BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017
Today's Event -- Perspectives on FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee, Federal Communications Bar Association -- https://www.benton.org/node/263176
CHARLOTTESVILLE
After Charlottesville, time to censure President Trump - USA Today editorial
FCC Commissioner O'Rielly: Trump Characterization of Protests Was Wrong
President Trump ‘Sad’ Over Removal of ‘Our Beautiful Statues’ [links to New York Times]
President Trump Abandons Plan for Council on Infrastructure [links to Bloomberg]
Rep Issa Calls for Judiciary Hearing on Hate Groups [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
A defense of Trump’s unforgivable statements on Charlottesville may be airing on your local news, owned by Sinclair [links to Media Matters for America]
How the Media Captured Charlottesville and Its Aftermath [links to New York Times]
White-Power Rock Bands Find Platform Online to Incite Hatred [links to New York Times]
Now Russia blocks neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer [links to CNN]
On late-night TV, President Trump is no laughing matter anymore [links to CNN]
Eight people charged for toppling Confederate statue in Durham as scores line up to confess [links to Washington Post]
After Backing Alt-Right in Charlottesville, ACLU Wrestles With Its Role, Considers Use of Firearms and Potential for Violence [links to New York Times]
James Murdoch, Rebuking Trump, Pledges $1 Million to Anti-Defamation League; 'There are no good Nazis' [links to New York Times]
Op-ed: Speech in America is fast, cheap and out of control [links to Los Angeles Times]
NET NEUTRALITY
Net Neutrality Advocates Fear Implications of FCC Reauthorization
The Real Reason ISPs Hate Net Neutrality Regulation - Fast Company analysis [links to Benton summary]
The FCC must enforce standards that keep the web free and open - The Hill op-ed
Daily Stormer Shows Us Hypocrisy Of Network Neutrality - Forbes op-ed
INTERNET/BROADBAND/TELECOM
AT&T Loses Challenge to Louisville 'One Touch' Ordinance
E-Rate, Other Universal-Service Funds to Be Transferred to US Treasury
FTC Approves Final Order Preserving Competition in Worldwide Market for Fibre Channel Switches [links to Federal Trade Commission]
Cox starts charging $50 extra per month for unlimited data [links to Benton summary]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
1.8 million Chicago voter records exposed online [links to CNN]
Editorial: The Justice Department Goes Fishing in DreamHost Case [links to New York Times]
Online activist group Anonymous posts what it says are private contact details for 22 GOP Congressmen [links to Benton summary]
DIVERSITY
AI Programs Are Learning to Exclude Some African-American Voices [links to Benton summary]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
T-Mobile lights up first 600 MHz site in Cheyenne, Wyoming [links to Fierce]
Big cities aren't always best when it comes to cell service [links to Axios]
CONTENT
Here’s why publishers won’t stop pivoting to video [links to Vox]
YouTube TV is rapidly expanding its reach [links to Verge, The]
JOURNALISM
This week should put the nail in the coffin for ‘both sides’ journalism - Margaret Sullivan analysis [links to Benton summary]
‘Fox & Friends’ Host Miserably Fails To Moderate Emotional Exchange On Race [links to Huffington Post]
A local newsroom aims to build trust in WA [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
TELEVISION/RADIO
Comcast says the FCC should deny the carriage complaint lodged by The Word Network and prevent it from being refiled [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
New study dives into public radio habits of millennials [links to Benton summary]
OWNERSHIP
AT&T-Time Warner Deal, an Early Trump Target, Reaches Advanced Stage
Op-Ed: Not everyone is a Facebook. Small companies are thriving even while surrounded by tech giants. [links to Vox]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Democratic Lawmakers call for independent investigation into FCC's cyberattack response
When the Government Rules by Software, Citizens are Left in the Dark
Trump White House is still holding back visitor information, watchdog group says [links to Benton summary]
POLICYMAKERS
Now you can see what President Donald Trump sees every time he opens Twitter [links to Benton summary]
John Horrigan joins TPI as Senior Fellow - press release [links to Benton summary]
FCC CIO Won't Head to National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency After All [links to Benton summary]
Lewandowski joins pro-Trump outside group [links to Hill, The]
COMPANY NEWS
Google Brand Remains Unscathed After Anti-Diversity Memo [links to Benton summary]
NEWS FROM ABROAD
The World’s Biggest Tech Companies Are No Longer Just American [links to New York Times]
Radio Is Booming in India [links to Wall Street Journal]
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CHARLOTTESVILLE
AFTER CHARLOTTESVILLE, TIME TO CENSURE TRUMP
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Several prominent Republicans took to Twitter on Aug 17 to denounce hatred and bigotry in the wake of President Donald Trump's shocking equivocations about the white-supremacist mayhem in Charlottesville (VA).
Expressing disapproval in 140 characters or fewer is insufficient when the president angrily asserts that there were some "very fine people" among the bigots waving Confederate battle flags and swastika banners; when torch-bearing marchers chanted "Jews will not replace us"; and when police said one Nazi sympathizer rammed a sports car into a crowd, killing an innocent counterprotester. This is a moment of reckoning for members of the Party of Lincoln: Do they want to stand up for American values, or do they want to keep enabling a president whose understanding of right and wrong has slipped dangerously off the rails? If congressional Republicans choose the former — and history will be watching — they should join together with Democrats to censure President Trump. Censure is not impeachment. Whether that's appropriate will likely depend on the outcome of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. But censure would constitute a forceful way of rebuking the White House and condemning the vile views of a bigoted fringe, even as those people's right to free speech and peaceful protest is protected under the First Amendment. The political chasm between Democrats and Republicans may be wider than ever. But when it comes to ideologies of hate and racism, the nation's leaders need to speak forcefully with one voice.
benton.org/headlines/after-charlottesville-time-censure-president-trump | USAToday
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O'RIELLY: TRUMP CHARACTERIZATION OF PROTESTS WAS WRONG
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Commissioner Michael O'Rielly of the Federal Communications Commission says President Donald Trump was wrong to suggest there were some fine people amongst the racist and neo-Nazi protestors who sparked violence in Charlottesville (VA), and said he was "astounded" by the President's press conference on Aug 16. "I was not available to comment previously," he said. "But I was just astounded when I got back to town to see what had happened and to see the [President's] press conference yesterday and the transcript from some of that." O'Rielly said he was troubled by the President's comment that there were fine people in both camps. "The President's point I think was wrong. I don't think there are fine people in some of these hateful groups. I don't think you can be a fine person in a hateful group. I don't think those things go together."
benton.org/headlines/fcc-commissioner-orielly-trump-characterization-protests-was-wrong | Multichannel News
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NET NEUTRALITY
NN ADVOCATES FEAR IMPLICATIONS OF FCC REAUTHORIZATION
[SOURCE: Morning Consult, AUTHOR: Mariam Baksh]
A Republican effort to reauthorize the Federal Communications Commission for the first time in 27 years has network neutrality advocates nervous as they worry that stronger congressional control over the agency would hamper its oversight of internet providers. In proposing a discussion draft at a hearing in July on the reauthorization of the agency, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), said it was necessary “to restore a culture of humility that was lacking” at the commission under its previous leadership. There have been efforts to reauthorize the agency since 1990, including one in 2016, but none have passed. Now, the reauthorization of the FCC is “at the top of the list” after lawmakers return from the August recess, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) said. The most recent move to reauthorize the FCC has net neutrality supporters suspicious. Gigi Sohn, who was counselor to then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, said the draft bill appears to be punishing the FCC for implementing the 2015 Open Internet Order.
benton.org/headlines/net-neutrality-advocates-fear-implications-fcc-reauthorization | Morning Consult
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NAACP BACKS NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Derrick Johnson]
[Commentary] The internet is fundamental to economic opportunity, social action and innovation in the modern age. It has the power to democratize information, it allows us to communicate instantly and effectively, and in recent years, it has facilitated innovation and been the catalyst for social justice movements. That’s why the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) supports a free and open internet. You may be wondering why the NAACP is weighing in on net neutrality. Throughout our 108 year history, the NAACP has always opposed discrimination and has fought for justice and equal opportunity for all. We see the fight for net neutrality as an extension of that mission. In fact, during our 108th annual convention in Baltimore, our board of directors and members unanimously passed a resolution firmly stating our position on net neutrality. With the fate of net neutrality on the line, the NAACP urges Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to respect the congressional intent behind Title II of the Telecommunications Act, to protect the free flow of information and not jeopardize it by removing high-speed broadband from the equalizing framework of Title II. ISPs should not be able to discriminate against any information, or against any groups of people, based on their profit margins or their whims. Information is power and no one should be allowed to strip that power away—and definitely not on our watch.
[Derrick Johnson is interim president and CEO of the NAACP and founder of One Voice Inc.]
benton.org/headlines/fcc-must-enforce-standards-keep-web-free-and-open | Hill, The
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FURCHTGOTT-ROTH
[SOURCE: Forbes, AUTHOR: Harold Furchtgott-Roth]
[Commentary] Private businesses can and should have the discretion to block web content they find objectionable. That discretion is, however, precisely the opposite position taken by Google and others in the network neutrality debate at the Federal Communications Commission. Under current FCC rules (47 CFR 8.5), “A person engaged in the provision of broadband Internet access service, insofar as such person is so engaged, shall not block lawful content...” If they were broadband Internet access service providers, GoDaddy, Google, and Scaleway would be prohibited by current federal law from blocking access to Daily Stormer. But none of these entities meets the FCC’s technical definition of a “broadband Internet access service provider.” Instead each of these entities has the power and the discretion to block Internet content that it dislikes. That discretion, however, is difficult to exercise.
[Harold Furchtgott-Roth is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute]
benton.org/headlines/daily-stormer-shows-us-hypocrisy-network-neutrality | Forbes
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INTERNET/BROADBAND/TELECOM
ONE TOUCH DECISION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In a victory for broadband overbuilders, a Louisville US District Court judge has ruled that a local "one touch make ready" ordinance related to access to utility poles is within the city's right to manage rights of way, granting a city request for that summary judgment and denying AT&T's request that it declare the ordinance unlawful and block enforcement. AT&T and the Louisville Metro Council had filed cross motions for summary judgment, and the city prevailed. AT&T had sought to overturn the "one touch" ordinance, which had been sought by Google Fiber, that made it easier for competitors to AT&T (BellSouth), like Google, to attach to utility poles, including rearranging existing BellSouth attachments without providing notice to AT&T beforehand unless it would cause an outage. Comcast also filed suit, citing a conflict with Federal Communications Commission pole attachment rules. But the FCC, under then-Chairman Tom Wheeler, weighed in with the court to say that the FCC's pole-attachment rules did not supersede the local "one touch" ordinance.
benton.org/headlines/att-loses-challenge-louisville-one-touch-ordinance | Broadcasting&Cable | Temporary?
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USF CHANGES
[SOURCE: Education Week, AUTHOR: Benjamin Herold]
The Universal Service Administrative Company, the nonprofit organization responsible for administering the E-rate program and other federal universal-service funds, announced August 8 that it would transfer more than $9 billion it oversees out of the private banking market and into the US Treasury. Moving the funds into the Treasury was one of the recommendations in a report on problems with the Lifeline program recently issued by the Government Accountability Office. Among the reasons GAO cited for recommending such a move: lower fees, better management practices and regulatory safeguards, and the opportunity for the federal government to use the funds as an offset for its debts. The Aug 8 announcement prompted some concerns in a K-12 sector already jittery about the direction of the FCC—and especially its plans for the E-rate—under President Donald Trump and the chairman he appointed, Ajit Pai. "While there might be some efficiencies associated with switching the E-rate program to a Treasury-managed account, we have concerns that program beneficiaries would lose the benefit of the significant interest that universal-service funds accrue in the private market," said Reg Leichty, a lawyer and lobbyist for the Consortium for School Networking, a professional association representing school technology officers. Leichty also expressed concern that the transfer of funds into the Treasury could be a step towards Congress assuming responsibility for universal-service funds, including an annual determination of how much should be allocated for initiatives such as the E-rate. "We would not want this successful program to be subject to the whims of the annual appropriations process, which has not functioned well for a significant period of time," he said.
benton.org/headlines/e-rate-other-universal-service-funds-be-transferred-us-treasury | Education Week
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OWNERSHIP
ATT-TIME WARNER UPDATE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Drew FitzGerald, Joe Flint]
Apparently, the government review of AT&T’s $85 billion takeover of Time Warner has reached an advanced stage, people close to the situation said, a significant milestone in a deal that was closely watched for signs of how the Trump administration would view large mergers. The deal’s regulatory review has hit a late-stage point where AT&T lawyers are discussing merger conditions with the Justice Department. The review process has reached that point despite a vacant seat atop the department’s antitrust division. An approval could underscore the administration’s pro-business credentials. During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump attacked the proposed deal. “AT&T is buying Time Warner, and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve in my administration because it’s too much concentration of power in the hands of too few,” he said. President Trump has since avoided talking publicly about the transaction but frequently complained on Twitter about the way CNN, a unit of Time Warner, has reported on him.
benton.org/headlines/att-time-warner-deal-early-trump-target-reaches-advanced-stage | Wall Street Journal
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
DEMS CALL FOR INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION INTO FCCS CYBERATTACK RESPONSE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Harper Neidig]
Democratic lawmakers are calling for an independent investigation into how the Federal Communications Commission responded to a reported cyberattack in May that crippled the agency’s comment filing system. Sen Brian Schatz (D-HI) and House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that cast doubt on the FCC’s version of the incident. “While the FCC and the FBI have responded to Congressional inquiries into these [distributed denial of service] attacks, they have not released any records or documentation that would allow for confirmation that an attack occurred, that it was effectively dealt with, and that the FCC has begun to institute measures to thwart future attacks and ensure the security of its systems,” the letter reads. "As a result, questions remain about the attack itself and more generally about the state of cybersecurity at the FCC — questions that warrant an independent review.”
benton.org/headlines/democratic-lawmakers-call-independent-investigation-fccs-cyberattack-response | Hill, The | read the letter
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WHEN GOVERNMENT RULES BY SOFTWARE, CITIZENS ARE LEFT IN THE DARK
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Tom Simonite]
Governments increasingly rely on mathematical formulas to inform decisions about criminal justice, child welfare, education, and other arenas. Yet it’s often hard or impossible for citizens to see how these algorithms work and are being used. San Francisco Superior Court began using PSA in 2016, after getting the tool for free from the John and Laura Arnold Foundation, a Texas nonprofit that works on criminal-justice reform. The initiative was intended to prevent poor people unable to afford bail from needlessly lingering in jail. But a memorandum of understanding with the foundation bars the court from disclosing “any information about the Tool, including any information about the development, operation and presentation of the Tool.” Many governments said they had no relevant records about the programs. Taken at face value, that would mean those agencies did not document how they chose, or how they use, the tools. Others said contracts prevented them from releasing some or all information. Goodman says this shows governments are neglecting to stand up for their own, and citizens’, interests. “You can really see who held the pen in the contracting process,” she says. The Arnold Foundation says it no longer requires confidentiality from municipal officials, and is happy to amend existing agreements, to allow officials to disclose information about PSA and how they use it. But a representative of San Francisco Superior Court said its contract with the foundation has not been updated to remove the gag clause.
benton.org/headlines/when-government-rules-software-citizens-are-left-dark | Wired
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