November 2013

Will the NSA be reformed?

[Commentary] Remember Edward Snowden? For a while, the National Security Agency's renegade contractor seemed like the most influential man in American intelligence, even though he's been hiding out in Moscow. Snowden's disclosures touched off a wave of enthusiasm in Congress for reforming the NSA's surveillance practices -- and anger overseas when he revealed that American spies were listening to foreign leaders' cellphone calls. But now, as Congress counts only a few working days remaining in its year, the momentum toward intelligence reform has slowed.

"It's often not a good idea to legislate when you're angry," said Michael Allen, a former chief aide to the House Intelligence Committee. "The [congressional] leadership may want this issue to cool down a bit." And that suits the intelligence agencies just fine. "The best outcome from our standpoint is that nothing changes," said a former top official. Snowden probably hasn't released the last of his purloined documents. The U.S. intelligence community still faces unpleasant surprises from his next disclosures, a battle in Congress over competing proposals for reform, and a long road to restoring public confidence. More disclosure isn't the only answer to those challenges. But when it's happening anyway, thanks to a renegade contractor, it would be a useful start.

End the NSA Dragnet, Now

[Commentary] The framers of the Constitution declared that government officials had no power to seize the records of individual Americans without evidence of wrongdoing, and they embedded this principle in the Fourth Amendment. The bulk collection of Americans’ telephone records -- so-called metadata -- by the National Security Agency is, in our view, a clear case of a general warrant that violates the spirit of the framers’ intentions.

This intrusive program was authorized under a secret legal process by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, so for years American citizens did not have the knowledge needed to challenge the infringement of their privacy rights. The usefulness of the bulk collection program has been greatly exaggerated. We have yet to see any proof that it provides real, unique value in protecting national security. In spite of our repeated requests, the NSA has not provided evidence of any instance when the agency used this program to review phone records that could not have been obtained using a regular court order or emergency authorization. Congress needs to preserve the agencies’ ability to collect information that is actually necessary to guard against threats to our security. But it also needs to preserve the right of citizens to be free from unwarranted interference in their lives, which the framers understood was vital to American liberties.

NSA May Have Hit Internet Companies at a Weak Spot

The recent revelation that the National Security Agency was able to eavesdrop on the communications of Google and Yahoo users without breaking into either companies’ data centers sounded like something pulled from a Robert Ludlum spy thriller. People knowledgeable about Google and Yahoo’s infrastructure say they believe that government spies bypassed the big Internet companies and hit them at a weak spot — the fiber-optic cables that connect data centers around the world that are owned by companies like Verizon Communications, the BT Group, the Vodafone Group and Level 3 Communications.

In particular, fingers have been pointed at Level 3, the world’s largest so-called Internet backbone provider, whose cables are used by Google and Yahoo. The Internet companies’ data centers are locked down with full-time security and state-of-the-art surveillance, including heat sensors and iris scanners. But between the data centers -- on Level 3’s fiber-optic cables that connected those massive computer farms -- information was unencrypted and an easier target for government intercept efforts, according to three people with knowledge of Google’s and Yahoo’s systems who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Google Acts To Prevent Snooping By NSA

Google has tightened encryption of traffic flowing between its data centers, as it looks to block alleged interception by the National Security Agency, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said. Google is using "powerful" encryption to protect its data from presumed interception at the Internet's main connection points, Schmidt said during a discussion before government and corporate leaders at London's Chatham House, saying that efforts are under way to tighten further. "What we've done is that we have tightened the security between all of our operations, and we're working hard to make it tighter," said Schmidt, who drew a parallel with Google's response to alleged hacking by the Chinese government in 2010. "One way to say it is that we're now protected against the Chinese and the NSA," he said.

NSA Spying Risks $35 Billion in US Technology Sales

International anger over the National Security Agency’s Internet surveillance is hurting global sales by American technology companies and setting back US efforts to promote Internet freedom. Disclosures of spying abroad may cost US companies as much as $35 billion in lost revenue through 2016 because of doubts about the security of information on their systems, according to the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation.

“The potential fallout is pretty huge given how much our economy depends on the information economy for its growth,” said Rebecca MacKinnon, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a Washington policy group. “It’s increasingly where the U.S. advantage lies.” Any setback in the US push to maintain an open Internet also could inflict indirect damage on companies such as Apple and Google that benefit from global networks with few national restrictions.

EU accuses US of improperly trawling citizens’ online data

Brussels is to warn Washington that US tech companies risk losing their exemption from privacy rules unless the US changes the way it treats EU citizens’ online data. A European Commission review of the “safe harbour” pact that allows US technology groups such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft to operate in Europe without EU oversight will conclude that Washington has improperly forced US companies to hand over European customers’ data.

It also says that breaches of the data deal have given US tech companies a competitive advantage over European rivals. Although the review, which will be unveiled on Nov 27, stops short of calling for the safe harbour agreement to be scrapped, its wording signals that the EU will move in that direction unless the US changes the way that it uses data held by companies on EU citizens. A scrapping of the safe harbour deal is one of the most formidable weapons the EU has in its arsenal to punish the Obama administration after claims of snooping on Europeans by the National Security Agency.

NSA torpedoed Internet liberty

[Commentary] Many people think of Edward Snowden as a traitor. Others see him as hero acting in the name of vigilante justice. The controversy generally swirls around the idea of patriotism: was Snowden a traitor or a misunderstood patriot? What commentators miss is the lack of patriotism demonstrated by our own National Security Agency. Ultimately, the harm the NSA has caused to US commerce and freedom of information transactions will be the most disastrous consequence of this whole affair. Snowden will have been but a bit player.

The impact of existing revelations -- nevermind those to come -- are grave. Countries across the world now have an excuse to pull back the freedom of exchange that had made the internet such a powerful tool. By ruthlessly tapping network connections, bypassing judicial process, providing zero transparency and, worst of all, hacking the internal networks of domestic internet companies like Google and Yahoo!, the United States Government gave up the moral high-ground. By doing so, we gave other developed countries an excuse to restrict the traffic and services of American businesses and users. Meanwhile, US SaaS (software as a service) companies -- previously among the most successful in the world -- find themselves under threat as international rivals race to fill the void.

In addition to help from Congress, US tech companies must carry the burden. We must secure networks, perform comprehensive audits, integrate advanced encryption regimes, and re-earn the trust of users. Importantly, we must also ensure that regulatory authorities and governments around the world understand that the internet has been a force for great social good. Our constitution serves as a reminder of the freedoms that solidified a young nation and helped us to become an influential player on the global stage; we must act now to ensure the continuance of these values despite the changing landscape of the digital age.

[Mendelsohn is co-founder of Engine, a start-up advocacy organization]

Shift to 4G networks faster than previous generations

The shift to fourth-generation networks will be faster than the take-up of previous generations of mobile technology in most parts of the world, marking an unprecedented shift in mobile communications.

The number of superfast mobile internet connections worldwide is forecast to pass 1 billion by 2017, according to the GSMA, the organisation that represents the interest of mobile operators worldwide. The rapid take-up means that more than one in eight mobile connections will use superfast 4G networks within the next four years, up from just 176 million connections at the end of 2013. The technology, also known as LTE, offers rapid internet speeds rivalling fixed-line broadband networks, opening up a host of new applications and services for smartphone providers. Almost 500 LTE networks are forecast to be in service across 128 countries by 2017, roughly double the number of LTE networks today.

A Look at Some of the Key Media Bills Being Introduced

Congress is winding down for the year, making it highly unlikely that any new laws will get passed. But that doesn’t mean pols will sit on their hands.

There’s an election in 2014, and lawmakers, particularly those in tough races, need to show they are pursuing legislation on myriad topics, some of which could impact media and marketing. As the session comes to a close, several lawmakers have introduced bills on perennial issues, testing the waters for support and laying down markers for what could move next year.

Here’s the issues:

Ad Tax Deduction
Patent Trolls Abuses
Marketing to Kids
Security, Data Collection
Communication Laws

Chairman Rockefeller Asks FCC To Proceed With Caution on Mergers

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) told Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler he thinks the FCC should delay decisions on recent broadcast mergers -- those include Sinclair purchases, Gannett/Belo and others -- until the Government Accountability Office has completed a report on the use of shared services agreements (SSAs).

He also asked the FCC to look at use of the SSAs by those potential merged broadcast partners as it considers the deals, making sure to collect the necessary information to understand their impact on competition and consumers. Chairman Rockefeller said he was not taking a position on any of those deals in the pipeline. He wants the FCC to proceed with caution and said it "may be wise for the FCC to wait to approve any pending transaction that involves SSAs or related arrangements until GAO has completed its study and issued its report."

Benton

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