BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2016
Today's Events:
Broadcasting Board of Governors -- https://www.benton.org/node/246519
Fueling the Broadband Economy, New America -- https://www.benton.org/node/246104
AGENDA
Tentative Agenda for September 2016 Open Meeting of the FCC - press release
Here are the new proposed rules for set-top boxes - Chairman Wheeler op-ed
Fact Sheet: Chairman Wheeler's Proposal to Increase Consumer Choice & Innovation in the Video Marketplace - press release [links to Benton summary]
Chairman Wheeler Promises FCC Vote on Business Data Services in 2016 [links to Benton summary]
Sen Cruz Schedules Hearing to Examine Internet Governance Transition [links to Benton summary]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Senate and House Chairs Call for Administration to Reconsider ICANN Internet Transition - press release
Sen Cruz slams internet transition plan on Senate floor [links to Benton summary]
AT&T becomes stakeholder in the ConnectHome initiative
Cable One says usage caps are essential for network performance [links to Benton summary]
EDUCATION
FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel on SETDA Broadband Imperative and the Homework Gap - speech [links to Benton summary]
Apple Announces 'Everyone Can Code' Initiative and New Apple Teacher Program [links to EdSurge]
ELECTIONS 2016
Colin Powell advised Hillary Clinton on how to skirt e-mail security as US secretary of state
Relatively Few People Are Partisan News Consumers, but They’re Influential - op-ed
Politicians have always lied. Does it matter if, in the age of social media, they leave the truth behind entirely? [links to Economist, The]
How the conservative media is taking over the Republican Party [links to Washington Post]
Matt Lauer Loses the War in a Battle Between the Candidates [links to New York Times]
NBC 'Commander-in-Chief' forum draws nearly 15 million viewers [links to Politico]
DHS chief: 'Very difficult' for hackers to skew vote [links to Hill, The]
Paperless voting could fuel 'rigged' election claims [links to Politico]
Cybersecurity: The key issue Trump and Clinton still need to address - The Hill op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Trump's TV Turning Point: Data-Driven Ad Buys Are Happening [links to AdAge]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
AT&T's Kafka: 5G 'being designed to standardize flexibility' [links to Fierce]
AT&T’s Keathley: 5G standards should be released in 2017, not 2018 [links to Fierce]
T-Mobile, Samsung plan 5G trials using pre-commercial systems at 28 GHz [links to Fierce]
Samsung trying to stay neutral in LTE-U fight [links to Fierce]
U.S. Cellular, T-Mobile CTOs detail ongoing tests of 5G technology [links to Fierce]
Shared infrastructure agreements and neutral host providers will probably play a role in industry’s move to 5G [links to Fierce]
TRANSPORTATION
FCC Commissioner O'Rielly Letter to Paul Wiedefeld, General Manager, WMATA - press release [links to Benton summary]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
House Oversight Chairman Previews New Report on Federal ‘Stingrays’ [links to Benton summary]
NSA hack revives old policy debates [links to American Enterprise Institute]
Chrome is stepping up its war on the unencrypted web [links to Verge, The]
Quantum Computers Are Coming. The World Might Not Be Ready. - Bloomberg editorial [links to Benton summary]
How America’s 911 emergency response system can be hacked [links to Washington Post]
CONTENT
Sen Tom Carper (D-DE) to Twitter: Help Us Fend Off Russian Spambots [links to nextgov]
More than half of smartphone users get news alerts, but few get them often [links to Pew Research Center]
European Court of Justice: Online publishers who knowingly link to illegally uploaded content are liable for copyright infringement [links to Financial Times]
TELEVISION
Second Circuit Debunks FCC’s Set-Top Box Arguments [links to Phoenix Center]
YouTube Monitoring Ad-Friendly Content -- To Become More Like TV Networks? [links to MediaPost]
IBC: Ericsson, Google Make a Pay-TV Connection [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
IBC: Taking On A Changing Media Landscape [links to TVNewsCheck]
LABOR
CBO Scores HR 5587, Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act [links to Congressional Budget Office]
Which Fox Personalities Rushed to Defend Roger Ailes? A Guide [links to New York Times]
GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
FCC Commissioner Pai Letter to Chris Henderson, CEO of USAC - press release [links to Benton summary]
POLICYMAKERS
Chairman Thune Hints at One Way to ‘Free Up’ FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel Nomination
Announcing the First Federal Chief Information Security Officer - WH press release [links to Benton summary]
White House strategic communications adviser Rachel Racusen is leaving to join Snapchat as director of communications [links to Washington Post]
COMPANY NEWS
Google drops $625 million on Apigee to chase Amazon and Microsoft in the enterprise [links to Revere Digital]
Airbnb cracking down on discrimination [links to Hill, The]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Google gets extension, now to Sept 20, to respond to EU antitrust charges [links to Hill, The]
Brussels calling: tech firms add lobby strength as EU gets tough [links to Reuters]
While European and US companies are at different stages of their digital maturity across sectors, they can each take specific steps to increase digital market share. [links to McKinsey]
Why China’s cultural attitudes toward privacy may be in flux [links to International Association of Privacy Professionals]
European Court of Justice: Online publishers who knowingly link to illegally uploaded content are liable for copyright infringement [links to Financial Times]
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AGENDA
TENTATIVE AGENDA FOR SEPTEMBER 2016 FCC MEETING
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 29, 2016:
Improving Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). The Commission will consider a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would leverage advancements in technology to improve wireless emergency alert content, delivery and testing, while seeking comment on further measures to ensure effective alerts. (PS Docket No. 15-91)
Review of Foreign Ownership Policies. The Commission will consider a Report and Order that extends to broadcast licensees the same streamlined rules and procedures that common carrier wireless licensees use to seek approval for foreign ownership, with appropriate broadcast-specific modifications. The item also establishes a framework for a publicly traded common carrier or broadcast licensee or controlling U.S. parent to ascertain its foreign ownership levels. (GN Docket No. 15-236)
Independent Programming: The Commission will consider a NPRM that proposes steps the Commission can take to promote the distribution of independent and diverse programming to consumers. (MB Docket No. 16-41)
Expanding Consumer Choice: The Commission will consider a Report and Order that modernizes the Commission’s rules to allow consumers to use a device of their choosing to access multichannel video programming instead of leasing devices from their cable or satellite providers. (MB Docket No. 16-42)
benton.org/headlines/tentative-agenda-september-2016-open-meeting-fcc | Federal Communications Commission | Chairman Wheeler Blog
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HERE ARE THE NEW PROPOSED RULES FOR SET-TOP BOXES
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler]
[Commentary] Earlier in 2016, the Federal Communications Commission launched a process to unlock the set-top-box marketplace. We were motivated by the desire to give consumers relief, but we were also mandated to take action by Congress and the law, which says that consumers should be able to choose their preferred device to access pay-TV programming. Over the past seven months, the Commission conducted an open proceeding where we heard from pay-TV providers, programmers, device and software manufacturers, consumers groups, and, most important, the American people. We listened. Now, I am proposing rules that would end the set-top-box stranglehold. If adopted, consumers will no longer have to rent a set-top box, month after month. Instead, pay-TV providers will be required to provide apps – free of charge– that consumers can download to the device of their choosing to access all the programming and features they already paid for. If you want to watch Comcast’s content through your Apple TV or Roku, you can. If you want to watch DirectTV’s offerings through your Xbox, you can. If you want to pipe Verizon’s service directly to your smart TV, you can. And if you want to watch your current pay-TV package on your current set-top box, you can do that, too. The choice is yours. No longer will you be forced to rent set-top boxes from your pay-TV provider.
[Tom Wheeler is the 31st chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.]
benton.org/headlines/fcc-chairman-here-are-new-proposed-rules-set-top-boxes | Los Angeles Times | Fact Sheet on Wheeler's Proposal
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
SENATE AND HOUSE CHAIRS CALL FOR ADMINISTRATION TO RECONSIDER ICANN INTERNET TRANSITION
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee, AUTHOR: Press release]
Senate Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), in a letter to US Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, raised numerous concerns about plans for the Obama Administration to cede authority over the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions managed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and called for reconsideration of the transition, currently set to occur on October 1, 2016. “The transition of the IANA functions to the global multi-stakeholder community is a serious, groundbreaking, and potentially unalterable action,” said the four chairmen in the letter to Lynch and Pritzker. “We have closely examined the arguments for and against the proposed transition, including concerns about whether the transition could enhance the role of authoritarian regimes in Internet governance. In particular, we have heard from witnesses testifying to concerns that important accountability measures have yet to be fully fleshed out, tested, or proven, because they will not have been implemented prior to September 30, 2016.” In addition to concerns about the status of accountability reforms inside ICANN, the four chairmen also cited recent violations of ICANN’s own bylaws by board members, questions about the application of anti-trust laws, the potential for an independent ICANN to move outside the jurisdiction of the United States, and unfinished work by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) in determining the legal authority for the federal government to relinquish its current role in IANA functions without express authorization from Congress.
benton.org/headlines/senate-and-house-chairs-call-administration-reconsider-icann-internet-transition | US Senate Commerce Committee | Read the letter
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AT&T AND CONNECTHOME
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Sean Buckley]
AT&T has become a major stakeholder in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) ConnectHome initiative to connect low-income families with internet services, but critics question the availability of its new offerings. As part of its work with HUD, the service provider plans to host 30 events across 15 ConnectHome pilot communities located within AT&T’s 21-state wireline service area. During these events, AT&T will provide information about Access from AT&T, a low-cost internet service it launched in April. AT&T will also provide up to 100 Udacity Nanodegree program scholarships to select participants in designated HUD communities. Nanodegree programs are self-paced, online curricula that provide students in-demand skills to help obtain tech-related jobs. The courses will focus on web development, mobile development and data analytics. Set to start on September 10, the events will spread ConnectHome pilot communities in several cities across ten states: New York, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, California, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois and Texas. Households that qualify for Access from AT&T will be able to access three speed tiers: 10 Mbps, 5 Mbps or 3 Mbps available at their address. Speeds of 10 Mbps and 5 Mbps will cost $10 a month while 3 Mbps will cost $5. AT&T will waive installation and internet equipment fees for participating households. However compelling AT&T’s intentions are to bridge the so-called digital divide, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) said in a report that many of its affiliates that tried to help SNAP participants apply for Access were told the program was unavailable.
benton.org/headlines/att-becomes-stakeholder-connecthome-initiative | Fierce
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ELECTIONS 2016
POWELL ADVISED CLINTON ON HOW TO SKIRT E-MAIL SECURITY AS US SEC OF STATE
[SOURCE: Quartz, AUTHOR: ]
One of the more notable aspects of 2016’s US presidential race is the sheer amount of attention given to Hillary Clinton’s use of e-mail while she served as secretary of state from 2009, with Republicans questioning whether she used proper security procedures. But what about the email habits of her predecessors in that role? Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings has made public an exchange between Clinton and Republican Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state during the first term of president George W. Bush. In it, Powell answers two questions from Clinton as she prepares for her new role in January 2009: “What were the restrictions on your use of your blackberry?” and “Did you use it in your personal office?” Notably in the exchange, Powell says, "I didn’t have a BlackBerry. What I did do was have a personal computer that was hooked up to a private phone line (sounds ancient.) So I could communicate with a wide range of friends directly without going through the State Department servers. I even used it to do business with some foreign leaders and some of the senior folks in the Department on their personal email accounts. I did the same thing on the road in hotels."
benton.org/headlines/colin-powell-advised-hillary-clinton-how-skirt-e-mail-security-us-secretary-state | Quartz
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RELATIVELY FEW PEOPLE ARE PARTISAN NEWS CONSUMERS, BUT THEY'RE INFLUENTIAL
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brendan Nyhan]
[Commentary] Anyone who has followed this election carefully would be forgiven for thinking that voters have diverged into two separate realities. But it’s too soon to declare that we have entered a “post-fact” apocalypse, especially when we consider where people get information about politics. New research shows that the great majority of people learn about political news from mainstream, relatively centrist media sources, not ideological websites or cable channels. However, relatively small numbers of partisans, especially Republicans, are heavy consumers of a highly polarized media diet. This dynamic helps explain why there is so much concern about “echo chambers,” even though most people don’t confine themselves to one. This, then, is the paradox of echo chambers: Few of us live in them, but those who do exercise disproportionate influence over our political system.
[Brendan Nyhan is a professor of government at Dartmouth College.]
benton.org/headlines/relatively-few-people-are-partisan-news-consumers-theyre-influential | New York Times
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POLICYMAKERS
THUNE HINTS AT ONE WAY TO 'FREE UP' ROSENWORCEL NOMINATION
[SOURCE: Morning Consult, AUTHOR: Amir Nasr]
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) suggested that the political tug-of-war over the confirmation of Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel of the Federal Communications Commission could be smoothed over if FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler agrees to step down at the end of President Barack Obama’s term. “I suspect that nominees and unfinished legislation probably get freed up when we get past the election,” Chairman Thune said. “I think that would help, probably in a lot of ways, free up the Rosenworcel nomination,” said Chairman Thune, referring to a scenario in which Chairman Wheeler would promise to voluntarily leave the FCC when President Obama leaves the White House in January. Chairman Wheeler’s term is set to expire in 2018. “As you know, I’ve asked that question in hearings, and he’s been very evasive in responding to it,” Chairman Thune said. The South Dakota Republican asked Chairman Wheeler at a March hearing if he would step down at the end of President Obama’s term. Leaders of the FCC have traditionally stepped down before their terms end to allow the new president to nominate a new agency head. “It’s a ways off,” Chairman Wheeler said at the March hearing. “I understand precedent. I understand expectations. I also understand that 10 or 11 months is a long time. So it’s probably not the wisest thing in the world to do to make some kind of ironclad commitment.” Chairman Wheeler is set to testify the week of Sept 12 at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing featuring all five FCC commissioners. He’s expected to face tough questions yet again about his post-election plans.
benton.org/headlines/chairman-thune-hints-one-way-free-fcc-commissioner-rosenworcel-nomination | Morning Consult
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