July 2014

CORRECTION: In a failure of epic proportions, yesterday’s Headlines included a story we titled “EFF Complains to FTC About Facebook Emotion Study” (http://benton.org/node/192708). In fact, the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed the complaint. We regret the error.

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, JULY 8, 2014 (Happy 125th birthday, Wall Street Journal)

Innovation, Creativity and the Future of the Internet: Why Real Net Neutrality Matters http://benton.org/calendar/2014-07-08/

COMMUNITY MEDIA
   How Americans Value Public Libraries in Their Communities - research

EDUCATION
   The big city library as Internet provider
   Education groups back $2 billion Wi-Fi plan
   Rural students deserve 21st-century education - op-ed

INTERNET/TELECOM
   Disturbing Trend in USF Spending - editorial
   Google Waning on Network Neutrality Leaves Fight to Startups
   Verizon’s “deteriorated” phone lines cited in demand for investigation
   US court case may shed light on ICANN’s legal status - AEI op-ed [links to web]
   Paxio Emeryville Gigabit Network Launches [links to web]
   Overland Park appears set to sign on for Google Fiber [links to web]

OWNERSHIP
   Comcast-TWC would control 29% of the US pay TV market, nearly 36% of broadband: report
   NAB: Keep JSA Challenge In DC [links to web]

TELEVISION
   Mayors Plug PEG Change
   Fox Pitches Ninth Circuit on Dish Injunction [links to web]
   Broadcast Evening News Telecasts All Grew Their Audiences This Season [links to web]
   Millennial Women Are Not Cutting the Cord [links to web]

CONTENT
   NAB, NCTA Pitch FCC On Online Clip Captioning Flexibility [links to web]
   The Military Doesn't Want You to Quit Facebook and Twitter [links to web]
   Why Facebook Should Follow Ethical Standards -- Like Everybody Else - op-ed [links to web]

WIRELESS
   LTE, Are You Always This Loud? Love, Wi-Fi - analysis [links to web]

HEALTH
   Healthcare’s digital future - research [links to web]
   Feds push electronic records that make fraud easier [links to web]

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
   Commerce's NIST to Host Next Meeting on Developing a Collaborative Nationwide Disaster Resilience Framework - press release [links to web]

LABOR
   SAG-AFTRA Reaches Deal on New Movie-TV Contract
   Building a More Diverse Workforce Through Software [links to web]
   Silicon Valley's Talent Grab Spawns High-School Interns [links to web]

PREDICTIONS
   The Future of Communications - op-ed
   A Future Where the Internet Is Available to All - op-ed

POLICYMAKERS
   Who’s the new guy running the NSA? [links to web]
   FCC Announces Review Teams For Proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable-Charter And AT&T-DirecTV Transactions - press release
   These are the FCC merger hawks who’ll decide your cable future - analysis [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Mexico Advances Telecom Law to Challenge Slim’s Dominance

MORE ONLINE
   Good News About the Future of News Literacy - analysis [links to web]

back to top

COMMUNITY MEDIA

HOW AMERICANS VALUE PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN THEIR COMMUNITIES
[SOURCE: Pew Internet and American Life Project, AUTHOR: Kathryn Zickuhr, Lee Rainie, Kristen Purcell, Maeve Duggan]
Most Americans say they have only had positive experiences at public libraries, and value a range of library resources and services. Regarding the importance of public libraries to their communities, when those surveyed were asked if their library were closed, what impact it would have, some 90% of Americans ages 16 and older said that the closing of their local public library would have an impact on their community, with 63% saying it would have a “major” impact. Asked about the personal impact of a public library closing, two-thirds (67%) of Americans said it would affect them and their families, including 29% who said it would have a major impact. Moreover, the vast majority of Americans ages 16 and older say that public libraries play an important role in their communities:
95% of Americans ages 16 and older agree that the materials and resources available at public libraries play an important role in giving everyone a chance to succeed;
95% say that public libraries are important because they promote literacy and a love of reading;
94% say that having a public library improves the quality of life in a community;
81% say that public libraries provide many services people would have a hard time finding elsewhere.
Women, African-Americans and Hispanics, adults who live in lower-income households, and adults with lower levels of educational attainment are more likely than other groups to declare all the library services we asked about “very important.” Adults ages 30-64 are also more likely than younger or older respondents to say many of the services are “very important,” as are parents with minor children. Libraries are also particularly valued by those who are unemployed, retired, or searching for a job, as well as those living with a disability and Internet users who lack home Internet access:
56% of Internet users without home access say public libraries’ basic technological resources (such as computers, Internet, and printers) are “very important” to them and their family, compared with 33% of all respondents.
49% of unemployed and retired respondents say they librarian assistance in finding information to be “very important,” compared with 41% of employed respondents.
47% of job seekers say help finding or applying for a job is “very important” to them and their families.
40% of those living with a disability say help applying for government services is “very important,” compared with 27% of those without a disability.
benton.org/node/193085 | Pew Internet and American Life Project | Read report
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

EDUCATION

THE BIG CITY LIBRARY AS INTERNET PROVIDER
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Nancy Scola]
Some of the United States’ bigger urban library systems have begun lodging a public protest against the formula federal rulemakers are considering for the distribution of billions of dollars for wireless Internet infrastructure. The Federal Communications Commission is thinking of divvying up so-called E-Rate funds to libraries based on square footage rather than users or some other metric, a calculation that city libraries argue gives an unfair advantage to their more sprawling suburban counterparts. And now perhaps the biggest name in the US public libraries has dipped into the debate. The New York Library system - a billion-dollar entity with 92 branches and some 17 million volumes -- sent a letter to the FCC under the signature of Anthony "Tony" Marx, its chief executive and president. Marx reiterated the "smaller footprints but higher attendance rates" argument made by his peers in Hartford, Memphis, Seattle and elsewhere, but he put a local twist on it, writing that Internet access and Internet-enabled training programs, like ESL classes, are "essential in helping to address the inequalities we face in New York City and across the country."
benton.org/node/193146 | Washington Post
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

EDUCATION GROUPS BACK $2 BILLION WI-FI PLAN
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kate Tummarello]
A coalition of education groups is backing a proposal at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that would funnel billions of dollars into wireless Internet for schools and libraries. The proposal “is a necessary first step toward providing students with the educational infrastructure they need to excel,” ten education groups said in a letter to FCC commissioners sent. Signatories include the Consortium for School Networking, the National Association of State Boards of Education and the State Educational Technology Directors Association. The letter comes as the agency prepares to vote on the new proposal from Chairman Tom Wheeler to expand the FCC’s E-Rate funding. Opposition to Chairman Wheeler’s plan could put the vote in jeopardy.
benton.org/node/193087 | Hill, The
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

RURAL STUDENTS DESERVE 21ST-CENTURY EDUCATION
[SOURCE: The Wichita Eagle, AUTHOR: Sen Jerry Moran (R-KS), FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai]
[Commentary] Schools in rural areas routinely get less funding per student than those in wealthier, urban areas. For example, E-Rate distributes to students in Washington, DC, roughly three times the amount that Kansas students receive -- even though our nation’s capital has a much larger tax base and broadband is cheaper to deploy there than in rural Kansas. Indeed, small Kansas towns from Colby to Coffeyville and Elkhart to Seneca tend to get less money than large school districts with more resources. These disparities undermine E-Rate’s core mission of giving rural schools the same technological tools as their urban and suburban counterparts. One reason for this unfair distribution of funding is the complex E-Rate application process. To apply for E-Rate funds, schools must complete a seven-step process with six application forms spanning 17 pages -- just for basic service. If a school wants to invest in a technology the federal government does not consider a priority, additional paperwork is required. Moreover, schools are required to sign service contracts months before the school year begins, and possibly years before the school knows if E-Rate funding will even be available to offset the cost of those services. All of this means that it is expensive and burdensome to apply. E-Rate also doesn’t give schools a budget. That means urban schools at the front of the line often get as much money as they want while many rural schools at the back of the line must make do with what is left. The result is some schools using E-Rate to subsidize BlackBerrys for administrators while other schools can’t even get funding for classroom Wi-Fi. That’s not right. To fulfill E-Rate’s promise to all of our students, we must cut the bureaucracy and refocus the program on our children’s needs. We must create a student-centered E-Rate program.
GOP senator: FCC program hurting rural schools (The Hill)
benton.org/node/193067 | Wichita Eagle, The
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

INTERNET/TELECOM

DISTURBING TREND IN USF SPENDING
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly]
[Commentary] Under the current structure, the Universal Service Fund (USF) and Interstate Telecommunications Relay Services Fund (TRS) are scheduled to grow to $10 billion in 2015 and steadily increase thereafter to reach $11 billion in 2024. Most of that growth will continue to be attributable to USF. This means that in 2024, the funds will be over 21% larger than they were in 2013 and, in those 11 years, the funds will spend a remarkable $13 billion more than they would have if funding had been kept at 2013 levels. Importantly, this trajectory just represents present circumstances. In other words, it does not assume that the FCC will make any programmatic changes that would further increase spending. So what do CBO’s USF projections mean for the average American? They represent an ever growing strain on their pocketbook. That is because the FCC --through an entity called the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) -- simply estimates what will be needed to cover the planned expenditures for the USF programs, assesses telecom providers, and this cost is inevitably passed on to consumers in the form of a fee on their phone bills. Given the fund’s projected growth, we must be increasingly sensitive to the burdens that this fee creates and strive to limit the amount of any increase. That is why I am concerned about the budget aspect of the upcoming reforms to the E-Rate program.
benton.org/node/193227 | Federal Communications Commission
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

GOOGLE AND NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Todd Shields]
Since the Federal Communications Commission proposed in May to let cable and telephone companies offer special Internet fast lanes for companies willing to pay extra, lobbyists for Google haven’t visited the agency to intervene, FCC records show. Facebook, the largest social network, also has been absent. It’s a stark change from eight years ago, when Google ran advertisements that called for treating all Web traffic equally, asked its users to contact senators on the issue and dispatched co-founder Sergey Brin to Washington to lobby lawmakers. “They’ve definitely faded into the background, and that’s very troubling,” said Paul Sieminski, general counsel of San Francisco-based Automattic, the publisher of the WordPress blogging platform. “A lot of tech companies look to Google.” With Google, Facebook and other technology giants taking a more passive approach, nascent Internet companies and their financial backers are leading the campaign to quash the FCC’s proposal and bolster agency authority over Web traffic.
benton.org/node/193229 | Bloomberg
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

VERIZON’S “DETERIORATED” PHONE LINES CITED IN DEMAND FOR INVESTIGATION
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
Dozens of lawmakers, municipal officials, and consumer advocacy groups want a thorough investigation of New York's phone system, accusing Verizon of raising prices substantially while allowing landline service to deteriorate throughout the state. Rate deregulation has harmed customers, the lawmakers and groups wrote in a petition to the New York Public Service Commission (PSC). Verizon has been shifting wireline service from copper to fiber and building out its cellular network, but in the process it's leaving many consumers behind, the petition claims. The letter quotes New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and previous PSC documents that say Verizon failed to meet quality standards. The petition was signed by 49 State Assembly members (out of 150), seven State Senate members (out of 63), and a member of Congress, US Rep Tim Bishop (D-NY). Mayors and other officials representing a dozen cities, towns, and counties signed the letter, as did consumer advocacy groups including the AARP and Common Cause New York. The letter was also signed by the New York State AFL-CIO and a Communications Workers of America representative.
benton.org/node/193139 | Ars Technica
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

OWNERSHIP

COMCAST-TWC WOULD CONTROL 29% OF THE US PAY TV MARKET, NEARLY 36% OF BROADBAND: REPORT
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Daniel Frankel]
Culling through all the various due diligence and Securities and Exchange Commission filings, SNL Kagan released what is perhaps the clearest numerical snapshot yet of what a combined Comcast-Time Warner Cable would look like, post-merger. The newly merged giant would control nearly 29.1 million US residential video subscribers, after Comcast divests 3.9 million pay TV customers in the joint venture with Charter Communications known as SpinCo. The wedded Comcast-TWC would house about 29 percent of the US pay TV market, just under the Federal Communications Commission's unofficial 30 percent limit. The combined company would also control 27.9 million residential fixed broadband customers, accounting for nearly 36 percent of the market, and 13.4 million residential voice customers. In terms of business customers, the behemoth would have around 900,000 video customers, 1.7 million fixed broadband clients and 1 million voice subscribers.
benton.org/node/193136 | Fierce
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

TELEVISION

MAYORS PLUG PEG CHANGE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
US Mayors want to take cable operators out of the equation when it comes to deciding how Public, Educational and Government (PEG) channels use their money, which comes from franchise fees. At the United States Conference of Mayors annual meeting, the mayors agreed on a resolution asking Congress to change the law that now requires those monies to be used only for capital expenditures and not ongoing operations unless a franchisee agrees. They argue that restriction on the use of PEG money has led to the closing of more than 100 PEG access centers -- where the community can produce programming -- and to hundreds of PEG channels going dark in the last decade.
benton.org/node/193049 | Broadcasting&Cable
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

LABOR

SAG-AFTRA REACHES DEAL ON NEW MOVIE-TV CONTRACT
[SOURCE: Variety, AUTHOR: Dave McNary]
The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has reached a tentative deal with production companies for a three-year master contract covering movie and primetime TV work. The performers union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have reached the agreement following nearly two months of negotiations -- and three 24-hour extensions of the contract expiration. There were no details provided other than the disclosures that the new contract will replace the separate SAG and AFTRA contracts which have remained in effect since the 2012 merger. SAG-AFTRA’s board will meet July 12 to vote on whether to send the new deal to members for ratification. The two sides had announced -- less than an hour before the union contracts expired at midnight -- that they achieved progress in the talks and had agreed to extend the expiration for 24 hours. The current SAG and AFTRA deals cover about 165,000 members.
benton.org/node/193045 | Variety
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

POLICYMAKERS

FCC NAMES TRANSACTION REVIEW TEAMS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced the members of an inter-bureau steering committee and the working team leaders established to coordinate the agency’s review of merger applications from Comcast-Time Warner Cable-Charter and AT&T-DirecTV. Jonathan Sallet, General Counsel, will chair the steering committee that will oversee both sets of transactions. Bureau chiefs on the steering committee include Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake, International Bureau Chief Mindel de la Torre, Wireline Competition Bureau Chief Julie Veach, and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief Roger Sherman. Hillary Burchuk will lead the working team responsible for the review of the proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable-Charter transaction. Bill Dever from the Wireline Competition bureau will be her deputy. The Comcast-Time Warner Cable-Charter working team will report to the steering committee. Jamillia Ferris will join the Office of General Counsel to lead the working team for the review of the proposed AT&T-DirecTV transaction. Elizabeth Andrion from the Office of Strategic Planning & Policy Analysis will serve as her deputy. William Rogerson will serve as senior economist overseeing the review of the proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable-Charter and has been selected to serve as senior economist overseeing the review of the proposed AT&T-DirecTV transactions. Shane Greenstein will serve as senior economic consultant, providing guidance on the proposed Comcast-TWC-Charter and AT&T-DirecTV transactions.
benton.org/node/193063 | Federal Communications Commission | Multichannel News | Washington Post
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

STORIES FROM ABROAD

MEXICO ADVANCES TELECOM LAW TO CHALLENGE SLIM’S DOMINANCE
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Patricia Laya]
An overhaul of Mexico’s telecommunications industry is one step closer to becoming law and may force billionaire Carlos Slim’s América Móvil to break up or face penalties for dominating the phone business. Mexico’s lower house is set to debate the bill that was passed by the Senate after more than six months of delays and legal challenges. An extraordinary session to discuss and approve the bill will be requested, and the law could be passed very soon, Manlio Fabio Beltrones, head of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party in the lower house, said. If approved, it would then require the endorsement of President Enrique Peña Nieto, who has spearheaded the push for the sweeping legislation. After 17 hours of debate, the Senate on July 5 passed the bill that supporters say will help spark new competitors to take on América Móvil along with billionaire Emilio Azcarraga’s Grupo Televisa, which has dominated the broadcast industry for decades. In addition to restrictions on prices and requirements to share infrastructure, the law also lets such dominant companies propose their own breakups to reduce their market share. “With more investment we will have more competition, more quality and options of service and accessible prices for users,” Beltrones said. “It’s urgent that we approve this reform.” The companies will face the harshest penalties they’ve ever encountered if they violate the new rules. The bill calls for fines of as much as 10 percent of Mexican annual sales -- and double for repeat offenses. América Móvil got 299 billion pesos ($23 billion) in Mexican revenue in 2013, while Televisa had about 70 billion pesos.
benton.org/node/193072 | Bloomberg | Wall Street Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

PREDICTIONS

FUTURE OF COMMUNICATION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler]
[Commentary] Nothing is more seminal to our existence than how we connect. Today we are on the cusp of what could become the greatest network-driven change in history. The power of connections is no longer centralizing. Whereas railroad, telegraph and telephone networks had to converge at a hub to exchange activity, a distributed digital network allows activity at the edges of the network without a hub. It's not technology that will define our future -- it's us. The new technology will cleave us from the comfortable legacies established by the old networks. The new era of distributed activity encourages "innovation without permission." As such, our challenge will echo that of earlier eras confronted by new networks. We know from that history how the rewards go to those who push past network legacies and press forward to harness that which the new networks make possible.
benton.org/node/193221 | Wall Street Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top

FUTURE OF INTERNET ACCESS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Mark Zuckerberg]
[Commentary] There have been moments in history where the invention of new technology has completely rewired the way our society lives and works. The printing press, radio, television, mobile phones and the Internet are among these. In the coming decades, we will see the greatest revolution yet, as billions of people connect to the Internet for the first time. When people have access, they not only connect with their friends, families and communities, they also gain the opportunity to participate in the global economy. Nothing about this future is guaranteed. The coming years will be a battle to expand and defend the free and open Internet. Our success will determine how far this vision of a connected world can go. Connecting the world is within our reach, and if we work together, we can make this happen.
benton.org/node/193219 | Wall Street Journal
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top