BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016
Today's Event – NTIA’s Big Sky Broadband Workshop https://www.benton.org/node/244889
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Court Decision Raises Edge Provider Regulation Issues
AT&T data throttling lawsuit’s dismissal won’t affect net neutrality rules [links to Benton summary]
Court rejects challenge to aspect of FCC's spectrum sale
FCC Chairman Wheeler's Response to Senator Cantwell and Shaheen Regarding Incentive Auctions [links to Federal Communications Commission]
Wireless Network Quality Study Reveals Need for Ongoing Investment in Urban Areas [links to Benton summary]
T-Mobile, Sprint Unlimited Plans Are Full of Limits
Verizon Accelerates 4G LTE Performance, Claims Peak Wireless Speeds of 200+ Mbps [links to telecompetitor]
Siri Takes Charge of Your Apps in iOS 10 [links to Wall Street Journal]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications Launches Net Neutrality Guidelines - press release
Advocates hail Europe's net neutrality guidelines [links to Hill, The]
CenturyLink trumps Comcast, others to power gigabit fiber development in Denver [links to Benton summary]
Broadband Investment: Not for the Faint of Heart - AT&T blog links to Benton summary]
Nashville residents overwhelmingly want Google Fiber, survey finds [links to Fierce]
Xfinity On Campus Enrolls 36 More Schools, Adds Cloud DVR [links to Multichannel News]
Bret Swanson: Can the next 20 years match the Telecosmic success of the previous 20? [links to American Enterprise Institute]
ELECTIONS 2016
Russia-Backed DNC Hackers Strike Washington Think Tanks
FBI head: We're taking suspected election hacks 'very seriously' [links to Hill, The]
Officials blame “sophisticated” Russian hackers for voter system attacks [links to Ars Technica]
Kaine asks: Would Trump stand up to a Russian cyberattack on U.S. elections? [links to Washington Post]
Could hackers tip an American election? You bet [links to Washington Post]
The Information and Communications Technology Agenda for 2017 and Beyond - Former FCC Chairman Reed Hunt op-ed
How the parties took over the primary debates - Vox op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Donald Trump print pool rotation includes blacklisted outlets [links to Benton summary]
How the ‘alt-right’ checkmated the media [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
Colin Powell’s foundation and Hillary Clinton’s are treated very differently by the media [links to Vox Media]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Chairman Wheeler's Response to Senator Warren Regarding Privacy of Broadband Customers' Personal Information
What is your phone telling your rental car? - FTC blog [links to Benton summary]
The most absurd Internet privacy class-action settlement ever [links to Benton summary]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION
FCC Chairman Wheeler's Response to Senator Schumer Regarding Implementation of Text to 911 and Next Generation 911 [links to Benton summary]
TELEVISION
ACA: FCC Programming NPRM Should Look at Bundling [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
FCC Chairman Wheeler's Response to Rep. Scalise Regarding Set-Top Boxes [links to Federal Communications Commission]
RADIO
Podcasting, Once a Niche Labor of Love, Now Can Open Doors in TV and More [links to AdWeek]
CONTENT
Twitter is finally paying its best users to create videos [links to Revere Digital]
Twitter just became even more like a cable company [links to Benton summary]
JOURNALISM
President Obama to guest edit Wired [links to CNN Money]
In Flint, a new era for one of the oldest community outlets in the US [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
OWNERSHIP
When Media Companies Insist They're Not Media Companies and Why It Matters for Communications Policy - Social Science Research Network [links to Benton summary]
Yes, Facebook is a media company [links to Revere Digital]
Block ownership of Blade marks 90th year [links to Toledo Blade]
LABOR
Cisco and others slash a combined 1,500 jobs in Silicon Valley [links to Los Angeles Times]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
FCC Announces Revised FY 2016 Application Fee Schedule [links to Federal Communications Commission]
How to Contact Your Representative or Senator: A Beginner’s Guide [links to Library of Congress]
AGENDA
President Obama to host tech conference in Pittsburgh in October [links to Hill, The]
APPLE/EU
Why the US is on Apple's side in EU decision [links to American Public Media]
Why Europe is ordering Apple to pay Ireland $14.5 billion in taxes Ireland doesn’t want [links to Vox]
Apple will barely feel $14.5 billion hit. Here’s why [links to USAToday]
Apple to shareholders: order to pay $14.5 billion in back taxes ‘will be overturned’ [links to Guardian, The]
Speaker Ryan: EU's $14.5B tax ruling against Apple 'awful' [links to Hill, The]
Why Apple is facing a €13bn tax bill in Ireland – video explainer [links to Guardian, The]
5 questions about the EU's tax ruling against Apple [links to USAToday]
Apple’s €13 Billion Irish Tax Kerfuffle, Explained for Normal People [links to Vice]
EU Apple Tax Ruling Stirs Fears of Revenue Loss in U.S. [links to Wall Street Journal]
Apple’s $14.5 Billion EU Bill May Press U.S. on Tax Overhaul [links to Bloomberg]
Editorial: Apple, Congress and the Missing Taxes [links to New York Times]
Editorial: Europe’s Apple Tax Ambush [links to Wall Street Journal]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Iran's Own Internet
Consumer protection agencies want online stars to reveal when they are paid for backing products [links to Financial Times]
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
COURT DECISION RAISES EDGE PROVIDER REGULATION ISSUES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A new federal court ruling leaves some doubt as to who can enforce consumer protections on search engines and other edge providers and perhaps other parts of the economy as well. A panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Federal Trade Commission was precluded from using its consumer protection authority to sue AT&T for not telling customers of its grandfathered mobile broadband "unlimited" data plans that their data use was being throttled once it reached a certain threshold. The Federal Communications Commission is pursuing a similar complaint against AT&T, which is not affected by the ruling. But the decision could have wider implications for consumer protection and privacy regulations. The court ruled that the FTC could not enforce consumer protections—including against unfair and deceptive practices on the privacy front—on any of the activities of a common carrier, including its noncommon carrier businesses. That could conceivably immunize the non-common carrier holdings of broadband common carriers like AT&T and Verizon—or Google Fiber—from Federal Trade Commission consumer protection regulations, and, if those holdings were edge providers, the FCC could not regulate them either, at least under the current interpretation of FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who says the FCC lacks authority to regulate the edge.
benton.org/headlines/court-decision-raises-edge-provider-regulation-issues | Broadcasting&Cable
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COURT REJECTS CHALLENGE TO ASPECT OF FCC'S SPECTRUM SALE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: David McCabe]
A federal court ruled against a challenge to part of the Federal Communications Commission’s ongoing process of reassigning valuable wireless spectrum to mobile providers. FCC officials are currently running an auction to buy spectrum from broadcasters and sell it wireless providers and other buyers — and repackage the assignment of radio frequencies in the process. Low-power television (LPTV) services, small regional stations that have a secondary position to full-power broadcasters, were not protected from potential difficulties during that repacking process by the commission. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied a challenge from Mako Communications, an LPTV operator, to the FCC’s decision not to extend those protections to its operations, citing a prohibition on altering their spectrum rights in the law authorizing the repacking. The court said that the FCC’s decision not to offer the protections did not change the rights of LPTV broadcasters, since full-power stations already have priority when it comes to using wireless spectrum. “As a general matter, LPTV stations’ secondary status renders them subject to displacement insofar as they cause interference to primary services,” Judge Sri Srinivasan wrote in the ruling. "Today's court ruling validates the Commission's Incentive Auction design in light of the Spectrum Act’s goals," said an FCC spokesperson. "The Commission values the important role that low-power TV and TV translator stations play in the communities they serve. With that in mind, we have taken — and continue to consider — steps to assist any displaced low power stations to find feasible channels after the close of the auction."
benton.org/headlines/court-rejects-challenge-aspect-fccs-spectrum-sale | Hill, The
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UNLIMITED PLANS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Ryan Knutson, Thomas Gryta]
Sprint and T-Mobile US recently said they would scrap data caps and give customers a simpler option: unlimited everything at a single price. But the plans had restrictions. Days later, both carriers unveiled “premium” unlimited plans that cost $20 to $25 more a month. And even those had limitations. “The truly unlimited plan doesn’t yet exist,” said Fredrik Jungermann, managing director of Tefficient, a telecom analytics firm. If the carriers sold unlimited plans without restrictions, “they might get users that would use hundreds of gigabytes a month or even thousands, and they wouldn’t get even a single dollar more for them.” The latest round of unlimited offerings highlights the tactics carriers use to win customers in the competitive wireless market, and the maze of fine print that can catch consumers off guard. The new plans don’t have a hard ceiling on usage, but put restrictions on everyday behaviors.
benton.org/headlines/t-mobile-sprint-unlimited-plans-are-full-limits | Wall Street Journal
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
BEREC LAUNCHES NET NEUTRALITY GUIDELINES
[SOURCE: Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) has published its Guidelines to National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) on the implementation of the new network neutrality. BEREC’s mandate to produce the Guidelines stems from the Telecoms Single Market Regulation on open Internet access. The Guidelines provide guidance for NRAs to take into account when implementing the rules and assessing specific cases. After meetings with European-level stakeholders in December 2015 and a workshop with high-level academic, legal and technical experts in February 2016, BEREC launched a six-week public consultation on the draft Guidelines, closing on July 18. The number of 481,547 contributions received before the deadline was unprecedented for a BEREC consultation, and coming from diverse categories of respondents: civil society, public institutions and independent experts, Internet service providers, content and application providers and other industry stakeholders. The BEREC Office has processed the contributions received, and BEREC has conducted a thorough evaluation of the contributions, updating about a quarter of the paragraphs in the final Guidelines. The Guidelines are published together with an accompanying consultation report summarising stakeholders’ views submitted and how they have been taken into account. Given the high volume of contributions the consultation report had to focus on a summary of the main topics and comments put forward. All non-confidential responses will be published separately by September 30.
benton.org/headlines/body-european-regulators-electronic-communications-launches-net-neutrality-guidelines | Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications | Guidelines | All You Need To Know
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ELECTIONS 2016
RUSSIA-BACKED DNC HACKERS STRIKE WASHINGTON THINK TANKS
[SOURCE: Defense One, AUTHOR: Patrick Tucker]
The same Kremlin-backed group that hacked the Pentagon, State Department, and Democratic National Committee targeted DC insiders the week of August 22. One of the Russia-backed hacker groups that attacked Democratic computer networks also attacked several Russia-focused think tanks in Washington (DC). The perpetrator is the group called COZY BEAR, or APT29, one of the two groups that cybersecurity company CrowdStrike blamed for the DNC hack, according to founder Dmitri Alperovitch. CrowdStrike discovered the attack on the DNC and provides security for the think tanks. Alperovitch said fewer than five organizations and 10 staffers researching Russia were hit by the “highly targeted operation.” He declined to detail which think tanks and researchers were hit, out of concern for his clients’ interests and to avoid revealing tools and techniques or other data to hackers. CrowdStrike alerted the organizations immediately after the company detected the breaches and intruders were unable to exfiltrate any information, Alperovitch said.
benton.org/headlines/russia-backed-dnc-hackers-strike-washington-think-tanks | Defense One
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THE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECH AGENDA FOR 2017 AND BEYOND
[SOURCE: Medium, AUTHOR: Reed Hunt]
[Commentary] In order to push the economy out of secular stagnation and to increase average family income for all income quintiles, the next government — both the Executive and Legislative Branches — needs a plan for the information and communication technologies (ICT) platform. Before the technologists and economists set their teeth against this assertion, I hastily add that the plan might be consolidation of the wireless industry or abandonment of network neutrality. Or it could be the promotion of multiple licensees for 5G (next generation wireless) services in a single geography. In other words, the plan could be to allow incumbents to gain advantages or it might be to support new entrants. It could favor redundant networks, or shared facilities. In any case, as Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner famously said in Oval Office debates about rebuilding the balance sheets of the big banks, “Plan beats no plan.” I can’t think of any way to describe Donald Trump’s ICT plan. However, Republican and Democratic leaders have limned some important parts of an ICT plan in various stalled bills over the last couple of years. And Hillary Clinton’s ICT goals are reasonably detailed, although perhaps purposely not presented as a plan per se. One legacy of the Cold War is the popular insistence on the market-trusting cluelessness of government, even while everyone expects extremely careful government thinking about monetary policy, medical research, national defense, tax and antitrust regimes, securities and drug regulation, and so forth. Whatever. My point is that the pieces of a plan are already out there. So here’s my crack at putting them together, adding in some suggestions of my own. There needs to be a three-part plan. Part one is about the economy; two, culture; three, government as an operations problem.
[Reed Hunt is CEO of CGC and former chairman of the FCC from 1993-1997.]
benton.org/headlines/information-and-communications-technology-agenda-2017-and-beyond | Medium
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SECURITY/PRIVACY
BROADBAND PRIVACY RULES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler]
On June 21, Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to express her support for strong consumer privacy rules for broadband Internet access service. On August 23, Chairman Wheeler replied saying, “I agree that privacy should not be a luxury good reserved only for the wealthy. In the Commission's broadband privacy proposal, we have sought comment on business practices that offer customers financial inducements, such as discounted service rates, for their consent to use and share their information. The record developed in this proceeding reflects widely disparate views on this issue. Some commenters argue that these business models unfairly disadvantage low-income or vulnerable populations. Other commenters maintain that consumers, including low-income consumers, stand to benefit from the use and sharing of their information and should be given the opportunity to make that choice. As the Commission continues to examine the substantial record in the proceeding, I can assure you that we will carefully consider the risks and benefits of adopting rules regarding such practices with particular attention to the effect of these business models on low-income consumers.”
benton.org/headlines/chairman-wheelers-response-senator-warren-regarding-privacy-broadband-customers-personal | Federal Communications Commission | Sen Warren
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
IRAN'S OWN INTERNET
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Matt Vasilogambros]
The World Wide Web is nearing its end in Iran. The country announced it had completed the first of three stages that will eventually set up a “national Internet”—an intranet, really—controlled by the government, with all of its servers in the country. Iranians will only have access to content, services, and applications that are based in Iran. Iran already blocks access to some overseas-based social media, news outlets, and online stores. A national Internet would tighten the government’s grip on online content even more. The BBC adds: "The government says the goal is to create an isolated domestic intranet that can be used to promote Islamic content and raise digital awareness among the public. It intends to replace the current system, in which officials seek to limit which parts of the existing internet people have access to via filters—an effort [Iranian Communications and Information Technology minister Mahmoud] Vaezi described as being 'inefficient.'"
benton.org/headlines/irans-own-internet | Atlantic, The
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