April 2014

Veteran Washington trade groups seek new blood in Silicon Valley

Old-school Washington trade associations and think tanks are taking their membership pitches straight to Silicon Valley’s doorstep.

Seeking to tap into the success of the sector, veteran influence groups are updating their rosters and opening offices to try and make inroads with the new wave of corporate giants.

“We’re seeing the elevation of tech as a significant driver of both economic and political events,” said Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, a lobbyist at Monument Policy Group who represents Microsoft and the tech-based Reform Government Surveillance coalition. “It’s a natural progression, and you want to capture that community, and it’s not a business community that plays by traditional rules,” she said. “You have to go to them as opposed to waiting for them to come to you.”

Chavern said the new Center for Advanced Technology and Innovation, which is still hiring staff and looking for a West Coast office, is likely to expand the Chamber’s focus on issues like immigration, tax reform, trade and infrastructure, which are important to the tech sector.

NBC Asks Gifford Not To Plug Her Wine On 'Today'

Booze may be an oft-mentioned topic when Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb are hosting the fourth hour of the "Today" show, but one alcoholic beverage they won't be talking about is Gifford's new wine line.

Gifford said NBC has asked her not to plug her new Gifft chardonnay and red blend on the show.

"They let me announce it and then they've asked us to please not discuss it right now," Gifford said. "We're in the middle of the big takeover of a major corporation. I think they just want to be -- and rightfully so -- very careful. Everybody wants to dot i's and cross t's and you notice the wine is still sitting there but they've just asked me to be a little careful while they're under great scrutiny and I'm happy to do that."

A representative for "Today" said, "We love and support Kathie Lee and as always, we let her comments speak for themselves."

US Secretly Created 'Cuban Twitter' To Stir Unrest

In July 2010, Joe McSpedon, a US government official, flew to Barcelona to put the final touches on a secret plan to build a social media project aimed at undermining Cuba's communist government.

McSpedon and his team of high-tech contractors had come in from Costa Rica and Nicaragua, Washington and Denver. Their mission: to launch a messaging network that could reach hundreds of thousands of Cubans. To hide the network from the Cuban government, they would set up a byzantine system of front companies using a Cayman Islands bank account, and recruit unsuspecting executives who would not be told of the company's ties to the US government.

McSpedon didn't work for the CIA. This was a program paid for and run by the US Agency for International Development, best known for overseeing billions of dollars in US humanitarian aid.

The plan was to develop a bare-bones "Cuban Twitter," using cellphone text messaging to evade Cuba's strict control of information and its stranglehold restrictions over the Internet. In a play on Twitter, it was called ZunZuneo -- slang for a Cuban hummingbird's tweet. Documents show the US government planned to build a subscriber base through "non-controversial content": news messages on soccer, music, and hurricane updates. Later when the network reached a critical mass of subscribers, perhaps hundreds of thousands, operators would introduce political content aimed at inspiring Cubans to organize "smart mobs" -- mass gatherings called at a moment's notice that might trigger a Cuban Spring, or, as one USAID document put it, "renegotiate the balance of power between the state and society."

High-Stakes Duel in DC: NAB Vs. FCC

It was a bad day for broadcasting at the Federal Communications Commission, and perhaps a worse one for the National Association of Broadcasters, the lobby that is supposed to make sure the industry doesn't have any bad days anywhere in Washington.

Despite the vigorous opposition of the NAB, the FCC closed loopholes in its local ownership rules that have allowed broadcasters to effectively operate multiple stations, sometimes two Big Four affiliates, in small and medium markets. It banned new joint sales agreements (JSAs) and ordered broadcasters to unwind existing ones within two years.

The NAB is "getting pounded" at the FCC, said one group TV station executive and NAB member, who asked not to be identified. But the news out of the nation's capital is not all bad for NAB, according to communications policy players. The association is holding its own on Capitol Hill, where the battles may be fewer, but the stakes are considerably higher.

The NAB’s ineffectiveness at the FCC is worrisome to broadcasters because other important issues are currently in the regulatory pipeline. Among them are the UHF discount and the sports blackout rule. The FCC is considering eliminating both.

National Lifeline Accountability Database Up And Running

The Federal Communications Commission has launched a database designed to eliminate waste from duplicative subscriptions in the Lifeline phone service subsidy program nationwide.

The National Lifeline Accountability Database, a cornerstone of the FCC’s comprehensive efforts to combat waste fraud and abuse in the Lifeline program, already has identified $169 million in annualized savings by flagging existing duplicates for elimination while preventing enrollment of new duplicates.

“The National Lifeline Accountability Database makes smart use of technology to help prevent waste, fraud and abuse,” said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “The database is preventing new duplicates and has rooted out remaining ones. I commend the industry for working with us to implement this effective solution to eliminating wasteful duplicates.”

Overall, the comprehensive reform package from 2012 is on track to save $2 billion through elimination of duplicates, tightened eligibility review, increased oversight of providers, elimination of unnecessary subsidies for initial phone connections, and more.

NAB: Local TV Stations to Test Interactive Services

The broadcast groups involved in the Pearl group have announced that they will be testing interactive content and advertising services delivered to LG Smart TVs in three markets during live newscasts and that they will be demoing the idea at the 2014 National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas. The move is an effort to capitalize on the growing availability of smart TVs that are connected to the Internet and to use that connectivity to bring the interactivity of the online world to the TV set. In their Global Digital Living Forecast Workbook from March 2014, Parks Associates estimates that the number of "smart TV" households in the US will reach 42 million in 2014, representing 36% of all TV households. The tests will occur in Atlanta, Cleveland and Orlando. Stations participating in Atlanta are WSB (Cox), WGCL (Meredith) and WXIA (Gannett). In Cleveland, WOIO (Raycom), WEWS (Scripps), and WKYC (Gannett) will test the idea and in Orlando, participating stations are WKMG (Post-Newsweek), WFTV (Cox), and WESH (Hearst).

Native ads: Advertorial for the digital age

[Commentary] The native-ad wars have flared up again, this time over Josh Marshall’s Talking Points Memo, the longtime standard bearer for serious, digital-first, for-profit news.

TPM has signed up Phrma, the drug-industry lobby, to sponsor its Idealab Impact section, a deal that includes running Phrma-written pieces as native ads.

There’s nothing inherently worse about an advertiser using a thousand words in story form to spread its message than there is with an ad that uses 30 words, an idealized photo, and a catchline to do the same. So if we accept that advertising itself is a necessary evil, the only question for native ads is whether they’re clearly presented as advertisements and not editorial.

Cyberspace, self-defense, and the law of the sea

[Commentary] If you happened to turn your eyes towards Capitol Hill, you might have witnessed the latest round of senatorial efforts to discover an effective cybersecurity strategy.

In a pair of hearings, Senators and administration officials focused on stricter data breach reporting regulations and expanded liability protection. Sen John McCain (R-AZ) again proposed a separate committee on cybersecurity. Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez stressed that the government needs stricter rules for data breach reporting and greater freedom to prosecute offending institutions.

Our congressmen and women would do well to read “Navigating Conflicts in Cyberspace: Lessons from the History of War at Sea” by Professor Jeremy Rabkin of the George Mason School of Law (and Adjunct Scholar here at AEI) and his son, Ariel Rabkin. In their article, published in the Chicago Journal of International Law in the summer of 2013, the Rabkins redirect the reader’s gaze from small-scale modifications to a broader, more ambitious proposal: “ground American policy on cyberattacks in…[the body of law] dealing with armed conflict on the high seas.”

Currently, the law of armed conflict governs American and international cyber conflict. These rules, the Rabkins argue, unduly limit national and private cyber defense options. Cyberattacks, however, do not solely target military facilities, personnel, or capabilities, nor do they solely originate from military facilities or personnel. The law of armed conflict, by designating military objectives as the only acceptable targets of armed responses -- cyber retaliation included -- fails to account for the civilian involvement that is an unavoidable reality of conflicts in cyberspace.

Underlying the Rabkins’ proposal is a basic and natural argument for adopting the laws governing conflict at sea: the right of self-defense. The same should apply to companies operating in cyberspace.

[Cunningham is a Research Assistant at the Center for Internet, Communications, and Technology Policy (AEI)]

Broadband Commission Reaffirms Crucial Role in Development

[Commentary] Everyone taking part in the Broadband Commission’s recent session in Dublin understands the ways in which broadband is impacting every aspect of our lives, while at the same time accelerating progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

However, we all share the same concern: how can we secure affordable access for all, in the shortest possible time, and in keeping with the goals of the Broadband Commission? In September the commission published its Transformative Solutions for 2015 and Beyond report, along with a supporting manifesto which has been signed by 48 members of the commission to date.

The manifesto, presented at a side event of the 5th session of the United Nations Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals in September, states that: “Overcoming the digital divide makes sense not only on the basis of principles of fairness and justice; connecting the world makes sound commercial sense. The vital role of broadband needs to be acknowledged at the core of any post-2015 sustainable development framework, to ensure that all countries -- developed and developing alike -- are empowered to participate in the global digital economy.”

So, the question we faced in Dublin was not what to do; the recommendations of the report were clear, and we reviewed progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals as well as progress on our task group’s activities. The discussion now was far more focused on how to most effectively get our messages across to national governments and leaders who influence the global agenda in order to ensure that broadband is affordable and accessible, and that its benefits reach as many people as possible.

It’s More Than Mere Access

[Commentary] The newly released Pew Research Center’s report, “Older Adults and Technology Use,” shows substantial forward movement in Internet use and broadband adoption by America’s senior population.

However, given the increasingly important role that this 21st century technology plays in all of our lives, it is troubling that 41 percent of seniors still do not use the Internet (compared to 14 percent of all adults), and that 53 percent do not have broadband access where they live (all adults: 30 percent).

The Benton Foundation has been working with Senior Service America, Inc. (SSAI) to address the challenges of bringing senior non-Internet users online. This latest Pew research reaffirms what we’re finding in our work. SSAI conducted a two-year Digital Inclusion Initiative that helped seniors learn to use computers and the Internet. By training 555 participants of its Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) as peer coaches in using software developed by Generations on Line, the Digital Inclusion Initiative (DII) helped more than 26,000 seniors through the end of 2011.

SCSEP peer coaches provided free one-on-one assistance at 355 community-based sites in 16 states, using a non-classroom style, self-paced, peer coaching approach that proved to be very successful with seniors.

Benton

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