BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015
A busy day in telecomland – see all the events here https://www.benton.org/calendar/2015-06-11
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Net neutrality takes effect June 12; ISPs scramble to avoid complaints
Appropriations Bill Would Block Network Neutrality Rules
DOTCOM Act Breezes Through House Communications Subcommittee
Is Muni Broadband Feasible in Seattle? Not Likely, Report Finds
AT&T, Cogent Strike Interconnection Deal
Internet gatekeeping policies and the test of time - Stuart Brotman analysis [links to web]
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
FCC Announces Incentive Auction Eligible Facilities and Filing Deadline - public notice
BROADCASTING/CABLE
FCC Adopts Proposal Extending Exemption from HD Carriage - public notice
Rush Limbaugh Stepped Into It This Time - Sue Wilson op-ed
OWNERSHIP
FTC Announces Second Federal Register Notice for its Merger Remedy Study; OMB Clearance Requested - press release [links to web]
Why Apple Music doesn’t need to be the best to succeed - Andrea Peterson analysis [links to web]
TRANSPORTATION
FCC: Railroads Mostly Have Needed PTC Spectrum [links to web]
EDUCATION
Why Ed Tech Is Not Transforming How Teachers Teach [links to web]
DIVERSITY
Can mainstream US media tap into non-English audiences? - analysis [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
James H. Billington to Retire as Librarian of Congress Effective Jan. 1, 2016 - press release [links to web]
Upset over op-ed, GOP lawmakers seek to curb privacy board
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Google Is Ready to Support European Digital Innovation, Says Eric Schmidt
MORE ONLINE
CBO Scores E-Warranty Act of 2015 - research [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
NET NEUTRALITY TAKES EFFECT JUNE 12
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
The Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality rules take effect June 12, and they've already had a noticeable impact on the behavior of Internet service providers. The FCC passed the rules on February 26, but they didn't get published in the Federal Register until April 13. The publication date started the 60-day waiting period until the rules take effect, and it has been a busy two months. ISPs have asked a federal court to halt the implementation of the rules pending a final judgment on their lawsuit against the commission. But the settlements with ISPs, Cogent and Level 3 indicate that they expect the rules to take effect. If any disputes remain unresolved on June 12, the FCC could field some complaints. "I sincerely hope I don’t have to file any, but I am also prepared," Cogent CEO Dave Schaeffer said in May. "If any of the mass market ISPs violate the consumer protection provisions outlined in the Open Internet Order, we will go to the [FCC's] Enforcement Bureau and file a complaint."
benton.org/headlines/net-neutrality-takes-effect-june-12-isps-scramble-avoid-complaints | Ars Technica
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APPROPRIATIONS BILL WOULD BLOCK NET NEUTRALITY RULES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A court has yet to rule on staying the Federal Communications Commission's Title II reclassification of Internet service providers, but Congressional Republicans were trying to implement a legislative stay in a bill that would also cut the FCC's budget substantially, force publication of FCC drafts and prevent any new network neutrality rules from leading to rate regulation. The just-released Financial Services Bill out of the House Appropriations Committee gives the FCC $315 million, a cut of $25 million from FY 2015 and a whopping $73 million below its request for 2016. But none of that money can be used to implement the FCC's new network neutrality rules until the court challenge is resolved. That is according to a summary of the bill released by the committee. The legislation prohibits the FCC from implementing net neutrality until certain court cases are resolved, requires newly proposed regulations to be made publicly available for 21 days before the Commission votes on them, and prohibits the FCC from regulating rates for either wireline or wireless Internet service.
benton.org/headlines/appropriations-bill-would-block-net-neutrality-rules | Broadcasting&Cable
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DOTCOME ACT BREEZES THROUGH HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS SUBCOMMITTEEG
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In only a few minutes and with applause all around, the House Communications Subcommittee favorably, and unanimously reported out a new version of the DOTCOM Act, a bill that provides a framework for congressional oversight of the transition of the Internet domain naming function from US oversight to a multistakeholder model. The act had drawn hefty criticism from Democratic Representatives since its introduction in 2014, but the two sides worked out a compromise that preserved Congress' oversight role without unduly delaying the hand-off. In May, in a hearing on the bill and the handoff, Ranking Member Anna Eshoo (D-CA) said it would unnecessarily delay the handover and send the wrong signal about government control to other countries. She was sounding a different note in her opening statement at the June 10 markup, calling a vote for the revised DOTCOM Act "a vote to carry on the extraordinary success story that is the Internet, ensuring that billions of people around the world will continue to benefit from everything it has to offer."
benton.org/headlines/dotcom-act-breezes-through-house-communications-subcommittee | Broadcasting&Cable
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IS MUNI BROADBAND FEASIBLE IN SEATTLE? NOT LIKELY, REPORT FINDS
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Colin Wood]
Half a billion dollars -- that’s about what it would take to build a municipal fiber network in Seattle (WA), and the other numbers aren’t very encouraging, either. The city announced on June 9 the findings of a broadband study conducted by CTC Technology & Energy -- findings that mean that where broadband is concerned, the city will look elsewhere, for now, said Chief Technology Officer Michael Mattmiller. The survey, which the city paid $180,000 to have completed, found that in addition to a $480 million to $665 million price tag for a fiber to the premises (FTTP) broadband buildout, the project’s fiscal sustainability would require a citywide take rate exceeding 40 percent at a monthly service fee of $75 -- an unlikely scenario given that even the nation’s most successful municipal providers, like Chattanooga (TN)’s EPB, achieve a broadband take rate of less than 35 percent. The city’s broadband goal remains to provide the public with “equal, affordable and competitive broadband that approaches a gigabit standard,” Mattmiller said, but the findings of this report show that building a municipal network would put the city’s general fund at risk. “It presents too much risk to the city," he added, "but that said, we’re going to continue looking for other models and other state and federal funding opportunities, which could cause us to reconsider."
http://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/Is-Muni-Broadband-Feasible-in-Seattle...
AT&T, COGENT STRIKE INTERCONNECTION DEAL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
AT&T says it has reached a long-term interconnection agreement with Cogent for their respective IP networks. AT&T is trying to get its proposed merger with DirecTV through the Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department. Interconnection has been an issue the FCC has been particularly concerned with and the subject of talks between AT&T and FCC about potential deal conditions. Cogent has been pushing the FCC to make sure that preventing congestion and interconnection points is a condition on the deal. “Both Cogent and AT&T’s customers will benefit from this agreement for years to come,” said Dave Schaeffer, chief executive officer for Cogent. “We are putting customer needs at the forefront by enabling an expanded, secure and resilient interconnection environment.”
benton.org/headlines/att-cogent-strike-interconnection-deal | Broadcasting&Cable
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
FCC ANNOUNCES INCENTIVE AUCTION ELIGIBLE FACILITIES AND FILING DEADLINE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public notice]
The Federal Communications Commission Media Bureau announces each station facility eligible for protection in the repacking process and for relinquishment in the reverse auction (i.e., "eligible facility"). Additionally, the FCC announces that any licensee with a station listed in the Appendix must file an FCC Form 2100, Schedule 381 ("Pre-Auction Technical Certification Form"), through which it will verify and certify to the accuracy of the authorization and underlying Database Technical Information for each eligible facility by July 9, 2015. Harry Cole with the CommLawBlog wrote, "To date, for many of us the spectrum auction has tended to be more imagined than concrete. Sure, we’ve read a lot about it and we know it’ll almost certainly have a major impact on all of us. But we haven’t yet been required to do anything (other than, maybe, prepare some rulemaking comments or attend an FCC webinar or meeting). But that has now changed, dramatically, with the release of the Eligibility Public Notice and the accompanying list of TV stations eligible for (a) protection in the post-auction repack and (b) relinquishment in the auction....From here on in, we'll all be sailing in largely uncharted waters."
benton.org/headlines/fcc-announces-incentive-auction-eligible-facilities-and-filing-deadline | Federal Communications Commission | Appendix A | CommLawBlog
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BROADCASTING/CABLE
FCC ADOPTS PROPOSAL EXTENDING EXEMPTION FROM HD CARRIAGE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public notice]
In this Sixth Report and Order, the Federal Communications Commission adopts a proposal filed jointly by the American Cable Association and the National Association of Broadcasters that modifies and extends the exemption from the requirement to carry high definition broadcast signals under "material degradation" provisions of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended that the FCC granted to certain small cable systems in 2012. The FCC finds that the joint proposal strikes a reasonable balance between the interests of broadcast stations in having their HD signals transmitted without material degradation and the technical and financial constraints that some small cable operators continue to experience.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-adopts-proposal-extending-exemption-hd-carriage | Federal Communications Commission
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RUSH LIMBAUGH STEPPED INTO IT THIS TIME
[SOURCE: Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Sue Wilson]
[Commentary] On June 1, Radio host Rush Limbaugh, in referring to a report about brisk job growth, used the word "bulls--t." Cussing on the air, my friends, is where the Federal Communications Commission draws the line. Under its indecency rules, the FCC takes "complaints alleging the broadcast of material that describes or depicts sexual or excretory material."
The FCC's rules about indecency are intended to protect children from seeing or hearing things over our publicly owned airwaves which parents believe may be damaging to them. The minimum fine the FCC imposes for a single indecency offense is $7,000, and the maximum is $325,000. But Limbaugh's website says he airs on 590 individual stations nationwide. And you can bet that the Flush Rush Facebook group and #StopRush twitter volunteers, who have taken nearly every advertiser away from Limbaugh's program by simply educating sponsors as to what Rush really rants about, will be making complaints about every last station. That would add up to a minimum fine of $4,130,000, but a maximum of $191,750,000. That is way too much money for stations who are already losing money airing Limbaugh's show to cough up. And that's no BS.
[Sue Wilson is the director of "Broadcast Blues" from Media Action Center]
benton.org/headlines/rush-limbaugh-stepped-it-time | Huffington Post
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POLICYMAKERS
UPSET OVER OP-ED, GOP LAWMAKERS SEEK TO CURB PRIVACY BOARD
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima]
Republican Representatives on the House Intelligence Committee, upset by an opinion piece penned by the chairman of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, a government watchdog on privacy issues, have advanced a measure to block the agency’s access to information related to US covert action programs. The provision, in the 2016 intelligence authorization bill, takes a jab at the PCLO, an independent executive branch agency whose job is to ensure that the government’s efforts to prevent terrorism are balanced with the need to protect privacy and civil liberties. David Medine, the board’s chairman, co-authored an essay in April arguing that if the United States was to continue killing US citizens by drone strikes, an independent review panel was needed to assess whether targeting decisions are appropriate. That article “really stirred the pot,” said one congressional aide. The provision, which the committee passed on a voice vote, was an attempt by Republican Reps to make sure the board members “stay in their lane,” as another aide put it. “Covert action, by its very definition, is an activity that the United States cannot and should not acknowledge publicly,” the Intelligence Committee Chairman, Devin Nunes (R-CA), said. “Review of such activity is ill-suited for a public board like the PCLOB.”
benton.org/headlines/upset-over-op-ed-gop-lawmakers-seek-curb-privacy-board | Washington Post | The Hill | David Medine Op-Ed
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
GOOGLE IS READY TO SUPPORT EUROPEAN DIGITAL INNOVATION,SAYS ERIC SCHMIDT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amir Mizroch, Ellen Emmerentze Jervell]
Google chairman Eric Schmidt continued his company’s European charm offensive by telling a gathering in Berlin that the Silicon Valley company was ready to support the digital innovation coming out of Europe, but that the Continent had to get to a single digital market or fall behind in global competitiveness. Schmidt called the current fragmentation of laws ranging from privacy, copyright to intellectual property across the 28 members of the European Union “crazy.” Regarding regular clashes with European regulators on issues ranging from data protection to anti-competitive charges, Schmidt said that Google was listening to European leaders, but that the situation would be helped if Europe spoke with one voice on digital matters. “We’re getting the messages, but it really helps if they’re saying the same things,” he said, adding that Europe had to get to a single digital market so that there could be clarity on business rules.
benton.org/headlines/google-ready-support-european-digital-innovation-says-eric-schmidt | Wall Street Journal | USA Today
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