BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2016
2016 Digital Political Outlook https://www.benton.org/calendar/2016-01-07
INTERNET/BROADBAND
The Complexity of ‘Relevance’ as a Barrier to Broadband Adoption - analysis
Congress Just Enacted New Permitting Requirements for Energy Projects: Did You Miss It? - Stanford Law School op-ed
Chairman Wheeler: Dingo Helped Drive Title II Interest
Groups press Facebook to stop ‘disingenuous’ advocacy in India
New Bill Would Block ISP Rate Regulations
Is good broadband news for consumers bad news for the FCC? - AEI op-ed
Protect Internet Freedom : The FCC is like China [links to Benton summary]
Minnesota Governor Recommends $100 Million Rural Broadband Funding [links to Government Technology]
Nokia aims to hit it big in broadband [links to C-Net|News.com]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
FTC Chairwoman Ramirez: Safe Harbor Uncertainty Is Untenable
FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez chats about privacy, security and why she’s at CES [links to Benton summary]
The FBI's 'Unprecedented' Hacking Campaign Targeted Over a Thousand Computers [links to Vice]
Microsoft will stop updating anything older than Internet Explorer 11. But millions are still using the old browsers. [links to Washington Post]
Dutch government: Encryption good, backdoors bad [links to Ars Technica]
CONTENT
Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion? Understanding the Issues - research
Netflix Expands to 130 Countries, Viewership Hit 12 Billion Hours in 4th Quarter [links to Wrap, The]
At CES, Hope for Making Cable Cutting Easier [links to Benton summary]
Why aren't smart TVs very clever? - AP analysis [links to Benton summary]
Apple sets new App Store record with $1.1 billion in sales during the holidays [links to Verge, The]
Five Streaming Video Predictions for 2016 [links to Revere Digital]
7-Day Papers Will End, Streaming TV Will Rule, Borrell Panel [links to NetNewsCheck]
The New York Public Library just uploaded nearly 200,000 images you can use for free [links to Verge, The]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
FCC's Wheeler Sees “Spectrum Extravaganza” As TV Auction Deadline Approaches: CES
TV Stations Eye Selling Spectrum Twice
Inside AT&T's Plans to Be Everywhere You Are in 2016 [links to AdAge]
You'll Find the Safest Free Internet Connection with these City Wi-Fi Networks [links to Fast Company]
Federal Judge allows class-action lawsuit against Yahoo [links to Hill, The]
TELECOM
ISPs Ask FCC to Stick to Original (Backup) Power Play
CenturyLink loses court ruling over Portland phone tax [links to Oregonian, The]
ACCESSIBILITY
FCC Seeking Nominations for Chairman's Awards for Advancement in Accessibility - public notice [links to Benton summary]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
FCC Announces January Task Force on Optimal PSAP Architecture Meeting - public notice [links to Benton summary]
OWNERSHIP
DISH Questions Time Warner Upgrades [links to Benton summary]
JOURNALISM
Black Thugs, Muslim Terrorists and White Patriots: The Issue With Today's Media [links to Huffington Post]
DIVERSITY
Pinterest Hires Its First Diversity Chief [links to Wall Street Journal]
How the Hillary Clinton Campaign Built a Staff As Diverse as America [links to Fast Company]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Report warns IRS's online plans could hurt taxpayers
4 Govtech Trends to Watch in 2016 [links to Government Technology]
RESEARCH
Pew Research Center will call 75% cellphones for surveys in 2016 [links to Benton summary]
Nielsen: media industry must adopt a common measurement system for content that appears on television, smartphones and other devices to avoid confusing advertisers [links to Financial Times]
POLICYMAKERS
Spotlight on NTIA: Jennifer Duane, Senior Advisor for Broadband and Public Safety, Office of the Assistant Secretary - press release [links to Benton summary]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Op-Ed: The One-sided Paralysis of the Cuban Press [links to Huffington Post]
Dutch government: Encryption good, backdoors bad [links to Ars Technica]
US tech groups fire back over proposed UK surveillance law [links to Benton summary]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
THE COMPLEXITY OF ‘RELEVANCE’ AS A BARRIER TO BROADBAND ADOPTION
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Colin Rhinesmith, Anabel Quan-Haase, Michael Haight]
[Commentary] The digital divide is a complex phenomenon that cannot be boiled down to a single issue. More recently, research on broadband adoption has tended to focus on a single barrier-- lack of interest in the Internet or a perception that the digital content delivered over broadband is not relevant to one’s life (often called simply “relevance”). In doing so we have disregarded how the digital divide is much more. Part of the problem is how we have studied the digital divide. Often our approaches have not allowed us to examine multiple factors simultaneously. Future studies of broadband adoption should investigate the nuances and cross sections that may be present within the explanations of broadband non-adopters. This includes asking questions aimed at unpacking how certain barriers to adoption may be interconnected and, in the case of relevance, be rooted in some other explanations. In response to broadband adoption surveys that show people “not interested in getting online,” we suggest adding follow-up questions that focus on cost and digital literacy. For example, a potential follow-up question might be, “If you could have affordable Internet access at a price within your budget, would you get broadband at home?” Because low-income individuals have little expendable income, we recommend follow-up questions that call attention to issues related to limited household budgets. This question, within a broader evaluation framework focused on the social aspects of broadband adoption, can provide a way to grasp the issue of relevance and its ties to cost as a barrier. For policymakers, it is important to recognize that broadband adoption barriers are complex and interconnected. It is important to consider how the explanations for non-adoption are interwoven and how interest or relevance is often rooted in the costs associated with broadband adoption or the digital literacy needed to use this technology effectively.
https://www.benton.org/blog/complexity-relevance-barrier-broadband-adoption
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NEW PERMITTING LAW
[SOURCE: Stanford University Law School, AUTHOR: David Hayes]
A new law will impose significant new legal requirements on how federal agencies complete their environmental reviews and permitting of renewable energy projects, transmission lines, pipelines and other major infrastructure projects. The law became effective on Friday, December 4th. Congress quietly inserted new, stand-alone statutory permitting requirements for infrastructure projects into the FAST (“Fixing America’s Surface Transportation”) Act, its $305 billion transportation bill. Title I of the bill includes the type of transportation-specific permitting tweaks that we have come to expect in transportation bills, but the real surprise is found in Division D of the legislation, which includes Title XLI, entitled: “Federal Permitting Improvement.” The permitting changes included in Title XLI extend far beyond highway projects and cover “construction of infrastructure of renewable or conventional energy production, electricity transmission, surface transportation, aviation, ports and waterways, water resource projects, broadband, pipelines, [and] manufacturing.” Key new requirements laid out in the new legislation will have broad applicability to “covered projects” that “require authorization or environmental review by a Federal agency involving construction of infrastructure for renewable or conventional energy production, electricity transmission, surface transportation, aviation, ports and waterways, water resource projects, broadband, pipelines [and] manufacturing,” when such projects are subject to NEPA and are likely to required a total investment of more than $200 million. The law places a number of new, permitting-related legal obligations on federal agencies.
[Hayes is the former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He is a Visiting Lecturer in Law at Stanford University.]
benton.org/headlines/congress-just-enacted-new-permitting-requirements-energy-projects-did-you-miss-it | Stanford University Law School
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CHAIRMAN WHEELER: DINGO HELPED DRIVE TITLE II INTEREST
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler gave HBO's John Oliver credit for helping drive consumer interest and comment on new network neutrality rules.Chairman Wheeler said Oliver's impact on him was more than educating him on what a dingo was. Oliver likened putting former cable and telecommunication lobbyist Wheeler in charge of regulating those industries and setting Internet openness policy to hiring a dingo for a babysitter. Chairman Wheeler said Oliver's satirical jab got people interested in an issue with "real, live consumer impact," taking the ultimate in arcane—Title II reclassification of the Internet—and making it into something that millions of people weighed in on, adding that he wished other arcane issues got more attention, including dealing with set-top boxes and broadband subsidy (Lifeline) reform. On a more serious note, Chairman Wheeler defended the process that produced the new net neutrality rules. He said complaints about that process, which included not providing enough notice of its change to Title II—complaints that appeared to get some purchase in oral arguments on challenges to those rules—were the last refuge of those who don't like a decision. He said he was quite comfortable that the decision was fact-based and would be upheld. Chairman Wheeler did not shy away from the broadband privacy authority that Title II reclassification gave the FCC, though he said that does not extend to edge providers, which remains the province of the Federal Trade Commission. And asked whether asserting new authority over privacy was not in some way a broadband power grab, as it was viewed by some, Chairman Wheeler said no. He pointed out that the FCC did have 80 years experience protecting personal information collected by traditional cable providers from their consumers.
benton.org/headlines/chairman-wheeler-dingo-helped-drive-title-ii-interest | Broadcasting&Cable
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GROUPS ON FACEBOOK IN INDIA
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
Dozens of Internet rights groups are pressing Facebook to clean up its “unfounded and divisive” advocacy in India around Free Basics, the social media company’s program to offer limited Internet access for free. The groups believe the program is at odds with net neutrality. And in an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, they accuse Facebook of making “disingenuous” claims that the opposition is coming from a small group of critics. “It is concerning that Facebook — which says it supports Net Neutrality — would attack those who have sought to enshrine this fundamental principle in law,” the groups wrote in the open letter. “Such a move is an insult to millions in the fast-growing global community that cares about safeguarding the open internet.” The letter was spearheaded by the US-based advocacy group Access Now. In addition to dozens of groups around the world, the letter was also signed by advocacy groups Fight for the Future and Free Press, which helped bombard the Federal Communications Commission with form letters during the US fight over net neutrality. The groups said Facebook’s advocacy is playing into the hands of large Internet service providers by “creating a false impression that there is a grassroots movement opposed to net neutrality.” Those telecom companies, which are adamantly against strict net neutrality rules, are challenging the US regulations in court.
benton.org/headlines/groups-press-facebook-stop-disingenuous-advocacy-india | Hill, The
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NEW BILL WOULD BLOCK ISP RATE REGULATIONS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The House Communications Subcommittee will try to revive an effort through a new bill, the No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act (HR 2666), to would prevent the Federal Communications Commission from using its new Open Internet rules to impose rate regulations on Internet service providers (ISPs). That is one of four bills the subcommittee will consider at a Jan 12hearing to kick off the new year. A similar provision was initially targeted to ride the omnibus spending bill into law, but did not make it as a rider on the final bill that passed at the 11th hour in Dec. The bill is essentially only one paragraph, as follows: "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Federal Communications Commission may not regulate the rates charged for broadband Internet access service." Reviving the bill is sponsor Rep Adam Kinzinger (R-IL). "The FCC’s Open Internet Order reclassified broadband under Title II, giving the FCC the ability to regulate rates in two distinct ways: tariffing and through declarations of what are 'reasonable' rates," Republican subcommittee leadership said in announcing the legislative hearing. The bill would make sure that the FCC couldn’t' regulate broadband rates--as it does some cable rates--by ensuring the prohibition in statute.
benton.org/headlines/new-bill-would-block-isp-rate-regulations | Broadcasting&Cable
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GOOD BROADBAND NEWS FOR CONSUMERS BAD NEWS FOR FCC?
[SOURCE: American Enterprise Institute, AUTHOR: Gus Hurwitz]
[Commentary] The 2015 Measuring Fixed Broadband Report the Federal Communications Commission released Dec 30 contains much overwhelmingly positive data. One top result is that Internet service providers (ISP) in the United States deliver better average performance than advertised: that is, you pay for 20 Mbps per month, and your ISP gives you speeds of 25, 30, or even 50 Mbps instead. That’s a nice surprise for consumers — and it’s one that contradicts the pervasive perception that ISPs under-deliver on promised service. FCC Chairman Wheeler’s aggressive plans are built on fears that the broadband market offers too few consumers too few options of too little quality for too much money. This report paints a very different picture: the market is consistently giving consumers increasingly better service at ever-lower prices. Importantly, the data for this report are from September 2014, so they predate the FCC’s recent efforts to “protect and promote” competition. Indeed, one of the most important — and underreported — developments in 2015 was AT&T’s deployment of 75 Mbps DSL service to its U-Verse customers in 70 markets around the country. Competition, it seems, is alive and well in the broadband market. Perhaps this is why the FCC chose to release the report on one of the slowest news days of the year. While the report is great news for the American consumer, it may not be so welcome for the FCC.
[Gus Hurwitz is an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska College of Law]
benton.org/headlines/good-broadband-news-consumers-bad-news-fcc | American Enterprise Institute
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SECURITY/PRIVACY
FTC CHAIRWOMAN RAMIRIZ: SAFE HARBOR UNCERTAINTY IS UNTENABLE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez says that the current climate of uncertainty surrounding cross-border privacy protections is untenable and not good for either businesses or privacy. She was referring to a European Union decision invalidating the "safe harbor" agreement between the US and European Union on the US’s handling of personal information from EU members. Chairwoman Ramirez called the harbor an effective tool — the FTC enforces the harbor and the Commerce Department administers it. She said that negotiators were “well on our way” to reaching a new agreement governing how American companies can store data belonging to Europeans. “In my mind, I’m optimistic that we’re going to be able to find a solution to this, I’m hoping by the end of [Jan],” she said. “But we’re well on our way I think to doing that.” Chairwoman Ramirez also called for greater transparency on Data collected by the Internet of Things. She said the proliferation of Internet-connected gadgets — from home thermostats to fitness bands to scores of other products on display — raises concerns about the personal information that is being collected, how it’s being used and whether it is adequately secured. She called for greater clarity about these data collection practices and vigilance in protecting this information. “Consumers are going to be slow to take up these products if issues of privacy and security are of a concern,” Chairwoman Ramirez said.
benton.org/headlines/ftc-chairwoman-ramirez-safe-harbor-uncertainty-untenable | Broadcasting&Cable | The Hill | Revere Digital
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CONTENT
FTC DATA REPORT
[SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission, AUTHOR: ]
A new report from the Federal Trade Commission outlines a number of questions for businesses to consider to help ensure that their use of big data analytics, while producing many benefits for consumers, avoids outcomes that may be exclusionary or discriminatory. The report looks specifically at big data at the end of its lifecycle – how it is used after being collected and analyzed. The report highlights a number of innovative uses of big data that are providing benefits to underserved populations, including increased educational attainment, access to credit through non-traditional methods, specialized health care for underserved communities, and better access to employment. In addition, the report looks at possible risks that could result from biases or inaccuracies about certain groups, including more individuals mistakenly denied opportunities based on the actions of others, exposing sensitive information, creating or reinforcing existing disparities, assisting in the targeting of vulnerable consumers for fraud, creating higher prices for goods and services in lower-income communities and weakening the effectiveness of consumer choice. The report outlines some of the various laws that apply to the use of big data, especially in regards to possible issues of discrimination or exclusion, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act, FTC Act and equal opportunity laws. It also provides a range of questions for businesses to consider when they examine whether their big data programs comply with these laws. The report also proposes four key policy questions that are drawn from research into the ways big data can both present and prevent harms. The policy questions are designed to help companies determine how best to maximize the benefit of their use of big data while limiting possible harms, by examining both practical questions of accuracy and built-in bias as well as whether the company’s use of big data raises ethical or fairness concerns.
benton.org/headlines/big-data-tool-inclusion-or-exclusion-understanding-issues | Federal Trade Commission | Why big data is a big deal | Broadcasting & Cable
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
WHEELER SEES "SPECTRUM EXTRAVAGANZA" AS TV AUCTION DEADLINE APPROACHES: CES
[SOURCE: Deadline Hollywood, AUTHOR: David Lieberman]
Every city will soon see a transfer of airwave spectrum from broadcast TV to wireless Internet providers, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show consumer electronics confab — 84 days before a long-awaited auction takes place. Broadcasters have until Jan 12 to say whether they’ll offer some of their local air rights for the auction. As an incentive, the FCC has offered to share some of the proceeds from the sale. “You’ll see a spectrum extravaganza,” Chairman Wheeler said of the plan. “That is going to be transformational.” He calls the broadcast airwaves “beachfront spectrum” due to its ability to reach big audiences, and penetrate walls. “This is opportunity, opportunity, opportunity.” He added that “this is not bureaucrats sitting around divvying things up. This is the marketplace.”
benton.org/headlines/fccs-wheeler-sees-spectrum-extravaganza-tv-auction-deadline-approaches-ces | Deadline Hollywood
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SELLING SPECTRUM TWICE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Broadcasters who decide to put spectrum in the upcoming incentive auction could have the opportunity to sell it twice. Jan. 12 is the deadline for broadcasters to signal they are potentially putting spectrum in the auction and some of those broadcasters are busy figuring out what auction play makes the most sense for them. According to a source familiar with their thinking, some “major” broadcasters are looking at putting spectrum in the pot and, if they win, taking advantage of tax laws to keep that money in escrow and use more cash, or a loan, to bid on some of that reclaimed broadcast spectrum in the forward auction—they would need to use other money since reverse payments won’t be available until both sides of the auction closes. They could then sell or lease the spectrum to wireless carriers hungry for it. There is some financial risk involved since winning bidders are only provisional winners until the forward auction closes.
benton.org/headlines/tv-stations-eye-selling-spectrum-twice | Broadcasting&Cable
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TELECOM
POWER BACKUP
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Internet service providers asked the Federal Communications Commission to stay the course and not mandate that fixed VoIP providers install and maintain battery backup for all their customers in case of emergency. The FCC had decided to require those providers to offer up to eight hours of backup power for their VoIP phone service and inform consumers of their backup power options at the point of purchase but not to make those ISPs "solely responsible for continuity of a customer’s service [primarily 911 capability] during a power outage," as the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, American Cable Association and USTelecom phrased it in a filing supporting the initial FCC decision. Various consumer advocates challenged the FCC decision, petitioning it to reconsider the decision, saying those ISPs should have to provide backup to all customers.
benton.org/headlines/isps-ask-fcc-stick-original-backup-power-play | Broadcasting&Cable
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
REPORT WARNS IRS'S ONLINE PLANS COULD HURT TAXPAYERS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Kaja Whitehouse]
The Internal Revenue Service is quietly moving toward a high-tech future that could end up hurting taxpayers and costing them more money, a new report warns. Since 2014, the IRS has invested millions of dollars on a plan to make better use of its limited resources by moving more of its work online, including plans to adopt online taxpayer accounts. But the plan, which has yet to be made fully public, could add to people's costs come tax season — and discourage them from paying their dues, warned the National Taxpayer Advocate in its annual report to Congress. "I have significant concerns that the IRS is embarking on a path that will unintentionally undermine taxpayer rights rather than enhance them, thereby eroding taxpayer trust further," wrote Nina Olson in her report to Congress. Olson said she is not against the IRS becoming more technologically savvy. But she is worried that the IRS' is creating a "pay-to-play" system, wherein only people who can afford professional help will receive assistance filing their taxes. OIson called for the IRS to "immediately publish its plan and solicit public comments." She also asked that Congress hold hearings in the next few months on the IRS' plans to move more activity online.
benton.org/headlines/report-warns-irss-online-plans-could-hurt-taxpayers | USAToday | Washington Post
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