June 2016

Paul Cox, Independent Filmmaker Who Explored Postmodern Life

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016

Our Weekly Round-up is a recap of the biggest (or most overlooked) telecommunications stories of the week. See https://www.benton.org/headlines/weekly-roundup

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   The Future of the Internet Hangs in the Balance - OECD report
   Enabling Growth and Innovation in the Digital Economy - Dept of Commerce
   Commerce Sec Pritzker blames Internet transition critics for 'misinformation' [links to Benton summary]
   GOP targets net neutrality despite court ruling
   FCC Corrects Lifeline Reform and Modernization Order [links to Benton summary]

TELECOM
   USTelecom Members Ask FCC to Revoke BDS Data Framework - press release [links to Benton summary]
   Special Access Doublespeak - AT&T blog [links to Benton summary]
   Time for a commonsense approach to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act - The Hill op-ed [links to Benton summary]
   FCC Corrects Lifeline Reform and Modernization Order [links to Benton summary]

SURVEILLANCE
   Senate narrowly rejects new FBI surveillance

ELECTIONS & MEDIA
   Sen Sanders: Media 'Far Removed' From American People
   Partisanship and Political Animosity in 2016 - Pew research [links to Benton summary]
   The 2016 election is demonstrating exactly why people don’t trust politicians [links to Washington Post]
   CNN town hall gives Libertarian Party an unprecedented shot at prime time [links to Benton summary]
   Is the Trump media 'blacklist' beginning to ease? [links to Politico]
   Donald Trump has directed nearly one-fifth of his campaign cash to companies that are part of his vast business empire [links to CNN]
   Trump rhetoric suggests that politics is a field that is still very inhospitable to women [links to Fast Company]
   Trump: US enemies may have 'blackmail' file on Clinton due to e-mails [links to Hill, The]
   Clinton IT specialist invokes the Fifth 100+ times [links to Hill, The]

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   TV feed of House Democrats' sit-in cut off
   Congress wants more answers about US Digital Service [links to Benton summary]
   NIC's Mission: A tech-savvy government [links to CNNMoney]

SECURITY/PRIVACY
   FCC Extends Deadline for Filing Reply Comments in the Broadband Privacy Proceeding to Wednesday, July 6, 2016 [links to Federal Communications Commission]
   Sen Warren pushes for strong Internet provider privacy rules
   Mobile Advertising Network InMobi Settles FTC Charges It Tracked Hundreds of Millions of Consumers’ Locations Without Permission - press release
   Claude Barfield -- Security vs. privacy: Is the pendulum swinging back to security? [links to American Enterprise Institute]
   Your Smartphone Is Being Secretly Accessed—By Your Friends and Family [links to Vice]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Commissioner Pai Statement on Need for Action on Contraband Cellphones - press release [links to Benton summary]
   How much havoc is caused by unwanted radio signals? FCC tries to find out [links to Benton summary]
   NY State Legislature kills right-to-repair bill that could make it easier to fix your phone [links to Washington Post]
   Verizon is PC Magazine’s Fastest Mobile Network [links to telecompetitor]
   Two big cellphone trade groups are teaming up to create a US Mobile World Congress in 2017 [links to Benton summary]
   AT&T: We're Carrying 4M Calls Per Day Over Wi-Fi [links to Wireless Week]
   GCI Broadband Wireless Brings Social Benefits to Remote Areas of Alaska [links to Joan Engebretson]
   Report: VoLTE Subscribers to Total 310 Million Come Year-End [links to telecompetitor]
   Op-Ed: The Internet of Things is facing challenges with scale [links to Revere Digital]

TELEVISION
   Google praises industry box plan as 'constructive' [links to Hill, The]
   Dish: FCC Fee Hike Constitutes Rate Shock [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
   I have found a new way to watch TV, and it changes everything [links to Washington Post]
   American Cable Association to FCC: Direct Broadcast Satellite Providers Should Pay More [links to Broadcasting&Cable]

RADIO
   Community radio has to partner with podcasters to stay competitive [links to Washington Post]

FILM
   Millennials Go to the Movies Way More Than You Think [links to Wrap, The]

JOURNALISM
   In 60 days, drone journalism will be legally possible in any US newsroom [links to Nieman Lab]

LABOR
   Social Media and the Workplace - Pew research [links to Benton summary]
   Surprising Statistics Of The Gender-Wage Gap In Tech [links to Fast Company]
   Technology start-ups pledge to increase US diversity [links to Financial Times]

COMPANY NEWS
   Google Fiber is buying high-speed internet provider Webpass to expand its reach in cities

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Tech Companies Weigh Their Interests Before ‘Brexit’ Vote [links to Wall Street Journal]
   China Internet regulator to crack down on online comments [links to Benton summary]
   Chinese Curb Cyberattacks on U.S. Interests, Report Finds [links to New York Times]
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

OECD REPORT
[SOURCE: Global Commission on Internet Governance, AUTHOR: ]
To realize its full potential, the Internet of the future will need to be open, secure, trustworthy and accessible to all. Safeguarding these attributes requires international cooperation that engages governments, businesses, the technical community and civil society in a shared vision to protect the rights of users, establish norms for responsible public and private use, and ensure the kind of flexibility that will encourage innovation and growth. Grounded in an extensive program of research, individual consultations, public opinion surveys and enriched by our Commissioners’ wide experience, diverse geographical backgrounds, and gender and stakeholder representation, this report lays out a comprehensive approach for realizing a future with digital freedom, security, trustworthiness and accessibility for all. It outlines the rights and responsibilities of all actors, each playing a critical role in shaping the future of the Internet.
benton.org/headlines/future-internet-hangs-balance | Global Commission on Internet Governance | USAToday
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ENABLING GROWTH AND INNOVATION IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY
[SOURCE: Department of Commerce, AUTHOR: ]
This canvasses eight cross-cutting areas and is the product of a Department-wide collaborative effort, organized around the Digital Economy Leadership Team’s four policy pillars: I) The Free and Open Internet; II) Trust and Security Online; III) Innovation and Emerging Technologies; and IV) Access and Skills. It is an anthology of the major initiatives of the Commerce Department over the course of the past seven years in pursuit of a more inclusive, dynamic, and productive digital economy for the American people and the users of digital technologies around the world.
benton.org/headlines/enabling-growth-and-innovation-digital-economy | Department of Commerce | Commerce Sec Penny Pritzker
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GOP TARGETS NET NEUTRALITY DESPITE COURT RULING
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
House Republicans are not backing down from their attempts to blunt the Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality rules, even after the rules were fully upheld by an appeals court in June. The lower chamber is slated to debate and vote on the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, which contains provisions targeting a number of FCC rules. The bill would prevent the FCC from enforcing its regulations for Internet service providers until after the lawsuit challenging the rules is over. While the FCC prevailed in court earlier in June, critics can still appeal. The bill would also prevent the FCC from regulating the price that Internet service providers charge and require the FCC to publish the text of its rules three weeks before a vote. “The appropriations process should not be used to overturn the will of both an independent regulator and millions of Americans on this vital issue,” the White House said in a veto threat. Aside from the net neutrality rules, the bill would also stall the FCC from completing its planned move to open up the TV set-top box market. It would delay the rules until long after a study is completed, pushing it to the next president.
benton.org/headlines/gop-targets-net-neutrality-despite-court-ruling | Hill, The
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SURVEILLANCE

SENATE NARROWLY REJECTS NEW FBI SURVEILLANCE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jordain Carney]
The Senate narrowly rejected expanding the FBI's surveillance powers June 22 in the wake of the worst mass shooting in US history. Senators voted 58-38 on a procedural hurdle, with 60 votes needed to move forward. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who initially voted "yes," switched his vote, which allows him to potentially bring the measure back up. A handful of Republicans — including Sens Rand Paul (R-KY) and Mike Lee (R-UT) — voted against the GOP proposal that was spearheaded by Sen John McCain (R-AZ) and backed by leadership. Sens Mike Crapo (R-ID), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) didn't vote. The Senate GOP proposal—being offered as an amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill—would allow the FBI to use "national security letters" to obtain people's Internet browsing history and other information without a warrant during a terrorism or federal intelligence probe. It would also permanently extend a Patriot Act provision — currently set to expire in 2019 — meant to monitor "lone wolf" extremists. Senate Republicans said they would likely be able to get enough votes if Majoirty Leader McConnell schedules a redo.
benton.org/headlines/senate-narrowly-rejects-new-fbi-surveillance | Hill, The | Washington Post
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA

SANDERS: MEDIA 'FAR REMOVED' FROM AMERICAN PEOPLE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) says that the media are "far removed from the reality of where the American people are." Sen Sanders said that in an interview on C-SPAN after being asked about early press reports that his campaign was a long shot and could have money problems and what had changed—he wound up pushing Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail and to the left on some issues and raised large amounts of cash in many small individual donations. Sen Sanders suggested that rather than anything changing, the media had gotten it wrong. He cited David Brooks of the New York Times talking about how the pundits all got it wrong—Donald Trump's campaign was also given little chance by those pundits, and he is now the presumptive GOP nominee. He said that despite what the establishment thought when talking with each other, it turned out the people wanted real change."There is an inside-the-Beltway bubble in which Congress, the media, the establishment, look at reality in a certain way." He said what has saddened him about the corporate media, and he said he used that term "very advisedly because people have to understand that when they look at network television and major media, these are owned by large corporations. They are not some folks coming down from the sky trying to give an independent or objective perspective. They work for large, multinational corporations."
benton.org/headlines/sen-sanders-media-far-removed-american-people | Broadcasting&Cable
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

TV FEED OF HOUSE DEMOCRATS SIT-IN CUT OFF
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Hadas Gold]
TV viewers hoping to catch all of the House Democrats' sit-in on the House floor had to find other methods besides Capitol chronicler CSPAN. That's because it's the House who controls CSPAN's video and audio feeds, meaning when the leadership sent the House into recess, they cut off the feed. Democrats are staging a "sit-in" on the House floor in protest of GOP leadership's refusal to allow a vote on a gun control measure following the Orlando (FL) massacre. Around 11:25 a.m., as Rep. John Larsen (D-CT) yielded his time to Democratic Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, (D-MD), the house was put into recess and the feed was cut. "What we show on CSPAN is the feed from the House. It is the House’s video, their feed, their audio, their camera angles. It’s the house recording studios that operates the cameras under the control of house majority leadership," CSPAN spokesman Howard Mortman said. Mortman said they were not given warning that the House would be recessed or the feed cut off. With the cameras turned off, CSPAN began broadcasting a Periscope livestream of the floor from Rep Scott Peters (D-CA), with the full graphics afforded to normal video feeds of the House floor. "Cameras in chamber controlled by house. House is currently in recess subject to call. House cameras are not permitted to show sit-in," read the "Alert" on the bottom of CSPAN's shot. Other outlets, including television outlets, also picked up livestream videos from various members of Congress.
benton.org/headlines/tv-feed-house-democrats-sit-cut | Politico | The Hill
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SECURITY/PRIVACY

SEN WARREN PUSHES FOR STRONG INTERNET PROVIDER PRIVACY RULES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: David McCabe]
Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) threw her support behind strong Federal Communications Commission privacy rules for Internet service providers.“I ask that the Commission move quickly to finalize its rules for this sector,” she said in a letter. “The absence of clear and strong rules for [Basic Internet Access Service] BIAS providers has resulted in a host of dubious practices that endanger consumers' privacy, and I am particularly concerned about new business models that single out low-income consumers for differential treatment with regard to their privacy and the use of their financial and other personal data.” Sen Warren honed in on what she said was a potential disparate impact of the erosion of privacy for broadband customers on low-income people. She noted an AT&T offering that gives customers a discount to let AT&T use some of their data for targeted advertising. Effectively, the program charges more if users want to opt for a more private option. “Low-income consumers already have low rates of broadband adoption, and as your work continues in this proceeding, the Commission should pay special attention to practices that would disadvantage low-income consumers in particular,” she said. “Just as the Commission has protected consumers' privacy when it comes to traditional telephone service, so too should the Commission protect consumers' privacy when it comes to broadband.”
benton.org/headlines/sen-warren-pushes-strong-internet-provider-privacy-rules | Hill, The | Read the Letter
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INMOBI SETTLES FTC CHARGES
[SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Singapore-based mobile advertising company InMobi will pay $950,000 in civil penalties and implement a comprehensive privacy program to settle Federal Trade Commission charges it deceptively tracked the locations of hundreds of millions of consumers – including children – without their knowledge or consent to serve them geo-targeted advertising. The FTC alleges that InMobi mispresented that its advertising software would only track consumers’ locations when they opted in and in a manner consistent with their device’s privacy settings. According to the complaint, InMobi was actually tracking consumers’ locations whether or not the apps using InMobi’s software asked for consumers’ permission to do so, and even when consumers had denied permission to access their location information. The FTC alleges that InMobi, whose advertising network has reached more than one billion devices worldwide through thousands of popular apps, offers multiple forms of location-based advertising to its customers, including the ability to serve ads to consumers based on their current locations, locations they visit at certain times, and on their location over time. The complaint alleges that inMobi created a database built on information collected from consumers who allowed the company access to their geolocation information, combining that data with the wireless networks they were near to document the physical location of wireless networks themselves. InMobi then would use that database to infer the physical location of consumers based on the networks they were near, even when consumers had turned off location collection on their device.
benton.org/headlines/mobile-advertising-network-inmobi-settles-ftc-charges-it-tracked-hundreds-millions | Federal Trade Commission | FTC blog
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COMPANY NEWS

GOOGLE FIBER TO ACQUIRE WEBPASS
[SOURCE: Revere Digital, AUTHOR: Mark Bergen]
Google Fiber will acquire Webpass, a high-speed, fiber Internet provider serving five cities. The deal, should regulators approve it, would be the first acquisition for the broadband unit under Alphabet and another signal of its ambition to become a competitive national player in the industry. Google Fiber also made the deal to boost its efforts to deliver broadband Internet wirelessly, an experimental tech it hopes will expand coverage at cheaper costs. Financial terms were not disclosed. Webpass, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2003, is privately held. It only shares that it has customers in the “tens of thousands.” But those subscribers are primarily where Google Fiber wants to be: Apartment complexes and businesses. A big hurdle for Google Fiber’s expansion across cities is getting a foothold in large apartment buildings. Big broadband incumbents, like Comcast and Time Warner Cable, often sign multi-year deals locking their service into those buildings. Webpass has focused much of its residential business on apartments. It also focused on commercial offerings, providing internet — which ranges from 100 megabits per second to one gigabit per second — to businesses. Although Google Fiber began with laying pipes into homes, it has recently tried to ramp up its commercial offerings.
benton.org/headlines/google-fiber-buying-high-speed-internet-provider-webpass-expand-its-reach-cities | Revere Digital
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