press release

In recognition of Older Americans Month, the Federal Communications Commission’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau will host a workshop on May 22, 2014, in Washington, DC.

The workshop will provide information on online safety, communicating during emergencies, and how broadband and other technologies can be used to facilitate aging in place and telehealth. The event will include technology demonstrations.

Rep Henry Waxman (D-CA) sent a letter to Tribune Company President and CEO Peter Liguori to share the concerns of media and business experts on the Tribune Company’s proposed spinoff of its newspaper unit, which includes the Los Angeles Times.

These experts indicated that the high debt burden, inequitable asset split, and newspaper consolidation plans proposed for the spinoff will place the long-term viability of the Los Angeles Times and other Tribune papers at risk.

In the letter, Rep Waxman writes, “I hope you will review the assessment the distinguished experts provided to me and then revise the terms of the transaction. When the newspapers become a separate company, they need the financial and other resources necessary to compete effectively in the Internet age.”

The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a policy statement on the sharing of cybersecurity information that makes clear that properly designed cyber threat information sharing is not likely to raise antitrust concerns and can help secure the nation’s networks of information and resources.

The policy statement provides the agencies’ analytical framework for information sharing among private entities and is designed to reduce uncertainty for those who want to share ways to prevent and combat cyberattacks.

“The Department of Justice is committed to doing all it can to protect the security of our nation’s networks. Through the FBI and the National Security and Criminal Divisions, the department plays a critical role in preventing and prosecuting cybercrime,” said Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole. “Private parties play a critical role in mitigating and responding to cyber threats, and this policy statement should encourage them to share cybersecurity information.”

“Because of the FTC’s long experience promoting data security, we understand the serious threat posed by cyberattacks,” said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. “This statement should help private businesses by making it clear that antitrust laws do not stand in the way of legitimate sharing of cybersecurity threat information.”

In the policy statement, the federal antitrust agencies recognize that the sharing of cyber threat information has the potential to improve the security, availability, integrity and efficiency of the nation’s information systems. The policy statement also emphasizes that the legitimate sharing of cyber threat information is very different from the sharing of competitively sensitive information such as current or future prices and output or business plans, which may raise antitrust concerns. Cyber threat information is typically technical in nature and covers a limited type of information, and disseminating that information appears unlikely to raise competitive concerns.

Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller IV released the following statement after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that cybersecurity information can be shared with competitors without violating antitrust law.

“Improving our country’s cybersecurity is a team effort. It requires cooperation and trust between the security experts in our federal agencies and in the private sector.

"The announcement by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission should give the business community confidence that they will not face potential liability for sharing cyber threat information. I am disappointed that Congress has still not acted to promote information sharing through legislation, but congratulate the Obama Administration for taking action to address this important issue.”

The European Union and the United States are negotiating the most economically significant regional free trade agreement in history: the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Publics in Germany and the United States support TTIP and trade expansion in general, especially with each other. But when it comes to specifics, both Americans and Germans oppose many details of this far-reaching initiative. Moreover, they disagree with one another on making transatlantic regulatory standards similar.

And, in the United States, there is a striking generation gap in attitudes relating to TTIP.

For instance, roughly eight-in-ten Americans under age 30 also back the idea of making product and service standards as similar as possible between the US and EU, perhaps not surprising given the fact that this generation is far less trusting than their parents and grandparents of the US government’s ability to set strong safety and privacy standards. A significant share (85%) of Germans prefers European regulation of data privacy, trusting more in their own government’s capacity in this realm than in US regulation.

And, in the United States, men, the young, those with a college degree and high-income persons disproportionately lack faith in American standards protecting their data’s confidentiality. Overall, roughly half (49%) of Americans trust US privacy standards. But only about four-in-ten high-income Americans (39%) share that trust compared with nearly six-in-ten low-income people (58%), a 19 percentage point difference in views. There is a similar 14 point divide on the issue between those who have graduated from college (39%) and those without a college degree (53%).

The Communications and Technology Subcommittee, chaired by Rep Greg Walden (R-OR), advanced H.R. 4342, the Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters (DOTCOM) Act of 2014.

The legislation, authored by Rep John Shimkus (R-IL) and cosponsored by ten members of the full committee, was approved by a vote of 16 to 10. Full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) added, “This is a question of domestic US policy and good government. Our interest and engagement in this process should exceed those nations who censor their citizens and desire to control the web. We must take our time and ensure that any successor to NTIA holds the same values we have instilled in the Internet and will resist efforts by governments to take control of the root zone. Once we transfer this oversight role away, there’s no going back.”

The DOTCOM Act was drafted by Rep Shimkus in response to the Obama Administration’s recent proposal regarding the future of the Internet. The administration’s proposal instructs the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to explore ways to remove the United States from its oversight role of the Domain Name System (DNS) and replace it with a different multistakeholder governance model. The DOTCOM Act directs the Government Accountability Office to study the proposed changes and present a non-partisan evaluation before the administration may take action to modify the current DNS.

“The reality is it would be irresponsible for NTIA to move forward without carefully considering the national security implications of this transfer. The administration says it won’t move to a ‘multistakeholder model’ that could compromise the openness of the Internet today, but they need to explain to Congress and the American people how they’ll guarantee a new multistakeholder regime won’t be influenced by foreign governments or the ITU tomorrow," said Rep Shimkus.

is the first in a two part series to document the key national findings from Speak Up 2013. Key Findings from the report include:

• Girls outpace boys in use of many digital tools for learning, particularly the socially based tools like texting and collaborating online.
• 29 percent of high school boys say that they are very interested in a job or career in a STEM field, but only 19 percent of girls say the same. This gap remains even among girls and boys who self-assess their technology skills as advanced. During the seven years that the Speak Up surveys have polled high school students on their interest in STEM fields, the level of student interest has not increased significantly.
• Students continue to report less regular interaction with traditional social networking sites like Facebook, while 44 percent of students in grades 6-12 report using social media apps like Instagram, Snapchat and Vine. Nearly one-third of high school students reported using Twitter.
• One-quarter of students in grades 3-5 and nearly one-third of students in grades 6-12 say that they are using a mobile device provided by their school to support schoolwork (these percentages were greater among Title I schools than non-Title I schools).
• In four years, the percent of middle school students taking tests online increased from 32 percent to 47 percent.
• High school students reported a mean average of 14 hours per week using technology for writing.
• Only one-third of middle school students say that for schoolwork reading, they prefer to read digital materials rather than printed materials; more than half, however, say online textbooks would be an essential component of their “ultimate school.”
• Digital equity, including to student access to the Internet outside of school, is a growing concern among district technology leaders with 46 percent saying it is one of the most challenging issues they face today (compared to just 19 percent in 2010).

The director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection notified Facebook and WhatsApp about their obligations to protect the privacy of their users in light of Facebook’s proposed acquisition of WhatsApp.

In a letter to the two companies, Bureau Director Jessica Rich noted that WhatsApp has made clear privacy promises to consumers, and that both companies have told consumers that after any acquisition, WhatsApp will continue its current privacy practices.

“We want to make clear that, regardless of the acquisition, WhatsApp must continue to honor these promises to consumers. Further, if the acquisition is completed and WhatsApp fails to honor these promises, both companies could be in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act and, potentially, the FTC’s order against Facebook,” the letter states.

In 2011, Facebook settled FTC charges that it deceived consumers by failing to keep its privacy promises. Under the terms of the FTC’s order against the company, it must get consumers’ affirmative consent before making changes that override their privacy settings, among other requirements.

The letter notes that before making any material changes to how they use data already collected from WhatsApp subscribers, the companies must get affirmative consent. In addition, the letter notes that the companies must not misrepresent the extent to which they maintain the privacy or security of user data. The letter also recommends that consumers be given the opportunity to opt out of any future changes to how newly-collected data is used.

The Department of Justice charged three men with allegedly defrauding the FCC’s Lifeline program of approximately $32 million.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler issued this statement:

“The FCC is working hard to combat fraud in the Lifeline program, and I applaud our Office of Inspector General, the FCC’s Lifeline policy and enforcement teams, and the program administrator, USAC, for their considerable contributions that helped lead to the criminal fraud indictment. I particularly appreciate the continuing support provided by our law enforcement partners at the DOJ and FBI.

"Lifeline helps ensure that all Americans can afford phone service, providing connections to jobs, family and 9-1- 1. But we will not tolerate abuse of this program, and are gratified to see the results of our hard work to battle fraud.”

The Dubai Action Plan, adopted by the ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference, sets the agenda for telecommunication and information and communication technology development over the next four years.

Under the theme ‘Broadband for Sustainable Development’, the Conference focused on development priorities and agreed on the programmes, projects and initiatives to implement them. The theme underlines ITU’s commitment to leverage broadband as a catalyst to meet the goals of sustainable development.

The Dubai Declaration states that “Universal and affordable access to telecommunications and information and communication technologies is essential for the world’s economic, social and cultural development, and contributes to building a global economy and information society. Widespread access to and accessibility of telecommunications and information and communication technologies applications and services provide new socio-economic opportunities for all people.”

The Dubai Action Plan is a comprehensive package that promotes the equitable, affordable, inclusive and sustainable development of telecommunications/ICT networks, applications and services. The objectives outlined in the Plan are:

1. To foster international cooperation on telecommunication and ICT issues
2. To foster an enabling environment conducive to ICT development and foster the development of ICT networks as well as relevant applications and services, including bridging the standardization gap
3. To enhance confidence and security in the use of ICTs and roll out of relevant applications and services
4. To build human and institutional capacity, promote digital inclusion and provide concentrated assistance to countries in special need
5. To enhance climate change adaptation and mitigation, and disaster management efforts through telecommunications and ICTs