October 2014

Clinton allies look to build tech advantage ahead of ’16

Hillary Clinton’s allies are building a technological advantage for her prospective presidential campaign, meant to scare Democrats thinking about challenging her in a primary and intimidate Republicans who would oppose her in the general election. It is an effort that allies -- including former digital gurus to President Obama’s presidential campaigns -- say will far exceed the current president’s campaign efforts, which broke new ground and relied heavily on digital platforms to fundraise as well as organize and mobilize supporters.

Transaction Reviews and the Public Interest

In connection with two significant and simultaneous merger reviews, the Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau issued an Order establishing unique protections for the Merger Applicants’ programming contracts, retransmission agreements, and other related materials. This new procedure balances three important public-interest obligations: (i) the FCC’s need for access to highly relevant information about the Applicants’ business practices, (ii) other parties’ need to express informed views to the FCC about the transactions, and (iii) the need to ensure that sensitive competitive information is used solely for that purpose.
[Bill Lake, Chief, Media Bureau; Jon Sallet, General Counsel; and Julie Veach, Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau]

How to Avoid “The Comcast Effect”

[Commentary] Through a combination of factors, the consumer’s voice has never been louder or more pervasive. We live in a digital era, where news travels at the speed of real time, and is then amplified to and by the masses. Once upon a time, a complaint would die in the call center -- today it is making headlines, and could go viral. We have shifted from an analog world to a digital one, which presents both a great challenge and a tremendous opportunity for companies today. The dangers are real for companies that do not understand the new social contract between company and consumer. The lesson is simple: Treat customers like humans, not as transactions. In fact, the smartest brands are using every consumer interaction as an opportunity to create a relationship.

[LoCascio is Founder and CEO of LivePerson]

WME, ESPN & Networks Hit With Class Action Lawsuit From College Football and Basketball Players

Ten college football and basketball players filed a class action lawsuit in federal court in Tennessee seeking a big piece of the television money pie from ESPN, ABC, Fox, CBS, NBC as well as WME and IMG and more.

The networks and others “have profited from the broadcast and use of Student Athletes’ names, likenesses and images without the Student Athletes’ permission,” says the 40-page filing of October 3. The plaintiffs want a jury trial -- and a potential judgment requiring the defendants to “disgorge all profits” from the arrangements, which could reach billions of dollars. Although the student athletes sign releases, they are “forced to sign as a condition of playing football or basketball in college” and should be voided “as a matter of public policy” and because they are “vague, and therefore void and/or unenforceable.” The arrangements between the broadcasters and NCAA as well as others that license the programming have “created a marketplace resembling a plantation type arrangement where Defendants financially benefit in the collective amount of billions of dollars, while Student Athletes, the driving force of college sports, receive nothing more than their cost of attendance,” the suit says. It charges that the current system violates the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Lanham (Trademark) Act, and Tennessee laws.

Czech media oligarchs consolidate press powers

In one of his frequent outbursts against the Czech media, President Milos Zeman railed in September that it “usually only sides with those in power.” That is possibly because increasingly the Czech media are, like elsewhere in central Europe, owned by the rich and powerful.

The most blatant example was the acquisition by Andrej Babis, then head of a new party riding high in the opinion polls, in 2013 of the MAFRA Media Group -- which owns the best-selling Czech broadsheet Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) as well as the influential Lidove noviny. The subsequent election made Mr Babis finance minister, leader of the second largest party in parliament and -- according to polls -- now the most popular in the country. With his political and media power, backed by the huge financial resources of his agricultural-chemical conglomerate Agrofert, Mr Babis is widely considered the most powerful man in the country.

FCC Hosts Legal Debate Over Net Neutrality Authority

The Federal Communications Commission's final day of network neutrality forums focused on legal options for restoring new rules, so Title II vs. Sec. 706 got a lot of attention, but so did various hybrid models -- proposed by AT&T, Rep Henry Waxman (D-CA), Mozilla and others -- that would replace the "vs." with an ampersand.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler signaled from the outset of the forum that, while he didn't mind debate, he did not want the parties retreating into their corners and shouting their talking points. There was no shouting, though there was some impassioned pleas not to let comedian John Oliver or Netflix define the debate, and a Nebraska public service commissioner who invoking Larry the Cable Guy, sternly dressed down the lawyers and told them to "get 'er done" [rules preventing blocking and prioritizing) for the sake of consumers.

White House job ‘no brainer’ for Megan Smith

Former Google executive Megan Smith said the decision to become the US’s new chief technology officer was a “no brainer.” She was briefly skeptical of the offer, but soon changed her mind. “At first I thought: ‘Move to DC? What?’” she said at a Fortune summit in California. “But as soon as I thought about it, I’m very service oriented” and love to use technology to help people and the globe, she added. The job, she said, is an “incredible honor and a great opportunity.”

ICANN’s Chehadé: Snowden disclosures make my job easier

A Q&A with Fadi Chehadé, the president and chief executive of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Named to the post in the summer of 2012, Chehadé has seen his tenure marked by drama, from the impact of the Edward Snowden disclosures, to the ending of a US Commerce Department contract for managing part of the Internet's naming system, to a debate over where -- at ICANN? the United Nations? somewhere else? -- decisions about the future of Internet governance should be made. It's a heady time in Internet governance, Chehadé said. "I find myself in a unique point in history where either we will be able to succeed as a human race, almost, in maintaining the Internet as a platform for solidarity and for economic progress, or, frankly, we will fail," he said, "We break it down, and politicize it, and fragment it to the point where it loses the incredible value it has in bringing us together."

Remarks of FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler at the 32nd Annual Everett Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture

In 2014, opportunity for all requires broadband for all. So what should we be doing to advance the public interest and ensure that all Americans are enjoying the benefits of high-speed broadband? Let me answer that question of what we should do by telling you some of the things I believe, and how the [Federal Communications] Commission is acting on those beliefs.

First, I believe that advancing the public interest starts with facilitating dynamic technological change to ensure the US has world-class communications networks. We need to facilitate change by promoting the world’s best innovation infrastructure. We need faster, affordable networks in more places…. facilities ownership is less critical to diverse voices than ever before. Yes, we will continue to push for diversity in ownership. But, just as important in the Internet Age, we need to exploit our new networks for ownership diversity and content diversity. So I believe we need to embrace and facilitate the changes made possible by broadband revolution.

While network technologies have changed, the principles that define the relationship between those who build and own our communications networks and those who use them have not. Advancing the public interest requires ensuring that our networks reflect our civic values…. While our principles remain constant in the face of change, our policies to protect those principles cannot. I believe that to serve the public interest government oversight must evolve to reflect changes in technology. Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, we must transition [Everett Parker’s] fight to the new communications technology. The fight for the diversity of viewpoints and the protection of fundamental democratic values has leapt to the Internet. The opportunity the Internet offers for making everyone a publisher with their own outlet to the world -- literally the world -- is the greatest advance in democratic values in history. But it only works if the Internet remains open.

Responsible patent protection can help bridge digital divide

[Commentary] One of the untold stories about minority entrepreneurship is the paucity of black business owners in the high-tech sector.

African-Americans today own only 5.5 percent of all US businesses, and an even smaller percentage -- 4 percent -- own high-tech enterprises. While we as a nation need to work much harder to craft new and creative policies that reduce barriers to start and develop businesses to ameliorate this troubling reality, we also must support the minority-owned tech businesses operating today so they and their employees can compete fairly, grow their operations and flourish in the digital economy.

That is why the field of intellectual property (IP), specifically patent law, is so important to the National Black Chamber of Commerce and our members. Many of the 100,000 African-American owned businesses that our organization represents hold patents and compete against other firms that do as well. Those who work to advance minority business have a strong interest in maintaining the proper balance between protecting patent-holders and their intellectual property while preventing abuses of this very same protection.

[Alford is the president and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce.]

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