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  2. February 2017

February 2017

Sen Hatch Rolls Out Tech Agenda, Warns Industry Against ‘Provoking’ Trump

Sen Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced a sweeping tech-focused agenda that aims to bolster the H-1B visa program, prevent forum-shopping by patent trolls and improve data privacy both at home and abroad. In a speech on Capitol Hill, the Utah Republican addressed the tech community’s concerns about President Donald Trump potentially issuing an executive order that could weaken the H-1B visa program, which many tech employers say they rely on to fill high-skilled positions. Sen Hatch, who’s chairman of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force, said it was important for tech leaders to do their part in persuading Trump not to weaken the foreign-worker program, and that includes “not provoking the White House unnecessarily.” He reiterated his close relationship with Trump, and stressed his ability to act as a “bridge” between Silicon Valley and the administration when it comes to the H-1B program and other industry issues. “I know he trusts me,” Sen Hatch said, referring to President Trump. “Then again, I’m not sure he trusts anybody … but I think he does trust me. He knows I’m not going to go around what he’d like to do.”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg publishes manifesto to save the world

Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook will move beyond connecting family and friends to building "social infrastructure" critical to bringing people together in a "global community." In a nearly 5,800-word letter to Facebook users published on his Facebook page, Zuckerberg laid out his vision of what kind of world he believes Facebook can help create as it pushes back against a growing tide of anti-globalization sentiment. The letter comes as Facebook is besieged by criticism that it drove people apart by helping spread hyperpartisan misinformation and creating filter bubbles for people who share the same beliefs during the bitterly divisive presidential election. The tone is a significant departure from Zuckerberg's initial rejection of the idea that misleading or fabricated news articles on Facebook influenced the outcome of the election. Though the letter is long on utopian ideals, it's short on actual details. Zuckerberg broadly says Facebook will heal growing division by focusing on key areas such as tools to build more inclusive online communities and tools that help encourage more civic engagement and push people to become more informed consumers of news.

AT&T's new unlimited plan drops TV requirement

An unlimited plan on AT&T is no longer tethered to a TV subscription. The nation's second largest carrier announced that it would begin re-offering unlimited data to customers without requiring them to have AT&T's DirecTV or U-verse television service. As part of its own new plans, which go live on Feb 17, AT&T will be matching Verizon's latest plan, offering four lines for $180 with no television subscription service required. A single line is pricier than Verizon at $100, with each additional line running $40 (AT&T does not charge for the fourth line which is how four lines can be offered for $180). As with Verizon, AT&T will be slowing down users when they are in busy or "congested" areas if they've already consumed more than 22GB in a month. The new unlimited offer will include HD video, but unlike the other carriers the company will not be allowing users to use their phones as a mobile hotspot. Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint's latest deals all include 10GB of mobile hotspot data.

FCC's Pai on Broadcast TV: ‘Keep It Clean’

Ajit Pai gave his first TV interview as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission to Fox Business Network and said he would investigate indecency complaints against CBS, NBC or anyone else if they were presented to him. Chairman Pai appeared on The Intelligence Report with Trish Regan. Regan cited an F-bomb on Saturday Night Live and Adele's F-bomb on the Grammys and asked if the FCC would be investigating them for "this kind of stuff." "If we are presented with complaints, we are duty bound to enforce the law," he said, "and the law that is on the books today requires that broadcasters keep it clean so to speak." Chairman Pai said he took that FCC obligation seriously. But Chairman Pai did suggest he would be watching what broadcasters say on air, per FCC indecency rules on the books, adding: "[A]s a parent I want to make sure that my kids have a wholesome experience when they are watching programs like that."

President Donald Trump delivers a series of raw and personal attacks on the media in a news conference for the ages

President Donald Trump entered the East Room reeling from a week filled with resignations, withdrawals and continued questions surrounding his campaign's contacts with Russia. What followed was an hour-long, full-throated attack on Trump's favorite foil: the media. “Many of our nation's reporters will not tell you the truth,” President Trump said. “The press honestly is out of control,” President Trump said. “The level of dishonesty is out of control,” President Trump said. And that was before he even took a single question!

It was a return for President Trump to what worked for him during the course of the 2016 campaign: A circuslike atmosphere in which he uses the media — and his supporters' distrust of the media — as a sort of tackling dummy to re-center the narrative on ground more favorable to him. Trump didn't just run down the media — although he did a lot of that — but he also mocked various outlets, reviewed shows on cable TV that he likes (and doesn't), told reporters to sit down and be quiet, and critiqued the quality of the questions he was being asked. There was a rawness to his attacks, a personal invective that seemed well beyond the typically antagonistic relationship that exists between the media and the president they cover. Why do it? Because Trump understands something very important: For his supporters, the media represent everything they dislike about American society. The media is composed, to their mind, of Ivy-League educated coastal elites who look down their noses at the average person, dismissing them and their views as stupid and ill-informed. For people who feel like their voices weren't and aren't heard in politics — or culture more broadly — the media is the perfect scapegoat.

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