Reporting

Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) will get together with opponents of the proposal to reverse the Title II classification of internet access. According to an e-mail notification on the June 19 event, it will be held at the headquarters of Mozilla (Firefox), which is participating in a July 12 protest and has been encouraging web surfers to oppose FCC chairman Ajit Pai's proposal to reclassify ISPs as information services and rethink the rules against blocking, throttling and paid prioritization. The event is billed as one with stakeholders, but it also says that it is a "roundtable to discuss the impacts of net neutrality and the consequence of eviscerating the policy."

In many rural communities, where available broadband speed and capacity barely surpass old-fashioned dial-up connections, residents sacrifice not only their online pastimes but also chances at a better living. In a generation, the travails of small-town America have overtaken the ills of the city, and this technology disconnect is both a cause and a symptom. Counties without modern internet connections can’t attract new firms, and their isolation discourages the enterprises they have: ranchers who want to buy and sell cattle in online auctions or farmers who could use the internet to monitor crops. Reliance on broadband includes any business that uses high-speed data transmission, spanning banks to insurance firms to factories.

Rural counties with more households connected to broadband had higher incomes and lower unemployment than those with fewer, according to a 2015 study by university researchers in Oklahoma, Mississippi and Texas who compared rural counties before and after getting high-speed internet service. “Having access to broadband is simply keeping up,” said Sharon Strover, a University of Texas professor who studies rural communication. “Not having it means sinking.”

President Donald Trump questioned why Hillary Clinton isn’t the subject of Russia-related investigations but he is. “Why is that Hillary Clintons family and Dems dealings with Russia are not looked at, but my non-dealings are?” President Trump tweeted. “Crooked H destroyed phones w/ hammer, 'bleached' emails, & had husband meet w/AG days before she was cleared- & they talk about obstruction?” he added, in reference to the investigation into Clinton’s private e-mail server.

Ajit Pai, the first Indian American to chair the Federal Communications Commission, will receive the Zee Entertainment National Leadership Award. That is coming at a Capitol Hill reception July 13. Zee TV produces Hindi programming for a worldwide audience (172 countries). “Chairman Pai’s intellect, objectivity and commitment to the law make him the obvious choice for this inaugural award,” said Sameer Targe, CEO of ZEE TV Americas. While it is the first National Leadership Award, Zee plans to make it an annual event. The award is given to "individuals who have made great strides in promoting excellence in public communications, advancing free market solutions, and encouraging creativity, integrity and growth."

Washington (DC) was quick to respond to the court decision not to block the Federal Communications Commission's reimposition of the UHF discount, at least while it decides a court challenge to that decision under FCC chairman Ajit Pai. The decision allows deals like the Sinclair-Tribune merger to proceed, which without the discount would have exceeded the FCC's 39% cap on national audience reach.

"The FCC’s order eliminating the UHF discount [voted last fall by a Democratic majority and against the Republicans' dissent] was made without a comprehensive review of broadcast media ownership rules. [The National Association of Broadcasters] supports the Court’s decision denying the stay request.” Chairman Pai had said the discount decision by the Democrats was reversed because it did not also include considering the impact on the 39% cap. “The UHF discount has long outlived its usefulness,” said former FCC chairman Michael Copps, currently a special adviser to Common Cause. “Reinstating it was a huge, unwarranted gift to Big Broadcast. So it is disappointing that the court did not rein in the broadcast-friendly majority at the FCC. We remain committed to halting the wave of media consolidation the FCC majority has sought to unleash.”

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit denied the emergency stay motion filed by public interest groups that sought to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from implementing its decision to reinstate the so-called UHF discount that the groups claim will “make it easier for the nation’s largest television ownership groups to acquire additional stations, and crowd out diverse and local voices.” A stay would have prevented the UHF discount from going into effect while the court hears the case on its merits. Restoring the UHF discount to its national ownership rule, in effect, raises the limit on household coverage of TV station groups from 39% to 78%.

The decision is good news for Sinclair Broadcast Group, which needs it to implement its proposed agreement to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion and assumption of debt. That deal would increase Sinclair's household reach to 72%. The FCC had urged the court to deny the stay, saying the public interest groups’ request fell "far short" of meeting the criteria for a stay.

An American communications company in 2014 balked at an “expansion” of the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance program, but was ordered to comply by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a newly declassified document shows. The previously secret fight, which played out quietly amid a public debate over surveillance that was prompted by the 2013 leaks by the intelligence contractor Edward J. Snowden, was described in a 37-page ruling issued in 2014 by Judge Rosemary Collyer.

The ruling was heavily redacted when it was made public this week. Its uncensored portions did not say whether the challenge was brought by a telecommunications provider like AT&T that is part of the program’s “upstream” system or by a Silicon Valley internet company like Google that is part of the program’s “Prism” system. It also did not say what the “expansion” was or what legal arguments the company had made about it.

In a speech on the House floor, House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) argued that the mainstream media’s critical coverage of President Donald Trump has fed what he described as “an environment of hatred and violence.” “We must speak truth to the powerful liberal media,” Rep Smith said. “The media’s constant barrage of personal attacks can incite someone to take irrational actions.” He pointed to a Facebook post from the shooter that said, “It's Time to Destroy Trump & Co." “That’s not much different from the tone of many media articles,” Smith said. “The American people deserve better than a biased media. For the sake of our country, let’s hope they will drop their abusive language.”

Rep Smith is also the chairman of the Media Fairness Caucus, an effort to “examine the causes of one-sided reporting, develop strategies to combat media bias, promote an open dialogue between members of the media and elected officials, and remind the media of their profound obligation to provide the American people with the facts.” Rep Smith delivers House floor speeches on a near-weekly basis to criticize the mainstream media.

T-Mobile said the Federal Communications Commission has granted the spectrum licenses it successfully bid on in the broadcast incentive auction, which means it can start planning how to use it. The company has already signaled it would like to start lighting up some of that new mobile wireless broadband spectrum as early as the end of 2017, with testing beginning this summer.

"With the spectrum transfer complete, the real fun begins. Despite the cries from skeptics, T-Mobile has already kicked off deployment activities and will see the first sites ready for testing this summer," the company said. "This timeline—well ahead of expectations—sets the stage for commercial operations later this year. That’s when new 600 MHz smartphones from leading smartphone manufacturers are anticipated to arrive. T-Mobile has been working closely with the FCC and broadcasters and expects more than 1 million square miles of 600 MHz spectrum the Un-carrier owns to be clear and ready for deployment by year end."

If you’re one of the many people filing comments on the Federal Communications Commission plan to gut network neutrality rules, be aware that your e-mail address and any other information you submit could be made public. There’s nothing nefarious going on, but the FCC’s privacy policy could lead people to believe that e-mail addresses will be kept secret if they file comments on FCC proceedings.

The commission’s privacy policy has a section titled “Comments,” which says the following: "Prior to commenting, you will be prompted to login, either by providing your e-mail address, or by linking your comment to an existing account on a popular website such as Google, Facebook, Flickr, Instagram or Twitter. While your e-mail address will not be made public, if you login with a social media service, your picture, as well as a link to your profile will be posted alongside your comment." However, this privacy policy applies not to comments on FCC proceedings but to comments on blog posts, such as those posted by Chairman Ajit Pai. When you go to submit comments on the net neutrality plan—or any other FCC proceeding—you are told the following: “You are filing a document into an official FCC proceeding. All information submitted, including names and addresses, will be publicly available via the web.”