July 2016

Internet providers who oppose the government's network neutrality rules will once again take the issue to court as they ask more than a dozen federal judges to throw out the regulations. A Washington trade group representing cellular carriers, CTIA, will be requesting a rehearing of the case by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, apprently. Likely joining the group will be AT&T, the trade association USTelecom and a number of others.

The challenge comes weeks after the industry was broadly defeated at the DC Circuit Court, when three judges ruled to uphold the net neutrality rules, which dramatically broaden the government's ability to regulate Internet providers. As written, the rules ban the blocking and slowing of Internet traffic by companies, such as Comcast and Verizon, as well as wireless carriers, such as T-Mobile and Sprint. In defending the rules from the industry's legal assault, the Federal Communications Commission argued that discriminating against some types of online content while giving other types preferential treatment would create an uneven playing field.

The Democratic National Committee was warned in the fall of 2015 that its computer network was susceptible to attacks but didn’t follow the security advice it was given, apparently. The missed opportunity is another blow to party officials already embarrassed by the theft and public disclosure of e-mails that have disrupted their presidential nominating convention in Philadelphia (PA) and led their chairwoman to resign.

Computer security consultants hired by the DNC made dozens of recommendations after a two-month review, apparently. Following the advice, which would typically include having specialists hunt for intruders on the network, might have alerted party officials that hackers had been lurking in their network for weeks -- hackers who would stay for nearly a year. Instead, officials didn’t discover the breach until April. The theft ultimately led to the release of almost 20,000 internal e-mails through WikiLeaks on the eve of the convention.

Shifting from the Republican National Convention in Cleveland (OH) to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia (PA), the press working to cover the Democrats inside the convention hall have to battle for less space, bigger crowds, and a security perimeter so wide, it nearly extends to New Jersey. Absent are the well-marked delegate areas, the ability to move freely up and down the aisles, the sanctuary of relative calm in the upper tiers of Wells Fargo Center—the ingredients that made conditions at the RNC bearable. Instead, the DNC is a loud, sweaty mess. Television reporters and photojournalists, floor passes in hand, stand four to five hours a day crushed together for a glimpse at the speakers, continuously ushered along by security and told: “You can’t stand here.” On July 26, the fire marshals shut the convention floor.

The physical layout and security perimeters in the convention hall also make it far more difficult for solo journalists to cover events both inside and outside. Photographers and TV crews must enter security gates more than a mile away from public transportation stations and taxi drop-off points. Some photographers estimate that a typical work day is 14 hours, while walking the equivalent of eight miles, much of it outside in more than 90-degree heat. Yet, despite the conditions, the conventions offer the priceless opportunity to get up close and personal to senators, governors, and members of Congress, who are also packed into the hall like sardines, with nowhere to run.