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  2. August 2017

August 2017

Network Neutrality Backers Seek Merger Info

Trade group INCOMPAS wants the Federal Communications Commission to include redacted materials from recent mergers involving Comcast, Charter and AT&T in its review of Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal to roll back the agency’s network neutrality rules. The group, which counts Netflix and Sprint among its members, said economic studies, internal company presentations and other data submitted as part of the commission’s merger review process shows that internet service providers have incentive to curb competition. The information would be vital in a court review of final rules, said INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering. “The FCC has taken a position that the ISPs do not have the means and the motive to act against online competitors,” Pickering said. “And if that’s the question, you have to look at all the evidence. And a refusal to consider the evidence, I think any court would find unreasonable.”

INCOMPAS noted that its request would not make the information available to the general public. Instead, only certain parties would be able to see the documents — the same confidentiality the FCC used in the merger reviews. Comcast, Charter and AT&T opposed the request, arguing that sharing the information in the net neutrality proceeding risks disclosure of sensitive documents. Charter said the “unprecedented request is a harmful fishing expedition, which, if granted, would violate federal law.” Pickering finds the companies’ opposition suspect: “Their nuclear reaction for simply asking for the evidence to be included continues to beg the question, ‘What do they have to hide?’” INCOMPAS asks the FCC to act by July 31. Agency representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

Companies brace for European privacy rules

US companies are largely unprepared for what's about to hit them when sweeping new European Union data laws take effect in 2018. The regulation — the General Data Protection Regulation (or GDPR) — is intended to give users more control of how their personal data is used and streamline data processes across the EU. Companies that fail to comply with the complex law will face steep fines of up to 4% of their global annual revenue.

Europe has by far taken the most aggressive regulatory stance on protecting consumer privacy and will in many ways be a litmus test for regulating the currency of the data economy. It impacts a huge number of businesses from advertisers to e-commerce platforms whose data flows through EU countries. That means everyone from Google to your neighbor who sells shoes on eBay could be affected.

White House defends president’s effort to help write Trump Jr. statement

The White House defended President Donald Trump’s decision to help write his eldest son’s statement about his election-year meeting with a Russian lawyer, calling it “something any father would do.” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders disputed the fact that the statement to The New York Times contained inaccurate or misleading information, telling reporters it “is true.”

Her comments appeared to largely confirm a Washington Post report that the president was personally involved in drafting the statement, which could open him up to further legal scrutiny. But she appeared to deny that he dictated the statement to an assistant. “He certainly didn’t dictate. But he weighed in, offered suggestions like any father would do,” she said. Sanders criticized Democrats and the news media for being obsessed with the investigation into whether Trump associates colluded with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election.

White House denies Fox-Trump connection on Rich story

The White House denied that Fox News gave President Trump prior review of a story that raised conspiracy theories about the death of a Democratic National Committee staffer. “The president had no knowledge of the story and its completely untrue that he or the White House [had] involvement in the story,” said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “Beyond that, this is ongoing litigation and I’d refer you to the actual parties involved, which are not the White House.”

Sanders also downplayed the revelation that outgoing White House press secretary Sean Spicer met with a Fox News contributor and a GOP donor on the story at the White House ahead of its publication. She framed that meeting as part of the press secretary's official duties in meeting with reporters on potential stories. “It doesn’t bother me that the press secretary would take a meeting with someone involved in the media about a story,” she said. “You guys come to us with stories all day. I’ve taken meetings with the majority of people in this room. I don’t always know the nature of the story of which you are coming to talk to me about, but it’s my job to talk to you.”

National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Department of Commerce
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-08-01/pdf/2017-16154.pdf

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will hold a Technical Assistance Workshop to share information and help communities build their broadband capacity and utilization. The workshop will present in-depth sessions on planning and funding broadband infrastructure projects. The session on planning will explore effective business and partnership models. The session on funding will explore available funding options and models, including federal funding.

The Charleston workshop will feature subject matter experts from NTIA’s BroadbandUSA broadband program.

The first session will explore key elements required for planning successful broadband projects. The second session will explore funding models, including federal programs that fund broadband infrastructure projects.


Behind Fox News' Baseless Seth Rich Story: The Untold Tale

The Fox News Channel and a wealthy supporter of President Trump worked in concert under the watchful eye of the White House to concoct a story about the death of a young Democratic National Committee aide, according to a lawsuit filed Aug 1. The explosive claim is part of the lawsuit filed against Fox News by Rod Wheeler, a longtime paid commentator for the news network. Wheeler alleges Fox News and the Trump supporter intended to deflect public attention from growing concern about the administration's ties to the Russian government. His suit charges that a Fox News reporter created quotations out of thin air and attributed them to him to propel her story.

The lawsuit focuses particular attention on the role of the Trump supporter, Ed Butowsky, in weaving the story. He is a wealthy Dallas investor and unpaid Fox commentator on financial matters who has emerged as a reliable Republican surrogate in recent years. Butowsky offered to pay for Wheeler to investigate the death of the DNC aide, Seth Rich, on behalf of his grieving parents in Omaha (NE). On April 20, a month before the story ran, Butowsky and Wheeler — the investor and the investigator — met at the White House with then-press secretary Sean Spicer to brief him on what they were uncovering. The first page of the lawsuit quotes a voicemail and text from Butowsky boasting that President Trump himself had reviewed drafts of the Fox News story just before it went to air and was published.

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