BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 2016
Today's Event: Coalition for Local Internet Choice, "Federal Funding Options for Community Broadband Deployments" -- https://www.benton.org/node/244438
RNC 2016
GOP: President Obama is Biggest Threat to Internet Survival
Trump camp defends Melania's speech: Michelle Obama didn't "invent" the English language [links to Vox]
Melania Trump's plagiarism matters because it exposes Donald Trump's profound laziness [links to Vox]
The biggest tool at the conventions - analysis [links to Benton summary]
‘This is preposterous,’ says the media about the media’s convention overkill - WaPo analysis [links to Benton summary]
House Press Gallery reminds journalists attending RNC to act professionally [links to Politico]
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Coulter: I'd like to be FCC chair to 'look at' the 'communications contracts' of major news outlets
Carson, Fiorina failed to leverage social media as their campaigns peaked - CJR op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Op-Ed: Debunking The Media’s Top Excuse For Giving Trump Billions In Free Publicity [links to Huffington Post]
The Investor Who Bought TrumpPence2016.com in April for $10 [links to Atlantic, The]
The Clinton campaign is trolling the RNC with anti-Trump Snapchat filters. [links to Revere Digital]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Chairman Wheeler Responds to Congress on Lifeline
Net Neutrality Win in the D.C. Circuit Court is a Win for the Arts - Medium op-ed
Google Fiber no longer a moonshot — it's a 'real business' [links to Benton summary]
CenturyLink Preps Usage-Based Broadband Trial [links to Benton summary]
NCTA, Others Seek More Time for Business Data Services Comment [links to Benton summary]
Wheeler Responds to New York Representatives on CAF Phase II Funds [links to Benton summary]
Urban Communities Need Better Broadband Too! - Craig Settles [links to Benton summary]
AGENDA
Commissioner Clyburn Announces October 19th #ConnectingCommunities Policy Reform - public notice [links to Benton summary]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
NTIA Provides Guidance to States Seeking Authority to Enter Into a Spectrum Lease with FirstNet, Receive Grant Funds - public notice
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Wheeler Responds to Congress on Broadband Customer Privacy Proposal [links to Benton summary]
FCC’s Wheeler Responds to Congress on Local Number Portability Administration Security Requirements [links to Federal Communications Commission]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Comcast Gets Rolling With ‘Xfinity WiFi on Wheels’ [links to Benton summary]
CONTENT
Can Silicon Valley Really Do Anything to Stop Police Violence? - NYT analysis
Internet-Connected TV Boosts Viewing [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Cutting the Cord: 'The video selfie that changed the world' [links to USAToday]
Twitter lands contract with NBA for original live programming [links to Los Angeles Times]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Meet The Cyber Mercenaries Selling Spyware To Governments [links to Vice]
JOURNALISM
Two decades late, accountability visits Fox News [links to Washington Post]
POLICYMAKERS
Chairman Wheeler Announces General Counsel Transition - press release
HEALTH
Slow Verizon Internet prevents two doctors from viewing X-rays online [links to Ars Technica]
Electronic Medical Records Are Making Doctors Hate Their Jobs [links to Fast Company]
Examining Oversight of the Privacy & Security of Health Data Collected by Entities Not Regulated by HIPAA [links to Department of Health and Human Services]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Google, Trying to Endear Itself to Europe, Spreads Cash Around [links to Benton summary]
For authoritarian rulers, control of social media is key [links to American Public Media]
Annoyed at crypto, Brazilian judge orders mobile carriers to block WhatsApp [links to Ars Technica]
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RNC 2016
GOP: PRESIDENT OBAMA IS BIGGEST THREAT TO INTERNET SURVIVAL
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Forget cybercriminals and rogue states: President Barack Obama is the biggest threat to a free and open Internet, at least according to the platform approved at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland (OH). “The survival of the Internet as we know it is at risk,” the platform says in its "Protecting Internet Freedom" plank. “Its gravest peril originates in the White House, the current occupant of which has launched a campaign, both at home and internationally, to subjugate it to agents of government.” President Obama pushed for the Federal Communications Commission to reclassify Internet access as a Title II common-carrier service subject to some new regulations, which it did. It was a move Congressional Republicans fought and blamed on what they saw as the president’s intervention. They are also not happy with the Administration’s decision to move oversight of Internet domain names to a multistakeholder model.
benton.org/headlines/gop-president-obama-biggest-threat-internet-survival | Multichannel News
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA
COULTER WOULD LIKE TO BE FCC CHAIR
[SOURCE: Business Insider, AUTHOR: Allan Smith]
Ann Coulter would like to chair the Federal Communications Commission under a Donald Trump presidency so she could examine some of the communications contracts held by major news outlets. "I want FCC chairman," Coulter said. "I think some of the media has just gotten very powerful and very unfair." "And I think we should look at some of those, some of those communications contracts," she said. Asked which media outlets in particular she was speaking of, Coulter responded, "Oh, you know, the ones governed by the FCC." She then implied that Fox News could be in her crosshairs if Trump were to let her oversee the commission. "Well, if you weren’t born in America, you might not have America's best interests at heart," she said. "Maybe you shouldn't own massive amounts of media in a country you would like to overrun with cheap labor," Coulter said. "Anyone who is not born in the country who doesn't seem to give two f---- about America. Anyone who fits into that category. Anyone."
benton.org/headlines/coulter-id-be-fcc-chair-look-communications-contracts-major-news-outlets | Business Insider
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
LIFELINE LETTERS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler sent letters to 25 Members of Congress on July 11, 2016, responding to their letter expressing concerns with the decision to limit the role of states in preventing waste, fraud and abuse within the Lifeline program. The Members asserted it could be more efficient and cost effective to allow states to continue serving as the primary verifiers of applicant eligibility and the FCC should focus on working with the states to ensure they have the information needed to perform checks of eligibility. Chairman Wheeler said the Lifeline Order will allow states to continue to play an important role, and said states maintain their authority to designate Lifeline voice and high-cost ETCs within the state.
benton.org/headlines/chairman-wheeler-responds-congress-lifeline | Federal Communications Commission | Members of Congress
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NET NEUTRALITY WIN IN THE DC CIRCUIT COURT IS A WIN FOR THE ARTS
[SOURCE: Medium, AUTHOR: Courtney Duffy]
[Commentary] After more than six months of deliberation, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit released its opinion affirming the Federal Communications Commission’s 2015 Open Internet Order. While the DC Circuit Court’s decision is important to all consumers, it is particularly relevant to the arts and culture sector. The creative community relies upon a free and open Internet in a number of ways. Artists turn to the Internet to display and distribute work, collaborate with other artists, seek inspiration, educate young artists, market events, fundraise, and access articles like this one. Here are three reasons the arts community should celebrate the network neutrality decision:
1) Artists harness the Internet to maximize audience reach.
2) The Internet is a tool for artists to promote their craft.
3) The open Internet enables the arts community to contribute to society.
Access to a free and open Internet is intrinsic to the liberation of artists. The arts community has very good reason to celebrate the court’s decision.
[Courtney Duffy is the Robert W. Deutsch Arts & Technology Policy Fellow at Public Knowledge]
benton.org/headlines/net-neutrality-win-dc-circuit-court-win-arts | Medium
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
NTIA PROVIDES GUIDANCE TO STATES SEEKING TO ENTER SPECTRUM LEASE WITH FIRSTNET
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: Press release]
The US Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a Public Notice outlining the alternative path states could take to connect to the First Responder Network Authority’s (FirstNet) nationwide public safety broadband network. The notice provides preliminary guidance on the rigorous process NTIA is developing to review applications for its State Alternative Plan Program (SAPP) from states seeking to deploy their own radio access networks (RAN), which are the facilities needed to connect first responders to the core of FirstNet’s broadband network. The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 established FirstNet as an independent authority within NTIA and directed it to develop and deploy a nationwide public safety broadband network. The Act requires FirstNet to offer to build the RAN in each state, but it also gives states the option to assume the cost and responsibility of RANs on their own. The notice lays out NTIA’s initial views on the comprehensive, multi-step process outlined in the Act for a state seeking authorization to deploy a proposed alternative RAN. In order to operate its own RAN, a state will need to negotiate a spectrum capacity lease with FirstNet. In addition, the state may also apply to NTIA for grant funds for the construction of its RAN. The notice provides the preliminary criteria NTIA will use to evaluate such requests. The public is invited to submit comments on this notice by August 18, 2016.
benton.org/headlines/ntia-provides-guidance-states-seeking-authority-enter-spectrum-lease-firstnet-receive | National Telecommunications and Information Administration | Public Notice
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CONTENT
CAN SILICON VALLEY REALLY DO ANYTHING TO STOP POLICE VIOLENCE?
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jenna Wortham]
[Commentary] Many critics of Silicon Valley question whether the industry is really doing all it can to influence policy on this issue of [police violence]. “We know what it looks like when tech cares, and it doesn’t look like peace signs in the Uber app,” said Anil Dash, a tech entrepreneur and activist. Dash cited the example of FWD.us, the initiative for immigration reform led by tech executives like Zuckerberg. He also cited a colossal joint effort among websites like Tumblr and YouTube to stop two antipiracy bills in 2011. The latter effort was able to persuade 10 million people to ask their representatives to protest the bills, which were ultimately killed. The tech industry knows how to lobby Washington on issues that affect its bottom line, but it limits its engagement with other issues to grandstanding. Or as tech entrepreneur and activist Anil Dash puts it, more bluntly: “Tech only cares about black people as consumers.” Ultimately, what the tech industry really cares about is ushering in the future, but it conflates technological progress with societal progress. And perhaps all of us have come to rely too deeply on machinery and software to be our allies without wondering about the cost, the way technology doesn’t fix problems without creating new ones.
benton.org/headlines/can-silicon-valley-really-do-anything-stop-police-violence | New York Times
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POLICYMAKERS
CHAIRMAN WHEELER ANNOUNCES GENERAL COUNSEL TRANSITION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced the departure of Jon Sallet as the FCC General Counsel and his intention to appoint Howard Symons as the next General Counsel. Sallet will become the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Litigation in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. In his new position as FCC General Counsel, Symons will lead the office that serves as the principal legal advisory office to the Commission as a whole. Prior to joining the Commission, Sallet was been a partner in three law firms, served as chief policy counsel for MCI Telecommunications (later MCI WorldCom), and served as Director of the Office of Policy & Strategic Planning for the Department of Commerce. He was a law clerk to the Honorable Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and the Honorable Edward A. Tamm of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Symons has been working in telecommunications in both the public and private sectors for more than 30 years. Before his appointment to the FCC’s Incentive Auction Task Force in January 2014, he was the chair of the communications practice at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. and served as senior counsel to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications in the US House of Representatives. He graduated from Yale University and earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.
benton.org/headlines/chairman-wheeler-announces-general-counsel-transition | Federal Communications Commission
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