RNC 2016: GOP Platform, Media Coverage, and Notable Moments
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Robbie’s Round-Up for the Week of July 18-22, 2016
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2016
RNC 2016
Ted Cruz Stirs Convention Fury in Pointed Snub of Donald Trump
What’s the story in Cleveland? Don’t ask national media covering the RNC [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
Donald Trump, Peter Thiel and the death of democracy - The Guardian analysis [links to Benton summary]
How political conventions became sanitized, made-for-TV infomercials - WaPo analysis [links to Benton summary]
Video: Laura Ingraham to the news media: 'Do your job' [links to Washington Post]
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Cities, technology, the next generation of urban development, and the next administration, Part 3 - Blair Levin/Brookings
Clinton outraising Trump by 3-1 margin in dash for cash [links to Center for Public Integrity, The]
The social soapbox: Democrats will embrace visual platforms at the 2016 Convention [links to Benton summary]
ROGER AILES
Roger Ailes Is Out as Head of Fox News
Roger Ailes’s Exit Is Unlikely to Erode the Fox News Citadel - NYT analysis [links to Benton summary]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Facebook tests full-scale solar-powered Internet drone
Facebook 2026: Mark Zuckerberg on his plan to bring the Internet to every human on earth [links to Benton summary]
Facebook Over the Air Optical Technology Looks Promising [links to telecompetitor]
Nearly 80 Community-based Providers Delivering Gigabit Broadband to Rural Communities - NTCA press release [links to Benton summary]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Donald Trump: 'I am a fan of the future, and cyber is the future'
Edward Snowden Designs a Device to Warn If Your iPhone’s Radios Are Snitching
Chairman Wheeler to Hill: Broadband Privacy Regulations Necessary [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
The Fight Over Consumer Encryption Moves Into Strange New Phase [links to Defense One]
Automakers join forces on hacking, cyber security threats [links to Associated Press]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
WSJ Reporter: Homeland Security Tried to Take My Phones at the Border
TELEVISION
Chairman Wheeler: Set-Top Plan Is Energy Efficient [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Fox News Sues Charter Over Carriage Spat [links to Multichannel News]
Comcast announces Xfinity prepaid internet and TV service [links to Fierce]
Dish posts record pay-TV subscriber drop, earnings beat estimates [links to Reuters]
CONTENT
Electronic Frontier Foundation: Controversial copyright law unconstitutional [links to Benton summary]
How a few iTunes purchases helped bring down an online piracy mastermind [links to Washington Post]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Verizon to disconnect unlimited data customers who use over 100GB/month [links to Benton summary]
POLICYMAKERS
Chairman Wheeler Appoints Chair and Vice Chair to World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee - press release [links to Benton summary]
COMPANY NEWS
Facebook worth $1 trillion? Not so crazy [links to CNNMoney]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
EU Network Neutrality Guideline Debate Draws Crowd
Microsoft fires back on Safe Harbor violations [links to Benton summary]
America wants to believe China can’t innovate. Tech tells a different story. [links to Benton summary]
RNC 2016
CRUZ STIRS CONVENTION FURY IN POINTED SNUB OF DONALD TRUMP
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Patrick Healy, Jonathan Martin]
The Republican convention erupted into tumult July 20 as the bitter primary battle between Donald J. Trump and Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) reignited unexpectedly, crushing hopes that the party could project unity. In the most electric moment of the convention, boos and jeers broke out as it became clear that Sen Cruz — in a prime-time address from center stage — was not going to endorse Trump. It was a pointed snub on the eve of Trump’s formal acceptance speech. As hundreds of delegates chanted “Vote for Trump!” and “Say it!” Sen Cruz tried to dismiss the outburst as “enthusiasm of the New York delegation” — only to have Trump himself suddenly appear in the back of the convention hall. Virtually every head in the room seemed to turn from Sen Cruz to Trump, who was stone-faced and clearly angry as he egged on delegates by pumping his fist. Sen Cruz was all but drowned out as he asked for God’s blessing on the country and left the stage, while security personnel escorted his wife, Heidi, out of the hall. One delegate yelled “Goldman Sachs!” at her — a reference to the company that has employed her, a job that Trump attacked during the primaries. A short while later, Sen Cruz faced insults as he made his way down a corridor — one woman yelled “Traitor!” When he tried to enter the convention suite of the Las Vegas (NV) casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, he was turned away.
benton.org/headlines/ted-cruz-stirs-convention-fury-pointed-snub-donald-trump | New York Times | NPR | Washington Post | Vox
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA
CITIES, TECH, NEXT GEN OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION, PART 3
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Blair Levin]
[Commentary] As the candidates lay out their plans for the country, cities and technology should be at the heart of the conversation about economic growth and social progress. They should articulate both a strategy and specific ideas about how to accelerate the ability of cities to use new technology to achieve those goals. Here are five such ideas.
1) A Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) for cities -- We need a long-term institution dedicated to helping cities understand the impact of directions in science and technology.
2) An access initiative -- As we look back at the history of communications networks, the deployment of networks capable of offering faster, better, and cheaper services always requires a new capital-allocation decision. This is generally done by a private-sector party but often follows government decisions that lower the cost of deployment or operations and/or increase potential revenue and competition. A continuing challenge, however, lies in assuring access to essential facilities.
3) A tax/next-generation network investment deal -- There is a bipartisan consensus that our tax code needs updating to reflect changes in the economy since the last comprehensive reform thirty years ago. The chances for such a bill are not high; neither are they non-material. In that light, cities should advocate that any such effort ought to be used to accelerate investment in next generation, long-term infrastructure.
4) A government IP transition with an adoption surge -- The next administration should move the United States to the top tier in e-government delivery and broadband adoption.
5) In-Q-Tel4Equity -- When the CIA came to believe it needed to be more intentional about the direction of technology, they created a venture capital fund called In-Q-Tel, opened an office in Silicon Valley, and provided venture capital to tap commercial technology. The Pentagon recently followed with its own Silicon Valley office and fund. They are investing in technology they are interested in buying, and thus they both make money on the investment side and accelerate the deployment of technology they want. The federal government should do the same to tap developing technology to address the needs of low-income communities in health, education, job training, and other areas. While there are good, voluntary existing efforts, nothing concentrates the entrepreneurs’ mind like some old-fashioned venture capital.
[Levin is a nonresident senior fellow with the Metropolitan Policy Program. This is the third in a series of three blogs on cities, technology, the next generation of urban development, and the next administration.]
benton.org/headlines/cities-technology-next-generation-urban-development-and-next-administration-part-3 | Brookings
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ROGER AILES
ROGER AILES IS OUT AS HEAD OF FOX NEWS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Koblin, Emily Steel]
Roger Ailes stepped down July 21 as chairman and chief executive of Fox News, ending a 20-year reign as head of the cable network he built into a ratings juggernaut and an influential platform for Republican politics. Rupert Murdoch, the 85-year-old media mogul who started Fox News with Ailes, will assume the role of chairman and will be an interim chief executive of Fox News channel and Fox Business Network until a permanent replacement for Ailes is found. Ailes will receive about $40 million as part of a settlement agreement, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. As part of the agreement, Ailes cannot start a competitor to Fox News. He will continue to make himself available as an adviser to Murdoch on an interim basis, the person said, though he will not be directly involved with Fox News or its owner, 21st Century Fox. In a statement, Murdoch praised Ailes, 76, and his “remarkable contribution” to the company, without making mention of the sexual harassment scandal that felled him.
benton.org/headlines/roger-ailes-out-head-fox-news | New York Times | Revere Digital
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
FACEBOOK TESTS FULL-SCALE SOLAR-POWERED INTERNET DRONE
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Sean Gallagher]
Facebook's Connectivity Lab announced that the company has for the first time test-flown a full-scale version of Aquila, the solar-powered high-altitude drone that Facebook hopes to use to deliver Internet connectivity to the remotest populated corners of the Earth. The test flight took place June 28. The low-altitude test flight was originally intended only as a 30-minute “functional check” flight. "It was so successful that we ended up flying Aquila for more than 90 minutes—three times longer than originally planned," wrote Jay Parikh, Facebook's vice president of infrastructure engineering. The goal of Aquila is to provide what has been described as an "atmospheric satellite" capability—the drones will fly for up to three months at a time, orbiting over remote areas and providing connectivity for a circle as much as 60 miles in diameter, using a laser-based network "backbone" and radio signals for local bandwidth. Because of its lift-to-weight ratio, Aquila can fly as slowly as 25 miles per hour in level flight.
benton.org/headlines/facebook-tests-full-scale-solar-powered-internet-drone | Ars Technica
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SECURITY/PRIVACY
TRUMP: 'I AM A FAN OF THE FUTURE, AND CYBER IS THE FUTURE'
[SOURCE: The Verge, AUTHOR: Colin Lecher]
In an interview published by the New York Times, Donald Trump gave a winding response to a question about cyberattacks. Trump says he's all for "cyber," although it's unclear from the conversation what exactly that means. From the Times:
[DAVID E.] SANGER: You've seen several [NATO members in the Baltics] come under cyberattack, things that are short of war, clearly appear to be coming from Russia.
TRUMP: Well, we're under cyberattack.
SANGER: We're under regular cyberattack. Would you use cyberweapons before you used military force?
TRUMP: Cyber is absolutely a thing of the future and the present. Look, we're under cyberattack, forget about them. And we don't even know where it's coming from.
SANGER: Some days we do, and some days we don't.
TRUMP: Because we're obsolete. Right now, Russia and China in particular and other places.
SANGER: Would you support the United States' not only developing as we are but fielding cyberweapons as an alternative?
TRUMP: Yes. I am a fan of the future, and cyber is the future.
benton.org/headlines/donald-trump-i-am-fan-future-and-cyber-future | Verge, The | Read the interview
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SNOWDEN DESIGNS DEVICE TO WARN IF IPHONE RADIOS ARE SNITCHING
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Andy Greenberg]
When Edward Snowden met with reporters in a Hong Kong hotel room to spill the National Security Agency’s secrets, he famously asked them put their phones in the fridge to block any radio signals that might be used to silently activate the devices’ microphones or cameras. So it’s fitting that three years later, he’s returned to that smartphone radio surveillance problem. Now Snowden’s attempting to build a solution that’s far more compact than a hotel mini-bar. On July 21 at the MIT Media Lab, Snowden and well-known hardware hacker Andrew “Bunnie” Huang plan to present designs for a case-like device that wires into your iPhone’s guts to monitor the electrical signals sent to its internal antennas. The aim of that add-on, Huang and Snowden say, is to offer a constant check on whether your phone’s radios are transmitting. They say it’s an infinitely more trustworthy method of knowing your phone’s radios are off than “airplane mode,” which people have shown can be hacked and spoofed. Snowden and Huang are hoping to offer strong privacy guarantees to smartphone owners who need to shield their phones from government-funded adversaries with advanced hacking and surveillance capabilities—particularly reporters trying to carry their devices into hostile foreign countries without constantly revealing their locations.
benton.org/headlines/edward-snowden-designs-device-warn-if-your-iphones-radios-are-snitching | Wired
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
WSJ REPORTER: DHS TRIED TO TAKE MY PHONES AT THE BORDER
[SOURCE: Vice, AUTHOR: Joseph Cox]
On July 21, a Wall Street Journal reporter claimed that the Department of Homeland Security demanded access to her mobile phones when she was crossing the border at the Los Angeles (CA) airport. The case highlights the powers that border agents purport to have, and how vulnerable sensitive information can be when taken through airports in particular. “I wanted to share a troubling experience I had with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in the hopes it may help you protect your private information,” Maria Abi-Habib, a WSJ journalist focused on ISIS and Al Qaeda wrote in a post on Facebook. Abi-Habib says she had arrived in town for a wedding, when an immigration officer approached her, and took her aside from the main queue. This by itself was not unusual, Abi-Habib writes: because of her job, she has reportedly been put on a list that allows her to bypass the usual questioning someone with her travel profile may encounter. But things changed quickly, and Abi-Habib was escorted to another part of the airport. “Another customs agent joined her at that point and they grilled me for an hour—asking me about the years I lived in the US, when I moved to Beirut and why, who lives at my in-laws' house in LA and numbers for the groom and bride whose wedding I was attending. I answered jovially, because I've had enough high-level security experiences to know that being annoyed or hostile will work against you,” she writes.
benton.org/headlines/wsj-reporter-homeland-security-tried-take-my-phones-border | Vice
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
EU NET NEUTRALITY GUIDELINE DEBATE DRAWS CROWD
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
It wasn't quite the four million comments the Federal Communications Commission received on its Open Internet proceeding, but according to the Save the Internet coalition, which was also a part of that FCC comment flood, more than 500,000 people weighed in on the European Union's proposed guidelines via the coalition's and other websites. The comment period closed July 18 on guidelines on implementing and applying EU net neutrality law, which the European Parliament adopted last fall and have already started applying. The law essentially "enshrines" net neutrality principles of no blocking or throttling of online content, applications and services, but the EU is now trying to come up with guidelines for applying it across its divergent membership. Those weighing in include World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, who fronted an open letter seeking strong regulations similar to the FCC's.
benton.org/headlines/eu-network-neutrality-guideline-debate-draws-crowd | Broadcasting&Cable
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[Commentary] As the candidates lay out their plans for the country, cities and technology should be at the heart of the conversation about economic growth and social progress. They should articulate both a strategy and specific ideas about how to accelerate the ability of cities to use new technology to achieve those goals. Here are five such ideas.
1) A Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) for cities -- We need a long-term institution dedicated to helping cities understand the impact of directions in science and technology.
2) An access initiative -- As we look back at the history of communications networks, the deployment of networks capable of offering faster, better, and cheaper services always requires a new capital-allocation decision. This is generally done by a private-sector party but often follows government decisions that lower the cost of deployment or operations and/or increase potential revenue and competition. A continuing challenge, however, lies in assuring access to essential facilities.
3) A tax/next-generation network investment deal -- There is a bipartisan consensus that our tax code needs updating to reflect changes in the economy since the last comprehensive reform thirty years ago. The chances for such a bill are not high; neither are they non-material. In that light, cities should advocate that any such effort ought to be used to accelerate investment in next generation, long-term infrastructure.
4) A government IP transition with an adoption surge -- The next administration should move the United States to the top tier in e-government delivery and broadband adoption.
5) In-Q-Tel4Equity -- When the CIA came to believe it needed to be more intentional about the direction of technology, they created a venture capital fund called In-Q-Tel, opened an office in Silicon Valley, and provided venture capital to tap commercial technology. The Pentagon recently followed with its own Silicon Valley office and fund. They are investing in technology they are interested in buying, and thus they both make money on the investment side and accelerate the deployment of technology they want. The federal government should do the same to tap developing technology to address the needs of low-income communities in health, education, job training, and other areas. While there are good, voluntary existing efforts, nothing concentrates the entrepreneurs’ mind like some old-fashioned venture capital.
[Levin is a nonresident senior fellow with the Metropolitan Policy Program. This is the third in a series of three blogs on cities, technology, the next generation of urban development, and the next administration.]
Roger Ailes stepped down July 21 as chairman and chief executive of Fox News, ending a 20-year reign as head of the cable network he built into a ratings juggernaut and an influential platform for Republican politics. Rupert Murdoch, the 85-year-old media mogul who started Fox News with Ailes, will assume the role of chairman and will be an interim chief executive of Fox News channel and Fox Business Network until a permanent replacement for Ailes is found.
Ailes will receive about $40 million as part of a settlement agreement, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. As part of the agreement, Ailes cannot start a competitor to Fox News. He will continue to make himself available as an adviser to Murdoch on an interim basis, the person said, though he will not be directly involved with Fox News or its owner, 21st Century Fox. In a statement, Murdoch praised Ailes, 76, and his “remarkable contribution” to the company, without making mention of the sexual harassment scandal that felled him.
Microsoft is pushing back a key component of a French government agency’s recent accusations. On July 20, the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) ordered the software company correct a list of problems in Windows 10 it claimed threatened the privacy of French citizens. CNIL, which regulates data privacy, gave the company three months to do so before it would consider punitive measures. Microsoft vice president and deputy general counsel David Heiner issued a statement denying one of the charges. CNIL alleged that Microsoft was still transferring data to the United States under Safe Harbor policies that no longer apply to the US. Safe Harbor is a European Union policy that allows consumer data to be stored abroad so long as it receives the same protections as EU law.
As part of its preparations for the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) next World Radiocommunication Conference scheduled to convene in 2019, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced the appointment of Thomas C. Power as Chair and Christopher J. Murphy as Vice Chair of the FCC’s Advisory Committee for the World Radiocommunication Conference for 2019 (WRC-19). The Committee will be tasked with providing advice, technical support, and recommended proposals on matters relating to the WRC-19.
Thomas C. Power is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of CTIA. Before joining CTIA, Power served as the US Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Telecommunications in the White House Office of Science and Technology Office. Previously, Power served as Chief of Staff for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, US Department of Commerce and as Senior Legal Adviser to FCC Chairman William Kennard, where he advised the chairman on broadband, common carrier and mass media matters. Christopher J. Murphy is Associate General Counsel, Regulatory Affairs, at ViaSat, Inc., a US-based broadband services and technology provider. Before joining ViaSat, Murphy was Vice President, Government Affairs at Inmarsat. Prior to working in the private sector, Murphy worked for a decade at the FCC’s International Bureau, on broadcast and mobile satellite licensing issues, as well as on domestic and international spectrum and broadband policies.
A Q&A with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
By nearly any measure, Facebook has had a remarkable year. More than 1.65 billion people use the service every month, making it the world’s largest social network by a considerable margin. Its advertising business has grown significantly faster than analyst expectations, powered by sophisticated targeting capabilities that rivals struggle to match. And in April, CEO Mark Zuckerberg laid out an ambitious 10-year vision that places the company at the frontier of computer science, making aggressive moves in bringing artificial intelligence and virtual reality to the mainstream. And yet what Zuckerberg talks about most these days, in meetings with world leaders or at his live Town Hall Q&A sessions, is basic Internet connectivity. In August 2013, Facebook announced the creation of internet.org, the company’s sometimes controversial initiative to bring online services to underserved areas. Since then, Facebook’s connectivity efforts have expanded greatly. It released open-source blueprints for telecommunications infrastructure in an effort to drive down data costs. It’s testing Terragraph, which augments terrestrial cellular networks with new millimeter-wave technology that delivers data 10 times faster than existing Wi-Fi networks. And it continues to expand its Free Basics program despite setbacks. (In India, regulators banned the program, arguing that because Facebook has the final say over which services can be part of Free Basics, it violates net neutrality principles.)
Facebook's Connectivity Lab announced that the company has for the first time test-flown a full-scale version of Aquila, the solar-powered high-altitude drone that Facebook hopes to use to deliver Internet connectivity to the remotest populated corners of the Earth. The test flight took place June 28. The low-altitude test flight was originally intended only as a 30-minute “functional check” flight. "It was so successful that we ended up flying Aquila for more than 90 minutes—three times longer than originally planned," wrote Jay Parikh, Facebook's vice president of infrastructure engineering.
The goal of Aquila is to provide what has been described as an "atmospheric satellite" capability—the drones will fly for up to three months at a time, orbiting over remote areas and providing connectivity for a circle as much as 60 miles in diameter, using a laser-based network "backbone" and radio signals for local bandwidth. Because of its lift-to-weight ratio, Aquila can fly as slowly as 25 miles per hour in level flight.
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