March 2017

COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY

EFFORTS TO PROMOTE OPENNESS AND DEMOCRACY AT RISK
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Steven Melendez]
Years before Donald Trump took over the government, secure digital communication tools including Signal and Tor have been receiving substantial funding from a perhaps surprising source: the US taxpayer. Since 2012, an organization called the Open Technology Fund (OTF) has operated within an often overlooked offshoot of the US government that traces its origins back to the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe broadcasts that took otherwise censored information—and highlighted American culture and prosperity—behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. The OTF’s budget is inexpensive by the standards of government programs, and laughably small for a tech incubator—its reported budget last year was $7.5 million, compared to $27 million that Y Combinator invested in early-stage startups. Yet it faces an uncertain future under President Donald Trump.
benton.org/headlines/us-backed-efforts-promote-openness-and-democracy-are-risk-age-trump | Fast Company
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

THOUSANDS OF COMMENTS TO FCC ON DIGITAL DIVIDE
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Press release]
On March 23, a coalition of digital rights advocates, racial justice groups and grassroots activists called on Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to make a more genuine effort to provide affordable internet access for low-income communities. In comments filed as part of an agency proceeding on its Lifeline program, members of Voices for Internet Freedom called on the FCC to reverse a February order revoking the Lifeline status of nine internet-access providers, and to fully implement the Lifeline Modernization Order passed in 2016. The Voices filing notes that the FCC’s revocation “erodes Lifeline's promise to bring affordable broadband to low-income consumers.” Voices is urging the Commission to avoid any future effort to undermine Lifeline reforms put in place by former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, former Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. Free Press has received more than 13,000 comments from people across the country protesting Pai’s attacks on Lifeline and supporting the expansion of the program to broadband. Another 18,000 public comments were filed by Demand Progress, a digital rights group urging the FCC to support Lifeline and close the digital divide for those who need access most.
benton.org/headlines/tens-thousands-urge-fcc-chairman-pai-get-serious-about-digital-divide-stop-restricting | Free Press | read the filing
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HOLLYWOOD AND THE OPEN INTERNET
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky]
The major entertainment companies are putting a lot of money into luring cord cutters — millennials and others who want to ditch their cable companies — to new subscription streaming services that allow viewers to watch their favorite TV shows and movies directly over the Internet. The same industry that once blamed the Internet for stealing content now wants to use it to sell directly to consumers. It’s too bad that the Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission is pursuing policies that could seriously harm these innovative efforts, just as the streaming business is getting going. And it’s really too bad that some in the media industry aren’t taking the threats seriously enough. The assault will come in the form of telecommunications regulation. Trump’s newly appointed FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, has made it clear he wants to eliminate rules that establish net neutrality. In the past, technology companies and public interest groups pushed hard for net neutrality. Now it’s time for reinforcements.
[Brodsky is a consultant in Washington. He covered the FCC as a journalist, and is the former head of communications for Public Knowledge.]
benton.org/headlines/hollywood-needs-free-and-open-internet-so-why-isnt-it-fighting-it | Los Angeles Times
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CHARTER AND TRUMP
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jim Puzzanghera]
Thomas Rutledge, chief executive of Charter Communications, committed in a meeting with President Donald Trump to invest $25 billion on broadband infrastructure while joining a trend of business leaders touting previously announced job creation at the White House. In the case of Charter — Southern California’s dominant cable-TV and Internet service provider — Rutledge said he expected to hire 20,000 new US employees over the next four years. Charter had made the hiring promise in 2015 when it was purchasing Time Warner Cable. The new development was the time period in which it will occur. Nevertheless, President Trump indicated the job creation was triggered by his election. “We are really in the process of announcements and you’re going to see thousands and thousands and thousands of jobs and companies and everything coming back into our country,” President Trump said, flanked by Rutledge and Gov Greg Abbott (R-TX). “They’re coming in far faster than even I had projected.” The large investment in broadband infrastructure was a new commitment from Charter. Rutledge signaled that it was made because of the policies of President Trump and congressional Republicans, who have promised to cut corporate taxes and reduce regulations.
benton.org/headlines/charter-promises-president-trump-something-new-25-billion-investment-and-something-old | Los Angeles Times | President Trump Remarks | The Hill | USA Today
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PAI STATEMENT ON CHARTER ANNOUNCEMENT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai issued the following statement on the announcement by Charter Communications on broadband investment: “The FCC’s top priority is making sure that any American who wants high-speed Internet access, or broadband, is able to get it. To do that, since January, we have been working to set rules of the road that encourage companies to build and upgrade broadband networks across the country. I’m pleased to see that our investment-friendly policies, along with the Administration’s overall regulatory approach, are already producing results. I applaud Charter Communications for its announcement today that it intends to spend $25 billion in broadband infrastructure and technology over the next four years. I am optimistic that this massive investment will help to close the digital divide and to strengthen our economy.”
benton.org/headlines/fcc-chairman-pai-statement-charters-broadband-investment-announcement | Federal Communications Commission | B&C
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PRIVACY

PRIVACY IN THE STATES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Conor Dougherty]
Now that Republicans are in charge, the federal government is poised to roll back regulations limiting access to consumers’ online data. States have other ideas. As on climate change, immigration and a host of other issues, some state legislatures may prove to be a counterweight to Washington by enacting new regulations to increase consumers’ privacy rights. Illinois legislators are considering a “right to know” bill that would let consumers find out what information about them is collected by companies like Google and Facebook, and what kinds of businesses they share it with. Such a right, which European consumers already have, has been a longtime goal of privacy advocates.
benton.org/headlines/push-internet-privacy-rules-moves-statehouses | New York Times
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JOURNALISM

CONSERVATIVE MEDIA
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jonathan Easley]
Conservative media outlets have suffered through a tumultuous few weeks punctuated by infighting and public controversy, underscoring the difficulty some are having adjusting to the new levels of attention and scrutiny that comes with their elevated status in the age of President Trump. The transition from the edges of the media to its center can be difficult. Conservative media’s mainstream peers have greeted them with suspicion and hostility, often eager to highlight the newcomers’ stumbles or question their legitimacy. In interviews with nearly a dozen key figures in conservative media, right-leaning reporters and editors spoke about their relative youth and inexperience and the need to professionalize and move on from the sensationalism that initially helped them attract readers. They see their challenge as one that mirrors what the Republican Party as a whole is experiencing, as it makes the transition from being the opposition party to the party in power.
benton.org/headlines/conservative-media-struggles-new-prominence-under-president-trump | Hill, The
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FCC REFORM

PAI ON 2-FOR-1 REG ORDER
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Ashley Gold, Margaret Harding McGill, Alex Byers]
The White House has called for eliminating two regulations for every new one imposed, and though the policy doesn't apply to independent agencies like the Federal Communications Commission, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is sticking with the spirit of it. He told reporters that during his short tenure so far, the FCC has repealed, revised or tweaked what he described as outdated regulations. "I think the prism within which the FCC views any regulations that are on the books is: Do they continue to be necessary in the public interest and to promote competition in 2017," Chairman Pai said. "And if they don't, then we obviously want to modernize them to make sure that we're not standing in the way of investment or innovation or otherwise imposing more costs."
benton.org/headlines/fcc-chairman-pai-sticking-2-1-regulation-order | Politico
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March 2017

Netflix is hogging talent and pushing up prices, spurring pushback from rival TV producers who once saw it as a partner

NBC News signs former White House press secretary Josh Earnest

Center for Public Integrity awarded $3 million Journalism grant

U.K. government wants access to WhatsApp messages

March 27, 2017 (Politics in the Age of Trump)

Hollywood needs a free and open Internet. So why isn't it fighting for it?

Push for Internet Privacy Rules Moves to Statehouses

If Congress Kills FCC Privacy Rules, 'Little' Would Protect Consumers From Providers

Conservative media struggles with new prominence under President Trump

President Trump Tweets Plug for Fox News Host Hours Before She Calls for Paul Ryan’s Resignation