BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2016
Today's Events:
ELECTION 2016
Web People vs. Wall People - editorial
Democratic Delegates Vow to Fight Republicans on Net Neutrality in Party Platform
Did the DNC email leaks affect how Bernie Sanders supporters plan to vote in November? [links to Washington Post]
TV Ratings: Night one of DNC tops night one of RNC [links to Politico]
Democratic National Convention Tops TV Tweets [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Clinton aide: Distracting Trump 'personally' with social media is a victory [links to Benton summary]
Noam Cohen: The Trumpian Dreams of Silicon Valley [links to New York Times]
Spy Agency Consensus Grows That Russia Hacked D.N.C. [links to New York Times]
Donald Trump watches more cable TV than you do [links to Washington Post]
Want To Watch Every Anti-Trump Ad? Better Clear Your Schedule. [links to Huffington Post]
Montana Gubernatorial Candidate Tells TV Stations To Yank Ad [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Ailes’s Fox dominates conservative media. A Trump presidency could challenge that. - CJR analysis [links to Benton summary]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Closing the Digital Divide: A Framework for Meeting CRA Obligations - research
The End of Australia’s National Broadband Network? - analysis
Verizon Connect America Fund Auction Ideas: Declined States, Least Costly Locations Should Get Priority [links to Benton summary]
New Yorkers Greet the Arrival of Wi-Fi Kiosks With Panic, Skepticism and Relief [links to New York Times]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Presidential Policy Directive -- United States Cyber Incident Coordination - press release
Hackers preying on US companies send the cash to China and Hong Kong [links to CNNMoney]
Commentary: Ethics and the privacy harms of WikiLeaks [links to International Association of Privacy Professionals]
Your wireless keyboard could be giving your secrets away [links to Washington Post]
Hiding Internet Infrastructure Doesn't Really Keep It Safe [links to Vice]
Illinois governor signs new law requiring stricter rules for stingrays [links to Ars Technica]
Microsoft’s president explains the company’s quiet legal war for user privacy [links to Washington Post]
Arab Americans Join With Tech, Privacy Groups to Fight Surveillance [links to Benton summary]
ROGER AILES/FOX NEWS
The Rise And Fall Of FOX News CEO Roger Ailes [links to National Public Radio]
Rupert Murdoch seeks to reassure Fox News troops [links to Politico]
OWNERSHIP
Verizon Now Owns Tumblr. Could That Be A Good Thing? [links to Benton summary]
Chinese electronics firm LeEco will acquire TV maker Vizio for $2 billion [links to Ars Technica]
DIVERSITY
New diversity report highlights progress in VC industry
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Chairman Wheeler Statement on Fulfillment of Smartphone Anti-Theft Commitment by CTIA - press release [links to Benton summary]
Illinois governor signs new law requiring stricter rules for stingrays [links to Ars Technica]
T-Mobile ‘Binge On’ Partners Exceed 100 [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Apple probably just sold its billionth iPhone [links to CNNMoney]
TELEVISION
NCTA Backs FCC on Headend Reporting Requirement [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
$11,000 FCC EEO Fine for Recruiting Solely Through Online Sources – Time to Revisit the FCC Rules? [links to Broadcast Law Blog]
CONTENT
Bitcoin 'not real money' says Miami judge in closely watched ruling [links to Guardian, The]
TELECOM
AT&T is leading a crackdown on obnoxious robo-calls [links to Washington Post]
ADVERTISING
AOL's Tim Armstrong on What Yahoo-Verizon Deal Means for Ad World [links to AdAge]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Why Federal Agencies Won't Take Up the Internet of Things Anytime Soon [links to Benton summary]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
How the Chinese Government Became the World’s Hacking Superpower [links to Vice]
The End of Australia’s National Broadband Network? - analysis
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ELECTION 2016
WEB PEOPLE VS WALL PEOPLE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Thomas Friedman]
[Commentary] Yes, we’re having a national election right now. Yes, there are two parties running. But no, they are not the two parties that you think. It’s not “Democrats” versus “Republicans.” This election is really between “Wall People” and “Web People.” The primary focus of Wall People is finding a president who will turn off the fan — the violent winds of change that are now buffeting every family — in their workplace, where machines are threatening white-collar and blue-collar jobs; in their neighborhoods, where so many more immigrants of different religions, races and cultures are moving in; and globally, where super-empowered angry people are now killing innocents with disturbing regularity. They want a wall to stop it all. Web People instinctively understand that Democrats and Republicans both built their platforms largely in response to the Industrial Revolution, the New Deal and the Cold War, but that today, a 21st-century party needs to build its platform in response to the accelerations in technology, globalization and climate change, which are the forces transforming the workplace, geopolitics and the very planet. As such, the instinct of Web People is to embrace the change in the pace of change and focus on empowering more people to be able to compete and collaborate in a world without walls. In particular, Web People understand that in times of rapid change, open systems are always more flexible, resilient and propulsive; they offer the chance to feel and respond first to change. So Web People favor more trade expansion, along the lines of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and more managed immigration that attracts the most energetic and smartest minds, and more vehicles for lifelong learning. If America is to thrive in the 21st century, we desperately need a coalition that can govern smartly in this era of rapid change. Clinton has a chance to break not only the glass ceiling for women, but also the rigid walls that have divided our two parties. If she can pull that off, it will make being the first woman president the second most important thing she does.
benton.org/headlines/web-people-vs-wall-people | New York Times
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DEMOCRATIC DELEGATES VOW TO FIGHT REPUBLICANS ON NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Democratic delegates approved the party's platform July 25 and it committed to free Wi-Fi for anchor institutions and broadband for every household. It was being hailed as the most progressive platform in history, and clearly progress on broadband buildouts was high on the list. "High speed Internet connectivity is not a luxury; it is a necessity for 21st century economic success, social mobility, education, health care, and public safety," the platform said. "Despite considerable progress and private investment in the last eight years to close the digital divide, there is more work to do." That includes "finishing the job of connecting every household in America to high speed broadband, increase Internet adoption, and help hook up anchor institutions so they can offer free Wi-Fi to the public." The platform was all in on network neutrality. "Democrats support a free and open Internet at home and abroad," the platform asserted, "and will oppose any effort by Republicans to roll back the historic net neutrality rules that the Federal Communications Commission enacted [in 2015]."
benton.org/headlines/democratic-delegates-vow-fight-republicans-net-neutrality-party-platform | Broadcasting&Cable
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
CLOSING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
[SOURCE: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, AUTHOR: Jordana Barton]
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) provides a significant opportunity to help close the digital divide across communities while simultaneously benefiting financial institutions and improving economic stability. The CRA is a law that encourages banks to make loans and investments and provide services to low- and moderate-income communities. The law was passed in 1977 to address redlining—the denial of credit to individuals based on where they live. Every year, the CRA helps bring more than $100 billion in capital to LMI communities across the country. The law is intended to be broad, flexible and responsive to changes within communities. This publication seeks to highlight best practices and “what works”5 to provide a roadmap for successful lending, service and investments to close the digital divide for LMI families and rural communities. Moreover, this framework provides clear evidence of how investments in broadband can improve the lives of individuals and can help create an inclusive and vibrant entrepreneurial economy.
benton.org/headlines/closing-digital-divide-framework-meeting-cra-obligations | Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
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SECURITY/PRIVACY
US CYBER INCIDENT COORDINATION
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Press release]
While the vast majority of cyber incidents can be handled through existing policies, certain cyber incidents that have significant impacts on an entity, our national security, or the broader economy require a unique approach to response efforts. These significant cyber incidents demand unity of effort within the Federal Government and especially close coordination between the public and private sectors. This Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) sets forth principles governing the Federal Government’s response to any cyber incident, whether involving government or private sector entities. For significant cyber incidents, this PPD also establishes lead Federal agencies and an architecture for coordinating the broader Federal Government response. This PPD also requires the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to maintain updated contact information for public use to assist entities affected by cyber incidents in reporting those incidents to the proper authorities.
benton.org/headlines/presidential-policy-directive-united-states-cyber-incident-coordination | White House, The | Annex | White House fact sheet
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DIVERSITY
VC DIVERSITY
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Marisa Kendall]
While women and minority venture capitalists are still few and far between, the industry is making some progress -- particularly by admitting that diversity is an issue -- according to the National Venture Capital Association's first report on the subject. Women make up 11 percent of VCs, African-Americans make up 2 percent and Latinos represent 1 percent, according to a 2016 study by Richard Kerby of Venrock. His data, referenced in the NVCA report, show 67 percent of VCs are white men. But unlike large tech companies such as Facebook and Google, which are pressured to release regular statistics on the diversity of their workforce, the VC industry can be opaque about its partner demographics. The NVCA task force is hoping to change that by launching a survey of firms across the country, with the results expected this fall. The NVCA hasn't set specific diversity goals, nor does it hold its member firms accountable to promises to include more women and minorities, the report illustrates a shift in the conversation and a growing realization that the status quo must change.
benton.org/headlines/new-diversity-report-highlights-progress-vc-industry | San Jose Mercury News
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
AUSTRALIA’S NATIONAL BROADBAND NETWORK
[SOURCE: Technology Policy Institute, AUTHOR: Lucia Gamboa Sorensen, Andrew Medina]
Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) is the largest public sector investment in broadband to replace existing copper infrastructure with fiber. Government decided to build and operate a wholesale network to encourage competition on that retail fixed broadband and achieve faster infrastructure buildout with higher quality and lower retail prices. The NBN aimed to connect 93 percent of Australian households and businesses (13 million premises) to a wholesale fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) but downgraded to fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) as a result of escalating costs and political change. In further attempts to bring down the cost and adopt a more deliverable strategy, the current administration is considering a gradual sell-off of the NBN network. Six years after its start the overall outcome has not been positive. This report finds that since NBN implementation coverage and adoption rates have slowed for fixed broadband and mobile broadband growth has remained relatively constant despite increased investment. Australians continue to experience low quality services due to low speeds, higher prices relative to other countries and a slowing rate of price decrease for internet services in the past eight years. Fixed retail market concentration has not changed significantly since the NBN began operation and has slightly increased in the mobile market. Finally, this research suggests that faster mobile connection speeds are changing consumer patters to perceive mobile as a substitute for fixed broadband. The Australian case reveals how state owned broadband might not be the best answer to meet full coverage and competition objectives. The NBN is an example of an intrusive policy subject to political pressures that has resulted in inefficiencies that distort consumer patterns and investment decisions without changing the competitive landscape.
benton.org/headlines/end-australias-national-broadband-network | Technology Policy Institute
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