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July 2016

Islesboro (ME) moves forward with $3.8 million broadband network

Islesboro (ME) -- The offshore island community with just 600 or so year-round residents is trying to build an economic bridge to its future with technology, as Islesboro (ME) residents voted overwhelmingly to create a $3.8 million municipal broadband network. The new network, which would use an underwater cable that was run to the island in 2015 by Central Maine Power Co., will connect Islesboro to the statewide Three Ring Binder fiber-optic network. Vern Ziegler, the Islesboro town assessor and a member of the island’s broadband working group, said he hopes the new network will be operational sometime within the next 12 to 24 months. “Our project has been driven from the ground up by the people here on Islesboro,” he said. “I think the town is very excited about being able to move forward. The people have basically said, ‘this is what we want.’ … It’s nice when the municipal government can respond to the people’s wishes.”

Residents who attended the annual town meeting on June 18 voted 145 to 23 to authorize the $3.8 million bond to design and construct the network. "Hundreds and hundreds of hours of education, meetings and public hearings have gone into the project,” he said. “I believe that when the people got to the vote at town meeting, we weren’t going to sway anybody’s mind one way or another. People were either for or against it.” In the end, it wasn’t even close, despite the high cost of the project, which will be funded in part through subscriber fees to the network and in part through a property tax increase. For the 2016-2017 fiscal year, the tax increase for the broadband network will be just 6 cents per $1,000 worth of property valuation.

The FCC's lack of respect for due process, part II

[Commentary] Since Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler took over, we have seen one assault after another on American's procedural due process rights. In addition to the well-documented improprieties with the White House during the Open Internet debate, Chairman Wheeler, among other transgressions, has attempted to force nonprofits to reveal their donors in strict violation of Supreme Court precedent, hired advocates who had filed in significant FCC dockets as an interested party to come into the commission to supervise those very dockets, and attempted to hold a FCC "town hall" in which he had invited an outside party to participate and comment on a yet-to-be-released item during the "sunshine" period. Chairman Wheeler is now at it again, this time in the context of the FCC's attempt to impose stringent price regulation for "business data services" (BDS). Let's look at this shameful timeline.

[Spiwak is the president of the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies.]

America’s FCC-FTC Privacy Divide

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet order and proposed Title II privacy rules divided what was unified. For privacy, it broke what was working. Confused what was clear. Complicated what was simple. Unprotected what they sought to protect. Created more costs than benefits. In a nutshell, the Federal Trade Commission’s public analysis displays a substantial FTC-FCC privacy divide for American consumers.

The FTC approach focuses on what consumers care about concerning privacy while the FCC’s approach ignores what consumers care about privacy. The FCC-FTC privacy divide is much worse than just that. Before the FCC reclassified broadband as a telephone utility, and before it did not forbear from asserting telephone privacy jurisdiction temporarily until the FCC could devise operative privacy rules, American broadband consumers for the last 16 months have not had any operative federal privacy protection regulation. That purposeful indefensible lapse in consumer privacy protection suggests that the FCC cares much more about increasing their regulatory authority than protecting American consumers’ privacy and data security.

Facebook OpenCellular: A Baby Antenna Brings Internet to the Boonies

Facebook isn't in the wireless business. But it continues to build all sorts of new-fangled wireless hardware. Mark Zuckerberg and company unveiled a creation they call OpenCellular. This is a Sunday-dinner-platter-sized hardware device that attaches to a tree or a street lamp or a telephone pole, and from there it can drive a wireless network, including traditional 2G cell-phone networks, higher speed LTE cellular networks, and smaller Wi-Fi networks like those inside your home, office, or local coffee shop.

Facebook plans on open sourcing the designs for this device, freely sharing them with the world at large, and the hope is that it can provide a simpler and less expensive way of erecting wireless networks in the more rural areas of the developing world, including parts of Africa and India. “There’s not yet a viable business model for operators to set up shop and bring connectivity to rural villages,” says Subbu Subramanian, an engineering director on the project. “We want to make sure people have that connectivity—and that there’s a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem that can spur innovation ever further.”

The Modern News Consumer

Wave after wave of digital innovation has introduced a new set of influences on the public’s news habits. Social media, messaging apps, texts and e-mail provide a constant stream of news from people we’re close to as well as total strangers. News stories can now come piecemeal, as links or shares, putting less emphasis on the publisher. And, hyper levels of immediacy and mobility can create an expectation that the news will come to us whether we look for it or not. How have these influences shaped Americans’ appetite for and attitudes toward the news? What, in other words, are the defining traits of the modern news consumer?

A new, two-part survey by Pew Research Center, conducted in early 2016 in association with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, reveals a public that is cautious as it moves into this more complex news environment and discerning in its evaluation of available news sources. To be sure, news remains an important part of public life. More than seven-in-ten US adults follow national and local news somewhat or very closely – 65% follow international news with the same regularity. Fully 81% of Americans get at least some of this news through websites, apps or social networking sites. And, this digital news intake is increasingly mobile. Among those who get news both on desktop computers and mobile devices, more than half prefer mobile. In this digital news environment, the role of friends and family is amplified, but Americans still reveal strong ties to news organizations. The data also reinforce how, despite the dramatic changes witnessed over the last decade, the digital news era is still very much in its adolescence.

Teachers in High-Poverty Schools Less Confident About Ed Tech, Survey Finds

Teachers who are most confident about educational technology tend to work in low-poverty and suburban schools, bringing their students a wide range of experiences and potential benefits that other young people may lack, concludes a survey released today by the Education Week Research Center. For example: These teachers are far more likely than their less-confident counterparts to report daily use of digital curricula, learning management systems, and parent communication tools. As a result, they report that their students spend roughly twice as much class time using digital tools than the students of teachers with less confidence around ed tech. These highly confident teachers also believe that their students are significantly better prepared to use technology for everything from independent research to collaboration on schoolwork via social media.

The findings come from an exclusive, not-statistically-representative survey of roughly 700 teachers. The finding that teachers who are least confident in educational technology tend to work in high-poverty and urban schools offers yet another reason to worry about the evolving "digital divide" in K-12. From access to high-speed Internet and devices to the ways technology is used and now to teachers' perceptions and practices around ed tech, researchers have consistently found urban and poor students to be at a disadvantage.

July 7, 2016 (Internet governance)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2016

Today's Events:
New America panel, "Fighting ISIS in the Information Space" -- https://www.benton.org/node/243508
House Science Committee markup of "National Institute of Standards and Technology Campus Security Act" -- https://www.benton.org/node/243793


INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Keeping Internet governance out of the wrong hands - op-ed
   CBO Scores Internet of Things Bill [links to Benton summary]
   Savage (MN) is test site for Mediacom community Wi-Fi project [links to Benton summary]

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Attorney General Accepts Recommendation Not to Charge Hillary Clinton [links to New York Times]
   FBI Chief to Explain Recommendation on Hillary Clinton Before Congress [links to New York Times]
   US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit may have just added to Clinton’s email woes in a big way [links to Washington Post]
   Court: Officials can't use private e-mail accounts to evade records laws

LABOR
   House passes two tech investment bills
   Gretchen Carlson of Fox News Files Harassment Suit Against Roger Ailes [links to New York Times]

SECURITY/PRIVACY
   Broadband Privacy Plan Opponents Flood FCC
   Sec of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson pushes cyber reorganization
   Password-sharing case divides Ninth Circuit in Nosal II - WaPo op-ed [links to Benton summary]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   FCC Reaches $2.4M Settlement for Wireless 911 Outages in Alaska [links to Federal Communications Commission]
   CBO Scores Bill that would Update Spectrum Auction Procedures - [links to Benton summary]

OWNERSHIP
   Gannett Buys The Record of Bergen County, NJ [links to New York Times]
   CBS Plans to Spin Off Radio Business [links to Wall Street Journal]

TELEVISION
   Comcast says it’s “not feasible” to comply with FCC cable box rules [links to Ars Technica]
   American Cable Association to FCC: Boost DBS Fee ASAP [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
   So-So Players’ Salaries Soar in NBA Flush With New TV Money [links to New York Times]

ELECTIONS & MEDIA
   Trump, Saddam and why people mistrust the media - analysis [links to Benton summary]

ADVERTISING
   Mobile Video Revenue to Rise to $25 Billion, Advertising Represents 67% of Total [links to Benton summary]

GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
   FCC Commissioner Pai Sends Letters to State Commissioners - press release

COMPANY NEWS
   Verizon's new plans raise prices for more data [links to USAToday]
   Comcast Adds WiFi Camera, Voice Control to XFinity Home [links to Multichannel News]
   Boingo and Amazon Team to Deliver Fast, Free Wi-Fi to Amazon Underground Customers [links to Boingo]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   European telecoms groups unveil 5G manifesto
   European Union’s First Cybersecurity Law Gets Green Light [links to Bloomberg]

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INTERNET/BROADBAND

INTERNET GOVERNANCE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mark Lagon, Eileen Donahoe]
[Commentary] As Freedom House has documented, Internet freedom is in decline, as censorship and online surveillance expands around the world. Authoritarian governments seek United Nations regulation or agreements among states to justify their Internet restrictions and wall off parts of their country's Internet from outside influence. To defend Internet freedom, the US government has wisely focused on keeping global Internet governance out of their control and instead leaving the internet's key technical functions to engineers, business and civil society, whose mission is to preserve the internet as an open, globally interconnected platform. The US government would do well to continue this policy by completing the transition to a fully privatized internet Domain Name System.
[Lagon is president of Freedom House and served as U.S. ambassador to Combat Human Trafficking under former President George W. Bush. Donahoe is an officer of the Freedom House Board and former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council under President Obama.]
benton.org/headlines/keeping-internet-governance-out-wrong-hands | Hill, The
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

COURT: OFFICIALS CAN'T USE PRIVATE E-MIL ACCOUNTS TO EVADE RECORDS LAWS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Megan Wilson]
Federal officials may not use private e-mail accounts to get around public records laws, a federal judge ruled June 5. The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit overturned a lower court decision in which judges dismissed claims from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a conservative think tank that attempted to obtain correspondence from a top White House official through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) said it did not need to search for or turn over records held by the head of the OSTP on a private e-mail account as part of the open records request. Throughout the case, the government argued that “[d]ocuments on a nongovernmental e-mail server are outside the possession or control of federal agencies, and thus beyond the scope of FOIA.” Judge David Sentelle, the chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, disagreed with that reasoning and ordered the lower court to reconsider the case. “If a department head can deprive the citizens of their right to know what his department is up to by the simple expedient of maintaining his departmental e-mails on an account in another domain, that purpose is hardly served,” Judge Sentelle wrote. “It would make as much sense to say that the department head could deprive requestors of hard-copy documents by leaving them in a file at his daughter’s house and then claiming that they are under her control,” he said.
benton.org/headlines/court-officials-cant-use-private-e-mail-accounts-evade-records-laws | Hill, The
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LABOR

HOUSE PASSES TWO TECH INVESTMENT BILLS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: David McCabe]
The House passed two bills aimed at improving conditions for startup investing. The Fix Crowdfunding Act (HR 4855) raises the amount that a company can crowdfund, from $1 million to $5 million. A 2012 law opened up the rules for crowdfunded investments, but Republicans say the rules still need to be tweaked. The bill was approved by a vote of 394-4. “These bills today are targeted fixes to restore the original spirit of the JOBS Act: To harness innovation and bring together millions of Americans with potential new businesses through crowdfunding,” Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said. The new crowdfunding rules went into effect earlier in 2016, after being formally approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2015. The second bill, Supporting America’s Innovators Act (HR 4854), would expand the legal limit on investors in venture funds doing early-stage funding that can help a company get off the ground — called angel investing — to 250 from 100. The legislation passed 388-9. Both bills are part of a House GOP initiative focused on passing bills related to the tech industry and innovation in the months before November’s elections. Democrats have backed a similar initiative.
benton.org/headlines/house-passes-two-tech-investment-bills | Hill, The
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SECURITY/PRIVACY

BROADBAND PRIVACY PLAN OPPONENTS FLOOD FCC
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Protect Internet Freedom coalition said those with concerns about the Federal Communications Commission's proposal on broadband privacy have submitted over a quarter of a million comments to the FCC as of June 6, which is the deadline. The group said that was the total that had been submitted from its online platform. Given that the FCC's online docket showed 271,473 comments (218,198 in the last 30 days alone), the group was concluding that "despite all of the setbacks and glitches, opposition comments are still in the overwhelming majority of total comments filed." The FCC has had some problems with comment backlogs across all its dockets, including broadband privacy, due to an aging system that has recently been replaced. PIF complained to the FCC about the backlog.
benton.org/headlines/broadband-privacy-plan-opponents-flood-fcc | Broadcasting&Cable
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DHS HEAD PUSHES CYBER REORGANIZATION
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Katie Bo Williams]
Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson stumped for a proposed reorganization of the division of his agency responsible for protecting critical infrastructure from digital threats. “We've asked for a reorganization from Congress,” Johnson told the Senate Judiciary Committee during a June 30 on oversight of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). “I know the House Homeland Committee is considering it and possibly drafting language. And if this is something the Senate would consider, I think it would go a long way to addressing both cyber and the protection of critical infrastructure.” Specifically, Sec Johnson wants to replace the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) within the DHS with a new operational agency tasked with protecting the computer networks that run the nation’s power grid, water utilities and more. The agency, along with many lawmakers, see the move as way to smooth bureaucratic barriers within the DHS. But the proposed reorganization, in the works for over a year, has been a point of tension between the agency and Congress.
benton.org/headlines/sec-homeland-security-jeh-johnson-pushes-cyber-reorganization | Hill, The
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GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE

LIFELINE LETTERS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai]
Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai sent letters to commissioners at Public Utility Commissions of Oregon, Texas, and California as well as the Vermont Public Service Department. The states each run their own Lifeline accountability databases. Commissioner Pai said he is seeking their aid in “combating the waste, fraud, and abuse that has riddled the Universal Service Fund’s Lifeline program since wireless resellers began participating in this program.” He asks several questions about how the states run their databases. He asks for a reply by August 2, 2016.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-commissioner-pai-sends-letters-state-commissioners | Federal Communications Commission
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

5G MANIFESTO
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Duncan Robinson]
Europe’s largest wireless carriers have pledged to launch superfast 5G networks in at least one city in every European Union country by 2020, as part of a manifesto signed by the heads of BT, Deutsche Telekom, Telecom Italia and Vodafone among others. But as a quid pro quo for more investment, controversial new EU rules on net neutrality should be watered down, according to the document signed by 17 different companies. In the document, the telecoms groups threaten to postpone investment unless regulators offer more light-touch arrangements.
benton.org/headlines/european-telecoms-groups-unveil-5g-manifesto | Financial Times
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Keeping Internet governance out of the wrong hands

[Commentary] As Freedom House has documented, Internet freedom is in decline, as censorship and online surveillance expands around the world. Authoritarian governments seek United Nations regulation or agreements among states to justify their Internet restrictions and wall off parts of their country's Internet from outside influence. To defend Internet freedom, the US government has wisely focused on keeping global Internet governance out of their control and instead leaving the internet's key technical functions to engineers, business and civil society, whose mission is to preserve the internet as an open, globally interconnected platform. The US government would do well to continue this policy by completing the transition to a fully privatized internet Domain Name System.

[Lagon is president of Freedom House and served as U.S. ambassador to Combat Human Trafficking under former President George W. Bush. Donahoe is an officer of the Freedom House Board and former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council under President Obama.]

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