BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Parties pressed to treat Internet as ‘essential’ in platforms
BuzzFeed pulls out of $1.3 million advertising deal with RNC over Donald Trump
Journalism Rights Groups Fear Trump’s Threat To Press Freedom [links to Benton summary]
The Clinton campaign’s totally bogus claim about its press availability - press release [links to Benton summary]
Here Are the Fortune 500 Companies Liberals and Conservatives Hate the Most [links to Fortune]
Opinion: In Silicon Valley, a Divide in Income and Politics [links to New York Times]
INTERNET OF THINGS
The Benefits, Challenges, and Potential Roles for the Government in Fostering the Advancement of the Internet of Things - FTC
The Internet of Things has a child privacy problem
Why smart homes are still so dumb [links to Benton summary]
TELEVISION
Future of TV must not sacrifice minority media - Rev Jesse Jackson op-ed
National Association of Broadcasters Takes Aim at Mega-Merged Pay-TV Providers [links to Benton summary]
NCTA President Powell Pitches Commissioner Rosenworcel On Device Competition [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
TiVo’s new owner isn’t that interested in making set-top boxes [links to Ars Technica]
How Giving Up TV For A Month Changed My Brain And My Life [links to Fast Company]
CONTENT
How Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant Will Make Money Off You - Technology Review [links to Benton summary]
No, Facebook doesn’t eavesdrop on your phone. But it does spy on you. [links to Washington Post]
Traffic-weary homeowners and Waze are at war, again. Guess who’s winning? [links to Washington Post]
Should We Let Internet companies define how We Express Ourselves? - Technology Review [links to Benton summary]
As The US Exports Social Media, Its Values Lead To Culture Clashes [links to Benton summary]
Crafting an Innovation-Enabling Trade in Services Agreement [links to Information Technology and Innovation Foundation]
Google’s computers are creating songs. Making music may never be the same. [links to Washington Post]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
FBI wants access to Internet browser history without a warrant in terrorism and spy cases
Snowden Tried to Tell NSA About Surveillance Concerns, Documents Reveal
FACT SHEET: Vice President Biden Launches Open Access Data Resource as Part of Cancer Moonshot - press release [links to Benton summary]
The Pentagon's Cybersecurity Priorities Have Not Changed in a Decade [links to Vice]
Survey: More People Want to Access Government Services on Their Smartphones [links to Benton summary]
OWNERSHIP
Combined Charter/TWC customer service will get worse, not better, analysts say
CHILDREN & MEDIA
The Internet of Things has a child privacy problem
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Broadcasting&Cable Editorial: Privacy By Design - B&C editorial [links to Benton summary]
Surveillance fears fuel sales of camera covers [links to Guardian, The]
‘Wifi Whisperer’ Siphons Your Data in the Creepiest Way Possible [links to Benton summary]
How troll armies threaten journalism, privacy and democracy - IAPP [links to Benton summary]
Mark Zuckerberg's Twitter account is hijacked [links to Benton summary]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
T-Mobile says it will give customers stock [links to Benton summary]
Mobile Phone Records Reveal Largest Gathering in the History of Humanity [links to Technology Review]
American Airlines thinks it found faster inflight Internet [links to Benton summary]
TELECOM
Bruce Kushnick: AT&T and Verizon’s Wireline and Wireless Cross-Subsidies Harm Competition and Every Communications Service You Use [links to Huffington Post]
ADVERTISING
Supreme Court rejects Google appeal in class action dispute [links to Benton summary]
CAN-SPAM: A study in “mask” communication - FTC press release [links to Benton summary]
Associated Press Rolls Out Native Advertising Network [links to International Business Times]
JOURNALISM
CBS anchor Scott Pelley says Web users look to the evening news for the truth [links to Los Angeles Times]
HEALTH
A Texas State of Mind: Connected Health in Houston and the Rio Grande Valley - FCC blog [links to Benton summary]
FACT SHEET: Vice President Biden Launches Open Access Data Resource as Part of Cancer Moonshot - press release [links to Benton summary]
DIVERSITY
Future of TV must not sacrifice minority media - Rev Jesse Jackson op-ed
Airbnb to recruit more minorities as it combats lack of diversity, racism [links to USAToday]
COMPANY NEWS
Verizon to Bid $3 Billion for Yahoo’s Web Assets [links to Wall Street Journal]
Why did Google s social networking challenge to Facebook fail? It’s complicated [links to San Jose Mercury News]
Recent moves by Dish Network enhance the value of its wireless spectrum for a potential buyer [links to Wall Street Journal]
Tribune Publishing chairman: We want to start publishing 2,000 videos a day with artificial intelligence [links to Revere Digital]
Comcast Launches DOCSIS 3.1 Trial in Nashville [links to Multichannel News]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Op-ed: Is your data really safer in Europe? [links to Christian Science Monitor]
Should We Let Internet companies define how We Express Ourselves? - Technology Review [links to Benton summary]
As The US Exports Social Media, Its Values Lead To Culture Clashes [links to Benton summary]
JUST FOR FUN
If Smartphone Commercials Were Being Honest With You [links to HuffingtonPost]
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA
PARTIES PRESSED TO TREAT INTERNET AS 'ESSENTIAL' IN PLATFORMS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
A group of technology and civil rights groups are pushing Republicans and Democrats to adopt party platforms that defend Internet privacy, affordability and openness. Nearly 20 organizations sent a letter to the heads of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) as they start drafting their platforms for the 2016 elections. They say the parties should treat Internet access as "essential, not a luxury.”
The RNC is reportedly meeting with a number of technology trade groups June 6 about the issue, and the DNC is hearing testimony from stakeholders on Wednesday and Thursday in Washington, D.C., about its party platform, which will be taken up during the presidential nominating convention next month. “Understanding where both political parties stand on issues such as protecting privacy online, or ensuring greater broadband access, deployment, and adoption in urban, rural, and tribal areas alike, will be crucial to helping voters make an informed choice on Election Day,” according to the letter. The letter was signed by groups like the Center for Democracy and Technology, Color of Change, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Free Press, the Open Technology Institute, and Public Knowledge. Democrats and Republicans have come down on opposite sides of many regulatory policies involving the internet in the past few years.
benton.org/headlines/parties-pressed-treat-internet-essential-platforms | Hill, The | Read the letter
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BUZZFEED PULLS OUT OF ADVERTISING DEAL WITH RNC OVER TRUMP
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Hadas Gold, Mike Allen, Alex Spence]
BuzzFeed has pulled out of advertising agreement with the Republican National Committee over objections to Donald Trump's rhetoric. The buy was for $1.3 million, apparently. The main consideration was the site’s employees – that BuzzFeed could not countenance “having employees make ads, or working at the company and having our site promoting things, that limit our freedom and make it harder for them to live their lives.” Asked if the site would rule out any Trump advertising, the source said the specifics would matter: “In general, we have taken the position that we won’t take ads for his presidential campaign.” In an e-mail to staff, BuzzFeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti explained that in April, the RNC and BuzzFeed signed an agreement to "spend a significant amount on political advertisements slated to run during the Fall election cycle." But since Trump became the nominee his campaign has proven themselves to be "directly opposed to the freedoms of our employees in the United States," because of proposed bans on Muslim immigration and comments about descendants of immigrants, among other policies. "We don't need to and do not expect to agree with the positions or values of all our advertisers. And as you know, there is a wall between our business and editorial operations. This decision to cancel this ad buy will have no influence on our continuing coverage of the campaign," Peretti said in the memo.
benton.org/headlines/buzzfeed-pulls-out-13-million-advertising-deal-rnc-over-donald-trump | Politico
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INTERNET OF THINGS
FTC INTERNET OF THINGS REPORT
[SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The staff of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) and Office of Policy Planning (OPP) appreciate this opportunity to comment on the Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Request for Comment (RFC) on the Internet of Things. In part, the RFC seeks to: (1) define the Internet of Things; (2) understand the security and privacy issues related to IoT; (3) understand the technical issues surrounding standardization and interoperability; and (4) understand the impact that big data in an interconnected world can have on disadvantaged communities. This comment highlights lessons learned from the FTC’s law enforcement, consumer and business education, and policy activities relating to these issues. It then addresses the benefits and risks of IoT, highlights some best practice recommendations for industry, discusses the role of government in fostering innovation in IoT products and services, and sets forth some considerations for NTIA in setting standards and promoting interoperability
benton.org/headlines/benefits-challenges-and-potential-roles-government-fostering-advancement-internet-things | Federal Trade Commission
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TELEVISION
FUTURE OF TV MUST NOT SACRIFICE MINORITY MEDIA
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Jesse Jackson]
[Commentary] National news coverage of the snarling dogs, water hoses and church bombings in the American South were the catalysts to exposing the ugly truths of racism and bigotry in the 1960s. Local news outlets gave new meaning to what the struggle looked like for people on its front lines. That is why a new proposal at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate TV “set top boxes" has raised so much concern. Essentially, the FCC is proposing that small and diverse television programmers such as Revolt and Vme TV hand over their television content to third party device manufacturers without any compensation. These companies could then pull networks apart, ignore copyright protections and dismantle the local and national advertising streams that have traditionally supported high quality, multicultural content. The result is a deep threat to the entire creative ecosystem, and especially smaller, independent and diverse networks and programmers that often lack the deep pocket resources to weather this type of transition. Before the federal government makes another mistake to set back the clock of media diversity, the FCC would be well advised to step back and listen to those who have fought this battle for equality over the decades and in other contexts. While the actors may have changed, the script is essentially the same.
[Rev Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., is the founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.]
benton.org/headlines/future-tv-must-not-sacrifice-minority-media | USAToday
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
FBI WANTS ACCESS TO BROWSER HISTORY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima]
The Obama Administration is seeking to amend surveillance law to give the FBI explicit authority to access a person’s Internet browser history and other electronic data without a warrant in terrorism and spy cases. FBI Director James Comey has characterized the legislation as a fix to “a typo” in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which he says has led some tech firms to refuse to provide data that Congress intended them to provide. But tech firms and privacy advocates say the bureau is seeking an expansion of surveillance powers that infringes on Americans’ privacy. Now, at the FBI’s request, some lawmakers are advancing legislation that would allow the bureau to obtain “electronic communication transactional records” using an administrative subpoena known as a national security letter. An NSL can be issued by the special agent in charge of a bureau field office without a judge’s approval.
benton.org/headlines/fbi-wants-access-internet-browser-history-without-warrant-terrorism-and-spy-cases | Washington Post
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SNOWDEN TRIED TO TELL NSA ABOUT SURVEILLANCE CONCERNS
[SOURCE: Vice, AUTHOR: Jason Leopold, Marcy Wheeler, Ky Henderson]
The National Security Agency, it seems, has not told the public the whole story about Edward Snowden's contacts with oversight authorities before he became the most celebrated and vilified whistleblower in US history. Hundreds of internal NSA documents, declassified and released to VICE News in response to our long-running Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, reveal now for the first time that not only was the truth about the "single email" more complex and nuanced than the NSA disclosed to the public, but that Snowden had a face-to-face interaction with one of the people involved in responding to that e-mail. The documents, made up of e-mails, talking points, and various records — many of them heavily redacted — contain insight into the NSA's interaction with the media, new details about Snowden's work, and an extraordinary behind-the-scenes look at the efforts by the NSA, the White House, and Sen Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to discredit Snowden. The trove of more than 800 pages, along with several interviews, offer unprecedented insight into the NSA during this time of crisis within the agency. And they call into question aspects of the US government's long-running narrative about Snowden's time at the NSA.
benton.org/headlines/snowden-tried-tell-nsa-about-surveillance-concerns-documents-reveal | Vice
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OWNERSHIP
COMBINES CHARTER/TWC CUSTOMERS SERVICE WILL GET WORSE, NOT BETTER, ANALYSTS SAY
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Daniel Frankel]
After Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable both endured middling scores on the American Customer Satisfaction Index's 2016 ranking of pay-TV companies, the ACSI Research Director Forrest Morgeson said not to expect improvement anytime soon now that the two companies are merged. "We've generally seen that when two service-providing companies that are already low in customer satisfaction merge, things tend to get worse, at least for the first year or two after the merger or purchase," said Forrest Morgeson, director of research at the American Customer Satisfaction Index. "So the expectation is not good for consumers." "These are two companies that have been challenged to keep customer care at an acceptable level," added telecommunications industry analyst Jeff Kagan, speaking to the Columbus Dispatch. "The question is, will anything get worse or will it stay just the same. But it's not going to be better over the next year — or two or three." Charter and TWC ranked near the bottom among a dozen companies in an ASCI survey of 12,710 consumers released last week focused on the broader telecom industry. On the zero-to-100 scale, the third leg of the "New Charter" consolidation, Bright House Networks, actually ranked near the top.
benton.org/headlines/combined-chartertwc-customer-service-will-get-worse-not-better-analysts-say | Fierce
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CHILDREN & MEDIA
THE INTERNET OF THINGS HAS A CHILD PRIVACY PROBLEM
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Karen Turner]
Parent bloggers have touted the device's family-friendly uses when it comes to child care and household tasks. Many of these "mommy blog" posts are sponsored by Amazon in an ad campaign explicitly geared toward families with young children. But what about the realities of bringing an "always on" device that records children's voices into the privacy of one's home? A new investigation explores potential violations of childhood privacy laws by devices such as Amazon Echo. Companies with virtual assistants, such as Amazon, could be fined millions of dollars for the collection of children's data without explicit parental consent. Specifically, these AI devices store audio files of children's voice commands, but don't provide any information on how long these files are stored or how they are being used. "Just telling parents to take effective responsibility for the child isn't sufficient," said Jeffrey Chester, a lawyer who helped to craft the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, which aims to protect the digital privacy of children under the age of 13. "Under COPPA, they need to know what's being collected, how it will be used, they need to be provided with real informed consent to begin with." Chester also expressed concern with marketing tactics that aim to appeal to children. He cites an ad for Apple's Siri that shows Cookie Monster using the virtual assistant to help him bake cookies, as well as the Amazon ad that features young children asking Echo for new knock-knock jokes. Ads like these demonstrate an explicit desire to convert young children to customers, making an even stronger case that these companies are violating COPPA.
benton.org/headlines/internet-things-has-child-privacy-problem | Washington Post
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