They somehow equate the existence of a 20-year-old contract with the U.S. Commerce Department to provide perfunctory administrative oversight to a small number of the internet’s databases to the actual control of the operation and content of the internet. It does not. But this contract has become a powerful symbol to many of a perceived overrepresentation of the US government. Its existence encourages those countries that would like to exert more governmental control over internet content to turn to U.N. agencies to do just that. Continuation of the contract would stifle internet freedom and innovation. Let’s allow this anachronism from the ’90s to expire just as it was always supposed to.
[Holland is President and CEO of Canadian Internet Registration Authority]
benton.org/headlines/icann-and-overrepresentation-us | Wall Street Journal
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

LIVESTREAMING SHINES BRIGHT WHEN HOUSE CAMERAS GO DARK
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Robbie McBeath]
[Commentary] On June 22, Democrats staged a sit-in in the House of Representatives, demanding a full vote on gun measures. After House Republicans shut-down C-SPAN cameras, several lawmakers began livestreaming the protest via Periscope and Facebook Live. Whatever your thoughts about gun control, the livestreamed sit-in highlights the importance of open government, an open Internet, and access in this digital age. Without smartphones, the Internet, livestreaming apps, and rules to ensure that all feeds are treated equally over a network, many citizens would have been left in the dark this week. Non-violent protest, communication technologies, and social media combined to shine some light onto the legislative process, giving connected Americans crucial access to their representatives. Moments like these reinforce the crucial, democratic necessity of access to digital communication technologies, for both lawmakers, media, and citizens alike.
https://www.benton.org/blog/livestreaming-shines-bright-when-house-camer...
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CONTROL OVER HOUSE CAMERAS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
Rank-and-file Democrats are calling for C-SPAN to be given more control of cameras in the House after the blackout of their sit-in on gun control. The cameras in the House have long been under the control of the majority party, despite vocal protests from C-SPAN and government transparency advocates. Rep David Cicilline (D-RI) said Congress should reevaluate media access to floor proceedings, and said he would back a plan to allow C-SPAN to operate its own cameras in the chamber. "I would absolutely support that. I think it makes a lot of sense," said Rep Scott Peters (D-CA), whose Periscope stream of the sit-in went viral. Reporters are not allowed to take pictures or video recordings of the House floor. Lawmakers are also barred from taking pictures or videos, though Democrats flouted that rule during their sit-in. C-SPAN's broadcast, which it provides as a public service, relies on the House's own feed. It is managed by the House Recording Studio, which is under the umbrella of the majority leadership. C-SPAN and other media outlets that want to pick up the feed have no say on the video, audio or camera angles. “I think C-SPAN ought to be able to run the cameras as it determines how to manage them — not us. Because obviously, as we saw, the institution will be self-servant,” said Rep Gerry Connolly (D-VA), who has also been a strong advocate of getting cameras into the Supreme Court.
benton.org/headlines/protest-ignites-debate-about-control-house-cameras | Hill, The
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NEW PROPOSAL WOULD ASK FOREIGN TRAVELERS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA INFO
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
Foreigners traveling to the United States without a visa would be asked to provide the government with their social media handles under a new proposal from the US Customs and Border Protection. The optional question on arrival and departure forms would ask about a traveler’s “social media identifier," but not passwords. People could leave it blank. The extra information would be used for vetting and contact information, according to the proposal. “Collecting social media data will enhance the existing investigative process and provide [the Department of Homeland Security] greater clarity and visibility to possible nefarious activity and connections by providing an additional tool set which analysts and investigators may use to better analyze and investigate the case,” according to the proposal. The proposed change was published in the Federal Register, giving the public 60 days to comment. The change would apply to arrival and departure forms that most foreigners traveling to the United States without a visa must fill out. The change would also apply to immigrants traveling through the visa waiver program, which was recently updated after terror attacks last year in Paris. The visa waiver program allows citizens from 38 countries to travel to the United States for business or vacation for up to 90 days without first getting a visa.
benton.org/headlines/new-proposal-would-ask-foreign-travelers-social-media-info | Hill, The | read the proposal
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PRIVACY/SECURITY

KILTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Lynne Tuohy]
A small library in New Hampshire sits at the forefront of global efforts to promote privacy and fight government surveillance — to the consternation of law enforcement. The Kilton Public Library in Lebanon, a city of 13,000, became the nation's first library to use Tor, software that masks the location and identity of internet users, in a pilot project initiated by the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Library Freedom Project. Users the world over can — and do — have their searches randomly routed through the library. Computers that have Tor loaded on them bounce internet searches through a random pathway, or series of relays, of other computers equipped with Tor. This network of virtual tunnels masks the location and internet protocol address of the person doing the search. In a feature that makes Kilton unique among US libraries, it also has a computer with a Tor exit relay, which delivers the internet query to the destination site and becomes identified as the last-known source of the query.
benton.org/headlines/browse-free-or-die-new-hampshire-library-privacy-fore | Associated Press
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June 2016

June 27, 2016 (Livestreaming Shines Bright)

Browse free or die? New Hampshire library is at privacy fore

Investment and Network Neutrality

ICANN and the Overrepresentation of the US

For Consumers, Injury Is Hard to Prove in Data-Breach Cases

These 10 TV Stations Alone Have Pulled in $132.9M in Presidential Campaign Ad Spending

Livestreaming Shines Bright When House Cameras Go Dark

Protest ignites debate about control of House cameras

How the US is working to defeat ISIS online