press release

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler appointed Scott Jordan as Chief Technology Officer. Jordan succeeds Henning Schulzrinne, who will return to Columbia University and continue to serve the FCC in a part-time capacity as a Technology Advisor.

In his role as Chief Technology Officer, Jordan will serve as the senior advisor on technical matters across the agency. Jordan will engage with technology experts outside the agency and promote technical excellence among agency staff.

Jordan will be based in the FCC’s Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis. He joins the FCC from the University of California, Irvine, where he is a Professor of Computer Science. Jordan is widely known for his research on communications platforms, pricing, and differentiated services on the Internet. In the technology arena, Jordan works to further integrate voice, data, and video on the Internet and on wireless networks.

Free Press filed a “Petition to Deny” the proposed merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

The Petition, submitted to the Federal Communications Commission, presents a definitive account of how the merger fails both the public interest and the antitrust tests required for regulatory approval. The merger would create a telecommunications and pay-TV entity of unprecedented size and scope, reaching into six out of every 10 US homes and controlling nearly half of the current advanced broadband service subscribers. Its control over high-speed Internet services would eclipse the power once held by the monopoly Bell system.

Comcast’s resulting nationwide market reach and power would lead to direct consumer harms such as higher prices and fewer choices among competitors. The merged entity "would immediately control half of the nation’s bundled Internet access and pay-TV customers, a share that would quickly grow as DSL continues its now-accelerated decline into irrelevancy" according to the Free Press Petition. Moreover, mobile, fixed LTE and satellite broadband should not be considered competitive alternatives to Comcast's wired services -- at a time when more and more consumers are seeking higher bandwidth options.

Sixty-five organizations representing consumers, content producers, and social justice and democracy-reform advocates called on the Federal Communications Commission to reject the proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

The groups warned that the merger would give Comcast “unprecedented gatekeeper control” over the nation’s telecommunications and media landscape and lead to higher prices and fewer choices for broadband and cable customers. The merger would give Comcast too much control over the future of the Internet and communications infrastructure and undermine the diversity of ownership and content in media, according to the groups.

The letter highlights Comcast’s history of failing to meet commitments made to gain approval for its previous merger with NBCUniversal. “Given this history, no amount of promises or conditions would be good enough to assuage concerns about this merger….The deal needs to be rejected outright.”

Starting from general questions regarding how rural broadband experiments relate to Connect America Phase II to whether an entity that wins support for the rural broadband experiments is then unable to bid in the Phase II competitive bidding process, the Federal Communications has provided communities with a list of frequently asked questions for its pending rural broadband experiments.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has awarded Firelight Media Producers’ Lab, a public television documentary mentorship project, a $2.55 million dollar grant to expand recruitment to all regions of the United States, bringing more diverse talent into public media.

Firelight Media’s Producers’ Lab is designed to advance the careers of diverse filmmakers, providing a structure and community that supports producers throughout the development of their projects. Through the grant, the Producers’ Lab will be able to recruit 30-40 producers over three years from underrepresented regions including the South, Midwest, Southwest, Alaska, and Hawaii.

The producers will work with Stanley Nelson, as well as with a team of senior producers, writers, editors, and fundraising specialists to create content that brings a wider range of diversity to the public broadcasting schedule.

Cox Communications announced a two-year extension of its participation in Connect2Compete, the broadband adoption program that offers discounted high speed Internet service to low-income families with children who qualify for the National School Lunch Program.

Cox pledged $15 million in support of broadband adoption initiatives through 2016.

Among the highest spenders on home TV, Internet, and phone services, Black households are the most likely to subscribe to digital add-ons like DVR, high definition, and premium channels. But recently-released data from Horowitz’s 2014 FOCUS African America study indicate that Blacks, along with other multicultural audiences, are more likely than their White counterparts to consider cutting the cable cord.

While Blacks who are likely to cord-cut report being “really into TV” at the same rate as total Blacks, these potential cord-cutters spend a higher percentage of their viewing time on alternative platforms (28%).

Delaware Gov Jack Markell (D-DE) signed legislation sponsored by State Rep Darryl Scott (D-Dover) that will ensure families’ rights to access the digital assets of their deceased and incapacitated loved ones, in accordance with their wishes.

Under House Bill 345, Delawareans’ digital legacies will be treated the same as the physical assets, documents and records left for their heirs and executors to handle after their deaths. The new law represents the first comprehensive state statute dealing with the disposition of a decedent’s digital assets in the nation.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack awarded nearly $40 million in loans for new or improved broadband service in rural parts of Minnesota, North Dakota and Texas.

The loans are being funded through USDA Rural Utilities Service's Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan Program to finance projects to expand voice, video and data services.

"Broadband is essential to the economic strength of rural communities," Sec Vilsack said. "It improves access to education and quality health care, and it leads to new jobs and business opportunities. Broadband is part of everyday life in most of America and vital for economic success in the 21st Century. Rural America cannot be left out."

Members of European Parliament inserted stronger safeguards for EU citizens’ personal data that gets transferred to non-EU countries in a major overhaul of the EU’s data protection laws voted.

The new rules aim both to give people more control over their personal data and to make it easier for firms to work across borders, by ensuring that the same rules apply in all EU member states. MEPs also increased the fines to be imposed on firms that break the rules, to up to €100 million or 5% of global turnover.