1. Monthly archive
  2. July 2016

July 2016

Presidential Policy Directive -- United States Cyber Incident Coordination

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.

Democratic Delegates Vow to Fight Republicans on Net Neutrality in Party Platform

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]."

Verizon Now Owns Tumblr. Could That Be A Good Thing?

Verizon is acquiring Yahoo for $4.83 billion in cash—and along with it, Tumblr, the Internet’s quirky link sharing network with 65 million users. To any fan of the service, the reaction may be something along the lines of, "What will happen to Tumblr? Will Verizon ruin it? Or worse, will it shutter it?" In reality, Tumblr may barely be on Verizon’s radar right now. Meanwhile, even though Yahoo stayed true to its promise to leave Tumblr alone after acquiring it for $1 billion in 2013, some Tumblr editors think the company should have done more to push the envelope and keep the service relevant.

Maybe the real hope for Tumblr under Verizon is that the network isn’t forgotten or left alone, but positioned as a relatively untapped source of revenue for Verizon—something that could contribute billions of dollars for Verizon each year rather than fall short of projections. Leveraging the full weight of AOL’s properties, Tumblr could become the social glue holding all of these services together. Verizon’s Facebook, if you will. And with more investment—maybe in the mixed-media experimentation we see Instagram, Snapchat, and countless other platforms embracing—Tumblr could become an irresistible app again, distributed across Verizon’s monstrous network of Internet, TV, and smartphones. If Verizon revamps the UX and sells the right ads, Tumblr could still become a juggernaut in its own right.

The End of Australia’s National Broadband Network?

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.

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