BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013
Unlicensed Spectrum and the FTC on today’s agenda http://benton.org/calendar/2013-10-24/
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Claim on “Attacks Thwarted” by NSA Spreads Despite Lack of Evidence
Obama to Germany's Merkel: US not monitoring your phone [links to web]
US intelligence chief denies reports that the NSA collected 70 million French call records [links to web]
Former NSA chief: NSA and US Cyber Command are now ‘indistinguishable’ [links to web]
This Time, Citizens Collect Feds’ Communications Metadata
Now You Can Petition Some Members Of Congress Directly
Supreme Court to get reporter's privilege plea
JOURNALISM
On the NSA, the media may tilt right - analysis
GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
Contractors Assign Blame, but Admit No Faults of Their Own, in Health Site
Would Healthcare.gov have worked if the Obama campaign had been in charge? - analysis
President Obama needs some Silicon Valley advice on health care tech problem - editorial [links to web]
Chairman Issa asks Verizon, Google, Microsoft to detail involvement in ObamaCare repairs [links to web]
CYBERSECURITY
US businesses are in an unfair fight against cyberthreats - op-ed
House Intel chairman: CISPA is ill but not dead
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Internet Domain Name Expansion Now Underway - press release
Google Fiber general manager Kevin Lo torpedoes broadband myth
1 in 7 Americans is offline. Why? It's complicated
How cable companies have quietly dominated public Wi-Fi [links to web]
NASA’s moon laser just blew your home Internet out of the water [links to web]
TELEVISION
8 things you need to know about Sinclair Broadcast Group
Why TV Networks Are Bypassing Pilots for Direct-to-Series Orders [links to web]
Step Aside, Netflix: Amazon’s Entering the Original Series Race [links to web]
Five things Netflix is going to disrupt next - analysis [links to web]
Netflix - 5 Reasons Cable Companies Should Just Say 'Yes!' - op-ed [links to web]
The Popular Culture That Is Actually Popular - analysis [links to web]
Is Local Television In Trouble Or Not? [links to web]
Doesn't matter who wins the World Series, networks and advertisers score [links to web]
PRIVACY
The Real Privacy Problem - op-ed
ADVERTISING
Ad-Sponsored Editorial Content Draws Regulator’s Notice
Who Should Regulate Native Advertising?
THE FCC
Yeah, Who DOES Need the FCC? - op-ed
POLICYMAKERS
Ted Cruz Takes On the FCC - editorial
Sean Lev, FCC General Counsel, To Step Down By Year’s End - press release [links to web]
LOBBYING
Facebook's lobbying climbs to record level [links to web]
COMPANY NEWS
Competition Rises for AT&T, as Does 3rd-Quarter Profit [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
US Spying Charges Give New Impetus to EU Digital Summit
Snowden revelations hit war on terror as EU MPs call for suspension of data-sharing deal
European Commission to push EU leaders on single telecoms market
Why in-contract price hike controls will likely mean the end of UK handset subsidies
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
CLAIM ON “ATTACKS THWARTED” BY NSA SPREADS DESPITE LACK OF EVIDENCE
[SOURCE: Pro Publica, AUTHOR: Justin Elliott, Theodoric Meyer]
Two weeks after Edward Snowden’s first revelations about sweeping government surveillance, President Barack Obama shot back. “We know of at least 50 threats that have been averted because of this information not just in the United States, but, in some cases, threats here in Germany,” President Obama said during a visit to Berlin in June 2013. “So lives have been saved.” Since then, intelligence officials, media outlets, and members of Congress from both parties all repeated versions of the claim that National Security Agency surveillance has stopped more than 50 terrorist attacks. The figure has become a key talking point in the debate around the spying programs. “Fifty-four times this and the other program stopped and thwarted terrorist attacks both here and in Europe -- saving real lives,” said House Intelligence Committee Mike Rogers (R-MI) on the House floor in July. But there's no evidence that the oft-cited figure is accurate. The NSA itself has been inconsistent on how many plots it has helped prevent and what role the surveillance programs played. The agency has often made hedged statements that avoid any sweeping assertions about attacks thwarted. A chart declassified by the agency in July, for example, says that intelligence from the programs on 54 occasions “has contributed to the [US government’s] understanding of terrorism activities and, in many cases, has enabled the disruption of potential terrorist events at home and abroad” -- a much different claim than asserting that the programs have been responsible for thwarting 54 attacks. NSA officials have mostly repeated versions of this wording. When NSA chief Gen. Keith Alexander spoke at a Las Vegas security conference in July, for instance, he referred to “54 different terrorist-related activities,” 42 of which were plots and 12 of which were cases in which individuals provided “material support” to terrorism.
benton.org/node/164031 | Pro Publica
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THIS TIME, CITIZENS COLLECT FEDS’ COMMUNICATIONS METADATA
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Aliya Sternstein]
As recently as August 2013, a Verizon glitch exposed government officials' text message histories in a way that would have allowed anyone to discern their inner circles, according to security researchers. The vulnerability was fixed after a non-government customer pointed out the danger to the company this summer. Attackers could simply type their target's phone number into a URL to see a spreadsheet of text message contacts, timestamps and dates, according to researchers. The content of the messages was not visible. "This was a very basic Web application security flaw that was trivial to exploit. All you need is a browser, no special hacking tool," said Johannes Ullrich, dean of research for the SANS Technology Institute. Verizon Communications, the largest telecommunications supplier to the federal government, said no government users, or any other users, were affected by the bug. "No customer information was impacted," company spokesman Kevin Irland said. "Verizon takes customer privacy seriously. As soon as this was brought to the attention of our security teams, we addressed it."
benton.org/node/164046 | nextgov
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NOW YOU CAN PETITION SOME MEMBERS OF CONGRESS DIRECTLY
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Joseph Marks]
Change.org, one of the most popular websites for online activists, launched a new service that allows lawmakers to create official pages where constituents can petition them on everything from potholes to major national policies. A handful of prominent legislators have already signed up for the new service including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), said Jake Brewer, the site’s external affairs director. Any of Change.org’s 50 million users will be able to create or sign an appeal directed at a lawmaker who creates an account on the site, but lawmakers will be able to see how many of the signers are actual constituents based on information they provided when they registered with the site, Brewer said. The site’s designers have twin goals. They hope collecting constituent demands into a single petition rather than hundreds or thousands of e-mails will give politicians a positive incentive to respond and engage with them. They also hope that making the entire process public will give politicians a “negative incentive” to engage with petitioners because they don’t want to look unresponsive in the public eye.
benton.org/node/164044 | nextgov
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SUPREME COURT TO GET REPORTER'S PRIVILEGE PLEA
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Josh Gerstein]
A showdown over the right many journalists claim not to testify about their sources in criminal cases is headed for the Supreme Court after James Risen, a New York Times reporter, asked a federal appeals court to put its ruling denying such a privilege on hold while he asks the justices to take up the issue. Risen’s lawyers filed a motion with the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, asking that the court halt the effect of its decision requiring him to testify in the expected trial of Jeffrey Sterling, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who has been indicted for leaking Risen information about a CIA operation to provide Iran with flawed nuclear designs as part of an effort to set back that country's alleged nuclear weapons program. "The situation faced by Mr. Risen here is not unique and is likely to recur," Risen attorneys David Kelley and Joel Kurtzberg write in the motion. "As has frequently been pointed out, this Administration has initiated more prosecutions for allegedly improper leaks than all past administrations combined. There is no indication that these practices are likely to wane. The questions of law in this case are not only unsettled, but also vitally important to our democracy," the lawyers write.
benton.org/node/164042 | Politico
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JOURNALISM
ON THE NSA, THE MEDIA MAY TILT RIGHT
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Albert Wong, Valerie Belair-Gagnon]
Since June 6, 2013, the world has been roiled by an ongoing series of disclosures based on Edward Snowden’s document leaks, with coverage led by the Guardian and the Washington Post, about clandestine mass surveillance conducted, with little oversight, by the National Security Agency and its international partners. Public perceptions of these surveillance revelations are affected not only by the NSA’s actual actions, but also by the news coverage of the government’s spying programs. Our analysis of total press coverage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) between July 1 and July 31 (July was the first full calendar month after the initial disclosures in June) revealed that the widely held assumption that major media outlets uniformly tilt to the left does not match reality. If anything, the media appears to tilt to the right, at least on this issue. Of the 30 traditionally pro- or anti-surveillance terms we examined in four newspapers (The New York Times, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post), key words generally used to justify increased surveillance, such as security or terrorism, were used much more frequently than terms that tend to invoke opposition to mass surveillance, such as privacy or liberty. Our findings indicate that the intense public concern about the NSA’s activities is not merely an artifact of biased coverage, since the media actually appears to be biased in the opposite direction. Public opposition to the government surveillance might be even more pronounced if overall media coverage was neutral and unbiased.
benton.org/node/164036 | Columbia Journalism Review
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GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
HEALTH SITE CONTRACTORS TO TESTIFY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Robert Pear]
Contractors that built President Obama’s health insurance marketplace point fingers at one another and at the government, but each insists that it is not responsible for the problems that infuriated millions of Americans trying to buy insurance on the Web site, according to testimony prepared for a Congressional hearing on Oct 24. Some of the biggest contractors set forth their experiences in testimony for the hearing, by the House Commerce Committee.
benton.org/node/164246 | New York Times
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WOULD HEALTHCARE.GOV HAVE WORKED IF THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN HAD BEEN IN CHARGE?
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
Opponents of the Affordable Care Act have been among the most eager to point out the system's greatest irony: It was President Barack Obama, who sailed into office on the back of a sophisticated digital campaign, that oversaw Healthcare.gov's botched kick-off. How could the Obama Administration have failed so publicly when his campaign spoke Internet so fluently -- and would it have made any difference if Obama for America had been in control? It's easy to attribute omnipotence to the Obama campaign in hindsight. Yes, the campaign had an army of data analysts and programmers at its disposal. It had a Web-centric culture. But that alone wouldn't have made building Healthcare.gov any easier. Campaigns, by their nature, have to be nimble -- they're good at responding to attacks, dishing out their own and reallocating resources as a race develops. Agility isn't a hallmark of government, however. There are requirements and regulations to follow when it comes to procurement, oversight and other pesky matters of state. And perhaps that's partly why the idea of OFA building the Obamacare site is so seductive. If only Washington operated more like a startup -- if only it could move faster and break things -- we might have a better insurance portal.
benton.org/node/164106 | Washington Post
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CYBERSECURITY
US BUSINESSES ARE IN AN UNFAIR FIGHT AGAINST CYBERTHREATS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Rep Mike Rogers (R-MI)]
[Commentary] I was disappointed that an Oct. 14 Post editorial argued that American companies and critical infrastructure operators must cope alone with serious cyberthreats. Most American companies work hard to secure their networks, but US companies are targeted daily by nation-state actors such as China and Iran. That’s not a fair fight. The threat is serious. Rampant cyber economic espionage from China, Iran and other countries is eroding US prosperity. And many of the same vulnerabilities used to steal trade secrets can expose critical infrastructure on which our nation depends. Congress must act, and we must not let a misguided leaker dissuade us from doing our jobs. But the federal government lacks clear legal authority to widely share information about cyberthreats with private companies. Congress must provide that authority and should allow more voluntary, anonymous sharing from the private sector to the government. The law should also allow better sharing of cyberthreat information within the private sector, so US companies have the information to defend against cyberattacks.
[Rep Mike Rogers (R-MI) is chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence]
benton.org/node/164026 | Washington Post
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HOUSE INTEL CHAIRMAN: CISPA IS ILL BUT NOT DEAD
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) said that he believes there is still a "path forward" for his cybersecurity bill. "It's a little ill, but the CISPA bill is certainly not dead yet," Chairman Rogers said, referring to the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, during a panel discussion hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Chairman Rogers acknowledged that the revelations about the scope of the National Security Agency's surveillance programs have "damaged the perception" of CISPA. But he said the "sheer determination" of Senate Intelligence Committee leaders Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) give him hope that Congress will move ahead on the bill. He said he is working with the senators on tweaks to the bill to provide more oversight and privacy protections.
benton.org/node/164024 | Hill, The
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME EXPANSION NOW UNDERWAY
[SOURCE: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, AUTHOR: Press Release]
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced that the first new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) from its New gTLD Program were delegated. This means they were introduced into the Internet's Root Zone, the central authoritative database for the Internet's Domain Name System. As a result, the domain name Registries, the organizations approved to operate these and other soon-to-be-delegated gTLDs, can execute the final processes required to make their domain names available to Internet users. ICANN's New gTLD Program is responsible for the introductions of new gTLDs that will result in the expansion of the Domain Name System from 22 gTLDs (e.g., .COM, .NET, .ORG) to possibly 1,400 new names or "strings." The newly delegated gTLDs are in Arabic, Chinese and Cyrillic scripts. They are the first of many gTLDs in various non-Latin scripts as a demonstration of ICANN’s efforts to create a globally-inclusive Internet, regardless of language or region.
benton.org/node/164100 | Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers
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GOOGLE FIBER GENERAL MANAGER KEVIN LO TORPEDOES BROADBAND MYTH
[SOURCE: The Australian, AUTHOR: Fran Foo]
The notion that consumers don't want, won't pay for or don't need high-speed broadband has been described as a mere myth by the Google executive rolling out fiber networks in US cities. "I can say with full confidence that simply isn’t true … there is huge consumer demand for faster Internet," Google Fiber general manager Kevin Lo said. Lo further said that faster Internet speeds will lead to the "next chapter of the Internet." His views were in line with former communications minister Stephen Conroy who recently told a luncheon that Tony Abbott’s national broadband network plan was inadequate for the future. "Nielsen's law of Internet bandwidth is possibly less widely known. It states that a high-end user's connection speed grows by 50 percent per year. They stand in stark contrast to Abbott’s law stated in April that 25 megabits per second is more than enough bandwidth for Australian households. The digital age is upon us, but the realization of the opportunities it presents is really just beginning," Australian Senator Conroy said.
benton.org/node/164084 | Australian, The
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1 IN 7 AMERICANS IS OFFLINE. WHY? IT'S COMPLICATED
[SOURCE: CNBC, AUTHOR: Kathryn Zickuhr]
A small and persistent swath of Americans remain offline -- 15 percent of adults ages 18 and older, as of May 2013 -- and in most cases were never online to begin with. Are offline adults abstaining from Internet use due to a lack of interest, or are they prevented from logging on due to a lack of access? Even with our latest data, it's a tricky question to sort out. As with many technology adoption trends, Internet use remains strongly correlated with age, education and household income. Groups with lower levels of Internet adoption than average include:
Adults ages 65 and older (56 percent use the Internet)
Adults who did not complete high school (59 percent) and those who completed high school but did not attend college (78 percent)
Hispanic adults (76 percent)
Adults in households earning less than $30,000 per year (76 percent)
While seniors account for almost half of offline adults overall, age isn't the whole story. For instance, most non-Internet users did not attend college; offline adults are also more likely to be retired than their online counterparts, and more likely to live in lower-income households in general. While most of these offline adults don't cite price or a lack of physical access to the Internet as the main reason they don't go online, their general lack of experience with and knowledge of the online world suggest that most would not be able to choose to go online tomorrow if they wished.
benton.org/node/164034 | CNBC
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TELEVISION
8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP
[SOURCE: Baltimore Business Journal, AUTHOR: James Briggs]
Sinclair Broadcast Group has been on a remarkable shopping spree for television stations across the United States. The moves have brought increased attention -- and scrutiny -- including a sharply critical report from media watch group Free Press on how Sinclair circumvents Federal Communications Commission rules to operate several stations in many markets. Here are eight eye-popping facts about Sinclair included in the report:
In the last two years, Sinclair has closed or announced deals that would increase its holdings from 58 TV stations to 161.
During that time, Sinclair has expanded its reach from 35 US markets to 78.
If all of Sinclair's pending deals close, the company would have access to 38.8 percent of the nation's TV households.
Sinclair in 2012 generated $1.5 billion in local TV ad revenue, according to SNL Kagan.
Sinclair owns 36 Fox affiliates, 29 ABC affiliates, 27 CBS affiliates, 24 CW affiliates, 23 My Network TV affiliates, 15 NBC affiliates, 5 Univision affiliates and two other stations.
Sinclair directly owns 115 stations and operates 46 others through "marketing, services, sales and/or operating agreements," according to Free Press.
Between 1991 and 2002, Sinclair increased its holdings from four TV stations owned or controlled to 62. That number actually declined to 58 by the end of 2010.
Sinclair's first TV station was WBFF-TV (Channel 45) in Baltimore.
benton.org/node/164030 | Baltimore Business Journal | Free Press
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PRIVACY
THE REAL PRIVACY PROBLEM
[SOURCE: Technology Review, AUTHOR: Evgeny Morozov]
[Commentary] Intellectually, at least, it’s clear what needs to be done: we must confront the question not only in the economic and legal dimensions but also in a political one, linking the future of privacy with the future of democracy in a way that refuses to reduce privacy either to markets or to laws. What does this philosophical insight mean in practice?
First, we must politicize the debate about privacy and information sharing.
Second, we must learn how to sabotage the system -- perhaps by refusing to self-track at all.
Third, we need more provocative digital services. Designed right, sites would not nudge citizens to either guard or share their private information but would reveal the hidden political dimensions to various acts of information sharing.
Finally, we have to abandon fixed preconceptions about how our digital services work and interconnect. Otherwise, we’ll fall victim to the same logic that has constrained the imagination of so many well-meaning privacy advocates who think that defending the “right to privacy” -- not fighting to preserve democracy -- is what should drive public policy.
benton.org/node/164018 | Technology Review
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ADVERTISING
AD-SPONSORED CONTENT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Tanzina Vega]
The practice of native advertising, or the use of editorial content for promotional or marketing purposes, is beginning to capture the attention of advertising regulators who are concerned that some content could be considered deceptive to consumers. The National Advertising Division, an investigative unit of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council, administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, has issued two rulings on the practice in the last two months, one in favor of how an advertiser used editorial content for promotional purposes and one that required an advertiser to modify its practices. While the division often responds to complaints brought by competing marketers who accuse others of violating advertising guidelines, the native advertising cases were found as a result of the group’s regular monitoring of various kinds of advertising.
benton.org/node/164250 | New York Times
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WHO SHOULD REGULATE NATIVE ADVERTISING?
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: ]
Native advertising is being heralded as the savior of digital publishing, but as marketers' content treads increasingly on editorial ground, one of the big questions is: How should it be regulated? To hear top marketers and ad execs, the issue is far from resolved. The Wonderfactory co-founder and creative director Joe McCambley argued that publishers can’t allow advertising to mingle with content unimpeded. But Forbes Media COO Mike Federle contended that it should be consumers, not institutions like the American Society of Magazine Editors or the Federal Trade Commission, that set the guidelines for how native advertising is presented. Added LiquidThread North America president Brent Poer, “How puritanical are we? Should we put a scarlet letter ‘A’ on all native advertising?”
benton.org/node/164052 | AdWeek
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THE FCC
YEAH, WHO DOES NEED THE FCC?
[SOURCE: CommLawBlog, AUTHOR: Jon Markman]
[Commentary] I think that most people, even many who work at the Federal Communications Commission, will admit that some of the FCC’s work is unnecessary, either because the regulatory initiatives weren’t a good idea in the first place, or because the world has changed and they are no longer necessary. Some of the more egregious examples, like the comparative hearing process, have been eliminated, but others remain. Even a fan of the regulatory state should be able to admit that there are ill-advised, outdated or unnecessary FCC regulations that can and should be jettisoned. But in the spirit of fairness, I’ll take the three core functions of the FCC which Mitchell highlighted in his post as my focus here.
Licensing: There’s no reason why the licensing function of the FCC could not be replaced by a private ownership of spectrum rights, which would be analogous to private ownership of real estate.
Technical Rules: There are specialized courts which handle bankruptcy, immigration, military, patents and other technical and complex issues -- surely there could be one to adjudicate radio interference issues (particularly if Congress would fully fund the Courts).
International Treaty Negotiations: By narrowly circumscribing the authority of a department within an agency (like the State Department) through clearly limited delegation of power, we could ideally prevent the gradual accretion of power that can occur in a stand-alone independent agency.
benton.org/node/164038 | CommLawBlog
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POLICYMAKERS
TED CRUZ AND TOM WHEELER
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX), who helped engineer the recent government shutdown, has a new target for his obstructionism: the Federal Communications Commission. Last week, Sen Cruz blocked the Senate from considering the nomination of Tom Wheeler to lead the commission -- a candidate who leaders from both parties had agreed would be put up for a vote without delay. Sen Cruz has put a hold on the nomination, his spokesman told reporters, to find out if Wheeler would vote to require greater disclosure about political ads on television and radio bought by independent groups. Such groups can currently keep donors secret even as they spend hundreds of millions of dollars to influence elections. Sen Cruz says he is trying to get more information and to make sure the FCC does not exceed its authority. But the FCC clearly has the authority to require disclosure of who pays for commercial and political speech on public airwaves under communications laws dating back to the 1930s. Sen Cruz knows that Congress will not repeal federal laws granting the FCC power to require disclosure, so he is trying to bully Wheeler into agreeing not to exercise the agency’s authority. The fact is, neither he nor supporters of Republican candidates and conservative causes want disclosure of spending on commercials by groups like Americans for Prosperity, which is backed by the billionaire Koch brothers. Sen Cruz will not easily give up his misguided crusade, so other Senate Republicans need to pressure him to drop his hold.
benton.org/node/164252 | New York Times
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
US SPYING CHARGES AND EUROPE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sam Schechner, Frances Robinson]
Fresh allegations of spying by the National Security Agency have given new momentum to a proposal to strengthen the European Union's privacy rules ahead of a two-day summit in Brussels, which aims to find ways to generate growth in the bloc's digital economy. European leaders are set to renew a push for a tough new data-protection law and lay out a schedule to get it finished next year. A version of the privacy law, which includes provisions like an online "right to be forgotten," was approved with unusual speed earlier this week by a European parliamentary committee, after being bogged down for nearly two years in debate and heavy lobbying. Behind the shift: A cascade of reports since June about the scale of U.S. electronic surveillance -- most recently, Germany's allegation that the US may be spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone -- have helped shift the conversation in Europe toward shoring up privacy controls, national and European officials said.
benton.org/node/164242 | Wall Street Journal
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SNOWDEN REVELATIONS HIT WAR ON TERROR AS EU MPS CALL FOR SUSPENSION OF DATA-SHARING DEAL
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: David Meyer]
The European Parliament has voted to suspend a data-sharing agreement with the US, which gave the Americans access to certain details of financial transactions in order to track terrorist financing. The vote comes amid growing anger in Europe over Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations. The Parliament itself cannot suspend the deal, but the European Commission can. However, the Commission has indicated that it doesn’t intend to suspend anything just yet.
benton.org/node/164048 | GigaOm
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EUROPEAN COMMISSION TO PUSH EU LEADERS ON SINGLE TELECOMS MARKET
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Foo Yun Chee]
Creating a single telecoms market in Europe and cutting the cost of doing business over the Internet could boost the region's economy by 4 percent by 2020, the European Commission will tell European Union leaders. The push from the European Union's executive, when EU leaders meet on October 24-25, comes as Neelie Kroes, the EU's telecommunications commissioner, makes a fresh attempt to overhaul the bloc's telecoms sector. Following Brussels' success in curbing the cost of using mobile phone use, she now wants to cap the price of cross-border fixed-line calls in Europe, where the commission says technology and telecommunications make a smaller contribution to the economy than in the United States or China. Kroes also wants EU veto power over national auctions of mobile spectrum, and to make it easier for operators to charge companies such as Google more for carrying heavy loads of data at high speeds.
benton.org/node/164104 | Reuters
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WHY IN-CONTRACT PRICE HIKE CONTROLS WILL LIKELY MEAN THE END OF UK HANDSET SUBSIDIES
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: David Meyer]
Britain’s telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, has told the country’s fixed-line and mobile carriers that they will no longer be allowed to keep customers tied to their monthly contracts if they raise prices before the contract is up. That means any price hike, no matter how small, or even the lowering of a voice or data allowance mid-contract. The move follows a consultation earlier this year and it has massive implications for handset subsidies.
benton.org/node/164049 | GigaOm
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