July 2017

COMMUNICATIONS AND DEMOCRACY

BANNON HAS A SHADOW PRESS OFFICE
[SOURCE: Center for Public Integrity, AUTHOR: Christina Wilkie]
In an arrangement prominent ethics experts say is without precedent and potentially illegal, the White House is referring questions for senior presidential adviser Stephen K. Bannon to an outside public relations agent whose firm says she is working for free. Alexandra Preate, a 46-year-old New Yorker and veteran Republican media strategist, describes herself as Bannon's "personal spokesperson." But she also collaborates with other White House officials on public messaging and responses to press inquiries. It was Preate who responded when the Center for Public Integrity recently asked the White House Press Office questions about Bannon. Preate, however, is not employed by President Donald Trump’s administration or paid by the federal government. The unorthodox setup means Bannon, Trump's chief strategist, is potentially violating the Antideficiency Act, which provides that federal employees "may not accept voluntary services for [the] government or employ personal services exceeding that authorized by law." The revelations about Preate's work are the latest controversy to embroil the White House Communications Office, which is reeling from a series of high-profile resignations, firings and leadership changes in recent days.
benton.org/headlines/steve-bannon-has-shadow-press-office-it-may-violate-federal-law | Center for Public Integrity
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TRUMP IS AT WAR WITH THE PRESS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Kyle Pope]
[Commentary] For more than a year now, Donald Trump — first as a candidate, then as president — has made a war against the press a central plank of his public persona. He has singled out individual journalists for ad hominem attacks and declared entire news organizations to be working against America’s interests. The lack of trust that now exists between the press and the public didn’t start with Trump, though he certainly has done his part to exacerbate it. It has been building slowly for decades, to the point that the conversation between the media and its readers is broken. Many Americans no longer think the press listens to or understands them, and they long ago started tuning us out. We became part of the establishment that had turned its back on them. These are our failings, and they need to be fixed.Reporters should be focused on the president’s team and his policies, examining his remaking of American government. These are the stories that resonate with Americans, not his views about what’s airing on MSNBC or CNN some Monday morning. We are already seeing some excellent reporting in this vein. We need more.
[Kyle Pope is editor and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review.]
benton.org/headlines/trump-war-press-and-its-time-press-stop-helping-him | Washington Post
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WH TRANSPARENCY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Philip Bump]
[Commentary] President Donald Trump and his loyalists potentially find the release of nearly any information about what they’re doing to be offensive, no matter how mundane. Often this is couched in the use of the word “leaks.” There are real leaks in the White House, and information has been provided to the news media that is unusually sensitive in nature. There are also more anodyne leaks of the palace-intrigue variety. And then there are things that are called leaks but which aren’t. President Trump and his core allies want you to know only what President Trump wants you to know. Everything else is leaks or “fake news.” Or, somehow, both.
benton.org/headlines/white-house-isnt-war-leaks-its-war-basic-transparency | Washington Post
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A 21ST-CENTURY TOWN HALL?
[SOURCE: New America, AUTHOR: David Tannenwald, Hollie Russon-Gilman]
This report introduces students to the field of civic technology and the possibility that it could help to amplify citizen engagement. Rather than providing an exhaustive academic study of this topic or an in-depth exploration of a single organization, the case begins with a broad overview of the field (and several of the debates affecting it) and then contains a series of vignettes about three organizations in this space: the City of Chicago, Neighborly, and the City of Boston’s Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics. It aims to stimulate discussion around three core questions. First, what is civic technology, and what are some of the core forces, tensions, and debates shaping the field? Second, what are some of the most important considerations for civic technology organizations that are aiming to engage citizens in the democratic process and governmental decision-making? Third, where does civic technology—and, along with it, our conceptions of citizenship and engagement—go from here?
benton.org/headlines/21st-century-town-hall | New America
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY

STEVE BANNON WANTS FACEBOOK AND GOOGLE REGULATED LIKE UTILITIES
[SOURCE: The Intercept, AUTHOR: Ryan Grim]
Apparently, tech companies like Facebook and Google that have become essential elements of 21st-century life should be regulated as utilities, top White House adviser Steve Bannon has argued. Bannon’s push for treating essential tech platforms as utilities pre-dates the Democratic “Better Deal”. “Better Deal,” the branding for Democrats’ political objectives, included planks aimed at breaking up monopolies in a variety of sectors, suggesting that anti-monopoly politics is on the rise on both the right and left. Bannon’s basic argument, as he has outlined it to people who’ve spoken with him, is that Facebook and Google have become effectively a necessity in contemporary life. Indeed, there may be something about an online social network or a search engine that lends itself to becoming a natural monopoly, much like a cable company, a water and sewer system, or a railroad.
benton.org/headlines/steve-bannon-wants-facebook-and-google-regulated-utilities | Intercept, The
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WHEELER SAYS NN REPEAL WILL TURN THE INTERNET INTO CABLE
[SOURCE: InsideSources, AUTHOR: Giuseppe Macri]
Tom Wheeler, former chief of the Federal Communications Commission under President Barack Obama, warned the Trump Administration’s plan to repeal network neutrality rules could make accessing the internet like buying a cable TV package. Wheeler, who led the passage of the embattled rules at the FCC in 2015, said the new Republican plan to undo them would let broadband providers like Comcast and Verizon carve up internet access like premium cable channels. “Do you want your access to the internet to look like your cable service?” Wheeler told a crowd in Baltimore. “Stop and think about it — cable operators pick and choose what channels you get. Cable operators pick and choose who they let on. Cable operators turn to you and say, ‘Oh you want that? That’s going to be a little bit more.'” “That is the difference between a closed network and an open network,” he said. “Net neutrality without Title II is net nothing.”
benton.org/headlines/former-fcc-chairman-wheeler-says-net-neutrality-repeal-will-turn-internet-cable | InsideSources
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ENGINEERS AND TECH EXPERTS TELL FCC ITS WRONG ON NN
[SOURCE: TechDirt, AUTHOR: Karl Bode]
One of the more notable recent filings from the Open Internet docket comes from a collection of engineers, technologists, professors, current and former Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and ICANN staffers, and numerous network architects and system engineers. Collectively, these experts argue that the Federal Communications Commission is not only making a mistake in killing net neutrality protections, it doesn't appear to understand how the internet actually works: "Based on certain questions the FCC asks in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), we are concerned that the FCC (or at least Chairman Pai and the authors of the NPRM) appears to lack a fundamental understanding of what the Internet's technology promises to provide, how the Internet actually works, which entities in the Internet ecosystem provide which services, and what the similarities and differences are between the Internet and other telecommunications systems the FCC regulates as telecommunications services." The engineers single out numerous technical mistakes in the FCC's Notice for Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), including incorrect assessments and conflation of the differences between ISPs and edge providers (Netflix, content companies), incorrect claims in the NPRM about how the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 functions, how firewalls work, and more. But the engineers and architects also warn, as countless others have before them, that not having meaningful rules in place will result in an "balkanized" internet that will be nothing like the one that drove decades of innovation.
benton.org/headlines/over-190-engineers-and-tech-experts-tell-fcc-its-dead-wrong-net-neutrality | TechDirt | read the filing
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MORE INTERNET/BROADBAND

MICROSOFT IS HUSTLING US WITH “WHITE SPACES”
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Susan Crawford]
[Commentary] Microsoft recently made a Very Serious Announcement about deploying unused television airwaves to solve the digital divide in America. News outlets ate it up. Here's what's really going on: Microsoft is aiming to be the soup-to-nuts provider of Internet of Things devices, software, and consulting services to zillions of local and national governments around the world. Microsoft doesn't want to have to rely on existing mobile data carriers to execute those plans. Why? Because the carriers will want a pound of flesh—a percentage—in exchange for shipping data generated by Microsoft devices from Point A to Point B. These costs can become very substantial over zillions of devices in zillions of cities. The carriers have power because, in many places, they are the only ones allowed to use airwave frequencies—spectrum—under licenses from local governments for which they have paid hundreds of millions of dollars. To eliminate that bottleneck, it will be good to have unlicensed spectrum available everywhere, and cheap chipsets and devices available that can opportunistically take advantage of that spectrum.
[Susan Crawford is the John A. Reilly Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.]
benton.org/headlines/microsoft-hustling-us-white-spaces | Wired
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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE FAILS?
[SOURCE: Ford Foundation, AUTHOR: Michael Brennan]
The infrastructure we rely on every day to make sure our digital clocks are in sync or to protect our credit card information when we shop online is often maintained by a single volunteer. This means that often, just one person makes sure that the essential software code that powers so many of the products and services we use every day runs smoothly.This is because the same free software code is used for the critical components in many different kinds of software: No one person “owns” it. This enables innovation, because everyone can build off what has come before, and makes it possible for more technology to be created at a lower cost, because no one needs to start from scratch. But this free, public code—which we refer to as open source software—needs regular upkeep and maintenance, just as physical infrastructure does, and because it doesn’t belong to any one person or party, it is no one person’s job to maintain it. Without maintenance, we see the digital equivalent of a crumbling road or a collapsing bridge. Some people call this phenomenon a “tragedy of the commons.”
http://www.fordfoundation.org/ideas/equals-change-blog/posts/every-day-w...
Roads and Bridges: The Unseen Labor Behind Our Digital Infrastructure (report)
benton.org/headlines/every-day-we-rely-digital-infrastructure-built-volunteers-what-happens-when-it-fails | Ford Foundation | report
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CABLE FIRMS SUE OVER WV BROADBAND LAW
[SOURCE: Charleston Gazette-Mail, AUTHOR: Eric Eyre]
West Virginia’s largest cable companies have filed a lawsuit against Gov Jim Justice (D-WV) and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, alleging that a new state law could ultimately cause internet service outages at customers’ homes and businesses. The state Cable Telecommunications Association is challenging new rules designed to make it easier for startup internet firms to secure access to utility poles. The cable companies don’t want competitors meddling with their equipment housed atop the poles. About 400,000 West Virginians have telephone and internet service through cable providers. “There could be significant damage to equipment and to customer relationships and outages and things of that sort when you have circumstances where there are no limitations at all on competitors moving other competitors’ equipment around,” said Mark Polen, spokesman for the cable group. The companies say the new law allows the smaller internet companies to hire private contractors and rearrange existing equipment atop utility poles without permission. Federal rules already dictate how telecommunication companies share and access equipment on utility poles, according to the lawsuit. The new state law conflicts with longstanding federal law, the cable group alleges. The lawsuit characterizes the state law as “invalid” and “unconstitutional.”
benton.org/headlines/cable-firms-sue-over-wv-broadband-law-say-co-ops-could-cause-outages | Charleston Gazette-Mail
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ACCESSIBILITY

PAI REMARKS AT TELECOM FOR DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING CONFERENCE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai]
The Federal Communications Commission is determined to be Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing’s (TDI) partner and meet this moment. I’d like to walk through the Commission’s multi-part strategy for improving the lives of Americans with disabilities through communications technology. The first part of this strategy is pretty straightforward: to uphold our legal obligations to promote accessibility and to advance new rules when appropriate. Part two of our accessibility strategy is encouraging the private sector to make accessibility a priority, rather than an afterthought. A third way that the FCC aims to promote accessibility is to lead by example. We are seeing real success with our direct video calling program—also called DVC. Bottom line: When it comes to accessibility, the FCC is practicing what we preach. The fourth and final piece of our accessibility agenda might not strike you at first as relevant to accessibility. But our work to bridge the digital divide is critically important to Americans with disabilities. We are aiming to connect every American with digital opportunity regardless of who they are or where they live.
benton.org/headlines/remarks-fcc-chairman-ajit-pai-telecommunications-deaf-and-hard-hearing-inc-biennial | Federal Communications Commission
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TELEVISION/RADIO

PRICE, HUFFMAN INTRODUCE LOCAL AND INDY TV PROTECTION ACT
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee, AUTHOR: Press release]
New legislation introduced by Reps David Price (D-NC) and Jared Huffman (D-CA) would protect local television markets across the country from corporate consolidation by permanently ending the so-called “UHF discount,” an obsolete Federal Communications Commission loophole that the Trump Administration wants to revive to benefit right-wing media conglomerates. If the UHF discount is allowed to go into effect, a series of pending corporate mergers, including one with the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media, would dramatically reduce competition among local TV stations across the country. Specifically, the Local and Independent Television Protection Act:
Requires the FCC to act within 90 days to permanently end the UHF discount; and
Grandfathers any stations owned prior to September 26, 2013, which is commensurate with the FCC’s previous efforts to end the UHF discount.
The legislation is cosponsored by Reps. Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Jerry McNerney (D-CA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Jackie Speier (D-CA).
benton.org/headlines/reps-price-huffman-introduce-local-and-independent-television-protection-act | House of Representatives Commerce Committee
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SPECTRUM

COMMERCIAL SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: Sec Wilbur Ross]
This report provides details on two separate spectrum auctions conducted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that included: 1) the 1710 to 1755 megahertz (MHz) band, and 2) the 1695-1710 MHz and 1755-1780 MHz bands. This report covers the period from January through December 2016.
benton.org/headlines/commercial-spectrum-enhancement-act-annual-progress-report-2016 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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AGENDA

CONFIRMATION VOTE SCHEDULED
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Harper Neidig]
On August 2, the Commerce Committee will hold confirmation votes for three nominees to the Federal Communications Commission. panel will vote on former Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr, a Republican. And Ajit Pai, the current Republican FCC chairman, will be considered for another five-year term. The committee will also be voting on the confirmation of David Redl, a GOP Hill staffer who President Trump nominated to lead the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
benton.org/headlines/senate-panel-vote-fcc-nominees-august-2 | Hill, The
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POLICYMAKERS

SCARAMUCCI INTERVIEW
[SOURCE: The New Yorker, AUTHOR: Ryan Lizza]
On July 26, I received a phone call from Anthony Scaramucci, the new White House communications director. He wasn’t happy. Earlier in the night, I’d tweeted, citing a “senior White House official,” that Scaramucci was having dinner at the White House with President Trump, the First Lady, Sean Hannity, and the former Fox News executive Bill Shine. It was an interesting group, and raised some questions. Was Trump getting strategic advice from Hannity? Was he considering hiring Shine? But Scaramucci had his own question—for me. “Who leaked that to you?” he asked. I said I couldn’t give him that information. He responded by threatening to fire the entire White House communications staff. “What I’m going to do is, I will eliminate everyone in the comms team and we’ll start over,” he said. I laughed, not sure if he really believed that such a threat would convince a journalist to reveal a source. He continued to press me and complain about the staff he’s inherited in his new job. “I ask these guys not to leak anything and they can’t help themselves,” he said. “You’re an American citizen, this is a major catastrophe for the American country. So I’m asking you as an American patriot to give me a sense of who leaked it.” In Scaramucci’s view, the fact that word of the dinner had reached a reporter was evidence that his rivals in the West Wing, particularly Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, were plotting against him.
benton.org/headlines/anthony-scaramucci-called-me-unload-about-white-house-leakers-reince-priebus-and-steve | New Yorker, The | The Hill | Washington Post
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NEW FCC NOMINATIONS WRINKLE
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Li Zhou]
The Senate Commerce Committee has a vote on Federal Communications Commission nominations planned for Aug. 2 that will include two Republicans (FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and General Counsel Brendan Carr) and one Democrat (former Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel). Also on deck: National Telecommunications and Information Administrator nominee David Redl. But Democrats may want a GOP commitment to set up smooth confirmation for the next Democratic FCC opening, whenever current-FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn departs. In multiple scenarios - such as not giving Carr the second full term he’s been nominated for or only confirming Carr and Rosenworcel now - "Commissioner Clyburn's replacement could be paired with Carr or Pai," a Democratic aide said, adding that Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) want to confirm Pai, Carr and Rosenworcel together. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) confirmed interest in securing GOP commitment on the next Democratic commissioner confirmation, although he said he's heard nothing from Commissioner Clyburn on when she may leave. "I want to just make sure that there's a guarantee, you know, that the next Democrat is in, so we have to work out some kind of formula to guarantee that is a part of whatever" nominations plans are made, said Sen. Markey. Chairman Thune said there's "been no formal engagement" with him yet.
benton.org/headlines/new-fcc-nominations-wrinkle | Politico
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

HOW FACEBOOKS FREE INTERNET SERVICE HAS FAILED ITS USERS
[SOURCE: The Guardian, AUTHOR: Olivia Solon]
Free Basics, Facebook’s free, limited internet service for developing markets, is neither serving local needs nor achieving its objective of bringing people online for the first time. That’s according to research by citizen media and activist group Global Voices, which examined the Free Basics service in six different markets – Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan and Philippines – to see whether it was serving the intended audience. Free Basics is a Facebook-developed mobile app that gives users access to a small selection of data-light websites and services. The websites are stripped of photos and videos and can be browsed without paying for mobile data. The Global Voices report identifies a number of weaknesses in the service, including not adequately serving the linguistic needs of local populations; featuring a glut of third-party services from private companies in the US; harvesting huge amounts of metadata about users and violating the principles of net neutrality.
benton.org/headlines/its-digital-colonialism-how-facebooks-free-internet-service-has-failed-its-users | Guardian, The | read the report
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July 2017

Thomas Wheeler, Top Lawyer For Civil Rights At Justice Department, Leaving After Roughly 6 Months

July 24-28, 2017

Weekly Digest

We All Agree on Net Neutrality, Except When We Don’t

July 28, 2017 (The Mooch Being the Mooch)

With Trump’s ‘Green Light,’ Scaramucci Declares Total War on ‘Paranoid Schizophrenic’ Reince Priebus

Anthony v. Reince

Why Trump’s White House Won’t Stop Leaking

President Trump says that he surrounds himself with “the best people”—but too often, that means people like himself

Boy Scouts Apologize Over President Trump’s Remarks at Jamboree

Radio made Dan Patrick (no, not the ESPN guy) powerful in Texas. And it's helping him stay that way.

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