1. Monthly archive
  2. June 2016

June 2016

Schools,Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition
July 13, 2016
12:30 - 2:30 pm
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/shlbs-grow2gig-release-tickets-26077949850

Watch at http://www.shlb.org/action-plan

is the SHLB Coalition campaign to make gigabit speeds for anchor institutions a national priority. The Grow2Gig+ Campaign includes a Vision Paper, an Action Plan, a comprehensive set of ten policy papers, and an Interactive Website. It is a call to action that brings together policy makers, educators, library and health care leaders, technology experts, and network builders to lead the way.

Headline Speaker

Gigi Sohn
Counselor to the FCC Chairman

Sohn served from 2001-2013 as the President and CEO of Public Knowledge and, from 2011-2013 as the Co-Chair of the board of directors of the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG). She has served on the board of the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC) and on the Advisory Board of the Center for Copyright Information. In October 1997, President Clinton appointed Ms. Sohn to serve as a member of his Advisory Committee on the Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters.
@GigiBSohnFCC

Panelists

Panelists will have a conversation about major themes and recommendations from the ten policy papers. Key panelists include:

  • Bob Collie, Education Networks of America
  • John Harrington, Funds for Learning
  • Joanne Hovis, CTC Technology & Energy
  • Tom Koutsky, Connected Nation
  • Angela Siefer, National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA)
  • Tracy Weeks, State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA)

Sen Warren pushes for strong Internet provider privacy rules

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.”

Mobile Advertising Network InMobi Settles FTC Charges It Tracked Hundreds of Millions of Consumers’ Locations Without Permission

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.

GOP targets net neutrality despite court ruling

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.

CNN town hall gives Libertarian Party an unprecedented shot at prime time

June 22's Libertarian town hall — live in prime time on CNN — is a big deal. It marks the first time Libertarian candidates will participate in a live presidential forum on one of the three major cable news channels. Chris Cuomo, who has moderated town hall events with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders this election, will run the show, posing questions to Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and his running mate, Bill Weld, while also fielding inquiries from the audience.

Notably, CNN is billing the questions as being "similar to those posed to the Democratic and Republican candidates during the primaries." In other words, CNN is taking Johnson and Weld seriously — for an evening, at least. The two former governors (Johnson of New Mexico and Weld of Massachusetts) have enjoyed a spike in coverage lately. With the presumptive major-party nominees registering historically bad favorability ratings, the Libertarian ticket — which Johnson also led in 2012 — is getting more attention than usual. In polls that include him, Johnson's support averages 8.5 percent, according to RealClearPolitics.

Two big cellphone trade groups are teaming up to create a US Mobile World Congress in 2017

After years of struggling to get out of the shadow of Mobile World Congress, the US cellphone trade group CTIA is teaming up with that event to organize its annual trade show. Starting in 2017, CTIA will work with the GSMA, its global counterpart, on a US show to be called Mobile World Congress Americas.

The first such event will take place Sept. 12-14, 2017, in San Francisco (CA). For GSMA, which produces the biggest mobile trade show of the year each February in Barcelona, the move gives it a bigger US presence. For CTIA, it is a chance to revive its annual event, which has been waning in importance over the past several years. CTIA will produce one last Super Mobility Week event on its own, taking place Sept. 7-9, 2016, in Las Vegas (NV).

© 1994-2024 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.