Today’s Event: Spectrum Frontiers and Technological Developments in the Millimeter Wave Bands, FCC workshop: https://www.benton.org/node/234306
INTERNET/BROADBAND
President Obama Announces ConnectALL Initiative – press release
NTIA Offers FCC the Administration’s Recommendations on Lifeline
The Digital Divide and Economic Benefits of Broadband access – research
What to Expect When You’re Expecting Lifeline Reform – analysis
Real Lifeline reform on tap – Blair Levin
Proposed FCC plan expansion raises questions: Is Internet access a right?
Digital divide persists in Minneapolis [links to Minneapolis Star Tribune]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Cable, Wireless Companies Face New Privacy Rules
Verizon Is Still Tracking Customers Across the Web Without Consent
Attorney General Lynch: Feds don’t want ‘back door’ into iPhones [links to Benton summary]
Why the NSA is staying out of Apple’s fight with the FBI [links to Verge, The]
Americans Divided on Whether Apple Should Help FBI: NBC News/WSJ Poll [links to NBC]
The Government Is Secretly Huddling With Companies to Fight Extremism Online[links to Benton summary]
There are ways the FBI can crack the iPhone PIN without Apple doing it for them[links to Ars Technica]
5 Tips to Help State, Local Governments Combat Cyberthreats [links to Government Technology]
These Are the Data Centers Where Cybercriminals Hide [links to Vice]
What Happens When the Surveillance State Becomes an Affordable Gadget? [links to Bloomberg]
LABOR
White House Announces Doubling of TechHire Communities, and New Steps to Give More Students and Workers Tech Skills to Fuel the Next Generation of American Innovation – press release
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Trump Campaign Manager Accused Of Physically Stopping Journalist From Doing Her Job [links to Huffington Post]
Why Facebook Could Be Bernie Sanders’ Secret Weapon in Battling Hillary Clinton – analysis [links to Benton summary]
Don’t rip the cable networks for sticking with Trump, stiffing Clinton [links to Washington Post]
Op-Ed: Electing a President Without Facts [links to Huffington Post]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Videohouse: FCC Is Playing Spectrum Auction ‘Gotcha’ [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
NABOB to FCC: Put Vacant Channel Decision on Hold [links to Benton summary]
FCC to Court: Deny Videohouse Spectrum Auction Stay [links to Benton summary]
TELEVISION
FCC: Live Programmers Will Get Some Leeway with Online Captioning [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Rep Cárdenas Statement on Effects of AT&T-Univision Dispute [links to Benton summary]
NAB: FCC Can’t Just Reverse Competitive Presumption [links to Benton summary]
OWNERSHIP
NYC OKs TWC Franchise Transfer to Charter [links to Multichannel News]
TELECOM
FCC Fines Telecom Provider $1.6 Million for Adding Unauthorized Charges and Fees to Consumer Bills [links to Federal Communications Commission]
A Cautionary Tale? CenturyLink CFO on Telecom Industry Economics [links to Benton summary]
SATELLITE
Chairman Wheeler Remarks at Satellite Leadership Dinner – speech [links to Benton summary]
CONTENT
Inside Google’s RankBrain [links to Fast Company]
The Connected Car and the Data Dilemma [links to International Telecommunication Union]
Twitter Deletes Oil-Data Tweets Following Industry Complaints [links to Benton summary]
ADVERTISING
TWC Media Launches Household-Based Ad Targeting [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
EDUCATION
The Six Tech Advances In Higher Ed That Are Preparing Students For The Future Of Work [links to Fast Company]
States assess their readiness for digital learning [links to eSchool News]
JOURNALISM
A plan for a new statewide paper in North Carolina has some observers asking: ‘Is this for real?’ [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
HEALTH
How This Doctor Is Using Telemedicine To Treat Syrian Refugees [links to Fast Company]
DIVERSITY
Unlocking the code to more innovation [links to Verizon]
Op-Ed: It’s not just the Oscars: #TechSoWhite, too [links to USAToday]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
UK setting bad example on surveillance, says UN privacy chief [links to Guardian, The]
Op-Ed: Idea to retire: Zombie technologies in the workplace [links to Brookings]
FCC REFORM
Remarks of Commissioner O’Rielly Before Faegre Baker Daniels Insights Luncheon – speech [links to Benton summary]
POLICYMAKERS
The Dragonslayer: An Interview with FCC Chairman Wheeler [links to Benton summary]
FCC Commissioner Clyburn Announces Staff Changes – press release [links to Benton summary]
COMPANY NEWS
Google says it won’t Google jurors in upcoming Oracle API copyright trial [links to Ars Technica]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
UK setting bad example on surveillance, says UN privacy chief [links to Guardian, The]
Google ordered by Dutch court to divulge IP addresses of fake reviewers [links to Benton summary]
Editorial: Caixin Media’s display of courage against China’s censors [links to Washington Post]
Op-ed: Europe’s Protectionist Privacy Advocates – [links to Wall Street Journal]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
PRESIDENT OBAMA ANNOUNCES CONNECTALL INITIATIVE
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Press release]
President Barack Obama unveiled ConnectALL, an initiative to help Americans from across the country, at every income level, get online and have the tools to take full advantage of the Internet. The Administration submited its recommendation that the Federal Communications Commission reform Lifeline, a $1.5 billion per year Reagan-era phone subsidy program, to turn it into a 21st Century national broadband subsidy to help low-income Americans get online. Alongside this FCC filing, the Administration is releasing a new study on the economic importance of broadband and calling for nonprofits, businesses, technology experts, and Government to join a national effort to reach the ConnectALL goal of connecting 20 million more Americans to broadband by 2020. A new Issue Brief released today by the Council of Economic Advisers outlines how being offline is more than inconvenient; it creates specific economic costs, especially for job-seekers unable to access online job search tools. Today, because of a digital divide, low-income Americans have a harder time accessing these tools, and unemployed workers without home Internet access take a longer time to find employment. Given these costs, we cannot be satisfied if broadband is out of reach for anyone in America, and today, President Obama is acting to make that a part of the past. ConnectALL will also address:
Increasing the affordability of broadband for low-income Americans.
Bringing together private sector companies helping to deliver affordable connectivity.
Initiating a national service effort to deliver digital literacy skills.
Increasing access to affordable devices.
Announcing the development of a tool to support broadband planning.
Marshaling philanthropic support for digital inclusion.
benton.org/headlines/president-obama-announces-connectall-initiative | White House, The | NYTimes
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NTIA LIFELINE RECOMMENDATIONS
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: John Morris, Evelyn Remaley, Maureen Lewis]
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration offers comments on behalf of the Administration in support of updating the Lifeline program to subsidize access to broadband for low-income consumers. Based on the Administration’s extensive experience in leading national broadband programs, the Administration recommends that the Federal Communications Commission make the following enhancements to the Lifeline program:
Expand the Lifeline program to support broadband services while ensuring that voice service remains available for low-income individuals and communities;
Subsidize Lifeline services for as long as subscribers’ incomes qualify them for program benefits and they desire the supported services;
Leverage other federal and state low-income assistance programs, including coordinating enrollment and outreach, to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of Lifeline and these other complementary low-income assistance programs; and
Establish a national third-party verifier to determine low-income consumers’ eligibility to receive easy-to-use portable Lifeline benefits, either through a direct benefit or other means.
benton.org/headlines/ntia-offers-fcc-administrations-recommendations-lifeline | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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THE DIGITAL DIVIDE AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF BROADBAND ACCESS
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Council of Economic Advisors]
This issue brief provides an overview of the state of broadband in the United States using the most recent data available from the 2014 American Community Survey. The main findings highlighted in the issue brief include:
The number of U.S. households subscribing to the Internet has risen 50 percent from 2001 to 2014, and three-quarters of American households currently subscribe;
A digital divide remains, however, with just under half of households in the bottom income quintile using the Internet at home, compared to 95 percent of households in the top quintile;
Supply-side factors may also have an important influence on the rate of broadband subscription: areas with more wireline providers have higher Internet subscription rates;
Broadband provides numerous socio-economic benefits to communities and individuals, improving labor market outcomes for subscribers, increasing economic growth, providing access to better health care, and enhancing civic participation;
Academic research shows that using online job search leads to better labor market outcomes, including faster re-employment for unemployed individuals, yet because of a digital divide, low-income households are less able to use these tools than high-income households;
Unemployed workers in households with Internet were 4 percentage points more likely to be employed one month in the future than those in households without Internet. This difference persists over time.
benton.org/headlines/digital-divide-and-economic-benefits-broadband-access | White House, The
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WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING LIFELINE REFORM
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Raphael Leung]
[Commentary] This month, the Federal Communications Commission will vote to revamp a federal telephone support program, called Lifeline, to include subsidies for broadband Internet service for low-income households. This primer should get you up to speed on the key issues at play in the docket while highlighting a public interest perspective on the ongoing discussions. Academic research increasingly points to cost being the biggest barrier to broadband adoption. A healthy, competitive Lifeline program that offers robust, meaningful broadband access to low-income Americans is one of the federal government’s most powerful tools to chip away at the cost barrier.
https://www.benton.org/blog/what-expect-when-youre-expecting-lifeline-reform-public-interest-perspective-making-broadband
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REAL LIFELINE REFORM ON TAP
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Blair Levin]
The Federal Communications Commission is poised to reform a Reagan-era program designed to keep low-income Americans connected to core communications services. In Reagan’s time, this meant voice; now it means broadband. This reform has particular importance for cities. As a bipartisan group of 44 mayors observed in a letter supporting reform, “Getting more low-income households online will help modernize delivery of public services—facilitating more responsive and effective governance while lowering overheads for local governments. E-government delivery also saves the public the expense of visiting government offices in person …. Taking advantage of e-government frees public beneficiaries from losing wages if they are paid hourly, and it allows easier and more ubiquitous access to opportunities and resources.” The mayors correctly anticipate how a local government can both improve itself and the lives of its residents when all are online. Still, this is also an appropriate moment to look back to consider critical lessons on the nature of successful reforms. It is unfortunate the FCC did not adopt the 2016 reforms in 2012. The benefits the mayors described could be today’s reality instead of a remaining aspiration. Nonetheless, the reforms demonstrate that the federal government still has within it to course correct and in so doing, lay a foundation for a better future for all.
benton.org/headlines/real-lifeline-reform-tap | Brookings
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