1. Monthly archive
  2. November 2013

November 2013

Backlash: Commercial and diplomatic spillovers from the NSA revelations

[Commentary] A look at the impact of cybersecurity policies on the competitiveness of US global firms.

US companies at risk from the NSA revelations represent the “crown jewels” of the US telecommunications sector -- Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, AOL, Cisco, among others. Most have a dominant or commanding share of their segment of the sprawling Internet ecosystem; and all are under challenge from foreign competitors invoking NSA intrusions and violations of consumer trust to undermine confidence in the security of their products. US companies’ defense is complicated by both what is known about NSA’s activities and what is not known about their own relationship with the agency. Thus, Snowden’s documents show that, through cooperation, coercion or stealth, the NSA has tapped into millions of phone and online communications; forced US companies to build entry points for spyware; and, cracked encryption codes that protect global banking and consumer records, trade secrets, and medical records. The revelations have provided large openings for competitors.

[Barfield is a former consultant to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative]

(Nov 22)

Web report criticizes US and UK over surveillance as UN privacy resolution weakened

The World Wide Web Foundation (WWWF) has published its second annual Web Index survey and, while the US and UK rank third and fourth for their overall web-friendliness (behind Sweden and Norway), they take quite a dive when it comes to online surveillance.

In the report’s “freedom and openness” ranking, the UK has 24th place and the US 27th -- just behind Costa Rica. The report notes that developing countries are more likely to censor online content, but developed countries are “far more likely to spy” on online communications. At the United Nations, the US, UK and Australia managed to soften the language of the new “right to privacy in the digital age” resolution that was co-sponsored by Brazil and Germany (both of which suddenly got angry about surveillance when it turned out their leaders were being targeted). The latest text states that the UN General Assembly is “… deeply concerned at the negative impact that surveillance and/or interception of communications, including extraterritorial surveillance and/or interception of communications, as well as the collection of personal data, in particular when carried out on a mass scale, may have on the exercise and enjoyment of human rights”. According to the Guardian , espionage partners the US, UK and Australia were “isolated” in their quest to soften the resolution’s phrasing. They did manage to excise an explicit reference to extraterritorial surveillance being a “human rights violation”. However, the “extraterritorial surveillance” phrase survived, so the resolution still says people have a right to privacy even if they’re spied on by another country.

(Nov 22)

Paying Your Cable Bill Helps Shower Millions on DC Fatcats Working Against Your Interests

[Commentary] A portion of your cable bill pays for much more than programming, with millions diverted to Koch Brothers-backed astroturf groups, tea party candidates, fat paychecks for former public officials taking a trip through DC’s revolving door, and generous allowances for travel expenses racked up by high-flying industry lobbyists.

The Center for Public Integrity took a trip through the 2012 tax return of America’s top cable trade group: the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), which collected $60 million in 2012 in membership dues from America’s top cable operators, who in turn were reimbursed by you when paying your monthly cable bill. NCTA president and CEO Michael K. Powell, the former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission during President George W. Bush’s first term, was well compensated in his new role representing the same cable industry he used to barely oversee, taking home more than $3 million in pay in 2012. Eight other employees, including NCTA’s executive vice-president, collectively cleared over a million dollars in salary according to the groups’ Form 990 filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The revolving door at NCTA headquarters is kept well-greased, with 78 out of 89 federal-level NCTA lobbyists formerly working in government jobs representing the American people. Now they work for the interests of Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and other large operators. Collectively, the NCTA spent $19 million on lobbying activities in 2012, much of it bankrolling “dark money” groups that refuse to disclose their donors and consider it their life mission to defeat President Barack Obama and blockade Democrats in Congress -- the ones still most likely to demand more oversight and regulation of the free-spending cable industry. Among the groups receiving cable’s cash were Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, American Commitment, and the Center for Individual Freedom.

(Nov 19)

Microsoft Bringing Message Encryption To Office 365 In Early 2014

Microsoft is bringing message encryption to Office 365. The system will allow e-mail to be automatically encrypted, even when sent to non-Office 365 users. So, you can use the protection with anyone, on any other e-mail service. E-mails that are sent are encrypted before they are fired out, meaning that they only leave the house after they put a jacket on. The recipient receives an email that has an encrypted attachment. The kicker: All replies are encrypted as well, so the system retains its security. The final kicker: It won’t be out until the first quarter of 2014.

(Nov 21)

Here’s how Bitcoin charmed Washington

[Commentary] The two recent Bitcoin hearings by Senate committees could have been a disaster for the Bitcoin community. Instead, the hearings were lovefests.

All three Obama Administration officials who testified stressed that Bitcoin has legitimate uses and argued that no new regulations were needed to police illicit uses of the network. That wasn't a coincidence. The cordial atmosphere of the hearings was the culmination of months of careful diplomacy by Bitcoin advocates. Since the spring, leaders of the Bitcoin community and sympathetic policy advocates have been engaging with federal regulators, lawmakers and other influential figures inside the beltway. The result: a near-unanimous consensus that the federal government needs to be careful to avoid hampering the growth of the world's first completely decentralized payment network.

(Nov 21)

The new town square is virtual, and government needs to set up shop there

[Commentary] As the US representative for the heart of Silicon Valley, I have the privilege of seeing how invention and technology can unlock new possibilities. That’s why I’m an advocate for using new technology to further our common aims as a society and increase collaboration between citizens and their government. I call it Government 2.0.

There are two primary avenues for doing this: social media and crowdsourcing. Social media improves communication between people and their elected representatives, while crowdsourcing allows government representatives and civil servants to ask the citizenry to help solve specific, concrete problems in a cost-efficient manner. The benefits of social media tools like Facebook and Twitter come from the way they foster conversation. Unlike political ads or mass mailings, they are forms of two-way communication; social media doesn’t exist just for politicians to tweet at the American people – the American people can tweet back. And because those tweets – or blog posts, or Facebook updates – are public, they are a far more powerful form of communication than writing a letter to your elected representative. It is an equalizing method of communication. Alongside social media, federal, state and municipal governments are using crowdsourcing to tackle tough problems.

A recent report by Daren Brabham, an assistant professor at the University of Southern California, identifies four distinct ways governments can harness the power of online communities. The first is when governments use crowdsourcing to gather information more thoroughly and efficiently than they could do on their own. The second way governments use crowdsourcing is to break down overwhelmingly large tasks into manageable components, then assign the tasks to volunteers.

(Nov 22)

FCC’s Rosenworcel Joins President to Promote High-Speed Access For Education

Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel joined President Barack Obama to salute 10 educators as part of the White House's Champions for Change program, which highlights community efforts, in this case using high-tech to help kids learn.

The President promoted his ConnectEd initiative, launched earlier in 2013, to bring high-speed access to 99% of schools and libraries within five years. "In an age when the world’s information is just a click away, we’ve got to bring our schools and our libraries into the 21st century," President Obama said. "That’s why five months ago I launched an initiative that we’re calling ConnectED to bring high-speed Internet to 99 percent of American students over the next five years. And this is going to be a top priority for me. It’s going to take some hard work across my administration, but I’m committed to getting it done.

Commissioner Rosenworcel also used her platform to push for focusing the FCC's E-rate program, which funds high-tech communications to anchor institutions like schools and libraries, on boosting capacity. "We need to update this program to support really big bandwidth. Then we need to put it in the hands of creative teachers across this country who can follow the lead of our honorees and make really big and bold things happen," she said.

(Nov 22)

Time Warner Cable’s Suitors Lining Up Funds for Bid

Apparently, Charter Communications is nearing an agreement with banks to borrow money for a bid for Time Warner Cable -- a sign that the scrappy cable operator’s effort to engineer a combination of the two companies may be moving into high gear.

Charter has held talks with Bank of America, Barclays PLC and Deutsche Bank AG about a multi-billion dollar debt package that would underpin an offer for Time Warner Cable, which has a market capitalization of nearly $35 billion. Another possible source of cash for a bid: Sovereign wealth funds and wealthy individuals. Arranging equity commitments from such parties could allow Charter to increase the cash component of the deal without taking on too much debt.

(Nov 22)

Jury awards Apple $290 million in Samsung patent case

A federal jury ordered Samsung Electronics to pay $290 million in damages to Apple in the latest round of the two adversaries' ongoing litigation over mobile patents.

In US District Court in San Jose, an eight-person jury handed down its decision after a weeklong retrial of a case heard in the same court. In 2012, a jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion, agreeing with the company's claims that Samsung's products had copied many of its features from the iPhone and iPad. However, Judge Lucy Koh later cut $450 million from that verdict, finding that the jury's instructions had been confusing. The two sides were fighting over how much of that $450 million should be restored. Apple had argued for $380 million, while Samsung said the figure should be closer to $52 million. The jury's decision restores most of Apple's winnings in the case. However, Samsung is expected to appeal the decision again.

(Nov 21)

Incentive Auction Rules Vote Not On FCC December Agenda

The Federal Communications Commission has released its tentative agenda for the Dec. 12, 2013 meeting, the last public meeting of the year, and there is no vote scheduled on rules for the incentive auction.

The chairman could still add it to the agenda later, or circulate it for a vote by the commissioners outside the public meeting, though it is sufficiently high-profile that that would seem unlikely, suggested one FCC official.

The agenda does contain a vote on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to revise FCC rules to allow airlines the ability to permit passengers more freedom to use mobile devices on planes; an order on improving 911 reliability, a presentation on the IP transition that Chairman Tom Wheeler signaled in a blog posting; and an update on mobile wireless device unlocking, which Wheeler has asked the wireless industry to do voluntarily ASAP or the FCC may step in.

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