press release

The House Commerce Committee’s vote to recommend the DOTCOM Act to the full House for approval has the potential of slowing the transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) function to the global multistakeholder community.

The i2Coalition believes that this transition, if given the opportunity to be handled properly by the multistakeholder community unencumbered by US political gamesmanship, will lead to a more vibrant global economy and a stronger Internet. The DOTCOM Act is harmful to the future of the Internet and the economy that relies on Internet growth.

The IANA transition process should be allowed to move forward without delay, and this decision is clearly a disappointment. The global Internet governance process stands at a critical point. Though the IANA functions are little more than an administrative task, they have become a core symbol behind an idea that the US government exerts undue influence over Internet decision-making worldwide.

The global perception of the NSA’s data collection programs has impeded global adoption of the cloud, with businesses worldwide making decisions based on where data is located instead of on a technical or operational basis. The transition of the IANA function to the multistakeholder community has the potential to disarm much of the global criticism levied against the way the Internet is currently governed, which is a positive thing for an economy that relies upon the free and open Internet that multistakeholderism enables.

Stubbornly holding on to the IANA functions serves little purpose for the United States, and has the potential of doing real harm to the already badly bruised US Internet image. By allowing the transition process to proceed as scheduled, Congress can disarm many of the critics who are angling for a replacement of the multistakeholder approach to Internet governance. Abandoning or significantly weakening the multistakeholder model of Internet governance can lead to a fractured global Internet, reduced economic growth, and a threat to free speech throughout much of the world.

The Administration is taking action to modernize the federal infrastructure permitting process, cutting through red tape and getting more timely decisions, while protecting our communities and the environment.

For projects that are approved, this means states, local and tribal governments, and private developers will be able to start construction sooner, create jobs earlier, and fix our nation’s infrastructure faster.

The Administration is releasing a comprehensive plan to accelerate and expand permitting reform government-wide. The Administration’s plan adopts the best practices learned from the initial focus projects and calls on federal agencies to apply those practices going forward. By turning best practice into common practice, we can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal permitting and review of all major infrastructure projects. These reforms include:

• Improving Interagency Coordination to Increase Decision Making Speed.
• Synchronizing Reviews.
• Driving Accountability and Transparency through the Online Permitting Dashboard.
• Launching an Interagency Permitting Center to Institutionalize Reform.

This effort to modernize infrastructure permitting is part of the Administration’s broader commitment to increase investment in US infrastructure, as well as the President’s Management Agenda, which is dedicated to driving efficiency within government, spurring economic growth, and unlocking the full potential of the federal workforce. The Administration has also recently released the GROW AMERICA Act, a four-year, $302 billion transportation plan to modernize our nation’s roads, bridges, and public transportation, spur economic growth, and allow states and localities to make sound multi-year investments. The GROW AMERICA Act includes reforms to further accelerate the approval and delivery of projects. Together these efforts will help create the transportation infrastructure we need for the 21st century.

The Institute for Information Policy (IIP) of Pennsylvania State University and the Federal Communications Commission are co-sponsoring a by-invitation workshop on the Future of Broadband Regulation, to be held at FCC headquarters on May 29-30, 2014.

IIP organized the workshop and selected (via a public Call for Papers) the academic and government experts who will present research “work-in-progress” to their fellow participants for discussion and critique. Revised and completed papers may be submitted for publication to the Journal of Information Policy.

The workshop will open with a public plenary session in the FCC Meeting Room from 8:45-10:00 AM on May 29. Senior FCC management and other representatives will review some of the policy challenges that the transition to a ubiquitous IP-based broadband network poses.

The workshop will afford FCC staff an opportunity to learn about current academic research and to highlight for the academics issues and questions that might be suitable for further research. The workshop paper presentations will be made in a small-group format.

US Senate Republican leaders, including Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Whip John Cornyn (R-TX), Conference Chairman and Ranking Member of the Commerce Committee John Thune (R-SD), Policy Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY), Conference Vice Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO), and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Jerry Moran (R-KS), sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler urging the Commission to abandon any efforts to impose so-called “net neutrality” regulations on the Internet.

In their letter, the senators underscore the “politically corrosive” nature of the FCC’s contemplated regulations, and urge the FCC to reject calls to impose Title II regulations on “the nation’s competitive and dynamic broadband economy.” The letter highlights the danger to the Internet of treating it as a government-regulated utility. The Senate leaders say, “Rather than attempting further legal contortions to encumber modern communications networks with last century’s rules, the Commission should work with the Congress to develop clear statutory authority and direction for the agency so that it can be a productive regulator for the 21st century marketplace.”

House Commerce Committee Republican leaders wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler regarding the commission’s consideration of reclassifying broadband Internet as a common carrier telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act.

Full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Vice Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), and Vice Chairman Bob Latta (R-OH) expressed their “grave concern” regarding the potential harm of such an ill-advised and unnecessary change.

The Federal Communications Commission announced the appointment of Kim Hart as Press Secretary to Chairman Tom Wheeler.

Hart will serve as Commission Spokeswoman in FCC’s Office of Media Relations, led by Communications Director Shannon Gilson.

Kim Hart previously served as Director of Corporate Communications at Neustar, a Virginia-based information services and analytics company. Before joining Neustar in 2012, Kim was Politico’s Senior Technology Reporter, focusing on policy issues affecting the technology and telecommunications industries.

At Politico, she helped launch the Morning Tech daily newsletter and Politico Pro, the publication’s subscription news service. Previously, she launched and wrote the Hillicon Valley blog for The Hill and covered technology as a business reporter and columnist The Washington Post.

She studied journalism and public relations at the University of Florida and received a master’s degree in public affairs journalism from the University of Maryland. She has taught journalism classes at Georgetown University and George Washington University.

In 2010, as part of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded more than $450 million in matching grants to establish or upgrade public computer centers and initiate innovative broadband adoption programs in underserved communities.

Four years later, that investment has resulted in more than 3,000 new or improved public computer centers and produced 600,000 new household broadband subscriptions. These grants complement the $3.4 billion in infrastructure investments from NTIA that have enabled BTOP grant recipients to connect more than 21,000 community anchor institutions with ultra-fast broadband, including 2,400 medical and health care providers, more than 1,300 libraries, and 8,000 K-12 schools.

BTOP has provided a significant down-payment on President Obama’s ConnectED initiative to link all schools to high-speed Internet by 2018. Schools, libraries, and health care providers were pivotal in making this rapid expansion possible. These anchor institutions already had close ties to their communities, recognized the enormous benefits high-speed Internet affords, and possessed skilled staff to organize classes and broker learning resources.

At the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition annual conference, we released four more of the 15 case studies that detail the impact of the BTOP public computer center and sustainable broadband adoption awards. The case studies were conducted as part of an evaluation contract by independent research firm ASR Analytics. With this release a total of seven studies are available to the public. The institutions profiled in the case studies include community colleges, a historically black university, and two nonprofit organizations that work with K-12 schools, first responders, and health care providers.

The following is a snapshot of the projects featured in the reports and information on the impact they are having in their communities. All 15 ASR Analytics case studies report on five key impact areas of broadband adoption and use: Workforce and Economic Development; Education and Training; Healthcare; Quality of Life/Civic Engagement; and Digital Literacy.

The board of directors of National Public Radio has selected Jarl Mohn to become its next president and chief executive officer.

Mohn is currently chairman of Southern California Public Radio (SCPR) and has had a life-long career in media, including serving as founding president and chief executive officer of Liberty Digital and president and chief executive officer of E! Entertainment Television.

Mohn, 62 years old, will begin his term at NPR in July and will succeed Paul Haaga Jr, who has been acting chief executive officer and president since 2013. In addition to his service to public radio, Mohn was the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Digital, a public company that invested in interactive television, cable networks and internet enterprises. Prior to Liberty Digital, he created E! Entertainment Television and served as President and Chief Executive Officer from January 1990 to December 1998.

He was Executive Vice President and General Manager of MTV and VH1, from 1986 to 1990. He began his career as a disc jockey in 1967 and was on the air on WNBC-AM in New York in the 1970s. Most recently he has divided him time between being a corporate director and advisor to a number of media companies, making direct early stage angel and seed investments in digital media/technology ventures. He and his wife Pamela created The Mohn Family Foundation in 2000. Mohn attended Temple University, where he studied Mathematics and Philosophy.

The House Commerce Committee approved HR 4342, the Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters Act, to require the Obama Administration to pause on any changes regarding the future of the Internet and allow for an independent evaluation.

The legislation, authored by Rep John Shimkus (R-IL), was drafted in response to the administration’s requests that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) explore ways to remove the United States from its oversight role of the Domain Name System (DNS).

HR 4342 would direct the Government Accountability Office to study the proposed changes and present a non-partisan evaluation before the administration may take action to modify the US Role in the DNS.

“The DOTCOM Act is a question of domestic US policy and ensures that NTIA pause to fully consider the implications and consequences of any proposal they are presented with,” said full Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI).

“The DOTCOM Act is a smart, responsible, and necessary next step in our mission to keep the future of the Internet free, open and the thriving engine of economic activity and social connectivity that it has become,” said full committee Vice Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). “America cannot surrender leadership of the Internet to a multistakeholder model that could fall into the hands of oppressive foreign governments. The DOTCOM Act simply requires that an independent study of the consequences be undertaken before the administration moves forward. There are no do-overs in this fight to protect the future of the Internet. The stakes could not be higher.”

The committee also approved HR 4572, the STELA Reauthorization Act of 2014, bipartisan legislation that will ensure that 1.5 million subscribers in hard-to-reach areas continue to receive vital broadcast programming. Authored by Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), full committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo (D-CA), the legislation will reauthorize STELA for a period of five years and make a number of targeted reforms to better meet the needs of today’s video marketplace.

Snapchat, the developer of a popular mobile messaging app, has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers with promises about the disappearing nature of messages sent through the service.

The FTC case also alleged that the company deceived consumers over the amount of personal data it collected and the security measures taken to protect that data from misuse and unauthorized disclosure. In fact, the case alleges, Snapchat’s failure to secure its Find Friends feature resulted in a security breach that enabled attackers to compile a database of 4.6 million Snapchat usernames and phone numbers.

According to the FTC’s complaint, Snapchat made multiple misrepresentations to consumers about its product that stood in stark contrast to how the app actually worked. “If a company markets privacy and security as key selling points in pitching its service to consumers, it is critical that it keep those promises,” said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. “Any company that makes misrepresentations to consumers about its privacy and security practices risks FTC action.”

Touting the “ephemeral” nature of “snaps,” the term used to describe photo and video messages sent via the app, Snapchat marketed the app’s central feature as the user’s ability to send snaps that would “disappear forever" after the sender-designated time period expired. Despite Snapchat’s claims, the complaint describes several simple ways that recipients could save snaps indefinitely.

The complaint also alleges that Snapchat collected iOS users’ contacts information from their address books without notice or consent.

Finally, the FTC alleges that despite the company’s claims about taking reasonable security steps, Snapchat failed to secure its “Find Friends” feature.