BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 2017
This week’s events https://www.benton.org/calendar/2017-08-13--P1W
COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
Who did Trump borrow his press tactics from? Joe McCarthy. - WaPo analysis
Twitter users want President Trump’s account suspended for ‘threatening violence’ against North Korea
Congressional investigators want to question Trump's longtime secretary, Rhona Graff, in Russia probe [links to Benton summary]
Op-ed: The ‘Free Speech’ Hypocrisy of Right-Wing Media [links to New York Times]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
FCC faces backlash for saying Americans might not need fast home Internet
Got a Smartphone? Then You've Got Broadband! [links to Benton summary]
Speedtest now has a monthly ranking of global internet speeds [links to Benton summary]
Rebutting Myths About UTOPIA and Fiber Networks - editorial [links to Benton summary]
TV and Internet Bundles: A Case Study - PK research [links to Benton summary]
New Hughes/EchoStar Satellite to Deliver 100 Mbps-Plus [links to Multichannel News]
NET NEUTRALITY
FCC Extends Restoring Internet Freedom Reply Deadline to Aug. 30 - public notice
Congress starts work on net neutrality — but does it understand the issue? - editorial
Congress, we need a federal net neutrality law now - The Hill op-ed
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
FCC needs to open airwaves so rural, tribal Americans have broadband access - San Jose Mercury News op-ed
Rural Carriers Unhappy With FCC Move on Mobile Broadband [links to Benton summary]
OWNERSHIP
How Sinclair, a Conservative TV Giant, Is Ridding Itself of Regulation
Chairman Pai Teeing Up Media Ownership Order
Looking at the record of the Sinclair Broadcast Group megamerger - Tom Wheeler op-ed
The FCC Is Using an Obsolete Loophole to Help a Pro-Trump Media Company Take Over Local TV [links to Vice]
Craig Moffett: Charter out of reach for all proposed suitors, incredulous analyst says [links to Fierce]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Facebook’s Onavo Gives Social-Media Firm Inside Peek at Rivals’ Users
Russian group that hacked DNC used NSA attack code in attack on hotels [links to Ars Technica]
FTC: Stick with Security: Require secure passwords and authentication [links to Federal Trade Commission]
Researchers report >4,000 apps that secretly record audio and steal logs [links to Ars Technica]
CONTENT
Squeezed out by Silicon Valley, the far right is creating its own corporate world [links to Benton summary]
Social media camp teaches skills for internet stardom [links to CNN]
Some TV Networks Take a Hit from Cutting Ad Time, Benefits Yet to Materialize [links to Wall Street Journal]
Freedom from cable isn’t free: Flood of streaming services will make cutting the cord more complicated [links to Washington Post]
EDUCATION
‘Where We Went Wrong’ Atlanta Educators Reflect on ‘Failed’ Tech Implementation [links to EdSurge]
Op-Ed: Are We Designing Girls Out of Education Technology? [links to EdSurge]
DIVERSITY
Why I Was Fired by Google - WSJ op-ed
How James Damore went from Google employee to right-wing Internet hero [links to Washington Post]
Research has established the business case for diversity [links to Wall Street Journal]
In Sundar Pichai’s letter to employees, an important piece of information about the company’s response to a memo on diversity is inaccessible. [links to Atlantic, The]
Google canceled all-hands meeting after employees were harassed online [links to Washington Post]
Anti-Google ads appear outside Google offices in response to controversial memo [links to USAToday]
I'm a woman in computer science. Let me ladysplain the Google memo to you. [links to Vox]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
With 12 Jurisdictions on Board, FirstNet Gathers Forward Momentum [links to Government Technology]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Federal government takes down data on President Trump's DC hotel [links to Benton summary]
City, ISP to Learn from No-Cost Smart Project in Small Mississippi Jurisdiction [links to Government Technology]
Chicago-Based Civic Tech Fellowship Gives Fledgling Government Data Scientists a Head Start [links to Government Technology]
POLICYMAKERS
Carr, Rosenworcel Sworn in as FCC Commissioners
Chairman Pai On Swearing In Of Brendan Carr And Jessica Rosenworcel - press release [links to Benton summary]
Commissioner Carr Swearing in Statement - press release [links to Benton summary]
Commissioner Rosenworcel on Being Sworn in as FCC Commissioner - press release [links to Benton summary]
Not Ready to Ride Into the Sunset: Chairman Wheeler and the Fight for Internet Regulation - Bloomberg op-ed
The US Digital Service is Turning Three [links to Medium]
Trump’s judge picks snub Democrats [links to Politico]
COMPANY NEWS
SoftBank’s Son holds key to secure a future for Sprint [links to Financial Times]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Mexican Supreme Court justice backs Carlos Slim's bid to overturn pro-competition law [links to Fierce]
China Targets Social-Media Giants WeChat, Weibo inCybersecurity Probe [links to Wall Street Journal]
In China, Facebook Tests the Waters With a Stealth App [links to New York Times]
Americans Should Care That Singapore Prosecutes Citizens Over Facebook Posts [links to Fast Company]
The state of journalism in a country in chaos [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
Amazon, SoftBank Battle for India, One of Last Untapped Internet Markets [links to Wall Street Journal]
John Malone and his lieutenants are quietly building a cable colossus in Europe and Latin America that could be backbone for next generation of wireless-internet service [links to Wall Street Journal]
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COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
TRUMP AND MCCARTHY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Marc Fisher]
[Commentary] Joe McCarthy loved to savage reporters, singling them out by name at his rallies in the 1950s. The Republican senator from Wisconsin knew the work of each reporter who covered his years-long campaign aimed at rooting out the communists who were supposedly seeded throughout the federal government. Then, moments after leaving the stage, McCarthy would sidle up to a reporter he’d just finished flaying and toss an arm around him: “That was just good fun.” Reporters who’ve covered Donald Trump anytime in the past four decades know that sense of whiplash all too well. President Trump and McCarthy share a populist, demagogic speaking style and a propensity to say anything to win the moment. The two men are often compared because they both aggressively hit back at their critics and tended to inflate minor slights or partisan rows into threats against the nation. But their similarities go deeper: Both won and cemented support by using, attacking and foiling the news media. Both deployed a crazy quilt of behavior to demand news coverage — and then stomped on those same organizations as disloyal liars conspiring against them. And both enjoyed extended periods of popularity even amid reporting about their erratic behavior and tendency to say things that weren’t true. In the end, McCarthy fell from grace, but journalism alone wasn’t enough to end his destructive crusade. The news reporting about McCarthy’s excesses did over time diminish his popular support, but ultimately that souring of sentiment had to filter up from the public to their elected representatives. It took years, but McCarthy was finally held to account.
benton.org/headlines/who-did-trump-borrow-his-press-tactics-joe-mccarthy | Washington Post
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TWITTER USERS WANT TRUMPS ACCOUNT SUSPENDED
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
Can a president be suspended from Twitter for threatening to attack another country? That's what some Twitter users, including actor and former Barack Obama aide Kal Penn, are demanding, after President Donald Trump tweeted Aug 11 that US “military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely.” Critics of the president's tweet say the rhetoric reflects a threat of violence against North Korea that violates Twitter's rules and terms of service.
benton.org/headlines/twitter-users-want-president-trumps-account-suspended-threatening-violence-against-north | Washington Post
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
FCC FACES BACKLASH FOR SAYING AMERICANS MIGHT NOT NEED FAST HOME INTERNET
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
American Internet users are telling the Federal Communications Commission that mobile broadband is not a full replacement for fast home Internet service. The week of Aug 7, the FCC kicked off its annual analysis of broadband deployment and signaled that it might determine that smartphone access is a proper substitute for cable or fiber Internet. In doing so, the FCC could conclude that broadband is already being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion, and thus the commission could take fewer steps to promote deployment and competition. There have been over 300 new comments filed since we wrote about this two days ago, almost universally lambasting the FCC's suggestion that Americans might not need fast home Internet service and could make do with mobile broadband only. Mobile is hindered by data caps, limits on tethering, and reliability problems that make it fall short of a wired Internet connection, people told the FCC.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-faces-backlash-saying-americans-might-not-need-fast-home-internet | Ars Technica
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NET NEUTRALITY
FCC EXTENDS NN PROPOSAL REPLY DEADLINE TO AUG 30
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public notice]
By this Order, the Federal Communications Commission extends the deadline for filing reply comments in response to the Restoring Internet Freedom Notice of Proposed Rulemaking until August 30, 2017. The Restoring Internet Freedom Notice of Proposed Rulemaking set dates for filing comments and reply comments of July 17 and August 16, 2017, respectively. While it is the policy of the Commission that “extensions shall not be routinely granted,” we find that an extension of the reply comment deadline is appropriate in this case in order to allow interested parties to respond to the record in this proceeding. We find that permitting interested parties an additional two weeks in which to file their reply comments will allow parties to provide the Commission with more thorough comments, ensuring that the Commission has a complete record on which to develop its decisions.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-extends-restoring-internet-freedom-reply-deadline-aug-30 | Federal Communications Commission | The Hill
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DOES CONGRESS UNDERSTAND NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] The proposed witness list for a September network neutrality hearing at the House Commerce Committee betrays a dismaying ignorance about why net neutrality is an issue. The committee set the hearing up as something of a clash of titans, inviting the chief executives of the largest broadband providers and the biggest Internet companies, such as Google, Facebook and Netflix. The only thing missing was a steel cage. The point of having net neutrality rules isn’t to protect multibillion-dollar Internet companies. It’s to give other companies a chance to join or topple them. The rapid pace of technological change makes even companies with enormous economies of scale vulnerable to disruption, especially when consumers can easily switch from one shiny online object to the next. Curiously, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and other Republicans have voiced less concern about the prospects of these smaller online businesses — the ones likely to inject a crucial dose of innovation into the 21st century economy — than the ability of giant, consolidating broadband providers to invest in faster, more widely available services. Better broadband connections in rural America, poverty-stricken inner cities and other underserved areas is a most worthy goal. But those connections shouldn’t come at the cost of net neutrality. If Republican lawmakers don’t like applying decades-old utility-style regulation to broadband providers, they need to work with Democrats to give the commission explicit new authority to protect the open Internet from interference. Otherwise, the fight over how to do that will be always-on too.
benton.org/headlines/congress-starts-work-net-neutrality-does-it-understand-issue | Los Angeles Times
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WE NEED A NET NEUTRALITY LAW NOW
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kim Keenan]
[Commentary] The more we debate Title II versus Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act, the more it is clear that everyone wants the same outcome: we all want an open internet. The issue is determining which path will best enable the internet to be most accessible to Americans for opportunity, innovation and entrepreneurship, with the requisite transparency and privacy protections. Let’s end this debate once and for all. A bipartisan Congress should put its differences aside to create a federal law that governs the internet. The solution to this is problem is not whether we go with Title I or Title II — the solution lies in “Title X,” a new law that will expressly set out the rules of the road for the entire internet ecosystem. The simple fact is — and I think most of us agree — that we do not want anyone to arbitrarily block or slow content on the web. We do not want discrimination in the flow of traffic on the internet. We want transparency in how our internet usage is impacted by Internet service providers (ISPs), edge providers and the government. Further, as we build out these digital networks, every community must be free of digital and infrastructure redlining. Title X would be a law that harmonizes the ecosystem that has nurtured the innovation and led to the U.S. becoming a global leader in speed, access and adoption, while ensuring strong consumer protections — across all platforms and regardless of their provider. If ever we needed an X factor, we need it now, if we are to maximize the power and the promise of the internet.
[Kim Keenan is the president and CEO of Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council]
benton.org/headlines/congress-we-need-federal-net-neutrality-law-now | Hill, The
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OWNERSHIP
FCC AND SINCLAIR
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang, Eric Lipton, Sydney Ember]
The day before President Trump’s inauguration, the top executive of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the nation’s largest owner of television stations, invited an important guest to the headquarters of the company’s Washington-area ABC affiliate. The trip was, in the parlance of the business world, a deal closer. The invitation from David D. Smith, the chairman of Sinclair, went to Ajit Pai, a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission who was about to be named the broadcast industry’s chief regulator. Smith wanted Commissioner Pai to ease up on efforts under President Barack Obama to crack down on media consolidation, which were threatening Sinclair’s ambitions to grow even bigger. Smith did not have to wait long. Within days of their meeting, Commissioner Pai was named chairman of the FCC. And during his first 10 days on the job, he relaxed a restriction on television stations’ sharing of advertising revenue and other resources — the exact topic that Pai discussed with Smith and one of his business partners, according to records examined by The New York Times. It was only the beginning. Since becoming chairman in January, Pai has undertaken a deregulatory blitz, enacting or proposing a wish list of fundamental policy changes advocated by Smith and his company. Hundreds of pages of emails and other documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal a rush of regulatory actions has been carefully aligned with Sinclair’s business objectives.
benton.org/headlines/how-sinclair-conservative-tv-giant-ridding-itself-regulation | New York Times
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PAI TEEING UP MEDIA OWNERSHIP ORDER
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Apparently, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is working on a media ownership order that would allow newspaper-broadcast and radio-TV cross-ownership. The item also could remove the prohibition on owning two of the top four-rated stations in a market, and "tweak" the eight-voices test for allowing duopolies (two stations in a market owned by a single entity). Currently newspaper-TV and radio-TV combinations cannot be co-owned in the same market, with the exception of some grandfathered combos. The duopoly restrictions currently prohibit common ownership of two TV stations in a market if it would result in fewer than eight independent outlets, which means no station co-ownership in smaller markets. Reducing the number of independent voices (stations) in a market would expand the number of markets where dual ownership would be allowed. The item is not expected to deal with the UHF discount or 39 percent national station ownership cap, apparently. While it initially looked like it could be circulated to the other commissioners for a vote at the Sept 28 meeting, that timeline would likely be pushed to at least October.
benton.org/headlines/chairman-pai-teeing-media-ownership-order | Broadcasting&Cable
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LOOKING AT THE RECORD
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Tom Wheeler]
[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission has before it the question of Sinclair Broadcast Group’s $3.9 billion proposed acquisition of Tribune Media. It is a major decision, since the resulting broadcast behemoth would hold as many as 233 local television stations reaching into more than 70 percent of American homes. Allegations about the Trump administration’s closeness to Sinclair – including Jared Kushner’s campaign deal – have been made. All I know is what I read, but the lead up to the actual decision has been significant and seems to presage approval. The statutory test for the FCC’s decision – and the only test Congress has instructed the commission to use – is whether the merger is in the “public interest.” The corporate interest of Sinclair is obvious; they may be a politically friendly company, but whether they meet the public interest test is now even being challenged by others of the same political stripe. Not to be lost in the decisionmaking is the statutory rationale behind broadcast licenses in the first place. In the belief that broadcasting is a public trust, broadcast companies have been given use of the public’s airwaves. The key to that public trust is providing news and information to the local community of license, a concept that appears in danger by the one-two punch of the FCC’s elimination of the local studio requirement and the national network designs of Sinclair. Ultimately, the decision comes down to the record in the proceeding. The richness of the record on this matter would suggest that even though the Trump FCC has bent the rules to facilitate such a merger, it is not in the public interest.
benton.org/headlines/looking-record-sinclair-broadcast-group-megamerger | Brookings
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
AIRWAVES FOR BROADBAND
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Jamie Fink]
[Commentary] A new Broadband Access Coalition of internet service providers has joined forces with consumer, schools and health care advocacy groups to petition the Federal Communications Commission to open up the airwaves for spectrum best suited to a new, superfast broadband service for the whole of America. This new approach does not rely solely on fiber, which is costly and difficult to deploy, but instead harnesses wireless broadband. This technology can be deployed at up to one tenth the cost of laying new fiber cabling to homes, with far fewer disruptions and project delays. It can also bring new superfast Wi-Fi services to areas that have no or little choice over their broadband provider. 94 percent of our internet traffic traverses Wi-Fi and home or business broadband connections – not more expensive cellular airwaves. The coalition’s petition proposes to open up new wireless spectrum for improving broadband services cost-effectively. This spectrum can provide great coverage in underserved rural areas, and can stimulate new competitive Internet Service Providers to enter the market and connect dense suburban areas. Unfortunately, the mobile industry is lobbying to secure this new spectrum band for its own exclusive use. The new wireless approach means consumers no longer have to be tethered to any physical infrastructure. Unlike challenging other traditional utilities, action doesn’t require consumers to overhaul their homes – all they have to do is make their voices heard.
[Fink is the CPO and Co-Founder of Mimosa Networks]
benton.org/headlines/fcc-needs-open-airwaves-so-rural-tribal-americans-have-broadband-access | San Jose Mercury News
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SECURITY/PRIVACY
FACEBOOK’S ONAVO
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Deepa Seetharaman, Betsy Morris]
Months before social-media company Snap publicly disclosed slowing user growth, rival Facebook already knew. Late in 2016, Facebook employees used an internal database of a sampling of mobile users’ activity to observe that usage of Snap’s flagship app, Snapchat, wasn’t growing as quickly as before. They saw that the shift occurred after Facebook’s Instagram app launched Stories, a near-replica of a Snapchat feature of the same name. Facebook’s early insight came thanks to its 2013 acquisition of Israeli mobile-analytics company Onavo, which distributes a data-security app that has been downloaded by millions of users. Data from Onavo’s app has been crucial to helping Facebook track rivals and scope out new product categories.
benton.org/headlines/facebooks-onavo-gives-social-media-firm-inside-peek-rivals-users | Wall Street Journal
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DIVERSITY
WHY I WAS FIRED BY GOOGLE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: James Demore]
[Commentary] I was fired by Google Aug 7 for a document that I wrote and circulated internally raising questions about cultural taboos and how they cloud our thinking about gender diversity at the company and in the wider tech sector. I suggested that at least some of the male-female disparity in tech could be attributed to biological differences (and, yes, I said that bias against women was a factor too). Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai declared that portions of my statement violated the company’s code of conduct and “cross the line by advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace.” My 10-page document set out what I considered a reasoned, well-researched, good-faith argument, but as I wrote, the viewpoint I was putting forward is generally suppressed at Google because of the company’s “ideological echo chamber.” My firing neatly confirms that point. How did Google, the company that hires the smartest people in the world, become so ideologically driven and intolerant of scientific debate and reasoned argument? If Google continues to ignore the very real issues raised by its diversity policies and corporate culture, it will be walking blind into the future—unable to meet the needs of its remarkable employees and sure to disappoint its billions of users.
[Damore worked as a software engineer at Google’s Mountain View campus from 2013 until this past week.]
benton.org/headlines/why-i-was-fired-google | Wall Street Journal
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POLICYMAKERS
CARR, ROSENWORCEL SWORN IN AS FCC COMMISSIONERS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission is back at full strength. Brendan Carr has been sworn in as the newest member of the Republican majority and Jessica Rosenworcel has rejoined the commission with a new, five-year term. Both Carr and Rosenworcel were confirmed by the Senate. “I congratulate Brendan and Jessica on their swearing in and welcome them to the FCC as Commissioners," said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. "I’m pleased that the Commission is once again at full capacity. They will be valuable assets to the FCC, and I look forward to collaborating with them to close the digital divide, promote innovation, protect consumers, and improve the agency’s operations.”
benton.org/headlines/carr-rosenworcel-sworn-fcc-commissioners | Broadcasting&Cable
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CHAIRMAN WHEELER AND THE FIGHT FOR INTERNET REGULATION
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: George Ford]
[Commentary] There is a long-standing tradition in American politics that when your term of office is over, you retreat quietly into the background and allow a tasteful period of time to pass before you get back into the arena. Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, however, does not appear to have bought into that tradition. Wheeler, apparently unhappy about the efforts of his successor, Ajit Pai, to undo the former chairman's signature regulatory enactment— the imposition of legacy common carrier price regulation on the internet—has continued to advocate for the survival of the regulatory structures he instituted while in office. It is difficult to see how the former chairman's internet policy is likely to make broadband services more available, better, or cheaper. Whatever the role the FCC has to play in the modern communications market, Wheeler's retrogressive regulatory approach is counterproductive. America appears now to be suffering the consequences of it. If, as the data appear to suggest, Wheeler's signature regulatory contribution has cost the nation billions in network investment, reduced employment by 100,000 telecommunications jobs per year, and slowed improvements in broadband quality, it is incumbent on his successor to press forward with the clean-up hastily. Happily, Chairman Pai appears intent on doing precisely that. The sooner the broadband industry gets to say, “good riddance” to the Wheeler FCC's Title II regulatory regime, the better.
[Ford is Chief Economist of the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal and Economic Public Policy Studies]
benton.org/headlines/not-ready-ride-sunset-chairman-wheeler-and-fight-internet-regulation | Bloomberg
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