BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2015
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CYBERSECURITY
A court just made it easier for the government to sue companies for getting hacked
INTERNET/BROADBAND
What Is “Advanced Telecommunications Capability” And Why Does The FCC Examine It? - analysis
The White House has received input from all federal agencies on new ways to promote broadband investment, deployment, and competition - press release
Comcast planning gigabit cable for entire US territory in 2-3 years
Wisconsin giving millions to broadband providers to expand in rural areas [links to web]
EDUCATION
It’s time to ask how E-rate will impact learning outcomes - op-ed
HEALTH
FCC maps intersection of broadband and health in Virginia
Work Hard, Live Well - op-ed by Facebook’s Dustin Maskovitz [links to web]
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
Cable-Only Presidential Debates are the New Poll Tax - Susan Crawford op-ed
Selfies in Voting Booths Raise Legal Questions on Speech and Secrecy
TELECOM
CenturyLink calls for a 5-step process to reform prison calling rates
FCC Authorizes The Micronesian Telecommunications Corporation To Receive Over $2.5 Million and Hawaiian Telcom Inc. to Receive Over $4 Million In Connect America Phase II Support [links to web]
IIA's Mehlman: Special access, copper retirement proposals will delay the IP transition [links to web]
Vonage says direct number rules will help accelerate VoIP interconnection [links to web]
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
FCC Seeks Comment on M2M Specturm Networks Petition for Rulemaking to Allow Specialized Mobile Radio Services Over 900 MHz Business/Industrial Land Transportation Frequencies - public notice [links to web]
CTIA Wants FCC to Hold More Mock Auctions [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Tech-Media Mergers’ Flimsy Script - analysis [links to web]
ACA Asks FCC to Gauge Impact of Programming Costs [links to web]
PRIVACY/SECURITY
Congress Still Has a Long Way to Go On Surveillance Reform - Alan McQuinn/ITIF op-ed [links to web]
DIVERSITY
FCC Promotes Greater Supplier Diversity - press release [links to web]
GOV DATA/OPEN GOVERNMENT
A New Kind of Media Using Government Data - press release [links to web]
Advocates call for public access to Congress’s research arm [links to web]
Twitter's decision to ban archiving of politicians' deleted tweets is a mistake - analysis from The Verge [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
Vice President Biden Announces New Communications Director - press release [links to web]
CYBERSECURITY
A COURT JUST MADE IT EASIER FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO SUE COMPANIES FOR GETTING HACKED
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
Yes, federal regulators can go after firms whose lax security policies result in big hacks and a loss of personal data, the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Aug 24. That the government should be able to punish businesses that don't protect your private information (despite telling you they do) seems like a no-brainer. But in Washington, there's been a big debate over just how far the Federal Trade Commission can go in protecting consumers from hackers. The decision clarifies the FTC's powers, giving it more ammunition against businesses that fail to invest in their own security. And that could be good news for consumers in light of the growing pace of online attacks against firms such as Ashley Madison, the extramarital dating site that got breached and exposed at least 30 million customer records. The court's decision finds that the FTC acted appropriately when it sued Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, a massive international hotel chain and hospitality conglomerate, after Wyndham was hacked three times in two years, exposing the credit card data of more than 600,000 customers. The FTC has aggressively pursued data security cases in recent years, though much of the time it settles with the companies it investigates. The Wyndham case is a notable exception and is expected to become even more relevant as hacking and data breaches become mainstream occurrences. With the appellate court ruling in the FTC's favor, the agency could become emboldened to act even more decisively against businesses it believes are being deceptive about its security practices.
benton.org/headlines/court-just-made-it-easier-government-sue-companies-getting-hacked | Washington Post
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
THE FCC’S NEW SEC 706 INQUIRY
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Andrew Jay Schwartzman]
[Commentary] On August 6, the Federal Communications Commission voted on a seemingly routine notice initiating its statutorily mandated annual inquiry into the state of broadband deployment in the United States. (Actually, as explained below, it is measuring something somewhat different.) Collection and analysis of data is essential to effective policymaking, and Congress has directed that many agencies compile reports of one kind or another. Solicitation of public comment on data collection for a wonky report might not seem to be controversial, but the issuance of the notice generated vociferous reactions from the two Republican Commissioners. Commissioner Ajit Pai dissented in part and Commissioner Michael O’Reilly reluctantly concurred, complaining that “the [Notice of Inquiry] is not designed to provide an honest assessment of broadband deployment in the US.” The reason that this matters is because the FCC’s assessment of broadband deployment has important policy and regulatory consequences. Section 706(b) is a potent tool for an activist FCC. Chairman Tom Wheeler and his Democratic colleagues appear determined to make sure that they have the data necessary to use the power conferred by Section 706(b).
https://www.benton.org/blog/what-advanced-telecommunications-capability-...
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WHITE HOUSE RECEIVES BROADBAND OPPORTUNITIES COUNCIL RECOMMENDATIONS
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Jeffrey Zients]
When President Barack Obama traveled to Cedar Falls, Iowa in 2015, he identified access to high-speed, affordable broadband as a top national priority. His message back to the government was just as clear: Where there is an incentive we can provide to spur investment, we’ll create it. Where there is red tape we should cut, we’ll cut it. That goes not just in the White House, but for the entire Administration. At Cedar Falls, the President created by Presidential Memorandum the Broadband Opportunity Council, directing all federal agencies to think creatively and develop new ways to promote broadband investment, deployment, and competition. The President gave this whole-of-government effort a five-month deadline. We are pleased to report that the White House has received this input from all federal agencies. On September 21, we will be sharing a formal report and recommendations to improve broadband across the country. So stay tuned -- we are excited for you to see what comes next.
benton.org/headlines/white-house-has-received-input-all-federal-agencies-new-ways-promote-broadband-investment | White House, The
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COMCAST PLANNING GIGABIT CABLE FOR ENTIRE US TERRITORY IN 2-3 YEARS
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
While Comcast has started deploying 2Gbps fiber-to-the-home service to certain parts of its territory, much of its network is going to be stuck on cable for years to come. But customers outside the fiber footprint will still be able to buy gigabit Internet service after Comcast upgrades to DOCSIS 3.1, a faster version of the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification. Comcast said in April that DOCSIS 3.1 will be available to some of its customers in early 2016 and eventually across its whole US footprint. During the week of Aug 17, Comcast said it wants to complete the whole upgrade within two years. It could take up to three years. The price will be high, of course. Comcast's 2Gbps fiber service costs $300 a month plus one-time installation and activation fees of up to $1,000. Comcast says it will build fiber to any home that's already within a third of a mile of its fiber network, but reports a few weeks ago from Stop the Cap and DSLReports suggest that some potential customers are having trouble signing up for the service.
benton.org/headlines/comcast-planning-gigabit-cable-entire-us-territory-2-3-years | Ars Technica | Fierce
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EDUCATION
IT'S TIME TO ASK HOW E-RATE WILL IMPACT LEARNING OUTCOMES
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Jeff Patterson]
[Commentary] E-rate, officially known as the Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund, was created to provide schools and libraries with an affordable way to obtain telecommunications, Internet access and Internet-related services. In the beginning, E-rate focused principally on telephone service, which was the most basic and universal way individuals communicated 20 years ago. As the program evolved, the definition of “new technology” grew increasingly inexact and complicated. It became clear that E-rate was in need of a refresh. Advocates for change, including legislators, the Federal Communications Commission and organizations such as ISTE and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), hoped to address the question: How do we increase internet bandwidth available to our schools and provide ubiquitous wireless coverage? The new focus on connectivity is great, but now we must ask ourselves another question: “How will this connectivity improve learning outcomes?” In other words, what are we going to do with this bandwidth? The situation might be likened to a public utilities initiative to build huge infrastructure to get water into homes while neglecting the pertinent question of where we will get the water? Our water is digital content, learning management systems, homework submission tools, live-stream video, all products and solutions that can impact learning. Bandwidth on its own is not enough. We have to find meaningful ways to use that bandwidth to impact learning and to create anytime, anywhere learners.
[Jeff Patterson is the founder and CEO of Gaggle]
benton.org/headlines/its-time-ask-how-e-rate-will-impact-learning-outcomes | eSchool News
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HEALTH
FCC MAPS INTERSECTION OF BROADBAND AND HEALTH IN VIRGINIA
[SOURCE: GCN, AUTHOR: Kathleen Hickey]
The first state map visually demonstrating the connection between broadband access, technology and health is up on the Federal Communication Commission’s website. The Connect2HealthFCC map of Virginia is a result of an FCC task force formed March 2015 to consider ways to accelerate the adoption of health care technologies by leveraging broadband and other next-generation communications services. The FCC envisions that future healthcare systems will use broadband-based tools that will allow clinicians, social services providers and pharmacies to collaboratively help reduce disease and optimize health outcomes – all in an interconnected health care ecosystem. For this first map, the FCC task force collected broadband-based health and technology metrics in Virginia to identify current trends, issues and potential gaps. Besides population and download speeds, those metrics include the number of primary care providers per county, online access to health information, obesity prevalence and broadband provider distribution.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-maps-intersection-broadband-and-health-virginia | GCN
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
CABLE-ONLY PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES ARE THE NEW POLL TAX
[SOURCE: Medium, AUTHOR: Susan Crawford]
[Commentary] The Fox News debate marked the moment when politics became indistinguishable from sport in more than just entertainment value. Just as we can’t watch most sporting events (including large swathes of the Olympics) without a cable or satellite subscription, Americans couldn’t watch the debate online unless they were part of the cable/satellite ecosystem. The thing is that Fox News Channel owes its existence -- completely -- to a federal statutory regime aimed at supporting the “public trustee” role of traditional TV broadcasters. And yet all the “public-ness” of that deal has been washed away: Fox News felt no need to ensure that online viewers could watch the debate. That meant that cord-cutters and cord-nevers -- basically, Millennials and an ever-increasing chunk of Americans -- whose high-speed Internet access wasn’t sold to them by a cable company had to wait for re-runs. The linear -- traditional -- model of TV is crumbling, slowly, as more people find programming they’re happy with online. But sports programming remains the Gibraltar of the pay TV bundle: the bedrock, the real-time, must-have stuff that Americans will still pay for. And so pay TV executives, looking to smooth the obvious glide path sloping towards the irrelevance of thick bundles of TV-plus-data just long enough so their retirements will be secure and well-funded, want to turn new categories of programming into sports. Presto: debates become sports, unavailable in livestream form to anyone who doesn’t have a cable or satellite subscription. This is a bad idea. It’s insulting to the thicket of public values that gave this industry life in the first place. It’s wrong. And it shouldn’t happen again in this presidential season. Surely some pay TV guy or gal, somewhere, knows in his or her flinty, close-to-retirement heart of hearts that this practice must not continue. Let’s hope.
[Susan Crawford is the John A. Reilly Visiting Professor in Intellectual Property at Harvard Law School and a Professor at Cardozo Law School]
benton.org/headlines/cable-only-presidential-debates-are-new-poll-tax | Medium
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SELFIES IN THE VOTING BOOTH
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Erik Eckholm]
It was inevitable, perhaps, that some might take photographs inside the voting booth to show off their completed ballots. Now, a legal fracas has erupted over whether the display of marked ballots is a constitutionally protected form of speech and political expression — as a federal court in New Hampshire declared this month, overturning a ban on such photographs — or a threat to the hallowed secret ballot that could bring a new era of vote-buying and voter intimidation. The New Hampshire case is unlikely to be the last to grapple with what are commonly called ballot selfies, whether they include an image of the phone user or not. Numerous states have laws to protect voter secrecy, drafted in an earlier era, that could be construed to ban ballot photographs, said Gilles Bissonnette, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, which challenged the New Hampshire ban.
benton.org/headlines/selfies-voting-booths-raise-legal-questions-speech-and-secrecy | New York Times
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TELECOM
CENTURYLINK CALLS FOR A 5-STEP PROCESS TO REFORM PRISON CALLING RATES
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Sean Buckley]
CenturyLink has outlined to the Federal Communications Commission a five-step plan intended to reform the inmate calling services (ICS) rules. In a filing with the FCC, CenturyLink said that any reform to ICS rules should include:
- Uniform rate cap: The ICS rules should include a uniform rate cap that applies to for both interstate and intrastate calls, with a slightly higher cap for collect calls.
- Limiting ancillary fees: CenturyLink said that the FCC should prohibit all but a small class of specified ancillary fees, while adopting a schedule of allowable fees and related policies such as account funding minimums and maximums. In addition, CenutrLink asked that the FCC specify that consumers can get a refund on any unused prepaid amounts on request and at no cost.
- Commission limits: Prisons and jails incur their own costs in providing ICS, so these entities should have the option to require ICS providers to pay them commissions.
- Separate treatment for uniquely high-cost facilities: Other facilities like juvenile detention, mental health facilities and small jails are expensive for ICS providers to serve because they have low call volume. At the same time, CenutryLink said that the facilities should not have to pay a large piece of ancillary fees.
- Transition existing ICS arrangements: The FCC should give correctional facilities and ICS providers a "reasonable transition time" to shift to the new rule structure so they can avoid potential service disruptions or consumer account management.
benton.org/headlines/centurylink-calls-5-step-process-reform-prison-calling-rates | Fierce
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