Daily Digest 10/31/2017

[Commentary] President Donald Trump’s appetite for shutting down the free press is a reminder of his open admiration for strong men dictators like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s Recep Erdogan and the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte. Those strongmen limit the freedom of the press and, in some cases, kill and jail journalists. When the Obama administration’s press shop waged a campaign to delegitimize Fox News by excluding it from a White House pool interview in 2009, journalists — even those who didn’t like Fox — stood up and said that was wrong. If people were outraged by what NPR did to me and what the Obama White House did to Fox, then their principles must dictate that they are similarly outraged by Trump’s treatment of the press. 

[Commentary] In this age of “new” censorship and blunt manipulation of political speech, where is the First Amendment? Americans like to think of it as the great protector of the press and of public debate. Yet it seems to have become a bit player, confined to a narrow and often irrelevant role. It is time to ask: Is the First Amendment obsolete? If so, what can be done? These questions arise because the jurisprudence of the First Amendment was written for a different set of problems in a very different world. The First Amendment was ignored for much of American history, coming to life only in the 1920s thanks to the courage of judges like Learned Hand, Louis Brandeis and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Courts and civil libertarians used the amendment to protect speakers from government prosecution and censorship as it was practiced in the 20th century, such as the arrest of pamphleteers and the seizure of anarchist newspapers by the Postal Service.

Lisbon-based telecommunications firm MEO has been rolling out packages that provide users with data plans limited to specific apps. Customers using apps outside the package will be charged more for data. “[That’s] a huge advantage for entrenched companies, but it totally ices out startups trying to get in front of people which stifles innovation,” wrote Rep Ro Khanna (D-CA). “This is what’s at stake and that’s why we have to save net neutrality.”

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai wants to impose a budget cap on the Lifeline program that helps poor people buy broadband and phone service. Under previous Chairman Tom Wheeler, the 32-year-old Lifeline program was expanded to let poor people use a $9.25 monthly household subsidy to buy Internet service. Previously, the subsidy could only be used for phone service. But when Pai took over the chairmanship, he quickly got to work rolling back some of Wheeler's Lifeline changes. Pai, a Republican, ramped up his attempts to place limits on Lifeline recently with a proposal that will likely be approved by the commission at its meeting on November 16.

CenturyLink and Level 3 Communications' proposed merger cleared its last government hurdle nearly a year after the two telecommunications companies announced their combination. The Federal Communications Commission approved the deal after similar nods by state regulators and the Department of Justice earlier in 2017. Worth $25 billion when it was announced in 2016, the deal’s close was delayed for weeks as regulators took their time to review its competitive effects. The Justice Department approved it earlier in October after executives agreed to sell off some of the companies’ fiber-optic infrastructure. CenturyLink Chief Executive Glen Post plans to run the company, which will keep its CenturyLink name, until 2019, when he hands its management over to Level 3’s CEO, Jeff Storey.

With your permission, I will discuss three topics today. First, why antitrust enforcement is such an important part of a free market system. Second, the progress we’ve made in sharing the value of effective antitrust enforcement around the world. And third, a few thoughts on what I hope we can achieve in the future. On all these points, I hope to emphasize the fundamental role of the rule of law and procedural fairness in the application of the antitrust laws. .... At its core, antitrust law has an inherent equilibrium — wary of infringing on economic liberty, but willing to intervene to correct market failures,” he told an audience at New York University Law School. “Unfortunately competition agencies in some countries may have, from time to time, treated antitrust as somehow exempt from the fundamental requirement of non­ discrimination, using it to favor domestic companies or discriminate against foreign firms.

An ambitious Federal Communications Commission plan to kill a raft of limits on media companies’ reach is likely to wind up in court. The agency intends to vote Nov. 16 to eliminate two cross-ownership bans that prohibit the same company from owning any combination of a TV station, radio station, or newspaper in a single market. The plan would also lift a ban on a company owning more than one TV broadcaster if there are fewer than eight independently owned stations in a given market, and would ease a prohibition on one company owning more than one top-four station in a single market. The FCC would, instead, review any local duopolies on a case-by-case basis. Senior agency officials outlined the plan to make those and other changes Oct. 26, a day after Chairman Ajit Pai announced it in a House oversight hearing. The agency is likely to approve the plan, probably on a party-line vote. 

The Federal Communications Commission announced it has reached a $1.7 million consent decree with Securus Technologies resolving an investigation into whether Securus provided inaccurate and misleading information to the FCC regarding the company’s transfer of control to Platinum Equity, LLC.  As part of the consent decree, Securus will implement a strict compliance plan. With the resolution of the investigation and the commitment of Securus to the compliance plan, the agency approved the company’s proposed transfer of control from Securus Investment Holdings, LLC to Platinum Equity, LLC.

The Federal Communications Commission has unanimously approved emergency assistance to restore connectivity in schools and libraries affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria through the agency’s E-rate program. Schools and libraries directly impacted by the storms will be able to request additional funding for restoration of broadband services, and receive the maximum E-rate discount on services — a 90% discount for broadband connectivity and an 85% discount for Wi-Fi and internal networks. They will also be provided increased program flexibility as they work to restore services. Schools that are serving storm-displaced students who increase total enrollment by 5% or more may also apply for additional funding to defray increased costs. The FCC also enacted measures to protect against waste, fraud, and abuse during the recovery effort. The emergency rules will not apply to future E-rate funding years absent further action by the FCC.

As roughly half of US states consider a FirstNet opt out or opt in decision, considerable confusion has arisen about states’ options – confusion resulting, some say, from pressure tactics applied by FirstNet, the government entity created to administer the nationwide mobile broadband public safety network that carries the same name. Concerns also have arisen about whether AT&T will build out the spectrum leased to the company to support FirstNet to the extent that many anticipated. Meanwhile, Verizon is advising individual public safety entities that they can continue to use their current communications provider, even if their state chooses AT&T to build the public safety network in that state, raising questions about whether public safety users choosing that option would be able to interoperate with FirstNet users.

Facebook is struggling to stamp out fake news. The company outsources the process to third-party fact checkers who can only tackle a small fraction of the bogus news that floods the social network, according to interviews with people involved in the process. And screenshots obtained by Bloomberg reveal a process that some partners say is too cumbersome and inefficient to stop misinformation duplicating and spreading. “There is no silver bullet," Facebook said. "This is part of a multi-pronged approach to combating false news. We have seen real progress in our efforts so far, but are not nearly done yet.” The flaws highlight a fundamental question that will be asked this week when internet companies testify in front of Congressional committees: How responsible should Facebook, Google and Twitter Inc. be for information others distribute through their systems?

The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has dismissed a complaint, filed by The Word Network (TWN), that Comcast had violated a condition of its merger with NBCU, saying it had to make a prima facie case, and did not, and that digital rights are not attributable interests that create an affiliation relationship. The case was resolved by the Media Bureau under delegated authority.

[Commentary] Online courses have the potential to improve instruction at every level of education. Adaptive online courses can allow students to learn at their own pace, with material adjusting to fit the needs of both advanced and remedial learners. Online courses can also open up more curricular offerings in schools that lack specialists, such as those in rural areas. Online courses are particularly attractive to school and district leaders looking for ways to trim costs. Teacher salaries are the key driver of instructional costs at every level of education, so any technology that allows a teacher to instruct more students can free up funds that can be used for other purposes.  Whether cost savings are realized depends on production costs, which can be high for universities that are rolling out their own digital content. Are online courses fulfilling their promise? 

[Commentary] Those who look at Washington and see only gridlock and bickering should look to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as an exception. By implementing improved transparency and review processes in the past months, the FCC has achieved far more transparency than ever before. A shining example of improved transparency at the Commission is the current review of regulations that are hindering innovation and investment through policies tethered to the past. There is great hope the FCC will follow through on the proposal to roll back the broken Title II regulatory regime and pave the way for a stronger, more effective internet infrastructure and that the decision will be made at an open public vote, livestreamed to the world. [Shane Tews is president of Logan Circle Strategies]

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, made a big bet on Hillary Clinton winning the 2016 presidential election. Employees donated $1.6 million to her campaign, about 80% more than the amount given by workers at any other corporation, and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt helped set up companies to analyze political data for the campaign. Schmidt even wore a badge labeled “STAFF” at Mrs. Clinton’s election-night bash. His support of the losing side didn’t go unnoticed among the victors. As President-elect Donald Trump was preparing for a meeting with tech executives at Trump Tower not long before his inauguration, he asked strategist Stephen Bannon whether Schmidt was “the guy that tried to help Hillary win the election,” according to someone who heard the conversation. “Yes,” said  Bannon. “Yes, he is." Google, one of the most powerful players in Washington in recent years, is now facing the consequences of its lost political clout—and is moving mountains to regain it.

Instant-messaging apps, video streaming and other new content platforms in China will face closer scrutiny under new rules issued by the country’s internet regulators. In a statement Oct 30, the Cyberspace Administration of China said messaging apps and other new forms of information dissemination can be used to engage in illegal behavior.