BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015
FCC Reauthorization: Improving Commission Transparency – https://www.benton.org/calendar/2015-05-15
SECURITY
Surveillance Hawks and Privacy Advocates Agree: House NSA Bill is a Flop
NSA reformers rule out short-term deal
FBI clarifies rules on secretive cellphone-tracking devices [links to web]
PRIVACY
Some companies are tracking workers with smartphone apps. What could possibly go wrong? [links to web]
Is student privacy erased as classrooms turn digital? - op-ed [links to web]
Why I make my kids read privacy policies - Nicole Wong op-ed [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
GAO Report Bolsters Need for Lifeline Broadband Expansion - op-ed
Why net neutrality rules have angered some small Internet providers
Companies want net neutrality as part of AT&T merger
Netflix, Dish Join FCC in Title II Fight [links to web]
Free Press Intervenes to Defend Net Neutrality Rules in Court - press release [links to web]
New America Foundation Joins Fight to Defend Net Neutrality in Court - press release [links to web]
The Internet .Sucks - Dana Milbank commentary [links to web]
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
ABC News’s Stephanopoulos donated $75,000 to Clinton Foundation
Political polarization on Facebook - Brookings analysis [links to web]
TELEVISION
The Battle for the Living Room - op-ed
The Dawn of Broadband TV is Here - telecompetitor analysis [links to web]
AT&T-Hulu Deal Brings OTT Video to Mobile and Broadband [links to web]
How an $80 FiOS Custom TV bundle wound up costing $140 a month [links to web]
SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
CTIA’s Baker: No Long term Spectrum Plan - speech [links to web]
Verizon Rural LTE Program Now Reaches 2.5 Million People [links to web]
CONTENT
The Dilemma of Digital Free Trade
Ruling in Royalty Case Gives BMI a Victory Against Pandora [links to web]
Why Facebook’s News Experiment Matters to Readers - analysis [links to web]
EDUCATION
Can K-12 districts really bring broadband to the community?
America is failing its children by not teaching code in every high school - analysis [links to web]
Code.org targets high school computer science [links to web]
Is student privacy erased as classrooms turn digital? - op-ed [links to web]
DIVERSITY
Here’s Jesse Jackson’s Plan for Diversity in Silicon Valley [links to web]
How Google is Tackling Diversity [links to web]
ACCESSIBILITY
FCC To Hold Open Commission Meeting Thursday, May 21, 2015 - public notice
FCC REFORM
Accountability for Enforcement Penalties & Fines - press release
POLICYMAKERS
Verizon Strategic Policy Adviser Randy Milch to Retire - press release [links to web]
COMPANY NEWS
Google Expands Data on Government Requests in Report [links to web]
Details emerge on Dish Network's plan to offer wireless voice, video and data [links to web]
Apple asks court to block the sale of some RadioShack data [links to web]
Bing will follow Google by giving mobile-friendly sites a boost in search results [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Ofcom tells BT its rivals need better superfast broadband access
Mobile operators plan to block online advertising
The search for media reality in the Arab Middle East - Stuart Brotman analysis [links to web]
SECURITY
SURVEILLANCE HAWKS AND PRIVACY ADVOCATES AGREE: HOUSE NSA BILL IS A FLOP
[SOURCE: Foreign Policy, AUTHOR: David Francis]
The House just passed a White House-backed National Security Agency reform bill (USA Freedom Act), but it faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where lawmakers say the legislation would make America less safe, and an key electronic privacy group is pulling its long-time support for the proposal. The issue for both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the Electronic Freedom Foundation is Section 215 of the Patriot Act, a provision that allows for the bulk collection of American phone records by the NSA. A federal court ruled the program illegal, but left the door open for Congress to allow it with new legislation. The House bill removes Section 215, while the legislation being considered by the Senate contains it. Majority Leader McConnell’s problem with the House version of the disingenuously-named USA Freedom Act is that it doesn’t give the government the authority to continue mass collection of American data. He maintains eliminating the program would make the United States less safe, despite little evidence that the data collected by the government has stopped terror attacks. The EFF, a group that has been advocating for electronic privacy since 1990, supported the bill as recently as the week of May 4th. Now, though, it’s singing a different tune, saying the court ruling finding the surveillance program illegal changed their position. EFF’s civil liberty director, David Greene, and its legislative analyst, Mark Jaycox, argued the ruling should compel Congress to revert to a 2013 version that contained stronger provisions outlawing mass surveillance. Other privacy advocates are also opposed to the bill. Daniel Schuman, policy director of the progressive group Demand Progress, said the legislation does not address the controversial Section 702 provision allowing the government to collect e-mail and Internet traffic information “Taking a bite of a poisoned apple is not going to address the underlying issues,” he said. “You don’t ask for the bare minimum.”
benton.org/headlines/surveillance-hawks-and-privacy-advocates-agree-house-nsa-bill-flop | Foreign Policy
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NSA REFORMERS RULE OUT SHORT-TERM DEAL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
Lawmakers behind a surveillance reform bill that sailed through the House are making it clear they won’t accept a short-term deal to accommodate Senate leaders. A bipartisan and bicameral group of lawmakers rejected any potential for a short-term deal to renew controversial National Security Agency programs for just a few weeks or months while GOP leaders in the Senate come up with new legislation. “The Senate should not delay reform again [in 2015],” Reps Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), John Conyers (D-MI), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Sens Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Mike Lee (R-UT) said in a joint statement the day after the House overwhelmingly passed the USA Freedom Act. “The USA Freedom Act is a carefully crafted compromise that has the support of the intelligence community, technology industry and privacy groups,” they added. “For this reason, we will not agree to any extension of the NSA’s bulk collection program, which has already been ruled unlawful by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.” That sentiment was echoed by Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). “The House has acted to make sure that the administration has the tools to keep Americans safe,” he told reporters. “It’s time for the Senate to act.”
benton.org/headlines/nsa-reformers-rule-out-short-term-deal | Hill, The
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
GAO REPORT BOLSTERS NEED FOR LIFELINE BROADBAND EXPANSION
[SOURCE: civilrights.org, AUTHOR: Cheryl Leanza]
[Commentary] The Lifeline program allows our nation’s most vulnerable communities to maintain telephone service that would otherwise be unaffordable – service that is essential for connecting with loved ones, searching for employment, pursuing further education goals, engaging fully as citizens, and calling 911. But a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, commissioned by Sen. John Thune (R-SD) to evaluate the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) reforms to the Lifeline program, quickly drew fire from some Republican leaders. They allege that the FCC should not work on expanding the program to broadband until it addresses points raised in the GAO report. But to call to a halt the FCC’s planned reform efforts based on this report would be to ignore its findings. The FCC is about to begin the next phase of reform to expand Lifeline into supporting broadband, which will give it ample opportunity to implement GAO recommendations where they make most sense. The need for expansion is urgent. Increases in broadband adoption rate are slowing and, in fact, posted a decline for the lowest income households in 2013. In March, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights urged the FCC to protect and modernize the Lifeline program by implementing this type of expansion. “As broadband rapidly replaces voice service as the basic communications tool for our era, the FCC should rapidly update Lifeline to match the times,” the letter states. “Increasing broadband adoption will improve the economic well-being of those populations as well as the economic competitiveness of our country as a whole.”
[Cheryl Leanza is policy advisor for the United Church of Christ's media justice ministry]
https://www.benton.org/blog/gao-report-bolsters-need-lifeline-broadband-...
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WHY NET NEUTRALITY RULES HAVE ANGERED SOME SMALL INTERNET PROVIDERS
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
Large Internet service providers are roaring mad about new network neutrality rules and the reclassification of broadband as a common carrier service. Reaction among small ISPs is more diverse, but some of them say they will be saddled with legal costs so high that it will prevent them from upgrading equipment that provides Internet service to small towns and rural areas. Six members of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association made these claims in declarations that accompanied a petition seeking to overturn the Federal Communications Commission decision. The declarations appear to be coordinated as they all contain similar language, but each ISP also has unique circumstances. The specific legal concerns raised by some small ISPs may or may not be real dangers. But at the very least, their worries show that the FCC could do a better job of communicating the real-world impact of the new rules, particularly if small companies pay lawyers for services that aren’t necessary. For example, one president of a small ISP wondered if he is no longer allowed to disconnect customers who haven’t paid their bills since broadband is now considered a “utility” or if customers could file complaints if he can’t provide service to a particular home due to wireless signals being blocked by trees and hills. The small ISP president said he has no problem adhering to the basic net neutrality prohibitions on blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization, but he said, “We will need to pay lawyers to go through our customer agreements… can we require that disputes first be settled by arbitration or that we have 30 days to resolve it outside of court? We're going to have to spend a bunch of money on lawyers to determine that to try to minimize our exposure. Maybe all these things are in our imagination, but that’s what we'll have to pay lawyers to tell us.”
benton.org/headlines/why-net-neutrality-rules-have-angered-some-small-internet-providers | Ars Technica
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COMPANIES WANT NET NEUTRALITY AS PART OF AT&T MERGER
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
Companies like Dish and Cogent Communications want AT&T to follow network neutrality rules as a condition of its proposed merger with DirecTV, regardless of whether the new regulations are struck down in court. The companies, as well as a trio of public interest groups, outlined a host of conditions they want imposed on the proposed $48 billion AT&T deal in meetings with Federal Communications Commission staff, according to recently published disclosure filings. The groups -- including Free Press, Public Knowledge and New America's Open Technology Institute -- asked that AT&T adhere to the new net neutrality framework for seven years after the deal goes through. That would be a tough sell for AT&T, which has fiercely opposed the new rules, and has filed a stand-alone lawsuit against them. The company, along with half a dozen other groups, has also asked the courts to delay the rules until there's a final decision on their legality. The net neutrality request was cited in a single paragraph at the end of an eight-page filing. The groups spent the majority of the filing asking for conditions on interconnection deals and requesting that AT&T be forced to offer stand-alone Internet service. To reduce the incentive for harm, the groups want AT&T to offer stand-alone Internet service for a reasonable price and to advertise it prominently in their promotional and advertising material, rather than just pushing its bundled deals. They also demanded that AT&T not exempt any of its own video service from its data caps. The groups also asked for specific interconnection terms, limiting the charges AT&T can impose and requiring that it relieve congestion when Internet traffic backs up. Netflix has also asked for the FCC to impose interconnection conditions if the merger goes through.
benton.org/headlines/companies-want-net-neutrality-part-att-merger | Hill, The
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
STEPHANOPOULOS DONATIONS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Paul Farhi]
ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos made three contributions to the Clinton Foundation, ABC confirmed, in an apparent conflict with his duties as a journalist. Stephanopoulos contributed $25,000 in 2012, 2013 and again last year to the charitable organization headed by former president Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea. “PBS NewsHour” co-anchor Judy Woodruff also said that she had made a one-time donation to the charity — $250 in 2010. Stephanopoulos, ABC’s chief political correspondent, was already regarded warily by Republicans because of his long association with the Clintons. He was a key adviser to Bill Clinton during his campaign in 1992 and served as a senior White House aide during Clinton’s first term. Republicans and media ethicists said the contributions raised questions about his objectivity and neutrality, particularly since he is likely to cover Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. ABC said that Stephanopoulos has decided not to moderate a Republican debate sponsored by the network and the Republican National Committee scheduled for Feb. 6.
benton.org/headlines/abc-newss-stephanopoulos-donated-75000-clinton-foundation | Washington Post
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TELEVISION
THE BATTLE FOR THE LIVING ROOM
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Bob O'Donnell]
[Commentary] First, it was for the little screens. Now, it's for the big ones. In living rooms across America, an epic clash is looming for the hearts, minds and eyeballs of US consumers as major device platform providers, as well as cable companies and telecommunications carriers, again try to reinvent the big-screen television viewing experience. While smart TVs, streaming boxes and gaming consoles have attempted to alter our viewing habits, most people continue to get their TV content the same way they always have -- through cable or satellite providers. Now, however, the environment around TV viewing has begun to shift because of one profoundly important development: the growing popularity of over-the-top (OTT) video services, such as Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, YouTube and others like them. The stakes for this living room battle are huge. Not only do we all spend a lot of time viewing TV and video, we spend a lot of money to access this content as well. So sit back and grab some popcorn, because seeing how all these companies maneuver their businesses to tap into this new opportunity is going to be a fun show to watch.
[Bob O'Donnell is founder and chief analyst of Technalysis Research]
benton.org/headlines/battle-living-room | USAToday
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CONTENT
DIGITAL FREE TRADE
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Carter Dougherty]
A lot of international trade takes place over the Internet, where digital goods and services are bought and sold across national borders. But international trade policy is still catching up. The Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 12-nation agreement the Obama administration hopes to complete this year, will contain new types of rules governing digital commerce in a bid to ensure governments don’t block bits and bytes the way they’ve slowed down trade of physical goods with tariffs. At the heart of those rules is an effort by the US to persuade countries to do away with laws requiring data be stored on local servers. Leading that push is Robert Holleyman, a deputy US trade representative and former software industry lobbyist. It’s his job to head off the kinds of measures that make moving data harder and more expensive.
benton.org/headlines/dilemma-digital-free-trade | Bloomberg
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EDUCATION
CAN K-12 DISTRICTS REALLY BRING BROADBAND TO THE COMMUNITY?
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Bridget McCrea]
When it comes to providing free broadband access, most communities are far more likely to consider their local coffee shop over their school district, but in reality such institutions can serve as the vital link between high-speed internet capabilities and those families and students who may not have such access at home. And while many Americans do have high-speed broadband at home, such capabilities are not ubiquitous. The typical K-12 district isn’t in the position to start installing Wi-Fi hotspots all over town, so the question is: How can it provide Wi-Fi everywhere in a way that reaches those students who need it? “You can’t just start throwing equipment on every utility pole,” says Michael Flood, vice president of startegy at Bethesda (MD)-based wireless provider kajeet, who sees mobile broadband networks as a more viable choice. A portable Wi-Fi hotspot, for example, allows multiple users to get online via a private network that can be managed and overseen by an instructor. Flood sees this option as particularly applicable for schools that are investing in thousands of Chromebooks that, for budgetary reasons, lack embedded LTE (a 4G mobile communications standard) capabilities. To districts that want to “fill the gap” by expanding broadband to their communities, Flood says partnering up with other entities is a good move that could help take some of the pressure (financial, resource, and time-wise) off the district itself. “We’ve seen a number of library systems providing broadband access, and we’ve also heard about possible new federal programs that would potentially use lifeline funds (a program that provides discounts on monthly telephone service for eligible subscribers) for broadband access,” says Flood. “Those are potentially big programs that could help in terms of offsetting the cost to the school.”
benton.org/headlines/can-k-12-districts-really-bring-broadband-community | eSchool News
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ACCESSIBILITY
FCC AGENDA CONFIRMED
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Thursday, May 21, 2015; here’s the agenda. The FCC will consider:
An Order to extend the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program and a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to permanently extend the program. The program provides up to $10 million annually from the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Service Fund to support programs that distribute communications equipment to low-income individuals who are deaf-blind.
A Second Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to extend accessibility rules for emergency alerts to “second screens,” including tablets, smartphones, laptops, and similar devices. The proposal would take additional steps to make emergency information in video programming accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-hold-open-commission-meeting-thursday-may-21-2015 | Federal Communications Commission
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FCC REFORM
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ENFORCEMENT PENALTIES & FINES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly]
[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission’s enforcement procedures and actions have been receiving attention of late, but there is a deficiency in the process that has not been mentioned. To the extent that the FCC has rules in an area, applicable parties are required to comply. Those who don’t are subject to enforcement actions, with due process rights for alleged violators, including the option of settling the matter through a consent decree. For the enforcement process to work, however, all of its steps must be carried out efficiently and swiftly from beginning to end. One problem with the current process -- and another area for the newly formed Process Review Task Force and/or Congress to examine -- is that the FCC has no idea whether parties are actually satisfying the terms of its enforcement actions, particularly those that go to the forfeiture stage. Under the current structure, the Commission does not have a process in place to know whether entities actually pay the fines or penalties assessed pursuant to an enforcement action. In other words, once a Forfeiture Order is finalized, it somehow seems to drop off the FCC’s radar. Even if the FCC’s enforcement fines and penalties are appropriate, if the collection remains unknown, overall enforcement will suffer. The potential discrepancy between issuing an enforcement action and collecting any financial fine or penalty needs to be addressed. To the extent that the Enforcement Bureau needs assistance facilitating the necessary relationships with the Treasury and Justice Departments, I would be happy to help in any way I can.
benton.org/headlines/accountability-enforcement-penalties-fines | Federal Communications Commission
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
UK BROADBAND ACCESS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Daniel Thomas]
Businesses could benefit from improved access to superfast broadband in Britain under proposals from Ofcom, the UK telecommunications regulator, to further open up BT’s fibre network for rivals to use. Ofcom said that BT would need to give rival providers of business broadband the ability to take full control of services using its UK-wide fibre network. The proposals would mean that they need to pay less money to BT to use the network under wholesale rates, and could bring the cost to customers down if the savings were passed on. Ofcom is also proposing more stringent targets for BT to install business broadband lines. The regulator said the measures were designed to promote competition and innovation in the £2 billion market for “leased lines” — dedicated, high-speed data links used by large businesses and mobile and broadband operators to transfer data on their networks. Leased lines also provide vital, high-capacity links for schools, universities, libraries and other public bodies.
benton.org/headlines/ofcom-tells-bt-its-rivals-need-better-superfast-broadband-access | Financial Times
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MOBILE OPERATORS TO BLOCK ONLINE ADVERTISING
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Robert Cookson]
Several mobile operators plan to block advertising on their networks, setting the stage for a battle with digital media companies such as Google, AOL and Yahoo. One European wireless carrier said that it has installed blocking software in its data centres and planned to turn it on before the end of 2015. The software prevents most types of advertising from loading in web pages and apps, though it does not interfere with “in-feed” ads of the kind used by Facebook and Twitter. The blocking technology was developed by Shine, an Israeli start-up whose shareholders include Horizon Ventures, the investment fund of Li Ka-shing, Asia’s richest person. Li also controls Hutchison Whampoa, one of the world’s largest telecoms groups. “Tens of millions of mobile subscribers around the world will be opting in to ad blocking by the end of the year,” said Roi Carthy, chief marketing officer of Shine. “If this scales, it could have a devastating impact on the online advertising industry.”
benton.org/headlines/mobile-operators-plan-block-online-advertising | Financial Times
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