BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2015
See Upcoming Events On Our Calendar: https://www.benton.org/calendar
REMEMBERING REV DR EVERETT C PARKER
Tribute to Everett Parker - press release
Benton Foundation Celebrates the Life of Reverend Everett C. Parker - press release
FCC MEETING
FCC Modernizes Broadcast Contest Rule for Online Access
FCC Proposes Rules to Promote Reliable Submarine Cable
FCC Announces Excellence in Economics, Engineering Award Winners - press release [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
With Cablevision Deal, Altice Considers More Potential Acquisitions
Verizon's McAdam: We're open to talking to Dish about spectrum -- but won't buy whole company
Altice Expected to Try to Cut Programming Costs [links to web]
Analysts: T-Mobile could become takeover target for Altice, other cable players following Cablevision deal [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Lawmakers Send Letter to FCC Regarding Tower Workers' Radiofrequency Exposure
Verizon Says First US Carrier to Offer Cellphone Roaming in Cuba [links to web]
AT&T stalls launch of Wi-Fi calling for the iPhone [links to web]
Mobile Video High on Comcast's Wi-Fi Agenda [links to web]
SPECIAL ACCESS
Parties Seeking Access to Data and Information Filed in Response to the Special Access Data Collection - public notice [links to web]
FCC Further Extends Comment Deadlines in Special Access Proceeding - public notice [links to web]
FCC Takes Major Step in Review of Competition in $40 Billion Special Access Market - press release [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
The Internet Investment ‘Meltdown’ That Isn’t - Tim Karr op-ed [links to web]
GCI Revs Up 1-Gig Service [links to web]
TELEVISION
Notice of Effective date of Revised Effective Competition Rules - public notice [links to web]
TVB: Digital, Spectrum, FCC, Wheeler Are Buzzwords at Forward Conference [links to web]
CONTENT
BBC to launch Netflix-style US streaming service [links to web]
Apple wins ruling to end Samsung’s smartphone infringement [links to web]
Mobile Video High on Comcast's Wi-Fi Agenda [links to web]
Apple will ask Supreme Court to hear its e-books price-fixing case [links to web]
Executive Vice President: Frontier Video Launch Planned This Year [links to web]
Bitcoin’s lasting legacy: Software or currency? [links to web]
SURVEILLANCE
Here's How You Can Find Out If You Were Spied On By the UK and US Governments [links to web]
PRIVACY/SECURITY
Why the FTC, America’s top privacy regulator, actually hates a privacy bill everyone else seems to want [links to web]
Federal Inspectors Want to Double-Check How Agencies Fared During 'Cyber Sprint' [links to web]
Manhattan DA opens international cyberthreat sharing nonprofit [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
PatentsView: Driving Open Government Through Data - Commerce Department press release [links to web]
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
CNN breaks ratings record with GOP debate [links to web]
Can we stop blaming the media for Donald Trump? Nope. Not at all. - WaPo op-ed [links to web]
It’s time to retire the Equal-Time Rules - AEI op-ed [links to web]
JOURNALISM
The Reporters Committee and US media groups join the fight over ‘right to be forgotten’ rules [links to web]
Facebook launches Signal, a tool to help journalists sort through the noise [links to web]
ADVERTISING
Online Ad Research: Half of Impressions Now From Mobile Devices [links to web]
Apple vs Google vs Facebook and the slow death of the web - The Verge analysis [links to web]
ACCESSIBILITY
Ensuring Equal and Effective Communications for All - ITU op-ed [links to web]
DIVERSITY
Fashion, politics, and feminism: The women’s magazines for a new generation [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
China tells US tech companies to sign PRISM-like cyber-loyalty pact [links to web]
Verizon Says First US Carrier to Offer Cellphone Roaming in Cuba [links to web]
REMEMBERING REV DR EVERETT C PARKER
TRIBUTE TO EVERETT PARKER
[SOURCE: United Church of Christ, AUTHOR: Cheryl Leanza]
Rev. Dr. Everett C. Parker passed away early in the morning on Sept 17 at the age of 102. He was the first director of Communications in 1957 for the newly-formed United Church of Christ. In that role he founded the United Church of Christ, Office of Communication, Inc, a media reform and accountability ministry with a civil rights agenda, that worked to improve the coverage and employment of women and people of color in broadcasting and other media. Dr. Parker was named one of the most influential men in broadcasting by the trade publication Broadcasting Magazine and is featured Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Television. "We will always be grateful for Dr. Parker's role in bringing community voices to federal agencies. Much of the successful activism today related to Internet openness and media consolidation traces back to Dr. Parker's work in the 1950s and 1960s," noted Earl Williams, chair of UCC OC Inc. Before the litigation brought by UCC OC Inc. against the Federal Communications Commission in a famous duo of cases known as UCC v. FCC, ordinary people had no right to file comments or register their views at the FCC. Williams explained, "the millions of people who asked the FCC to protect net neutrality [in 2014] can credit Dr. Parker and his work at UCC OC Inc. for their right to do so."
benton.org/headlines/tribute-everett-parker | United Church of Christ | FCC Chairman Wheeler Statement | FCC Commissioner Clyburn Statement | Public Knowledge | Broadcasting & Cable
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BENTON FOUNDATION CELEBRATES THE LIFE OF REVEREND EVERETT C. PARKER
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Press release]
All of us at the Benton Foundation are saddened by the news of Rev Everett Parker’s passing. His work inspires us, the public interest community, and all advocates for a better world. His mission, shared by the Benton Foundation, is to give help to people who are voiceless, so that they may be heard. In 2012, our founder, Charles Benton, received the Everett C. Parker Award in recognition of his many years of leadership and support for promoting the public interest in traditional and digital media. In accepting the award, Charles highlighted three lessons from Rev Parker’s life that serve for a model for us at the foundation: 1) The work has to be driven by an ethic. 2) You need patience; it takes a while to accomplish things. 3) Don’t be afraid of difficult challenges. We are thankful for these lessons today and embrace them as we endeavor to carry on Rev Parker’s work for years to come.
benton.org/headlines/benton-foundation-celebrates-life-reverend-everett-c-parker | Benton Foundation
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FCC MEETING
FCC MODERNIZES BROADCAST CONTEST RULE FOR ONLINE ACCESS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules that allow broadcasters to disclose contest rules online as an alternative to broadcasting them over the air. Adopted in 1976, the Contest Rule requires broadcasters to disclose important contest information fully and accurately, and to conduct contests substantially as announced. Sept 17's rule change preserves these requirements, but modernizes how broadcast stations can meet their disclosure obligation by announcing their contest terms over the air or by posting that information on an Internet website. The Order also adopts related implementing rules, including the requirement that broadcasters periodically announce over the air the website address where their contest rules can be found. The FCC began this rulemaking in response to the dramatic changes that have occurred in the way Americans obtain information since the Contest Rule was adopted almost four decades ago. The rule changes give broadcast stations more flexibility in the way they comply with the Contest Rule, and give consumers a more convenient way to obtain contest information normally aired through television and radio advertisements. [MB Docket No. 14-226]
benton.org/headlines/fcc-modernizes-broadcast-contest-rule-online-access | Federal Communications Commission | FCC Report and Order | Wheeler Statement | Clyburn Statement | Pai Statement | O'Rielly Statement | Broadcasting & Cable | The Hill
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FCC PROPOSES RULES TO PROMOTE RELIABLE SUBMARINE CABLE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission proposed rules that would require submarine cable licensees to report significant outages to the FCC to help safeguard this critical communications infrastructure and promote reliable
communications for businesses and consumers. There are approximately 60 submarine (that is, undersea) cables that provide connectivity -- voice, data and Internet -- between the mainland US and Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, as well as virtually all connectivity between the US and the rest of the world. While submarine cables are vital to America’s economic and national security, licensees currently only report outages on an ad hoc basis, and the information received by the FCC is too limited to be of use.The Commission is therefore seeking timely information about submarine cable outages, with enough detail to understand the nature and impact of any damage and disruption to communications, help mitigate any impact on emergency services and consumers, and assist in service restoration. [GN Docket No. 15-206]
benton.org/headlines/fcc-proposes-rules-promote-reliable-submarine-cable | Federal Communications Commission | Wheeler Statement | Clyburn Statement | Rosenworcel Statement | Pai Statement | O'Rielly Statement
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OWNERSHIP
WITH CABLEVISION DEAL, ALTICE CONSIDERS MORE POTENTIAL ACQUISITIONS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Michael J de la Merced]
The European telecommunication company Altice has made no secret that it wants to become the next big player in the American cable landscape. After Cablevision, however, what else can it buy? As the industry consolidates, putting more power into the hands of a small group of giants, future acquisition targets are smaller and smaller. Already, Comcast, Charter Communications and now Altice have been steadily snapping up the major players. Time Warner Cable, the second-biggest cable operator in the country after Comcast, is poised to be absorbed into Charter, as is Bright House. Now Altice has acquired both Cablevision, the jewel of the New York City metropolitan area, and Suddenlink to vault into the top ranks of the industry. The European telecom has held talks with a number of smaller cable operators, according to people briefed on the matter, which could go toward a roll-up of the industry and put it on stronger competitive footing against Comcast and Charter. The biggest remaining prize is Cox, which is still owned by its founding eponymous family. With more than four million subscribers, it would provide a significant boost to Altice’s ambitions -- but could also draw scrutiny from regulators wary of the rapidly contracting industry. Other potential acquisitions include Mediacom, another privately held cable company with roughly 1.3 million customers, and Cable One, a publicly traded operator spun off from Graham Holdings that has about 686,000 subscribers.
benton.org/headlines/cablevision-deal-altice-considers-more-potential-acquisitions | New York Times | Broadcasting & Cable
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VERIZON'S MCADAM: WE'RE OPEN TO TALKING TO DISH ABOUT SPECTRUM -- BUT WON'T BUY WHOLE COMPANY
[SOURCE: Fierce , AUTHOR: Phil Goldstein]
Verizon has no interest in buying Dish Network but is open to discussing how Verizon could get access to Dish's wireless spectrum or forge some kind of wholesale arrangement, according to Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam. McAdam said Dish's satellite TV business is "not consistent with a strategy of where we see the market going," especially with Verizon's nascent Go90 over-the-top mobile video product. However, McAdam acknowledged that "we've had discussions about how we could provide [Dish Network Chairman and CEO Charlie Ergen] with megabytes and how he could pay for it with spectrum." McAdam indicated Verizon would be happy to have discussions about reasonable commercial terms for Dish's spectrum assets but that Verizon would not purchase Dish just to get access to its spectrum.
benton.org/headlines/verizons-mcadam-were-open-talking-dish-about-spectrum-wont-buy-whole-company | Fierce
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
LAWMAKERS SEND LETTER TO FCC REGARDING TOWER WORKS' RADIOFREQUENCY EXPOSURE
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo (D-CA) are accusing the Federal Communications Commission of failing to enforce safety guidelines on cell tower worker exposure to radiofrequency radiation, saying they are putting the health and safety of a quarter of a million workers at risk. In a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, the lawmakers said that "even though the FCC recommends that wireless carriers control exposure to harmful RF radiation using safety protocols such as signs, barricades, and training, it has come to our attention that these recommendations have not consistently been implemented to protect workers." They said beyond the hazards to cell tower workers of free-standing structures, the towers are now found atop all kinds of buildings from apartments and schools to hospitals, churches and fire stations, "putting RF technicians but also roofers, water proofers, electricians, carpenters, building maintenance personnel, HVAC technicians, painters, firefighters" and others at risk from the radiation. The lawmakers want the FCC to finalize a notice of proposed rulemaking and to consult with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to make sure it has teeth.
benton.org/headlines/lawmakers-send-letter-fcc-regarding-tower-workers-radiofrequency-exposure | Multichannel News
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