Monday, May 13, 2019
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Senate Commerce Committee to Markup Broadband Bills May 15
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Breaking Up Facebook Is Not the Answer
Federal agencies are spending millions to hack into locked phones
Your 5G Phone Won’t Hurt You. But Russia Wants You to Think Otherwise.
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The Senate Commerce Committee will convene on May 15 to consider two broadband bills:
- S. 1289, A bill to require the Secretary of Commerce to conduct an assessment and analysis of the effects of broadband deployment and adoption on the economy of the United States, and for other purposes or Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Act, Sponsors: Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)
- S. 1294, Broadband Interagency Coordination Act, Sponsors: Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)
[For more on current broadband legislation, see: An Update on Broadband Bills in the 116th Congress ]

Battles over corporate power that played out over the course of the 20th century may provide the best clues to how companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon might ultimately be reined in. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that the moderation of malicious content online could be overseen by an industry standards body similar to the Hollywood system for rating movies established in the 1960s. Another potential model is the body with roots in the 1930s that polices the securities industry, according to Zuckerberg’s top US policy executive, Kevin Martin. The communications chief Zuckerberg hired in April, John Pinette, was a spokesman for Microsoft during its 1990s antitrust fight with the federal government. Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, who referenced antitrust cases against Microsoft and IBM in his May 9 NYT op-ed calling to break up the company.

When does a company become too big or too successful to exist? Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook, argues that Facebook should be dismantled because “big” poses a risk to society. In my view — and that of most people who write about technology’s impact on society — what matters is not size but rather the rights and interests of consumers, and our accountability to the governments and legislators who oversee commerce and communications.
If people were writing the rules for the internet from scratch today, they wouldn’t want so many important social, political and ethical questions left in the hands of private companies. But the challenges [Hughes] alludes to, including election interference and privacy safeguards, won’t evaporate by breaking up Facebook or any other big tech company. Fixing these problems requires significant resources — and strong new rules.
[Nick Clegg is Facebook's vice president for global affairs and communications.]

Sen Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said that Silicon Valley has been arrogant, with a "toxic undercurrent" to industry practices that "can't be ignored," -- and wouldn't be ignored by Washington. She suggested that Big Tech needed to lose the attitude and engage with policymakers "more directly and respectfully" rather than "ducking out on hearings when called to testify." She said the only thing Facebook has done right in the past year is to prove they can no longer self-regulate. She said she was not necessarily looking to break up Big Tech, but she did not rule it out, either, saying that was a conversation for another day. Sen Blackburn signaled that she recognized the need for legislation to balance the need to protect privacy while not harming the ad-supported internet business model that has been such an economic driver.

A $1.2 million tab for iPhone hacking technology at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement underscores how pervasively law enforcement is cracking into passcodes and other security features Americans use to keep their information private. The ICE contracts — one for $384,000 in Sept and another for $819,000 in May — will go to the agency’s Homeland Security Investigations unit. ICE declined to say how the hacking tools will be used, but the contracts come amid heightened concern about warrantless searches of phones and laptops that ICE and Customs and Border Protection conduct at airports and other points of entry amid an immigration crackdown by President Donald Trump.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is hoping to get key committees on the same page when it comes to the tech industry and data privacy. He’s drafting a letter to leaders on Senate Banking and Senate Commerce committees to sort out jurisdictional questions related to the sector. “I’m going to have Sen. [Dianne] Feinstein and myself, we’re going to write a letter to the other committees of jurisdiction and see if we can come up with sort of a common approach to the issues,” he said. Sen Graham said the letter will likely be sent next week. Chairman Graham cited recent hearings on data privacy held by all three committees as a sign lawmakers should coordinate their efforts. “I want to be very deferential to the other committees because I think they have primary jurisdiction but we do have some say,” he said. At least one Judiciary member — Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-LA) — has raised the specter of his panel marking up potential privacy legislation instead of the Commerce Committee. But Chairman Graham recently affirmed that Commerce will take the lead on privacy markups. “It’s something I hope we can move on together with Commerce in the lead,” he said.

Sen Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep Yvette Clarke (D-NY) are urging the Federal Communications Commission to officially begin collecting data on the racial, ethnic and gender diversity of the broadcast workforce, saying that information could "empower" the commission to improve its oversight of the broadcast industry. The FCC's Democratic commissioners have been raising concerns about the issue for months, arguing that the FCC should reinstate the form (395-B) that requires broadcasters to report the racial, ethnic and gender breakdown of their offices. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel at a recent meeting accused the FCC of allowing "the broader effort to address discriminatory practices related to media ownership" to fall by the wayside. The lawmakers in the letter argued that the collection of broadcast workforce diversity information through the form has been mandated by Congress since the 1990s. The FCC is currently considering reinstating the form. Sen Van Hollen and Rep Clarke requested a "detailed summary of your reasoning, as well as an explanation regarding why you chose to not refresh the record" if the commission decides against reinstating the diversity data collection.

Democratic Reps are pushing to revive funding for a nonpartisan agency intended to better inform lawmakers about technology. At issue is the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), which was created by Congress in 1972 but closed its doors in 1995 after the then GOP-controlled House cut its funding. The agency provided lawmakers and staffers with expertise on science and technology issues relevant to legislation and public policy, including the areas of intellectual property, technological change, and climate.
The debate over the agency is back in the spotlight after a House Appropriations subcommittee voted May 9 to designate $6 million to the agency for “necessary expenses” in the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for fiscal 2020. Democratic Reps say there is a new urgency for the agency, as lawmakers tackle a host of complicated technology issues. But Republican Reps are wary of reopening the agency, arguing that other departments can carry out those tasks without "duplication."

The Russian network RT America aired the segment, titled “A Dangerous ‘Experiment on Humanity,’” in covering what its guest experts call fifth generation’s (5G) dire health threats. US intelligence agencies identified the network as a principal meddler in the 2016 presidential election. Now, it is linking 5G signals to brain cancer, infertility, autism, heart tumors and Alzheimer’s disease — claims that lack scientific support. Yet even as RT America, the cat’s paw of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has been doing its best to stoke the fears of American viewers, President Putin, on Feb 20, ordered the launch of Russian 5G networks in a tone evoking optimism rather than doom. “We need to look forward,” he said, according to Tass, the Russian news agency. “The challenge for the upcoming years is to organize universal access to high-speed internet, to start operation of the fifth-generation communication systems.”
Analysts see RT’s attack on 5G as geopolitically bold: It targets a new world of interconnected, futuristic technologies that would reach into consumers’ homes, aid national security and spark innovative industries. Already, medical firms are linking up devices wirelessly to create new kinds of health treatments. “It’s economic warfare,” said Ryan Fox, chief operating officer of New Knowledge, a technology firm that tracks disinformation. “Russia doesn’t have a good 5G play, so it tries to undermine and discredit ours.”
Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org) and Robbie McBeath (rmcbeath AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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