1. Monthly archive
  2. September 2017

September 2017

EU says it’ll pass online hate speech laws if Facebook, Google, and others don’t crack down

The European Union is once again asking Facebook, Google, Twitter, and other web companies to crack down on hate speech and speech inciting violence and terrorism — but this time, it’s taking things a step further. The European Commission has issued guidelines for web companies to follow, and it’s warning the companies that, if they don’t comply, the Commission may pass legislation. And that legislation, of course, could lead to some huge fines. There are a handful of guidelines so far.

The Commission recommends that web companies appoint a dedicated point of contact, who law enforcement can contact when illegal content is discovered. It wants web companies to allow third-party “trusted flaggers” with “specific expertise in identifying illegal content” to come in and monitor potentially illegal posts. And it asks web companies to invest in technologies that can automatically detect potentially illegal posts and speech.The Commission would also like companies to do more to prevent illegal content from being reposted after it’s been taken down. And the Commission says time frames may need to be established for how quickly illegal content is taken down once it’s discovered. Web companies should issue public guidelines, the Commission says, so that users know how takedown requests are treated and what kind of content gets removed.

Democratic Party pushing a $40 billion plan to bring the best Internet access to rural America

The Democratic Party is making high-speed Internet access a new plank in its economic agenda as it tries to regain trust among middle-class Americans in the country's heartland. Democratic lawmakers are calling for $40 billion in new federal funding for infrastructure projects for rural and tribal areas and other regions, whose access to fast, affordable broadband has lagged behind that of dense, urban areas. The proposal, unveiled Sept 28, would have Internet providers compete for the right to build out the networks -- local governments and cooperatives would also be eligible for funding.

Drawing parallels to the 1930s-era push for nationwide electricity, Democrats say the plan would benefit farmers, medical patients and students in the most remote and underserved areas. The effort suggests Democrats are seeking to turn Internet access into a campaign issue in upcoming midterm races. By incorporating rural broadband into the party's overarching “Better Deal” economic plan, the “digital divide” is gaining a prominence that has rarely been seen before in the party's platform.

NCTA Appeals Net Neutrality Decision To Supreme Court

NCTA-The Internet and Television Association, which represents cable and broadband operators, has asked the Supreme Court to hear their challenge to the federal appeals court decision upholding the Federal Communications Commission's Title II reclassification of Internet service providers.

NCTA filed a cert petition with the court Sept 28, which is its request that the High Court review the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decision on the 2015 Open Internet Order. That comes as new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has proposed to roll back that classification. The petition recognizes that and advises the court that if the FCC does reclassify ISPs as Title I information services, the court should vacate its original judgment and dismiss the NCTA cert petition as moot. NCTA says the Tom Wheeler FCC's decision to reclassify ISPs under Title II was an arbitrary and capricious reversal of long-standing policy without changed circumstances that would justify it, that the FCC violated the Administrative Procedures Act by failing to give adequate notice of its shift to Title II, and that the FCC was exceeding its authority.

Phish For the Future

This report describes “Phish For The Future,” an advanced persistent spearphishing campaign targeting digital civil liberties activists at Free Press and Fight For the Future. Between July 7th and August 8th of 2017 we observed almost 70 spearphishing attempts against employees of internet freedom NGOs Fight for the Future and Free Press, all coming from the same attackers.

CenturyLink eyes partnerships for rural broadband and rolls out price-for-life

As CenturyLink rolls out new ‘price for life’ services and invests in its network to improve internet speed to nearly 700,000 people in Colorado, it’s also trying a new approach to bringing broadband to areas that lack it — public-private partnerships with local communities. The company has been negotiating partnerships with some Western slope communities and at least one on the northern Front Range to expand its fiber-optic network into areas it previously considered uneconomical to do so.

The approach resembles one used in Centennial by Mississippi-based Ting Inc. in partnership with the south-metro area suburb's municipal government. The company has been polling Centennial neighborhoods to find where the strongest demand for services exists, with the aim of announcing this fall where it will build high-speed lines to homes. CenturyLink, the main local landline phone company in most of the state, receives Federal Communication Commission subsidies for providing internet service in qualified rural areas.

AT&T Discusses APA Issues Relating to Open Internet

AT&T met with staff from the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition and Wireless Telecommunications Bureaus and the Office of General Counsel on September 25, 2017 to discuss arguments made in the open internet proceeding regarding the Administrative Procedure Act. AT&T discussed its white paper it says addresses arguments by Title II proponents that the APA imposes various substantive and procedural obstacles to restoration of a Title I regime for broadband internet access.

AT&T claimed nothing in the APA requires the FCC to identify any post-2015 change in factual circumstances as a basis for restoring a Title I regime, to issue a new notice of proposed rulemaking to specify the metrics to be used in a cost-benefit analysis of Title II regulation, or to stall this proceeding pending a new round of comments on the significance or not of informal complaints made public in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

More than 90 percent of Puerto Rico’s cell sites are out of action

With nearly half of Puerto Ricans without clean drinking water, and with the territory's electricity systems “totally shot,” according to President Donald Trump, the Caribbean island is in dire need of hurricane assistance. But that's not all: A report by the Federal Communications Commission shows that cellular service has been all but obliterated in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria. Although the area's two 911 dispatch centers are functional, as much as 91 percent of Puerto Rico's cell sites are out of action, according to the FCC. The US Virgin Islands aren't faring much better, with 66 percent of their cell sites currently down.

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