BENTON’S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016
Today’s Events: Legislative Hearing on Seven Communications Bills, House Communications Subcommittee: https://www.benton.org/node/238486
#LegalHack FBI v. Apple, New America Foundation: https://www.benton.org/node/238687
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Public Interest Groups Urge House To Reject Rate Regulation Bill
FCC Regulation of Broadband Rates Bad News for Jobs and the Economy – House Commerce Committee press release [links to Benton summary]
The 2016 IT Leadership Survey Report – CoSN research
Zuckerberg’s 10-year plan to expand Facebook empire
Over 5,000 Low Income Twin Cities Residents Now Online with LTE – press release [links to Benton summary]
CenturyLink tells Minneapolis it’s meeting requirement to make service available in low-income neighborhoods [links to Benton summary]
Libraries: Broadband Leaders of the 21st Century – Craig Settles research [links to Benton summary]
AT&T decries Wheeler’s special access proposal, says it will inhibit broadband investment [links to Fierce]
AT&T: FCC Is ‘Economics-Free Zone’ [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Changes to Business Data Services Regulation Would Prohibit Certain Contracts [links to Benton summary]
Verizon Fios Coming to Boston [links to Multichannel News]
Verizon Fios Tops Netflix ISP Speed Index for March [links to Multichannel News]
TELECOM
Verizon won’t fix copper lines when customers refuse switch to fiber
LABOR
Sen Sanders hitches campaign to fights against GE and Verizon
Facebook, Microsoft Say They Offer Equal Pay to Women, Men [links to Wall Street Journal]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Uber details law enforcement data requests in new report [links to Benton summary]
GAO: IRS Needs to Further Improve Controls over Taxpayer Data and Continue to Combat Identity Theft Refund Fraud [links to US Government Accountability Office]
Airbnb bolsters its DC lobbying force [links to Hill, The]
Rep Lieu stumps for President Obama’s tech modernization push [links to Benton summary]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Privacy groups begrudgingly OK email privacy bill changes [links to Benton summary]
E-mail privacy supporters aren’t limited to stand-alone legislation [links to Benton summary]
Microsoft offers first major endorsement of new EU-US data pact [links to Benton summary]
FBI paid professional hackers one-time fee to crack San Bernardino iPhone [links to Washington Post]
The FCC and the privacy crucible – Adonis Hoffman op-ed [links to Benton summary]
TELEVISION
FCC Announces Agenda for Second Public Workshop on the State of the Video Marketplace on April 25, 2016 [links to Federal Communications Commission]
Layer3 TV’s Crazy Plan to Take on Comcast and Reinvent Cable [links to Wired]
In $8.8 Billion Deal, CBS and Turner Add 8 More Years of March Madness, Through 2032 [links to AdWeek]
NBC Affiliates Warn FCC Of Sports Migration [links to TVNewsCheck]
CONTENT
Sec Kerry defends Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal as strategic imperative [links to Washington Post]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Analysts expect incentive auction to generate between $32.8 and $43.8 billion [links to Benton summary]
IDC: IoT Early Adopters Likely to Stream Video on Home Network [links to telecompetitor]
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Seven ways Trump’s reality TV playbook has changed the election
Sen Sanders hitches campaign to fights against GE and Verizon
Op-Ed: Hillary Clinton and Female Press Corps: Historic candidacy, historic press corps [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
What happened when I eliminated political dissent from my Facebook feed [links to Vox]
Ted Cruz’s war with Matt Drudge could become a huge problem for his campaign [links to Washington Post]
Facebook’s Zuckerberg slams ‘isolationist’ policies in swipe at Trump [links to Financial Times]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION
Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) to Tackle ATSC 3.0 Emergency Benefits[links to Broadcasting&Cable]
OWNERSHIP
California Administrative Law Judge recommends approval of Charter-Time Warner Cable deal
FCC Establishes Dates for XO Holdings – Verizon Transactions [links to Federal Communications Commission]
E.W. Scripps Pays $39 Million for Satire Brand Cracked [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
JOURNALISM
The Short, Turbulent Life of Al Jazeera America [links to New York Times]
The Fight for the Future of NPR [links to Slate]
Why do you read investigative journalism? [links to Center for Public Integrity]
DIVERSITY
How the Tech Industry’s Women Problem Is Advancing Paid Family Leave [links to Bloomberg]
Silicon Valley women are still paid less than their male counterparts [links to Revere Digital]
Gender inequity is the problem with almost all movies [links to Washington Post]
FTC REFORM
How to reboot the FTC – op-ed
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Protests Erupt in Macedonia as President Halts Wiretapping Inquiry [links to New York Times]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS URGE HOUSE TO REJECT RATE REGULATION BILL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
More than 50 public interest groups have joined in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) urging the House to vote against the No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act (HR 2666). The bill would prevent the Federal Communications Commission from imposing rate regulations on broadband service, but Democrats and the groups on the letter, which include Public Knowledge, Free Press and Future of Music Coalition, argue the bill would go far beyond blocking telephone style rate regulations to gutting the FCC’s authority to impose its Open Internet prohibitions on blocking, throttling content or anticompetitive paid prioritization, all of which have rate implications. "Although the FCC is not setting rates, stripping away its authority to review monopoly charges and other unjust and unreasonable business practices would harm everyone," they wrote. They also said that the legislation would "undermine the FCC’s efforts to protect consumer privacy, including oversight of so-called ‘pay-for-privacy’ plans that require customers to pay significant additional fees to their broadband provider to avoid having their online data collected and sold to third parties."
benton.org/headlines/public-interest-groups-urge-house-reject-rate-regulation-bill |Broadcasting&Cable | Read the letter | Public Knowledge
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
COSN REPORT
[SOURCE: Consortium for School Networking, AUTHOR: ]
Ten key findings:
1. Broadband and network capacity is the top priority for IT leaders, replacing assessment readiness (which for the first time failed to make the top three).
2. Privacy and security of student data is an increasing concern for IT leaders, with 64 percent saying they are more important than they were last year.
3. Nearly 90 percent of respondents expect their instructional materials to be at least 50 percent digital within the next three years.
4. Virtually all responders (99 percent) expect to incorporate digital Open Educational Resources (OER) over the next three years, with 45 percent expecting their digital content to be at least 50 percent OER within that timeframe.
5. Nearly 80 percent of IT leaders use online productivity tools – the largest use of cloud-based solutions in education.
6. District bans on student personal devices are a thing of the past – only 11 percent have banning policies.
7. The path to IT leadership differs for women and men. The vast majority of women come from educational / instructional backgrounds (72 percent). The majority of men (54 percent) come from technology / technical backgrounds.
8. Racial diversity in IT leadership is lacking. Ninety-percent of school IT leaders are white.
9. IT leaders have advanced education, with 75 percent earning some college beyond their bachelor’s degree.
10. More than one-third of IT leaders plan to retire in the next six years.
benton.org/headlines/2016-it-leadership-survey-report | Consortium for School Networking
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
ZUCKERBERG’S 10-YEAR PLAN TO EXPAND FACEBOOK EMPIRE
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Jon Swartz, Jessica Guynn]
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg laid out a 10-year plan to connect the world that sounded as much as a political cause as a grab for potential billions in dollars. In a sweeping address that took on sharp political tones at times, Facebook’s 31-year-old CEO detailed how Facebook aims to reach the planet’s 7 billion people — half of whom do not have Internet access. And he took very direct aim at those who would limit free trade and immigration. "Give everyone the power to share anything with anyone" was the theme of the keynote, positioning Facebook as a unifying force for good against the current political winds of divisiveness. Staking an anti-Trump stand, Zuckerberg detailed a plan to bring people together through an ambitious strategy of unfurling technology that jumps borders and crosses cultures, a sharp rebuke to the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign. “As I look around the world, I’m starting to see people and nations turning inward, against the idea of a connected world and a global community,” Zuckerberg said. “I hear fearful voices calling for building walls and distancing people they label as ‘others.’ I hear them calling for blocking free expression, for slowing immigration, for reducing trade, and in some cases even for cutting access to the internet. It takes courage to choose hope over fear. People will always call you naive but it’s this hope and optimism that’s behind every important step forward.”
benton.org/headlines/zuckerbergs-10-year-plan-expand-facebook-empire | USAToday
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
TELECOM
VERIZON WON’T FIX COPPER LINES WHEN CUSTOMERS REFUSE SWITCH TO FIBER
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
Verizon has reportedly switched 1.1 million customers from copper to fiber lines over the past few years under a program it calls "Fiber Is the Only Fix." But some phone customers have refused the switch to fiber because they prefer to keep their copper lines—even though Verizon apparently is refusing to fix problems in the copper infrastructure. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that it obtained internal company documents that describe the effort to switch problematic copper lines to fiber. Verizon customers with copper-based landline phones who call for repairs twice in 18 months "will be told that their ‘only fix’ is to replace decades-old copper line with high-speed fiber as Verizon won’t fix the copper," the report said. While Verizon still has a few million copper-line customers, the Fiber Is the Only Fix policy is responsible for 1.1 million changes to fiber in Pennsylvania and other states. The policy is also in place in New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Delaware, and it’s expected to expand to New Jersey, the report said. The Verizon documents obtained by the Inquirer apparently confirm what customers have been saying for years about Verizon technicians’ reluctance to fix copper lines. "Once at the customer’s home, the Verizon technician tells the customer that the only solution is to switch to fiber, which includes the installation of a FiOS box," the Inquirer reported. "If a flagged copper customer needing repairs ultimately declines fiber upgrade, the Verizon document commands: ‘Do not fix trouble’ with the copper line."
benton.org/headlines/verizon-wont-fix-copper-lines-when-customers-refuse-switch-fiber | Ars Technica | Philadelphia Inquirer
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
OWNERSHIP
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE RECOMMENDS APPROVAL OF CHARTER-TWC
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Meg James, Yvonne Villarreal]
Charter’s blockbuster deal to acquire Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks cleared a major hurdle when a California administrative judge recommended approval of the deal. Administrative Law Judge Karl Bemesderfer, in a 74-page opinion, recommended that the California Public Utilities Commission approve Charter’s takeover plans, but he attached a long list of conditions designed to ensure that the cable consolidation carries benefits to the public. Judge Bemesderfer said the cable merger would bring several advantages to customers in California, including faster Internet speeds and more wireless hot-spots. However, he acknowledged that Charter would become the only provider of broadband Internet service in some areas — a less than ideal situation. The proposed $67-billion plan would make Charter the dominant pay-TV and Internet service provider in Southern California with more than 2 million customer homes. Judge Bemesderfer outlined several conditions, including requiring Charter to honor Time Warner Cable’s existing pricing plans for high-speed Internet service. In addition, Charter agreed not to impose data caps on its customers nor institute usage-based fee structures for at least three years. Judge Bemesderfer also said that Charter would be obligated to build at least 150,000 new line extensions in California to bring broadband service to regions that currently lack coverage. Another provision would require Charter to comply with the FCC’s Open Internet rules that require Internet service providers to all treat traffic equally. The deal is still waiting for approval from the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. Those decisions are expected any day. The California Public Utilities Commission is tentatively scheduled to vote on the matter May 12.
benton.org/headlines/california-administrative-law-judge-recommends-approval-charter-time-warner-cable-deal | Los Angeles Times
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
LABOR
SEN SANDERS HITCHES CAMPAIGN TO FIGHTS AGAINST GE AND VERIZON
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: David Weigel]
On April 11, before he addressed close to 10,000 people at a college basketball arena in Buffalo (NY), Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) made a quick stop at a union hall. Local shop stewards with the Communications Workers of America had just sat down when the candidate walked in and hugged an organizer he’d known for years. He was there to endorse their planned strike. "I know that going on strike is not something that’s easily done," Sen Sanders said. "I know there’s going to be a lot of pain involved. I want to thank you for standing up to the outrageous greed of Verizon and corporate America. When you do that, you’re not just standing up for your own members — you’re standing up for working people all over this country." Nearly 40,000 Verizon workers on the East Coast have planned a strike that begins April 13; Sen Sanders, who had been endorsed by the CWA, was once again hitching his campaign to a labor movement cause. He’d joined picket lines outside factories, addressed minimum-wage hike campaigners outside debates, and — multiple times — endorsed Verizon workers (part of the CWA) who were negotiating for a new contract. "What you are saying is that at a time when multinational corporations are making record profits, they should not be demanding cutbacks in workers’ health care, in workers’ pensions or workers’ wages," Sen Sanders said. "And they sure as hell should not be sending calling centers to the Philippines and other countries."
benton.org/headlines/sen-sanders-hitches-campaign-fights-against-ge-and-verizon | Washington Post
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
REALITY TV PLAYBOOK
[SOURCE: Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Gloria Goodale]
When commentators pause to describe presidential candidate Donald Trump, they often mention his background in reality TV. Yet for all the puzzling over his ascendency in the Republican presidential race, little attention has been paid to the playbook of a reality show and how that might influence a man who hosted a series that ran for more than a decade. It’s ripe for a closer look. The elements of this artificially “real” form of televised drama are actually ubiquitous in Trump’s campaign. 1) Conflict, 2) Characters and manipulation, 3) News as entertainment, 4) ‘True’ confessions, social media, and authenticity, 5) Money, 6) Unforeseen plot twists, and 7) Authenticity without apology or backing down is more important than good behavior.
benton.org/headlines/seven-ways-trumps-reality-tv-playbook-has-changed-election | Christian Science Monitor
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
