July 2016

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

CLINTON’S TECH PLAN
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Robbie McBeath]
[Commentary] Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton unveiled her Technology & Innovation Agenda this week. Published on her website June 28, Clinton’s 14-page tech plan provides a detailed and ambitious policy agenda that covers a wide swath of critical telecom policy issues. The plan is organized around five major categories: the Economy, Digital Infrastructure, Advancing US Global Leadership, Privacy, and Smart Government. Below we examine the plan through our lens: broadband access, adoption, and use. Clinton’s tech plan is filled with so many proposals and goals that the best thing to do is just read it for yourself. Seriously. If you’re reading this article, you probably care about Internet adoption or net neutrality, spectrum policy or municipal broadband, privacy or diversifying the tech workforce. Her plan covers all of that. But, if you’re still reading this because you want the Reader’s Digest version, here goes.
https://www.benton.org/blog/clinton-puts-forth-tech-plan-trump-doesnt
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WHERE’S TRUMP’S TECH PLAN?
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo, David McCabe]
The tech industry is pressing Donald Trump to “get into the game” after Hillary Clinton released a wide-ranging platform that touched on internet connectivity, cybersecurity and computer science education. Industry officials generally applauded Clinton’s agenda as hitting many of their top priorities. Now they want to hear from Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. Republicans on Capitol Hill said it is important for candidates to detail their platforms early, but said the decision is Trump’s to make. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) said he expects Trump to release something on tech policy before the general election debates begin, noting the presumptive nominee's business background and social media savvy. “I think both candidates are going to be vying on some of these issues for the so-called tech vote, and whether it happens now or some point in the future, I’m sure that Donald Trump will also have an agenda that will compete for the support of the tech community,” said Chairman Thune, a major voice on tech issues. A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign did not respond to a question about the campaign’s plans. Trump appears to be lacking support in the tech industry heading into the general election, after the candidate clashed with several major companies during the Republican primaries.
benton.org/headlines/tech-industry-wants-trump-agenda | Hill, The
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PROGRESSIVE TECH PLATFORM
[SOURCE: Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Sascha Meinrath]
[Commentary] Hillary Clinton's tech agenda doesn't address the most pressing digital issues. The US deserves a tech platform that defends privacy, protects the public from discriminatory algorithms, and ensures that innovation doesn't just benefit the wealthy. This tech platform is designed around the best interests of the general public – it is time to bring technology under the control of the people it was meant to serve, not the 1 percent who seek to use it to further exploit the unsuspecting and enrich themselves.
1. Glide paths for the sharing economy
2. Digital feudalism, algorithmic discrimination, and financial inclusion
3. Open curricula for education
4. Universal broadband and truth in telecom advertising
5. Micro-generation and smart grids
6. User control over user data and data collection protections
7. Open technology for all public investments
8. Lay the groundwork for intelligent transportation
9. Open standards for health IT and patient access to data
10. Make the US CTO a cabinet-level appointment
[Meinrath is the Palmer Chair in Telecommunications at Penn State and director of X-Lab]
benton.org/headlines/progressive-tech-platform-99-percent | Christian Science Monitor
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RYAN VISITS SILICON VALLEY
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Li Zhou]
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) made a quiet swing through California, venturing to the country’s tech capital to preserve relationships with the industry, as Congressional Republicans face increasing pressures caused by Donald Trump’s rhetoric. He paid a visit to cloud-storage giant Dropbox, where he held a private question-and-answer session with company employees. The Speaker appeared at a high-dollar fundraiser at the San Francisco home of Russ Johnson, a former HP executive, and his wife, Colene. And the Speaker joined a private breakfast in Menlo Park (CA) hosted by Apple CEO Tim Cook. Zack Roday, a spokesman for Speaker Ryan, framed the trip in the context of the high-stakes fight for House supremacy. “It shouldn’t be a surprise Paul Ryan is raising funds to defend and strengthen the House Republican majority.”
benton.org/headlines/house-speaker-paul-ryan-goes-silicon-valley | Politico
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DIGITAL IN THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION
[SOURCE: Medium, AUTHOR: Jennifer Pahlka]
[Commentary] Hillary Clinton revealed her technology and innovation agenda. Among her positions is the continuation and expansion of the United States Digital Service, an office that I helped start during my term as Deputy CTO at the White House. This is a good moment for those who care about government working for the people. The Presidential candidate with the lead in the polls is also the candidate making a commitment to invest in the people and practices we need to make government technology serve the American public as it should. If Clinton wins, what will she and her team face? Will she have her “healthcare.gov moment,” when policies and reforms that she’s put all her political capital behind face near-deadly implementation risk? Will she staff the West Wing with advisors who know how to work with the Mikey Dickersons, Haley Van Dycks, and Todd Parks of the world, or even better, will she seat people like Mikey and Haley there at the table for the most important discussions? How will she lead her cabinet on digital? Or will she choose people who can help lead each other? How will her team lead the President’s Management Council, made up of the Deputy Secretaries (the COOs of the agencies), the ones who struggle most with impact of outdated approaches to technology? If she wins, how could President Hillary Clinton change the culture of government to work better in a digital era?
[Jennifer Pahlka is Founder and Executive Director of Code for America]
benton.org/headlines/digital-next-administration-path-forward | Medium
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

SECRET RULES MAKE IT PRETTY EASY FOR THE FBI TO SPY ON JOURNALISTS
[SOURCE: The Intercept, AUTHOR: Cora Currier]
Secret FBI rules allow agents to obtain journalists’ phone records with approval from two internal officials — far less oversight than under normal judicial procedures. The classified rules, dating from 2013, govern the FBI’s use of National Security Letters, which allow the bureau to obtain information about journalists’ calls without going to a judge or informing the news organization being targeted. They have previously been released only in heavily redacted form. Media advocates said the documents show that the FBI imposes few constraints on itself when it bypasses the requirement to go to court and obtain subpoenas or search warrants before accessing journalists’ information. The rules stipulate that obtaining a journalist’s records with a National Security Letter (or NSL) requires the sign-off of the FBI’s general counsel and the executive assistant director of the bureau’s National Security Branch, in addition to the regular chain of approval. Generally speaking, there are a variety of FBI officials, including the agents in charge of field offices, who can sign off that an NSL is “relevant” to a national security investigation. There is an extra step under the rules if the NSL targets a journalist in order “to identify confidential news media sources.” In that case, the general counsel and the executive assistant director must first consult with the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s National Security Division. But if the NSL is trying to identify a leaker by targeting the records of the potential source, and not the journalist, the Justice Department doesn’t need to be involved.
benton.org/headlines/secret-rules-make-it-pretty-easy-fbi-spy-journalists | Intercept, The
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UN CONDEMNS INTERNET BLOACKING
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
The United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution condemning countries that prevent or disrupt access to the Internet. The 47-member UN council has passed two resolutions since 2012 affirming people’s digital rights, but the section on Internet blackouts appears to be a first. The resolution passed by consensus “Condemns unequivocally measures to intentionally prevent or disrupt access to or dissemination of information online in violation of international human rights law and calls on all States to refrain from and cease such measure.” The digital rights group Access Now has counted at least 15 Internet shutdowns around the globe in 2015, and 20 in the first half of this year.
benton.org/headlines/united-nations-human-rights-council-condemns-internet-blocking | Hill, The | read the resolution
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EUROPOL’S ONLINE CENSORSHIP
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jennifer Baker]
Europol’s Internet Referral Unit (IRU) has been up and running since July 2015 as part of the European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC) in the Hague. The unit is charged with monitoring the Internet for extremist propaganda and referring “relevant online content towards concerned Internet service providers” in particular social media. Much was made of how the IRU could "contact social network service provider Facebook directly to ask it to delete a Web page run by ISIS or request details of other pages that might be run by the same user." Although companies are not required to take down the content, European Commission figures from April 2016 show that the IRU had an effective removal rate of 91 percent. At that time it had assessed more than 4,700 posts across 45 platforms and sent over 3,200 referrals for Internet companies to remove content. The totals now are closer to 8,000 and 7,000, and Europol told Ars it will publish full details in the coming days. In May the European Parliament gave the IRU new powers, and in April it combined forces with the UK National Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) on a 36-hour operation to secure the removal of worrying material as quickly as possible. The content was identified by asking users to report “harmful extremist and terrorist material” via a short, anonymous, online form.
benton.org/headlines/europols-online-censorship-unit-haphazard-and-unaccountable-says-ngo | Ars Technica
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POLAND CURBS MEDIA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Alison Smale, Joanna Berendt]
Under Poland’s conservative government that took power seven months ago, at least 164 people, including the most prominent news anchors and reporters in Poland, have either been fired or quit state broadcasting, according to the Journalists’ Association, one of the two main organizations representing Polish journalists. The departures are evidence of how swiftly and firmly the Law and Justice Party of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the government’s de facto ruler, has moved to control state broadcasters and offer up what critics call a conservative, nationalist message to match the worldview of Kaczynski, 67, and his allies. And they have intensified concerns among journalists and proponents of civil liberties about the effects of the authoritarian drift of governments in Poland and other Eastern and Central European countries, with potential risks to freedom of expression and dissent.
benton.org/headlines/polands-conservative-government-puts-curbs-state-tv-news | New York Times
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CHINA’S INTERNET CENSOR
[SOURCE: South China Morning Post, AUTHOR: Choi Chi-yuk]
The Cyberspace Administration of China has further tightened its grip on online news reports by warning all news or social network websites against publishing news without proper verification. The cyberspace watchdog said online media could not report any news taken from social media websites without approval. “All websites should bear the key responsibility to further streamline the course of reporting and publishing of news, and set up a sound internal monitoring mechanism among all mobile news portals [and the social media chat websites] Weibo or WeChat,” Xinhua reported the directive as saying. “It is forbidden to use hearsay to create news or use conjecture and imagination to distort the facts,” it said. The instruction came only a few days after Xu Lin, formerly the deputy head of the organisation, replaced his boss, Lu Wei, as the top gatekeeper of Chinese Internet affairs.
benton.org/headlines/all-news-stories-must-be-verified-chinas-internet-censor-decrees-it-tightens-grip-online | South China Morning Post | ars technica
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DIVERSITY

BETTER INTERNET POLICY NEEDED FOR MINORITY COMMUNITIES
[SOURCE: Houston Chronicle, AUTHOR: Jessica González]
[Commentary] The future of a free, open, and affordable internet lies in the hands of our next president. The next four years will be crucial to developing the infrastructure and policies that shape the experience of Americans online - and determine if they can participate at all. If the internet is to serve the needs of all Americans, we can't afford to waste this opportunity. If we are to build a country that is equitable and just, where economic opportunity is available to all, and where diverse voices have an equal say in our politics, our nation's internet policy must reflect these values as well. Yet, for many Americans, especially people of color, access is out of reach. The digital divide is real, and filling in the gaps is crucial to prosperity not only for individuals, but for the country as a whole. As people of color become a larger proportion of our population, we need to make sure we arm these future leaders with the basic tools that will help them achieve their goals and give back to their neighbors. The future of education, our economy, and civic engagement depend on ensuring that as many Americans as possible have access to affordable high-speed internet. If we are to build equitable education systems and promote economic opportunity for all, we need policies that will not only increase high-speed internet access, but make sure that it is affordable as well. Yet, as we work to expand access, we also need to make sure that we stay true to the principles that have made the internet such a powerful tool. A free and open internet creates more opportunities for diverse voices to organize, to share our stories and to transform culture, attitudes and beliefs about Latinos and other groups that have faced discrimination from mainstream American culture. In these ways, an affordable and open internet helps to create a more inclusive and accepting society, to break down barriers and to counteract fear and hate. Public policy should promote these values and ensure that the diversity of our nation is reflected in our media.
[González is executive vice president and general counsel for the National Hispanic Media Coalition]
benton.org/headlines/better-internet-policy-needed-minority-communities | Houston Chronicle
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

STATE BROADBAND POLICIES
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
New York has the most favorable conditions for broadband deployment and adoption of 48 US states, according to a new survey. The survey about state broadband policies was conducted by Strategic Networks Group (SNG) and Rural Telecommunications Congress (RTC). SNG is a business that measures how broadband is used by individual businesses, organizations and households. RTC is a non-profit organization focused on rural broadband issues. Just behind New York on the list of states with the most positive broadband policies were Ohio, Maine, New Mexico and New Hampshire. The state with the least positive policies was Texas, which ranked just below Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Montana. The survey about state broadband policies based its findings on five categories of factors, including broadband availability, adoption, driving meaningful use, growth investment and regulation. The broadband availability and adoption data came from the FCC. A state’s ranking on “meaningful use” was determined by its broadband training/ education programs and whether the state tracks or estimates the social and economic benefits of broadband.
benton.org/headlines/state-broadband-policies-new-york-tops-survey | telecompetitor | Strategic Networks Group
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

SPECTRUM AUCTION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Gary Epstein, Howard Symons]
We have now established the clearing cost for repurposing 126 MHz of licensed and unlicensed spectrum for wireless data use. The next step in this stage is to prepare bidders for their chance to acquire the 100 MHz of licensed spectrum in the forward auction. Here’s what comes next.
Bidder Qualification: Upfront payments – the refundable down payments that applicants make in order to establish their bidding eligibility for the auction – are due today at 5pm ET. Once we’ve validated which applicants have made payments, we will release a list of qualified bidders in mid-July.
Bidder Education: Shortly we will release a user guide for the forward auction bidding system and an online tutorial. Qualified bidders will then be able to participate in an extensive bidder training program, which will include the first-ever FCC “practice auction” and a mock auction shortly before the bidding rounds begin.
Clock Bidding: After the mock auction concludes, clock bidding will begin. Like the reverse auction, each round will offer bidders an incremental change in price for the licenses on which they’re bidding. If forward auction proceeds are sufficient to satisfy the “final stage rule” then the auction can close at the current clearing target; if not, then the auction is designed to run additional stages to match supply and demand. Forward auction bidders have the largest possible nationwide supply of low-band spectrum available to them, and this summer they will have the opportunity to bid on it. The end result of the auction will be the repurposing of as much spectrum for wireless broadband use as the market demands. We look forward to working with the bidders as they prepare.
[Epstein is Chair of the FCC’s Incentive Auction Task Force; Symons is Vice-Chair]
benton.org/headlines/setting-sights-forward-auction | Federal Communications Commission
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COMPANY NEWS

VERIZON’S CONTENT FILTERS
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Colin Gibbs]
Verizon quietly shut down its content filters, killing a free service that enabled its wireless customers to control the kinds of content that could be accessed by users on their service accounts. The carrier closed the offering, saying users have plenty of alternative ways to manage content on their devices, although many come with a price tag. Verizon pointed specifically to third-party parental control apps to allow parents to set restrictions and controls on downloads, apps or other content. Like other carriers, Verizon offers a variety of apps and services in a range of prices for parents. Users can block calls and messages from up to five different phone numbers free, for instance, while "FamilyBase" enables parents to monitor and control how their children are using devices on the account.
benton.org/headlines/verizon-quietly-retires-content-filters | Fierce
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Analysis

July 2016

July 5, 2016 (Better Internet policy needed for minority communities)

A progressive tech platform for the 99 percent

Stuart Brotman: An important civic dialogue about the Internet that we need to be pursuing now is how best to reaffirm our constitutional values of free expression in cyberspace

How Silicon Valley's Diversity Problem Created A New Industry

San Francisco Considers Tax on Tech Companies to Pay for Boom’s Downside

Adding Classes and Content, Resurgent Libraries Turn a Whisper Into a Roar

European Commission approves new investment in cybersecurity