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  2. July 2016

July 2016

Lawmakers grill Attorney General Lynch over Clinton e-mails, get few answers

Republican Reps grilled Attorney General Loretta Lynch over why she chose not to prosecute Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for sending classified data through her private e-mail server when she was Secretary of State. But the Obama appointee refused to answer, saying it would be "inappropriate" to respond to lawmakers' repeated questions. "While I understand that this investigation has generated significant public interest, as attorney general, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further on the underlying facts of the investigation or the legal basis for the team’s recommendation,” Attorney General Lynch told the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.

Halfway through the more than two-hour hearing, Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) said that the Attorney General's refusal to prosecute and answer questions was an "abdication of your responsibility." Before that, he said Attorney General Lynch's decision not to prosecute "defies logic and the law." "Were a rank-and-file federal employee to do what Secretary Clinton did, they would face severe punishment, including termination, revocation of security clearances, or criminal prosecution," Chairman Goodlatte said. Chairman Goodlatte said that Clinton's "extreme carelessness" likely jeopardized the nation's security and that, if Clinton is elected president, "she cannot be trusted with the nation's most sensitive secrets." Attorney General Lynch told the committee that "all the relevant facts were considered and investigated thoroughly" before she accepted the recommendation last week by FBI Director James Comey not to prosecute.

Connecting more small businesses to superfast Internet

We’ve always believed that small businesses can do big things with superfast Internet. In 2014, we launched our Early Access program to bring faster speeds to businesses in our Fiber cities. Since then, we’ve been inspired by what these businesses have been able to do. From a media company that now conducts virtual jam sessions to a coffee house that livestreams their community events, we’ve seen many unlock new possibilities with a speedy, reliable connection. At the same time, we know that businesses come in different shapes and sizes. They have varying needs and would like the flexibility to choose a plan that best fits their needs.

That’s why we’re transitioning from the Early Access program and introducing three new plans. Small businesses in all of our Fiber cities will now be able to pick from speeds ranging from 100 Mbps to 1000 Mbps. We’ve also increased the number of static IP addresses available to a business—up to 13. And we continue to be committed to providing fast, reliable service tailored to the needs of small businesses.

As Competition Flags, the Rip of Inequality Widens

A look at the long decline of competition in many American industries. It is a decline that stunts entrepreneurship, hinders workers’ mobility and slows productivity growth. Slowing this trend has emerged as a tempting new avenue to address the plight of a beleaguered working class. Reviving flagging American competition might even help stop America’s ever-widening inequality.

In April, President Barack Obama issued an executive order calling on government agencies to look for ways to bolster competition in the industries they monitor. Hillary Clinton drew competition into the campaign trail, chastising dominant corporations for “using their power to raise prices, limit choices for consumers, lower wages for workers and hold back competition from start-ups and small businesses.” And Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) made headlines last month when she called for antitrust agencies to crack down on Silicon Valley powers like Apple, Facebook and Google. Monopoly rents — the excess returns a company reaps when it does not have to deal with pesky competitors keeping prices down — could worsen inequality in a variety of ways. Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel laureate from Columbia University who served as top economic adviser to President Bill Clinton, has asserted that exorbitant corporate profits are being run up through oligopolies and passed along to stockholders, raising the share of national income accruing to the rich.

News Coverage of the 2016 Presidential Primaries: Horse Race Reporting Has Consequences

A new report from Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy analyzes news coverage of the 2016 presidential primary races and how it affected the candidates’ chances of winning the nomination, concluding that coverage of the primaries focused on the horse race over the issues – to the detriment of candidates and voters alike. The report picks up where the Center’s previous report concluded, analyzing coverage of Donald Trump, Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL), Gov John Kasich (R-OH), Hillary Clinton, and Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) from January through June 2016.

Some of the questions Patterson investigates include:
Why did Trump receive so much more coverage than the other presidential candidates, and why was his coverage positive in tone when the Republican race was still being contested and yet negative in tone after it had been decided?
Why was Rubio’s coverage so much more negative than that of another unsuccessful Republican contender, Cruz?
Why was Clinton’s coverage substantially more negative than Sanders’, and why did Sanders get so much less coverage than she did?
Why did the candidates’ character and policy positions receive so little attention relative to the candidates’ chances of winning?

The Shorenstein Center study is based on an analysis of news statements by CBS, Fox, the Los Angeles Times, NBC, The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. The study’s data were provided by Media Tenor, a firm that specializes in the content analysis of news coverage.

The importance of Alibaba’s new ‘Internet car’

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba introduced its first automobile, the RX5 sport utility vehicle, set to be delivered to customers in August. The company called the vehicle, made with Chinese carmaker SAIC, the first “Internet car” in a news release. It will run software developed by Alibaba’s YunOS division to connect with other smart devices, the company said. It will retail for 148,800 yuan, or $22,300.

Alibaba in its announcement said the car will use the company’s own e-commerce platform to deliver such services as finding parking spaces, locating gas stations or making restaurant reservations. Drivers will also be able to pay for services from the car using “Alipay.” Different drivers and passengers will be able to use their own Alibaba accounts, similar to Amazon.com accounts, for individual access to services and payment. The car will also use those accounts to recommend services such as music or destinations. Those predictive software aspects make auto developers think Alibaba has entered the auto space with an eye toward autonomous vehicles. The YunOS software, industry analysts say, is Alibaba’s entry point to allow its cars to communicate with other vehicles and nearby businesses, making a strong step toward connected and autonomous vehicles.

Chairman Wheeler Responds to Letter from Lawmakers about Broadband Privacy NPRM

On May 25, seven Reps wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler and the four other Commissioners to strongly urge the FCC to consider a "consistent Federal Trade Commission-type approach to protect consumer privacy that balances consumers' privacy expectations and avoids negative impacts on consumers."

On June 30, Chairman Wheeler responded by discussing the recent broadband privacy notice of proposed rulemaking. He wrote, "The Commission's NPRM proposes a path forward for broadband Internet access service towards final rules that will provide clear guidance to both internet service providers and their customers. The FTC's core privacy principles - transparency, choice, and security - are at the heart of the NPRM. And, with valuable input from concerned stakeholders like yourself, we will be able to provide consumers with protections that will consistently safeguard consumer data and bolster consumer confidence in their use of modem telecommunications networks."

Chairman Wheeler Responds to Letter from Rep Marchant Re: Lifeline Expansion

On March 30, Rep Kenny Marchant (R-TX) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler re: the March announcement to expand the Lifeline telephone subsidy to high-speed Internet access. Rep Marchant wrote, "Given the problems with fraud and cost increases involved in an earlier expansion to cell phone service, this new step risks wasting American consumers' money, and also remains legally tenuous."

On June 23, Chairman Wheeler replied by detailing the key programmatic reforms the Lifeline Order put in place, designed to "protect the integrity of the Lifeline program and build on the Commission's recent efforts to root our waste, fraud, and abuse in the program." To address Rep Marchant's concerns about the cost of the program, Chairman Wheeler detailed the budgeting mechanisms in the Order.

No One Left Behind: Broadband's Role in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

Broadband is vital to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It plays a vital role in improving global sustainable development by supporting the provision of basic needs such as education and healthcare, helping to lift people out of poverty through e-commerce and job growth, monitoring climate change and planetary processes, and bridging the digital gender divide. But in order to achieve these ambitious goals, we must ensure that broadband is rolled out to include the 4.2 billion people around the world who are offline today. Yet, affordability and access remain key barriers, leaving billions of people unable to benefit from its potential to boost economic growth and development.

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