BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2016
A FCC Open Meeting and Cybersecurity on today’s agenda https://www.benton.org/calendar/2016-07-14
BROADBAND INTERNET/TELECOM
SHLB Unveils Action Plan for Next Gen High-Speed Broadband
Remarks of Gigi Sohn, Counselor to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler at "Connecting Anchor Institutions: A Broadband Action Plan" Launch - speech
Benton Publishes Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition's "Connecting Anchor Institutions: A Broadband Action Plan" - press release
Benton Partners With SHLB to Nourish Communities With Broadband - Adrianne Furniss editorial
The FCC Sets the Ground Rules For Shutting Down The Phone System — And Sets the Stage For Universal Broadband. - Harold Feld
What the Comcast-Netflix deal says – and doesn’t say – about the Internet ecosystem - AEI op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Refund program to help expand broadband internet service - op-ed
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
After Dallas Shootings, Police Arrest People for Criticizing Cops on Facebook and Twitter
The New Officer Friendly, Armed With Instagram, Tweets and Emojis [links to New York Times]
Data Localization Would Harm U.S. Economy, Tech Experts Warn [links to Benton summary]
President Obama's Legacy: The Trashing of Free Speech - The Hill op-ed [links to Benton summary]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
China hacked the FDIC - and US officials covered it up, report says [links to Benton summary]
Foreign Hackers Target Thousands of Gmail Users Every Month [links to Benton summary]
Lawmakers Say Privacy, Security Needed in Health Apps Market [links to Benton summary]
The important privacy lessons from "Pokemon Go" [links to International Association of Privacy Professionals]
What happens when the sun sets on a smart product? - FTC [links to Benton summary]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
"Being against free is not very popular": Former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt thinks the FCC is going to have to allow some form of zero rating plans [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
T-Mobile hammers Verizon's new plans, proclaims US wireless market competitive [links to Benton summary]
Drones Taking Our Network to New Height - AT&T blog [links to Benton summary]
Mossberg: Wi-Fi calling from Republic Wireless takes a big leap [links to Revere Digital]
TELEVISION
Cable companies are winning part of a crucial debate over your set-top box [links to Washington Post]
American Cable Association to FCC: Cable Set-Top Plan Isn't for Smaller Operators [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Survey: 22% of 18-34 Demo Are Broadcast-Only [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Apple is making a reality TV show ... about apps [links to CNN Money]
Live Streaming Breaks Through, and Cable News Has Much to Fear [links to New York Times]
Study: Broadcast-Only Homes on the Rise [links to TVNewsCheck]
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Forecast Calls for Flood of Dollars: Demand is ‘unprecedented’ for TV ads during Republican and Democratic conventions [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Donald Trump is crashing the system. Journalists need to build a new one. - WaPo op-ed [links to Benton summary]
How Donald Trump captivated mainstream media early in primary season [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
Donald Trump has ushered in a whole new era of fact-checking in journalism [links to Vox]
CNN’s Corey Lewandowski Is Still Being Paid By Donald Trump [links to Media Matters for America]
Facebook plans live video push during conventions [links to Politico]
JOURNALISM
Live Streaming Breaks Through, and Cable News Has Much to Fear - NYT analysis [links to Benton summary]
Facebook, Twitter, And Breaking News’ Special Relationship [links to BuzzFeed]
Cop to arrested reporter: ‘I’m tired of y’all saying you’re journalists’ [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
DIVERSITY
Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council President: Build Dialogue Around Digital Issues [links to Benton summary]
EDUCATION
Digital Equity in Action—Schools Can Share How They Are Addressing 21st Century Educational Challenge - CoSN press release
GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
The Case for 18F: Why Federal IT Procurement, Contracting Need to Change [links to Benton summary]
How DARPA stays innovative: It kicks employees out after four years [links to CNN Money]
POLICYMAKERS
Carla Hayden confirmed as Librarian of Congress
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Announces Staff Changes - press release [links to Benton summary]
Dates Nominated for CPB Board - press release [links to Benton summary]
Sean Vitka and Sascha Meinrath: Members of Congress launch Fourth Amendment Caucus to defend privacy in an era of increasingly pervasive surveillance [links to Christian Science Monitor]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
NBCUniversal Executive Is Denied Entry Into Russia
Survey: European Union Needs Trade Deal Privacy Regime [links to Benton summary]
Korea Telecom's Global 'GiGA Island' Project to Help Transform Digital Bangladesh [links to International Telecommunication Union]
EU goes after Google's moneymaking ad business in new antitrust complaints [links to Verge, The]
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
SHLB UNVIELS ACTION PLAN FOR NEXT GEN HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition has come up with an "action plan" for getting those institutions connected to next-generation high-speed broadband, and making that a national priority. In “Connecting Anchor Institutions: A Broadband Action Plan," the coalition look to highlight gaps in connectivity and make it clear just how important broadband access is. It is also part of a larger effort to make gigabit speeds for anchor institutions the table stakes of connectivity. According to SHLB, the key takeaways from all the papers are the need for sharing -- "such as aggregation and public-private partnerships that eliminate silos and reduce costs"; competition -- "promoting competition to incentivize growth and bring more affordable options"; and funding -- "funding strategies that help communities meet up-front build-out and deployment costs, and ongoing monthly fees."
benton.org/headlines/shlb-unveils-action-plan-next-gen-high-speed-broadband | Multichannel News
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SOHN AT SHLB EVENT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Gigi Sohn]
This has been a big week for anchor institutions. How many of you are familiar with PokemonGO? A lot of you know where this is going … For the uninitiated, PokemonGO is a mobile game where you use your phone to find virtual creatures in the real world, and in one week the game already has as many active users as Twitter. In this game, libraries, schools and hospitals across America are what they call Pokestops, where you can collect items to play the game. Libraries across the country are using their Twitter accounts to tout their Pokestop status to attract patrons. I thought I’d open with this anecdote, not just because it’s amusing, but because it’s a useful metaphor. In the game, as in real life, anchor institutions are the heart of the community, and their utility extends beyond their core mission. They have become far more than places to borrow books, study and receive medical treatment. They have become essential to building community and improving the quality of people’s lives.
benton.org/headlines/remarks-gigi-sohn-counselor-fcc-chairman-tom-wheeler-connecting-anchor-institutions | Federal Communications Commission
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BENTON PUBLISHES BROADBAND ACTION PLAN FOR COMMUNITY ANCHOR INSTITUTIONS
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Press release]
Connecting our nation’s schools, libraries, health clinics and other community anchor institutions (CAIs) to next generation high-speed broadband is an important national priority. In an effort to provide federal, state and local leaders with policy options to ensure that all anchor institutions have high-speed connections to the Internet, the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition is releasing “Connecting Anchor Institutions: A Broadband Action Plan.” The report is published by the Benton Foundation. SHLB is the leading advocate for open, affordable, high-capacity broadband for our nation’s community anchor institutions and their communities. The recently launched Grow2GiG+ Initiative is a campaign designed to help bring gigabit speed-and-beyond networks to all anchor institutions in America by 2020. “Anchor institutions are the lifeblood of our communities, and access to high-speed Internet at our nation’s anchor institutions is the first rung on the ladder to success,” said John Windhausen, Jr., Executive Director of SHLB. “The SHLB Action Plan gives policymakers a road map for designing a broadband strategy that promotes education, health care and community enrichment.” "The Benton Foundation is publishing the Action Plan because our top priority for 2016 and beyond is affordable broadband access and adoption for all Americans," said Adrianne B. Furniss, the foundation's executive director. "I can think of no better partner than the SHLB Coalition and its diverse members. Community anchor institutions, as is so well-articulated in the report, are on the front lines ensuring that the benefits of the Internet are widely available to everyone, promoting equity for all."
https://www.benton.org/node/244177
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BENTON PARTNERS WITH SHLB
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Adrianne Furniss]
[Commentary] The Benton Foundation is publishing the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition’s Connecting Anchor Institutions: A Broadband Action Plan because our top priority for 2016 and beyond is affordable broadband access and adoption for all Americans. As the Federal Communications Commission has determined, broadband Internet access service is, unquestionably, essential to education, public health, and public safety. And broadband has an important economic impact. It creates efficiencies, improves productivity, and accelerates innovation. In a global, competitive economy, we need every American contributing to our prosperity, to educating today and tomorrow’s workers and entrepreneurs, to improving our civic dialogue, and to enriching our culture. But if we want every American to be able to make these contributions and take full advantage of the vast opportunities that broadband can deliver, we need to focus on bridging the critical gaps in our digital infrastructure and close the nagging, persistent divides in broadband deployment and adoption. I call the places these divides exist ‘digital desserts.’ To realize universal broadband adoption, I can think of no better partner than the SHLB Coalition and its diverse members. Community anchor institutions, as is so well-articulated in the report released today, are on the front lines ensuring that the benefits of the Internet are widely available to everyone, promoting equity for all.
https://www.benton.org/blog/benton-partners-shlb-nourish-communities-bro...
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FCC SETS THE GROUND RULES FOR SHUTTING DOWN PHONE SYSTEM
[SOURCE: Tales of the Sausage Factor, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] Here’s the funny thing about the world. The two Orders the Federal Communications Commission will vote on July 14 probably have more impact on the future of our communications infrastructure than the Title II reclassification of broadband. But like most momentous things in technology, no one notices because they are technical and everyone’s eyes glaze over. In particular, no one notices the sleep inducing and incredibly vaguely named item “Technology Transitions,” we are talking about the conclusion of a 4 year proceeding on how to shut down the legacy phone system and move all our national communications platforms to a mix of digital platforms. The old phone system still provides the backbone of our communications system of shiny digital thingies we take for granted. The old copper line phone system is also the workhorse of most ATMs, retail cash registers, and thousands of other things we take for granted every day. The Federal Communications Commission made this a values driven transition. In a bipartisan unanimous 5-0 vote back in January 2014, the FCC rejected the idea of making the Tech Transition a “get out of regulation free zone” and adopted four basic principles to guide the transition: Universal Access, Competition, Consumer Protection and Public Safety. As a result, for once, for once, we actually have a chance to prevent the inequality before it happens. It took 100 years, but if there is one thing Americans took for granted, it was that we all had the same phone system and could all communicate with each other on equal terms. The rules the FCC adopts will make it possible to preserve this principle of universal access. Because this network forms the backbone of the broadband network, if we work together and don’t blow it, we can achieve the same success with broadband that we achieved with basic telephone service.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-sets-ground-rules-shutting-down-phone-system-and-sets-stage-universal-broadband | Tales of the Sausage Factor
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REFUND PROGRAM TO HELP EXPAND BROADBAND INTERNET SERVICE
[SOURCE: Sacramento Bee, AUTHOR: Rachelle Chong, Lloyd Levine]
[Commentary] California, like the rest of the country, still has much work to do to close the digital divide. The divide is due to the cost of broadband for consumers and the expense involved in deploying infrastructure in rural and remote areas. Laying fiber optic cable in a state as large and geographically complex as California is expensive. Incentives have proved necessary to entice competitive internet service providers to make the required capital outlays and investments in infrastructure. This is why during our terms of government service, we conceptualized and helped found the California Advanced Services Fund program at the PUC. Despite this success, the California Advanced Services Fund will soon be out of money. Per the program’s public records, there are currently 16 broadband infrastructure projects, totaling $154 million, pending approval, but only $100 million left in the account. And there are many other broadband infrastructure projects that need funding in the state that have yet to apply. If the California Advanced Services Fund is not re-funded, hundreds of thousands of California households will remain without high-speed internet access. California will remain a place where a fifth of the people face nearly insurmountable impediments to accessing the employment, educational, health and government resources the rest of us take for granted.
[Rachelle Chong, a Republican, is a former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission and of the California Public Utilities Commission. She runs a consulting and law firm in San Francisco. Lloyd Levine, a Democrat, is a former California Assembly member and chair of the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee. He is the co-founder of the UC Riverside Center for Broadband Policy and Digital Literacy, and runs his own consulting firm specializing in technology policy.]
benton.org/headlines/refund-program-help-expand-broadband-internet-service | Sacramento Bee
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EDUCATION
DIGITAL EQUITY IN ACTION
[SOURCE: Consortium on School Networking, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) is inviting school districts to share how they are improving digital equity—and providing out-of-school high-speed broadband connectivity to students in their communities. Digital equity is considered a top 21st century educational challenge. Only 3 percent of teachers in high-poverty schools reveal that their students have the digital tools necessary to complete homework assignments, compared to 52 percent of teachers in more affluent schools. “For students to leave school grounds once the bell rings and not have high-quality connectivity puts them at a learning disadvantage. They are unable to harness the benefits of personalized learning and reach their potential in today’s digitally-based environment,” said Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN. “The good news is many schools are making big gains to accelerate the connection for students outside of school. We want to showcase those positive efforts and provide pathways for additional communities to follow.” To participate, school districts must complete a short, five-minute survey that asks, How are you collaborating with your community to provide broadband access outside of school for students? Schools that complete the survey will be showcased by CoSN and considered for recognition at a special national event in Washington, DC.
benton.org/headlines/digital-equity-action-schools-can-share-how-they-are-addressing-21st-century-educational | Consortium on School Networking
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
ARRESTS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS
[SOURCE: The Intercept, AUTHOR: Naomi LaChance]
Four men in Detroit were arrested for posts on social media that the police chief called threatening. One tweet that led to an arrest said that Micah Johnson, the man who shot police officers in Dallas, was a hero. None of the men have been named, nor have they been charged. “I know this is a new issue, but I want these people charged with crimes,” said Detroit Police Chief James Craig. “I’ve directed my officers to prepare warrants for these four individuals, and we’ll see which venue is the best to pursue charges,” he said. Five police officers were killed in the Dallas shootings, constituting the highest number of police casualties in an attack since September 11. And as a result, law enforcement officials everywhere are suddenly much more sensitive to threats against their lives. But one result has been that several police departments across the country have arrested individuals for posts on social media accounts, often from citizen tips — raising concerns among free speech advocates. “Arresting people for speech is something we should be very careful about,” Bruce Schneier, security technologist at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.
benton.org/headlines/after-dallas-shootings-police-arrest-people-criticizing-cops-facebook-and-twitter | Intercept, The
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POLICYMAKERS
CARLA HAYDEN, LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Nancy Scola]
The Senate has confirmed Carla Hayden to be the next Librarian of Congress. She was approved by a vote of 74-18. Hayden, the CEO of Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library, was nominated by President Barack Obama five months ago. She replaces James Billington, who resigned as Librarian of Congress in September after 28 years on the job. In 2003, Hayden, then president of the American Library Association, rallied librarians across the country to oppose the USA PATRIOT Act, saying the national security law passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks gave law enforcement "unprecedented powers of surveillance — including easy access to library records with minimal judicial oversight." The Librarian of Congress manages a vast national collection of some 160 million works. While it's a somewhat obscure post, the Librarian wields considerable power behind the scenes, particularly in the area of copyright. She decides, for example, whether Americans can tinker with their copyright-protected devices like smartphones, tablet computers and even software systems in cars. President Obama, in announcing the pick in February 2016, said of Hayden: "Her understanding of the pivotal role that emerging technologies play in libraries will be essential in leading the Library of Congress as it continues to modernize its infrastructure and promote open access and full participation in today's digital world." She becomes the first woman and first African-American to fill the post.
benton.org/headlines/carla-hayden-confirmed-librarian-congress | Politico
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
NBCUNIVERSAL EXECUTIVE IS DENIED ENTRY INTO RUSSIA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ron Nixon, Andrew Kramer]
An executive with NBCUniversal said he had been denied entry into Russia and detained for several hours July 13, raising the prospect that a growing spy and diplomatic confrontation could now be tipping into the world of business. The executive, Jeff Shell, who oversees the motion picture unit, said he was traveling to Russia on business when he was detained briefly and ordered out of the country. Shell said NBCUniversal had a movie operation in the country. He is also the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the federal agency that oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and other government broadcasters that are not well liked in the Kremlin. Shell said he had arrived in Moscow around 11:30 pm and was making his way through immigration when he was pulled out of the line. “I was then taken to a small room and left alone for about a half-hour before someone came back with a document in Russian that they wanted me to sign,” he said. Shell said he refused, telling the Russian authorities that he would not sign something he did not understand. He said he was then given a translation of the document, which explained that he had been barred from the country. He said he was then escorted to another room at the airport and that he was locked inside for nearly three hours, until a flight to Amsterdam was arranged.
benton.org/headlines/nbcuniversal-executive-denied-entry-russia | New York Times
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