Hill, The

[Commentary] The window of opportunity for negotiating a legislative compromise on reasonable network neutrality protections is 2017. The 2015 assumptions supporting the old political calculus all collapsed with the election outcome. If supporters believe net neutrality is an enduring principle and protection worthy of being put into law, and not just politics, then a reasonable bipartisan compromise should be possible.

A critical point here that many are missing is that the old net neutrality political calculus was not about net neutrality itself. It was about the FCC asserting and gaining court deference so it could de facto legislate Internet policy over time via unbounded, sweeping, regulatory authority. In short, the election completely upended the old net neutrality political calculus. Net neutrality supporters would be wise to take the proverbial bird in hand of a legislative compromise now, rather than betting they can grasp for the two birds in the bush whenever they want. Time will tell if enough Senate Democrats consider net neutrality a substantive policy worth preserving.

[Scott Cleland is President of Precursor LLC chairman of NetCompetition, a pro-competition e-forum supported by broadband interests.]

Democratic lawmakers are promising to fight new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai if he tries to roll back network neutrality rules. Democrats seem to be most concerned that Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai will set his sights on undoing the landmark Open Internet Order that implemented rules promoting net neutrality.

Sen Brian Schatz (D-HI) promised that Chairman Pai would run into a “wall of opposition” from those committed to protecting net neutrality. But he said he's cautiously optimistic that Chairman Pai may seek to find a middle ground. “The Commerce Committee and the FCC have been islands of nonpartisanship over the years and only recently have there been so many party-line votes,” Sen Schatz said. “So perhaps Chairman Pai can get back to a place where the FCC does the work of trying to arrive at compromises. Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR) said, “As with many appointments by Mr. Trump, I am concerned that as Chairman, Commissioner Pai will work for policies that benefit special interests and Big Cable, which have sought for years to control access to content on the internet above the interests of the American people. I will hold the FCC accountable to protect consumers and fight any attempt to roll back net neutrality."

Breitbart’s national security editor will become the latest employee of the right-wing website to join the Trump Administration. Sebastian Gorka will likely serve on Trump’s National Security Council.

Gorka, who has worked for Breitbart since 2014, is known for his hardline stances on Islam and the War on Terror. He had also worked as a Fox News contributor, though the network terminated Gorka’s contract when executives learned of his new position in the administration. During the 2016 election, Gorka was a paid consultant for the Trump campaign. Gorka joins former Breitbart Executive Chairman Stephen Bannon, who is currently Trump’s chief strategist and senior counselor, in the White House. On Jan 22, it was reported that Breitbart staff writer Julia Hahn would join the administration as a special assistant to the president. In that position, Hahn will work closely with Bannon.

[Commentary] The contrasting accounts of the inauguration of President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump not only uncover the bias of the mainstream media, they also completely legitimize the Trump administration’s effort to expose the double standard.

When Sean Spicer took to the podium and defended the crowd sizes at President Trump’s inauguration, the media went into a tizzy, lambasting Spicer for his defense. In doing so, they completely missed the message the Trump Administration was trying to send. Spicer’s defense of President Trump’s crowd sizes was not some vein effort to gloat over Trump’s appeal; rather, it was an effort to expose media bias.

[Kayleigh McEnany is a CNN political commentator who recently received her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. ]

AT&T spent more money on lobbying during 2016 in the midst of its proposed merger with Time Warner than it has since 2012. The telecommunications company spent $16,370,000 in 2016, almost $2 million more than the $14,860,000 AT&T spent on lobbying in 2015. Time Warner has not released its fourth quarter data on lobbying spending. However, in the first three quarters of 2016, the company had slightly increased its lobbying expenses from $2,026,000 in the first three quarters of 2015 to $2,187,000 in 2016. In the last four years, AT&T only spent more in 2012 during their attempted, contentious horizontal merger with T-Mobile. The Department of Justice approved the merger, but the Federal Communications Commission ruled that the deal failed to meet “the burden of proving that the proposed transaction, on balance, will serve the public interest.” That year AT&T spent $17,460,000 on lobbying expenses.

[Commentary] Incoming Federal Communications Commissioner Chair Ajit Pai will rise to the top spot as one of the best prepared and best-liked commissioners in FCC history. Pai's public service includes positions as FCC deputy general counsel, senior positions at the Justice Department, and deputy chief counsel at the Senate Judiciary Committee. In the private sector, Pai was an attorney at a high-powered Washington law firm and appointed associate general counsel at Verizon communications.

Now Pai stands on the doorstep of his biggest role ever: FCC chairman. It is a role for which he has been preparing for over a decade, and a role for which he is imminently qualified. Pai has taken the time to master the arcane statutory and regulatory grist that drives the mill at the FCC.

[Adonis Hoffman is chairman of Business in the Public Interest and adjunct professor of Communication, Culture & Technology at Georgetown University. He is a former chief of staff and senior legal adviser for an FCC commissioner.]

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said at his first press briefing that future briefings will include four "Skype seats" for reporters who are outside of the Washington (DC) area. Spicer did not specify how it would be decided which outlets would be brought in via Skype, the world's largest video call service owned by Microsoft. He did say those eligible for consideration need to live more than 50 miles from Washington. Spicer added that the technology would open up briefings to a “diverse group” of journalists who can’t afford to travel to DC.

“Maybe we solicit talk radio and regional newspapers to submit questions — because they can't afford to be in Washington — but they still have a question," Spicer said in an interview Jan 8. "Maybe we just let the American people submit questions that we read off as well,” he added.

[Commentary] American values and interests face three major threats online. First, the volume of private data, about every aspect of our lives, is growing exponentially but is often poorly protected. Second, terrorists, propagandists and purveyors of fabricated news are taking advantage of the online space to undermine democracy. Third, because citizens use the internet to expose corruption, document human rights abuses and mobilize political action, authoritarian governments restrict online freedom, and their controls are rapidly growing in reach and sophistication.

A free and open internet is fundamental to US interests in the world and American values — commerce, innovation, social interaction, and political engagement — but it is coming increasingly under strain. The Trump administration will need to put in place and pursue a broad policy agenda to preserve the internet's benefits and potential for the United States going forward.

[Daniel Calingaert is executive vice president of Freedom House.]

Here are five areas where the tech industry is cautiously awaiting the Administration's plans:

1. Trade: tech leaders are sweating over the possibility they could lose access to huge burgeoning markets abroad, especially China.
2. Immigration: Technology companies across the board have voiced a strong desire for comprehensive immigration reform.
3. Privacy rights: Protecting privacy has been a longstanding passion for tech leaders, who say strong privacy practices give their products a competitive edge and help them win over consumers. But Trump unsettled tech groups and civil libertarians after the San Bernardino shooting.
4. Corporate mergers: Trump's views on corporate mergers have left many in tech scratching their heads, in particular over the biggest merger on the table: AT&T's proposed $85 billion deal with Time Warner.
5. Network neutrality: The fight is set to flare again with the Trump administration and congressional Republicans certain to look at ways to roll back elements of net neutrality.

In one of his last official acts as commander in chief, President Barack Obama signed a law Jan 20 codifying his Presidential Innovation Fellows Program. The program offers top tech talent opportunities to serve in the executive branch. President Obama created the fellowship in 2012, with the bill enshrining it into law the last he signed as president.

The fellowship was popular among both Republicans and Democrats. The bill, called the Tested Ability to Leverage Exceptional National Talent Act of 2017, sailed through the House and Senate with little opposition. The program’s continuity will likely be a boon for President-elect Donald Trump, who was notably unpopular in Silicon Valley throughout the campaign but has since extended an olive branch to the tech industry.