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March 2017

March 28, 2017 (Is this the day we lose broadband privacy?)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017

   Roger Wilkins, Champion of Civil Rights


SECURITY/PRIVACY
   You have just hours to stop Congress from giving away your web browsing history - Gigi Sohn
   Fight for the Future Promises Billboard Attacks Against Lawmakers Voting to Repeal Internet Privacy Rules
   Demand Progress Seeks Funds for Pro-Privacy Rules Push
   Activists want to know why feds are searching more devices at the border [links to Benton summary]
   America's plan for stopping cyberattacks is dangerously weak - Vox op-ed [links to Benton summary]
   Facebook, Google and Twitter pressured to do more to fight terrorism on their platforms [links to USAToday]
   Mike Rogers: America Is Ill-Prepared to Counter Russia’s Information Warfare [links to Wall Street Journal]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Commissioner Mignon Clyburn Releases Final #Solutions2020 Call to Action Plan - public notice
   EUGNet Offers Uncommon Gigabit Deployment Model [links to Benton summary]
   Why Silicon Valley isn't fighting to save the Internet (yet) [links to Benton summary]

COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
   The Apprentice: Donald Trump and Joe McCarthy - CJR op-ed [links to Benton summary]
   Media basher President Trump calls media to defend health care failure [links to CNN]
   Geoffrey Fowler: Facebook Wants to Help You Be a Better Citizen [links to Benton summary]

JOURNALISM
   Democracy Fund and First Look Media Make Major Commitments to Support Independent, Free Press - press release
   From coal to broadband to Trump’s budget, The Daily Yonder reports on rural life for the people actually living it [links to Benton summary]
   Some Trump-friendly media striking out at him after health care failure [links to CNN]
   Conservative Media Cracking Under The Pressure Of Trump Era [links to Media Matters for America]
   Breitbart Denied Permanent Senate Press Gallery Credentials [links to Media Matters for America]

ADVERTISING
   More companies suspend YouTube ads [links to Los Angeles Times]
   Radio Is Expected to Surpass Newspapers in Local Ad Revenue by 2021 [links to AdWeek]

TELECOM
   Consumer Alert: 'Can You Hear Me' Scams - press release [links to Benton summary]
   Office Supply Operators Banned from Telemarketing to Settle FTC Charges [links to Federal Trade Commission]

TELEVISION
   David Lazarus: Consumers and pay-TV industry are far apart on a la carte channel pricing [links to Los Angeles Times]

LABOR
   Fact checking Trump's latest Charter jobs announcement [links to CNN]

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   IT Modernization Bill Could Be Reintroduced to Congress Week of March 27 [links to nextgov]
   Facebook launches new tools to boost civic engagement [links to Hill, The]

POLICYMAKERS
   President Trump Appoints One of His Lawyers to Review Mergers
   Trump’s “beachhead” teams host dozens of former lobbyists [links to Open Secrets]
   NBC News signs former White House press secretary Josh Earnest [links to Hill, The]
   Melania Trump names communications director [links to Hill, The]
   18F's Hillary Hartley Becomes First Chief Data Officer of Ontario, Canada [links to Government Technology]

COMPANY NEWS
   Netflix is hogging talent and pushing up prices, spurring pushback from rival TV producers who once saw it as a partner [links to Wall Street Journal]
   Tronc Feud Escalates as Billionaire Investor Demands Access to Records [links to New York Times]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Accelerating the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals through AI [links to International Telecommunication Union]
   U.K. government wants access to WhatsApp messages [links to CNN]
   In Wake of Attack, UK Officials to Push Against Encryption Technology [links to New York Times]
   For Some Fliers, Electronics Ban Makes for a Bumpy Ride [links to New York Times]

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SECURITY/PRIVACY

BROADBAND PRIVACY VOTE
[SOURCE: The Verge, AUTHOR: Gigi Sohn]
[Commentary] On a party-line vote, the Senate voted to repeal the Federal Communications Commission’s 2016 broadband privacy rules giving consumers the power to choose how their Internet service providers use and share their personal data. Now the House of Representatives will vote, and if the House also votes to repeal the rules, the bill will go to President Trump, who is expected to sign it. The consequences of repeal are simple: ISPs like Comcast, AT&T, and Charter will be free to sell your personal information to the highest bidder without your permission — and no one will be able to protect you. The Federal Trade Commission has no legal authority to oversee ISP practices, and the bill under consideration ensures that the FCC cannot adopt “substantially similar” rules. So unless the bill fails in the House, the nation’s strongest privacy protections will not only be eliminated, they cannot be revived by the FCC. Color of Change, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Free Press have simple ways for you to tell your Representative what you think of the FCC’s rules and Congress’ efforts to eliminate them.
[Sohn served as counselor to former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler from November 2013 to December 2016]
benton.org/headlines/you-have-just-hours-stop-congress-giving-away-your-web-browsing-history | Verge, The
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FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Harper Neidig]
Fight for the Future is promising to put up billboards attacking lawmakers who vote in favor of a bill that would dismantle privacy protections for internet users. If the bill is signed into law, as is widely expected, the Fight for the Future campaign will put up billboards in Washington (DC) and select districts that list the lawmakers who voted for the measure. A draft of the billboard shows a list of the 50 Republicans who voted for the bill on March 23, along with the text, “They betrayed you.” “Congress should know by now that when you come for the Internet, the Internet comes for you, these billboards are just the beginning,” said Evan Greer, the group’s campaign director. “People from across the political spectrum are outraged, and every lawmaker who votes to take away our privacy will regret it come election day.”
http://thehill.com/policy/technology/325969-group-promises-billboards-at...
Fight for the Future to unleash billboards to expose Congress members who vote to gut Internet privacy rules (Fight for the Future)
https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2017-03-27-fight-for-the-future-t...


DEMAND PROGRESS SEEKS FUNDS FOR PRO-PRIVACY RULES PUSH
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Demand Progress is asking for contributions for a "grassroots" push to fight Republicans' effort to repeal the Federal Communications Commission's broadband privacy rules. The Senate voted recently along party lines (50 to 48 (with two senators not voting) to invalidate the October order, which Internet service providers, advertisers and some others want either Congress or the FCC to roll back. The House is expected to vote on the bill March 28. In an e-mail solicitation on March 26, Demand Progress made it all about Comcast--a frequent Big Media target. "Will you chip in $5 to help stop Comcast from selling my personal financial information and browsing history?," it asked, pointing out that the bill would now be taken up in the House, "unless we can kill this awful idea."
benton.org/headlines/demand-progress-seeks-funds-pro-privacy-rules-push | Multichannel News
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

CLYBURN #SOLUTIONS2020 CALL TO ACTION PLAN
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public notice]
Our office is pleased to release a final version of the #Solutions2020 Call to Action Plan. We believe these recommendations, if acted upon in a timely manner, can deliver robust, affordable, and reliable connectivity within the next four years. Taken together, these recommendations would narrow the opportunities divide, support the growth of our economy and greatly improve the quality of life for all Americans. Implementation will require bipartisan action, support from leaders at the federal, state and local levels as well as buy-in from representatives of the technology and telecommunications industries. I look forward to working with my fellow Commissioners, Members of Congress, state and local government partners, the public interest community and industry to bring about real and lasting change by the end of this decade. Overall Recommendations:
1) Ensuring Affordable Communications
2) Empowering Communities
3) 5G and Beyond for All Americans
4) Enhancing Consumer Protections
4) Broadband as a Driver of Imporved Health Services
6) Promoting a More Diverse Media Landscape
benton.org/headlines/commissioner-mignon-clyburn-releases-final-solutions2020-call-action-plan | Federal Communications Commission
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JOURNALISM

DEMOCRACY FUND AND FIRST LOOK MEDIA
[SOURCE: Democracy Fund AUTHOR: Joe Goldman]
At a time when news organizations find themselves under attack, the Democracy Fund along with our partners at First Look Media are announcing the largest grants either organization has made to date in support of journalism.The Democracy Fund is joining with First Look Media to make major commitments of more than $12 million to support an independent, free press. Included in this commitment are grants of $3 million each to three national nonprofit newsrooms, the Center for Investigative Reporting, the Center for Public Integrity, and ProPublica. The Democracy Fund will complement its support for these national newsrooms with a $1 million contribution towards the creation of a State and Local Investigative Fund to support the crucial investigative work of local reporters, as well as a $200,000 contribution to the recently announced Knight Prototype Fund on misinformation and trust in journalism. The Democracy Fund and First Look Media are also announcing grants to the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University and a new program led by NYU Professor Jay Rosen to establish a laboratory for community-supported investigative reporting.
benton.org/headlines/democracy-fund-and-first-look-media-make-major-commitments-support-independent-free-press | Democracy Fund
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POLICYMAKERS

MAKAN DELRAHIM
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
President Donald Trump named Makan Delrahim, a former government antitrust enforcer and corporate lobbyist, to lead the Justice Department’s review of mergers and acquisitions. The appointment is being closely watched because companies across industries have been hoping that the new Republican administration will be more permissive with mergers. Delrahim, who serves as legal counsel to the president, will be quickly tested in his new position by AT&T’s $85 billion bid for Time Warner. The review of AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner has drawn speculation because of promises President Trump made on the campaign trail to block the deal. Trump’s disdain for news coverage by CNN, which is owned by Time Warner, has raised questions over whether the president may try to influence the deal. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s attorney general, has promised to block any political influence on Justice Department decisions. Delrahim, whose nomination will go before the Senate for confirmation, is expected to take a more free-market approach to his job of antitrust enforcement, according to analysts. His style is expected to be in line with mainstream Republicans.
benton.org/headlines/president-trump-appoints-one-his-lawyers-review-mergers | New York Times | recode
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Roger Wilkins, Champion of Civil Rights

Roger Wilkins, who championed civil rights for black Americans for five decades as an official in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, a foundation executive, a journalist, an author and a university professor, died in Kensington (MD). He was 85.

A black lawyer in the corridors of power, Mr. Wilkins was an assistant United States attorney general, ran domestic programs for the Ford Foundation, wrote editorials for The Washington Post and The New York Times, taught history at George Mason University for nearly 20 years and was close to leading lights of literature, music, politics, journalism and civil rights. Roy Wilkins, who led the NAACP from 1955 to 1977, was his uncle. Roger Wilkins’s early mentor was Thurgood Marshall, the renowned civil rights lawyer who became the Supreme Court’s first black associate justice. And he organized Nelson Mandela’s triumphant eight-city visit to the United States in 1990 as millions turned out to see that living symbol of resistance to apartheid after his release from 27 years in prison in South Africa.

You have just hours to stop Congress from giving away your web browsing history

[Commentary] On a party-line vote, the Senate voted to repeal the Federal Communications Commission’s 2016 broadband privacy rules giving consumers the power to choose how their Internet service providers use and share their personal data. Now the House of Representatives will vote, and if the House also votes to repeal the rules, the bill will go to President Trump, who is expected to sign it.

The consequences of repeal are simple: ISPs like Comcast, AT&T, and Charter will be free to sell your personal information to the highest bidder without your permission — and no one will be able to protect you. The Federal Trade Commission has no legal authority to oversee ISP practices, and the bill under consideration ensures that the FCC cannot adopt “substantially similar” rules. So unless the bill fails in the House, the nation’s strongest privacy protections will not only be eliminated, they cannot be revived by the FCC. Color of Change, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Free Press have simple ways for you to tell your Representative what you think of the FCC’s rules and Congress’ efforts to eliminate them.

[Sohn served as counselor to former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler from November 2013 to December 2016]

President Trump Appoints One of His Lawyers to Review Mergers

President Donald Trump named Makan Delrahim, a former government antitrust enforcer and corporate lobbyist, to lead the Justice Department’s review of mergers and acquisitions.

The appointment is being closely watched because companies across industries have been hoping that the new Republican administration will be more permissive with mergers. Delrahim, who serves as legal counsel to the president, will be quickly tested in his new position by AT&T’s $85 billion bid for Time Warner. The review of AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner has drawn speculation because of promises President Trump made on the campaign trail to block the deal. Trump’s disdain for news coverage by CNN, which is owned by Time Warner, has raised questions over whether the president may try to influence the deal. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s attorney general, has promised to block any political influence on Justice Department decisions. Delrahim, whose nomination will go before the Senate for confirmation, is expected to take a more free-market approach to his job of antitrust enforcement, according to analysts. His style is expected to be in line with mainstream Republicans.

Geoffrey Fowler: Facebook Wants to Help You Be a Better Citizen

Facebook wants to get us more politically active in the real world. Facebook has rolled out a nonpartisan civic engagement service in the US called Town Hall. It identifies your elected officials—even local ones—sends reminders to vote and goads you to pick up the phone. It is one of the first glimpses of how Facebook will execute on Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of using the social network’s influence—built on keeping up with friends—to address humanity’s biggest problems.

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