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  2. February 2017

February 2017

Community Anchor Institutions and Residential Broadband Adoption

[Commentary] The Internet is driving innovation in community and economic development, education, health care, and government services. But residential broadband adoption1 has stalled. Community anchor institutions (CAIs) are improving residential broadband adoption in several ways: providing digital literacy training, educating consumers about government programs to promote broadband adoption, leading community planning efforts, lending wireless “hot spots,” and, in some cases, providing wireless broadband services directly to consumers. For these efforts to have the greatest impact, however, policymakers must provide CAIs and their community partners with the right resources and incentives. Solutions should be locally customized to meet the needs of specific populations.

[Angela Siefer is the Director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance]

The Internet just helped a staggering number of people engage with their government

Only rarely is the Web recognized for helping advance the cause of civic education and government transparency. But for a little over an hour on Feb 7, it did an amazing thing.

The Internet brought an enormous number of people together to hear a federal appeals court deliberate over President Trump's entry ban. We're talking about oral argument. In a federal court. Where there wasn't much to see besides a black background and the court's logo. Considering how complex the discussion quickly became, it's all the more stunning how the feed kept attracting new viewers rather than losing them as time went on. At its peak, more than 135,000 people had tuned in to the audio-only proceeding on YouTube — and that's before you count those who were watching the court's live stream from other sources, such as cable TV and Facebook. That's pretty extraordinary — and another sign that in today's digitally connected world, the best technologies make accessible what was previously inaccessible.

Ivanka Trump oversaw Murdoch daughters’ trust

Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka was a trustee for a large bloc of shares in 21st Century Fox and News Corp that belong to Rupert Murdoch’s two youngest daughters, underscoring the close ties between the US president’s family and the mogul behind the Fox News Channel.

The president’s daughter was a trustee of Grace and Chloe Murdoch, Murdoch’s children by his ex-wife Wendi Deng, during the campaign. The two girls, aged 15 and 13, hold shares worth close to a combined $300 million in the two companies, which are controlled by Murdoch and his family. Ivanka Trump said that she stepped down from the board on December 28.

How app makers increasingly track your every move

As smartphones become ubiquitous, app makers are becoming more brazen about collecting personal data, say experts and privacy advocates. And while iPhones and Android devices have limited privacy settings, most consumers remain in the dark about what companies are collecting and how they are using that information. "With business models focused on advertisements and sharing information of others, we've seen massive amounts of tracking," says Norman Sadeh, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. "There's been erosion of privacy over the past few years." Claire Gartland, a consumer privacy attorney at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), compared the smartphone app marketplaces to "the Wild West" when it comes to privacy regulations and says consumers are left on their own to protect their own personal data.

Setting the Record Straight on the Digital Divide

One recent Federal Communications Commission decision has caused some controversy of late. Specifically, some have asked why the agency’s Wireline Competition Bureau issued an order reconsidering nine companies’ eligibility to participate in the Lifeline program, which aims to help make voice and broadband more affordable to low-income Americans. It’s vital that low-income Americans have access to communications services, including broadband Internet, which Lifeline helps to achieve.

Unfortunately, many of the media headlines have sensationalized this story and given some an entirely misleading impression of what is going on. Indeed, based on the some of the coverage, one would think that we had ended Lifeline broadband subsidies altogether. So I want to set the record straight about the modest steps we have taken and why we have taken them.

For Chairman Pai, Closing the Digital Divide Is Code for More Tax Breaks for Huge ISPs

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Pai thinks he can set the record straight with more crooked words and made-up numbers. Like his boss in the White House, Chairman Pai should spend less time worrying about his media coverage and more time on his job. And his job is not to cheerlead for more corporate welfare for the biggest internet access providers in the form of tax breaks for their existing deployment plans. His job is to bring the benefits of open networks to all, something he’s failing at so far.

Chairman Pai can dissemble all he wants, but the reality is that on Feb 3 he alone took the promise of free high-speed access away from low-income workers, students, veterans and tribal communities around the country. His disdain for the Lifeline program is reflected in his defensive comments, a clear indication that he will make every effort to dismantle the FCC’s 2016 modernization order and delay its benefits.

Statement Of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Announcing Two More Process Reform Measures

I am pleased to announce that the Federal Communications Commission will be implementing two additional process reform measures—each of which has been proposed by one of the two other FCC commissioners.

First, Commissioner Clyburn has suggested that when the agency releases the text of meeting items, we should also release a one-page fact sheet that summarizes the proposal in question. She notes that this could make the item that we release accessible to more Americans. I agree. The FCC will do this beginning with the release of any items for the March meeting.
Second, Commissioner O’Rielly has proposed that any substantive edits made to an item between the time it is circulated and the meeting at which we vote on it should have to be proposed by a Commissioner, rather than staff. This reform will help promote accountability and allow Commissioners to better understand where edits are coming from. We will therefore implement this reform immediately.

With these changes and others that have been announced in the last few days, we are off to a strong start on the issue of process reform. But there is still much more to do. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on improving the Commission’s operations.

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