October 2014

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BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

Telecompetitor hosts BroadbandVision in Las Vegas http://benton.org/node/185879

NEWS FROM THE FCC
   FCC Eliminates Sports Blackout Rules - press release
   FCC Issues Declaratory Ruling in Incentive Auction Repacking Process - press release
   FCC Adopts Major Reform Proposals to Streamline Satellite Rules - press release
   FCC Proposes to Modify Rules for Unlicensed Use of TV & 600 MHz Bands - press release
   FCC Adopts Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Wireless Microphones - press release
   FCC Commissioner Pai to Hold Forum on Internet Regulation - press release
   FCC Announces Excellence in Economics, Engineering Award Winners - press release
   FCC To Send Broadcasters Economic Pitch For Auction
   FCC considers banning use of term 'Redskins'
   Chairman Wheeler: FCC 'Kicking Around' Idea of Making Some OVDs MVPDs
   ACA to FCC: Reject Programmer Request to Limit Access to Contracts [links to web]

INTERNET
   Offline and falling behind: Barriers to Internet adoption - research

PRIVACY/SECURITY
   Debate Brews Over Disclosing Warrantless Spying [links to web]
   Attorney General Holder urges tech companies to leave device backdoors open for police [links to web]
   The Internet is broken
   Privacy activists hit FTC over kids rules [links to web]
   Your phone knows where you are. So do marketers [links to web]
   October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month - public notice [links to web]

LABOR
   Mozilla: Just 5 percent of computer science kids go into nonprofits. We’re going to change that. [links to web]
    See also: Getting There: Mozilla Foundation’s Mitchell Baker [links to web]

TELEVISION
   More Cable Companies Take TV Off Menu [links to web]
   MTV, ABC Family Get High Marks for Diversity From GLAAD -- A&E, Not So Much [links to web]
   Football Commands Highest TV Ad Prices [links to web]

WIRELESS
   New Survey Data Finds Strong Public Support for Wireless Net Neutrality Rules - Internet Association press release [links to web]
   Thinking Mobile: 2010 v 2013: Wireless is Different - CTIA-The Wireless Industry press release [links to web]
   Study: Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts Lead Coffee Shop Wi-Fi Performance [links to web]

COMPANY NEWS
   Cisco: The Internet Needs More Control [links to web]
   Microsoft CEO learns DC on job [links to web]
   Getting There: Mozilla Foundation’s Mitchell Baker [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Chinese Web Censors Struggle With Hong Kong Protest
   Russian State Media Portray Hong Kong Protests as US Plot [links to web]
   Google faces German warning over user profiling [links to web]
   Canada regulator cut Google, Netflix from TV rules debate [links to web]
   Apple’s Special Irish Tax Breaks - editorial [links to web]

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NEWS FROM THE FCC

FCC ELIMINATES SPORTS BLACKOUT RULES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: press release]
The Federal Communications Commission repealed its sports blackout rules,
which prohibited cable and satellite operators from airing any sports event that had been blacked out on a local broadcast station. The action removes FCC protection of the NFL’s current private blackout policy, which requires local broadcast stations to black out a game if a team does not sell a certain percentage of tickets to the game at least 72 hours prior to the game. The Order finds that the FCC’s sports blackout rules are no longer justified in light of the significant changes in the sports industry since these rules were first adopted nearly forty years ago. At that time, ticket sales were the primary source of revenue for the NFL and most NFL games failed to sell out. Today, television revenues have replaced ticket sales as the NFL’s main source of revenue, and blackouts of NFL games are increasingly rare. The NFL is the most profitable sports league in the country, with $6 billion in television revenue per year, and only two games were blacked out last season. The Order also finds that the NFL -- whose current contracts with the broadcast networks extend through 2022 -- is unlikely to move its games from free, over-the-air broadcast television to satellite and cable pay TV as a result of elimination of the sports blackout rules. The Order therefore concludes that the sports blackout rules are no longer needed to ensure that sports programming is widely available to television viewers. Today’s action may not eliminate all sports blackouts, because the NFL may choose to continue its private blackout policy. However, the NFL will no longer be entitled to the protection of the FCC’s sports blackout rules. Instead, the NFL must rely on the same avenues available to other entities that wish to protect their distribution rights in the private marketplace.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-eliminates-sports-blackout-rules | Federal Communications Commission | Benton Foundation - analysis | Multichannel News - reaction
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DECLARATORY RULING
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission adopted a declaratory ruling clarifying how the repacking approach it adopted in the Incentive Auction Report & Order meets Congress’s mandate to make all reasonable efforts to independently preserve TV station coverage areas and population served. Given the importance of this issue, the FCC took action to ensure that its approach is fully understood by the public and by broadcasters that could be affected by the repacking that follows the incentive auction.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-issues-declaratory-ruling-incentive-auction-repacking-process | Federal Communications Commission
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FCC ADOPTS MAJOR PROCESS REFORM PROPOSALS TO STREAMLINE SATELLITE RULES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission proposed to comprehensively simplify and streamline its rules governing satellite communications to make the regulatory approval process for satellite licenses easier and more efficient. This rulemaking was one of the key reforms called for by the Report on FCC Process Reform released earlier this year. The Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposes changes to increase satellite operational flexibility, eliminate outdated information requirements and update rules to better accommodate evolving technology. Many of these proposals were first identified in the Report on FCC Process Reform, while others grew out of last year’s Commission proceeding revising or eliminating many licensing and operating rules for space and earth stations (Part 25). These new proposals would ultimately benefit consumers by facilitating introduction of new satellite services, lowering costs and regulatory burdens, and promoting competition among service providers. Specifically, the Commission’s Further Notice proposes changes that will:
Facilitate international coordination of proposed satellite networks, by permitting early submissions to the International Telecommunication Union;
Simplify showings associated with milestone requirements and eliminate some of the current milestone requirements;
Revise the two-degree spacing requirements to better accommodate the use of small antennas, and
Expand options for simplified routine earth station licensing.
The Further Notice also simplifies, eliminates, updates, or clarifies definitions and technical terms throughout Part 25.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-adopts-major-reform-proposals-streamline-satellite-rules | Federal Communications Commission
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FCC LAYS GROUNDWORK FOR ADDITIONAL UNLICENSED USE OF TV BAND AND 600 MHZ BAND SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission proposed to modify its Part 15 rules to accommodate growing demand and encourage innovation in the provision of wireless broadband data services. The Commission’s Part 15 rules permit devices to operate on unused “white space” spectrum between TV stations. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking fulfills the Commission’s commitment in the Incentive Auction Report and Order to consider changes to its existing Part 15 rules to facilitate unlicensed use of the television bands, 600 MHz Band guard bands and channel 37. Following the incentive auction, with the repacking of the television band and the repurposing of current television spectrum for wireless services, there will be fewer frequencies in the UHF band available for use by unlicensed fixed and personal/portable white space devices and wireless microphones. The proposed changes to Part 15 rules are designed to allow for more robust service and efficient spectral use in the frequency bands that are now and will continue to be allocated and assigned to broadcast television services, while continuing to protect authorized users from harmful interference.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-proposes-modify-rules-unlicensed-use-tv-600-mhz-bands | Federal Communications Commission
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FCC ADOPTS NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING ON WIRELESS MICROPHONES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission initiated a proceeding to address the long-term needs of wireless microphone users. The repurposing of broadcast television band spectrum for wireless services following the incentive auction will significantly alter the spectrum environment in which many wireless microphones currently operate. Adoption of this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking fulfills the FCC’s commitment in the Incentive Auction Report and Order to initiate a proceeding to explore how best to accommodate the different wireless microphone users’ needs in the future. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeks to address the needs of wireless microphone users, both licensed and unlicensed, in a comprehensive fashion. The Notice examines wireless microphone users’ needs and different technologies that can address them, including digital technologies. In spectrum bands where wireless microphones currently operate, the FCC seeks comment on potential rule revisions that could accommodate better performance and increased use of wireless microphones. The Notice also seeks comment on authorizing wireless microphone operations in additional spectrum bands, consistent with the Commission’s overall spectrum management goals. Through this Notice, the FCC intends to enable the development of a suite of wireless microphone devices and applications over the long term that can meet users’ needs efficiently and effectively.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-adopts-notice-proposed-rulemaking-wireless-microphones | Federal Communications Commission
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FCC COMMISSIONER AJIT PAI TO HOLD FORUM ON INTERNET REGULATION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
On October 21, Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai will lead a forum on Internet regulation in College Station, Texas. The event will be hosted by Texas A&M University’s Bush School of Government and Public Service and will focus on the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet proceeding. The field hearing will begin at 10:00 AM in the Hagler Auditorium of the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center, which is adjacent to the Bush School of Government and Public Service. Additional information about the event, including a list of panelists, will be provided in coming
days.
benton.org/headlines/commissioner-pai-hold-forum-internet-regulation | Federal Communications Commission
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FCC ANNOUNCES EXCELLENCE IN ECONOMICS, ENGINEERING AWARD WINNERS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission announced the winners of the Excellence in Economic Analysis (EEA) and Excellence in Engineering Analysis (EIE) Awards. These awards are intended to recognize Commission staff for outstanding economic analysis, and engineering, scientific or technical contributions that they have performed in the course of their work at the FCC.
Octavian Carare and Jay Schwarz of the Wireline Competition Bureau share the 2014 EEA Award for their joint paper “The Willingness to Pay for Broadband of Non-Adopters in the US: Estimates from a Multi-State Survey.” The paper concludes that up to 10 million households in the US for which broadband is currently available might be willing to subscribe if a subscription discount is offered and that a 15% reduction in price would lead to a 9% increase in adoption.
Janet Young of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau is the winner of the 2014 Excellence in Engineering Analysis Award. Ms. Young, the sole FCC member of the first Technical Panel created under the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, provided significant engineering analyses that shortened the transition timelines of Federal incumbents that will relocate or implement sharing arrangements with commercial licensees in two frequency bands that are part of the “AWS-3” spectrum. Her work will allow for faster deployment of new commercial services in this spectrum, which is scheduled for auction November 13, 2014.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-announces-excellence-economics-engineering-award-winners | Federal Communications Commission
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PITCH FOR AUCTION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said the FCC will start sending information packets, prepared by an investment banker, to broadcasters making the economic case for why they should participate in the incentive auction. He said nothing was more critical to the success of the auction than broadcaster participation. That is because the auction is voluntary, and if no broadcaster showed up, there would be no spectrum to auction to wireless companies hungry for more. "Tomorrow we will begin sending to every eligible broadcaster an information package that was prepared for the FCC by investment banker Greenhill Associates," said Chairman Wheeler, holding out a copy. "It will describe in detail the economic potential of the auction. This is an economic decision that broadcasters have to make. Let's approach this like a traditional economic transaction."
benton.org/headlines/fcc-send-broadcasters-economic-pitch-auction | Broadcasting&Cable
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BANNING REDSKINS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
The Federal Communications Commission is mulling whether TV and radio stations should be banned from repeatedly saying the name of the Washington Redskins. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said the FCC is examining a petition to deny renewing the license of Washington sports radio station WWXX-FM because it “deliberately, repeatedly and unnecessarily broadcasts the word ‘R*dskins’ during most of its broadcasting day, and especially in prime time.” "I must say that football has long eclipsed baseball as America’s national pastime...This is true even considering the current fate of Washington’s football team, which is saddled with injuries, wrestling with quarterback challenges, and resisting calls to change the team’s name for being offensive to Native Americans," said FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, and then added: "And it is true even with a league heavily criticized for its repeated fumbles for insensitivity to spouses and girlfriends, and for not incorporating the principles of The Rooney Rule to hiring advisers to address those headline-grabbing issues which have occurred off the field."
benton.org/headlines/fcc-considers-banning-use-term-redskins | Hill, The | Broadcasting&Cable
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FCC ON OVDs
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler was asked to comment on a story that the a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was in the works that would classify linear over-the-top video providers as Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs), subject to access to programming as well as the retransmission payment regime. At a press conference following the FCC's September public meeting, Chairman Wheeler was asked to elaborate on the thinking that went into the "proposal going around." "You guys are good," he said, "and somebody found out that it was an idea that was being kicked around, rather than going around, and that's where it stands." Chairman Wheeler said the FCC considers "a whole heck of a lot of ideas floating around here. You always want to make sure you are keeping up with technology and innovation in the marketplace," and that the "kicking around" of OVDs (online video distributors) as MVPDs fell into that category.
benton.org/headlines/chairman-wheeler-fcc-kicking-around-idea-making-some-ovds-mvpds | Multichannel News
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INTERNET

OFFLINE AND FALLING BEHIND
[SOURCE: McKinsey, AUTHOR: ]
In a little more than a generation, the Internet has grown from a nascent technology to a tool that is transforming how people, businesses, and governments communicate and engage. The Internet’s economic impact has been massive, making significant contributions to nations’ gross domestic product (GDP) and fueling new, innovative industries. It has also generated societal change by connecting individuals and communities, providing access to information and education, and promoting greater transparency. However, not all countries have harnessed the Internet’s benefits to the same degree. For this report, McKinsey examined the evolution of Internet adoption around the world, the factors that enable the development of a vibrant Internet ecosystem, and the barriers that are impeding more than 60 percent of the global population from getting online.
benton.org/headlines/offline-and-falling-behind-barriers-internet-adoption | McKinsey
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PRIVACY/SECURITY

THE INTERNET IS BROKEN
[SOURCE: CNNMoney, AUTHOR: Jose Pagliery]
Reports of Internet bugs are growing more frequent and the problems they pose are increasingly more dangerous. Why? For two reasons that aren't going to change anytime soon. The Internet was never meant for this. We use the Internet for banking, business, education and national defense. These things require privacy and the assurance that you are actually who you say you are. The Internet, as it was designed, offers neither. The Internet was also built on set of rules that requires every packet of sent information to have a valid address, kind of like a phone number -- but the rules aren't strict about validating the source. So, it can be spoofed. As a result, hackers can fake a return address.
benton.org/headlines/internet-broken | CNNMoney
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

CHINESE CENSORS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Jacobs]
Can Chinese censors vanquish the umbrella? As protesters in Hong Kong continue to defy the authorities with their demands for greater democracy, mainland China’s politically minded web users have been trying to outmaneuver the invisible army of Internet guardians working to scour social media of photos and news about the continuing demonstrations. They have been posting pro-democracy remarks on nonpolitical websites and uploading selfies of their shaved heads to express solidarity with the protesters. Some social media users shared stock images of President Xi Jinping carrying an umbrella, a not-so-subtle nod to that essential protester accessory for staving off sun, rain and pepper spray. Other users simply changed their profile photo to that of an umbrella. There were that China’s formidable censorship machine was struggling to keep up with savvy commenters who found ways to thumb their noses at the authorities.
benton.org/headlines/chinese-web-censors-struggle-hong-kong-protest | New York Times | Associated Press
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