Benton Foundation

[Commentary] At the end of October, Jonathan Baker, Fiona Scott Morton, and I organized a day-long conference entitled Unlocking the Promise of Antitrust Enforcement. Our premise was simple: In a time when the purpose and future of antitrust is again an important topic of political discourse, we need to understand what antitrust enforcers can do today with the laws that exist right now. Laws that have been on the books for a long time – The Sherman Act was passed in 1890 – but which retain their vitality. And their importance.

News broke on November 8 that the Department of Justice is seeking to alter, if not block, AT&T’s proposed purchase of Time Warner. What until recently had seemed like a done deal is now up in the air. And different narratives are emerging. Did the DOJ request AT&T sell off Time Warner's CNN in order to approve the deal? Is the DOJ responding to President Donald Trump’s many complaints about CNN, essentially punishing a news organization for unfavorable coverage?

Libraries are a lynchpin for national, state, and local digital inclusion efforts—particularly our 16,500+ public library locations across the country.

[Commentary] On November 16, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission will vote on an item that will impact the commission's Lifeline program, which provides discounts on telecommunications services for qualifying low-income consumers. On October 26, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai released a draft of the item in advance of the November vote. Here we break down the rules that the FCC plans on changing immediately at the November meeting, the new proposals the FCC is seeking comment on, and the more general evaluation the FCC is launching into the program's "ultimate purposes." [Kevin Taglang]

On October 17, President Donald Trump launched a vague, yet ominous Twitter-driven attack on NBC, rhetorically asking, “With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License?  Bad for country!” The short answer to the President’s question is “never.”  A slightly longer answer is that there is no license to challenge and, even if there were, no broadcaster should worry that its license would ever be in jeopardy because of disagreement with its programming. [Andrew Jay Schwartzman]

We’re here to celebrate former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler’s public service, and discuss protecting the Open Internet, the most critical communications issue of our time. We’re here today to recognize Tom’s many efforts on behalf of the American people: to uphold the public interest; use the power of communications to strengthen communities; and to modernize and reform programs that bring open, affordable, high-capacity broadband to all Americans. Tom, your work as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission created opportunities for all Americans to connect to jobs, education, healthcare, and family. And in the years to come, you and your team’s many accomplishments will not be measured by the initiatives you proposed, the dockets you opened, or the votes you won. The day-to-day impacts of your work will be seen in the community that was once left behind, that is now able to get ahead with new broadband options; in the child who can now reach a hand across a keyboard to access a whole new universe of knowledge thanks to gigabit connections to the school and Wi-Fi in the classroom; in the young mother who can now coordinate work and her child’s medical care thanks to her Lifeline connection; and in the small business owner who can now compete on a level playing field with its bigger business competitors thanks to a free and open Internet. In your first major address as Chairman, you stressed that the FCC is the public’s representative in the ongoing network revolution, and you promised to use the Commission’s full authority to protect competition, accessibility, interconnection, public safety, and security. Thank you for delivering on that promise. You are truly .

Next Century Cities released a playbook on tech-powered civic engagement detailing lessons learned over the past year among its three Benton Next Generation Engagement Award winners: Austin (TX), Louisville (KY) and Raleigh (NC). The Washington, D.C.-based broadband advocacy group wants the guide to serve as a checklist for cities’ future projects. Communities are encouraged to engage all stakeholders in a civic tech project area, collaborate across sectors and have their approach match project function.

On May 18, 2017, the Republican commissioners on the Federal Communications Commission voted to reopen the debate over how to best preserve an Open Internet. Launching a proceeding seeking “substantive” public comment, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed undoing the only legal basis for network neutrality rules that has survived court challenge. The unreleased Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposes to reverse the FCC’s 2015 ruling that the transmission component of broadband Internet access service (BIAS) is a telecommunications service. The NPRM also proposes to 1) return to the FCC’s original classification of mobile broadband Internet access service as a private mobile service; and 2) eliminate the Internet conduct standard created by the 2015 Order. Finally, the NPRM questions the need for the FCC’s so-called “bright-line rules” which prohibit broadband providers from a) blocking access to legal content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices; b) impairing or degrading lawful Internet traffic on the basis of content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices; and c) favoring some lawful Internet traffic over other lawful traffic in exchange for consideration of any kind—in other words, no "fast lanes." FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the rewrite would undo the current rules’ overreach, and help spur investment in broadband, which he claims has suffered because broadband providers told him so. "The Internet was not broken in 2015," Chairman Pai said, repeating his often-chosen turn of phrase. "The utility-style regulations known as Title II were and are like the proverbial sledgehammer being wielded against the flea. Except that here, there was no flea." Chairman Pai and his Republican colleague, Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, said the new review of net neutrality will include a cost-benefit analysis, which they say wasn't done in 2015.