November 4, 2014 (Election Day)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 (Happy Election Day)
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
For Sen Franken, net neutrality remains key campaign issue
Cell Phones, Social Media and Campaign 2014 - Pew Internet and American Life Project research
Pollsters used to worry that cellphone users would skew results. These days, not so much.
Death by Data - analysis
Midterm ad blitz marks new era in political spending
Facebook and Google Have Their Own Get-Out-the-Vote Messages
Attack Ad to Beat All Attack Ads - Wesleyan Media Project op-ed [links to web]
Napster, Netflix founders top donors in California voter politics [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Two exciting new funding opportunities for the US Ignite Community - press release
Section 10 Forbearance: Asking the Right Questions to Get the Right Answers - Phoenix Center analysis
FCC Proves (Yet Again) That Easy Forbearance Under Title II is a Myth - press release
Net Neutrality Has Become An Industrial Policy - Scott Cleland op-ed [links to web]
Malls Fill Vacant Stores With Server Rooms [links to web]
TELECOM
FCC Seeks Comment on TracFone's Petition For Rulemaking and Interim Relief To Amend The Lifeline Usage Rules - public notice
USTelecom Wants FCC Special Access Price Data Collected to Include Two Years [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
NYC Mayor warns feds on Comcast merger [links to web]
FCC Approves Nexstar-Marshall Broadcasting Group Deal [links to web]
US sues to block National CineMedia deal for Screenvision [links to web]
Hollywood Works to Maintain Its World Dominance [links to web]
DIVERSITY
Activists challenge Los Angeles TV station for using Washington football team name [links to web]
PRIVACY
Verizon, AT&T tracking their users with ‘supercookies’
CONTENT
Public Knowledge & Consumers Petition Copyright Office for Right to Unlock Access to Their Own Stuff - press release [links to web]
The weird legal reason many of your favorite shows aren’t on DVD [links to web]
Media Companies Strike Gold With Sponsored Content [links to web]
TELEVISION
The Lady Vanishes: Women Watch Less Traditional TV [links to web]
Reasons for Video Cord Cutting May Be Different Than for “Cord-Nevers” [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
The NSA's Mass-Surveillance Program Is About to Go on Trial [links to web]
NSA chief: US needs Silicon Valley's expertise [links to web]
NEWS FROM SILICON VALLEY
Silicon Valley gives to charities, but community leaders want more [links to web]
Struggling in the shadow of Silicon Valley wealth [links to web]
NSA chief: US needs Silicon Valley's expertise [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
Megan Smith: ‘You Can Affect Billions of People’ [links to web]
COMPANY NEWS
Google’s search for a better motto [links to web]
Verizon and AT&T Move Toward Voice over LTE Interoperability - press release [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Full Digital Inclusion by 2020: Challenges and Opportunities - ITU press release [links to web]
The Secret of Huawei’s Success [links to web]
Berlin Weighs Possible Hit to US Tech Firms [links to web]
Chinese Censors Loom Over Foreign TV Shows [links to web]
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
NET NEUTRALITY AS CAMPAIGN ISSUE
[SOURCE: Minneapolis Star Tribune, AUTHOR: Abby Simons]
Headline-dominating issues such as Ebola and ISIL have commandeered most ¬campaign conversations during the waning days of the race between Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and his Republican challenger, Mike McFadden. All but forgotten? Franken’s ¬crusade for continued free and open access to the Internet, more -commonly known as net neutrality. The Federal Communications Commission’s proposed new Internet access rules could include fast and slow broadband lanes, with Internet service providers being able to charge content providers for the “fast-lane” service. Sen Franken believes only deep-¬pocketed corporations could afford to pay for a fast lane, and he believes that would stunt the growth of innovative start-ups. Sen Franken points to YouTube, the ubiquitous video-sharing site begun by three programmers nearly a decade ago that later sold to Google for $1.6 billion. If net neutrality didn’t exist, neither would YouTube. McFadden has largely ignored net neutrality, saying he prefers to focus on pressing issues like national security and the economy. Sen Franken, who said he gets asked about net neutrality “all the time,” counters that those issues rely on an open Internet, as do many others.
benton.org/headlines/sen-franken-net-neutrality-remains-key-campaign-issue | Minneapolis Star Tribune
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CELL PHONES, SOCIAL MEDIA AND CAMPAIGN 2014
[SOURCE: Pew Internet and American Life Project, AUTHOR: Aaron Smith]
Cell phones and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are playing an increasingly prominent role in how voters get political information and follow election news, according to a new national survey by the Pew Research Center. The proportion of Americans who use their cell phones to track political news or campaign coverage has doubled compared with the most recent midterm election: 28% of registered voters have used their cell phone in this way during the 2014 campaign, up from 13% in 2010. Further, the number of Americans who follow candidates or other political figures on social media has also risen sharply: 16% of registered voters now do this, up from 6% in 2010. Voters of all ages are more likely to take part in these behaviors than in the previous midterm race, but that growth has been especially pronounced among 30-49 year olds. Some 40% of voters ages 30-49 have used their cell phone to follow this year’s election campaign (up from 15% in 2010) and 21% follow political figures on social media (up from just 6% in 2010). Voters in this age group now take part in each of these behaviors at rates nearly identical to 18-29 year olds. Participation in the digital campaign does not have a clear partisan slant. Republicans and Democrats engage in each of these behaviors at similar rates. At the same time, when asked about some reasons why they might follow political figures on social media, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents express a greater desire to be the first to find out about breaking political news, and to say that they use social media to get political information that has not passed through the traditional media “filter.” Voters from both parties place a similar emphasis on the deeper connections that social media allows them to form with the candidates they support. Digital politics also goes hand in hand with other types of campaign engagement. In particular, the 16% of registered voters who follow political figures on social media participate in various traditional campaign activities at high rates -- from volunteering and donating money, to encouraging others to get out and support their preferred candidates and causes.
benton.org/headlines/cell-phones-social-media-and-campaign-2014 | Pew Internet and American Life Project
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POLLING AND CELLPHONES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
It wasn't long ago that pollsters were fretting about a looming crisis in politics. It was called the cellphone, and its growing popularity threatened to skew surveys and ruin elections everywhere. Imagine not getting an accurate reading of a race because surveyors had only been able to reach wealthy, older people on landlines. At best, you'd risk giving voters the wrong impression of which candidate was ahead. At worst, you might unintentionally change the outcome of the race as campaigns scrambled to misspend their resources based on faulty figures. Cellphones still pose a challenge for polling in some smaller races. But for the most part, the disaster that was supposed to be never took place, according to Scott Keeter, the Pew Research Center's director of survey research. "Employing cellphones in the sample is more expensive," said Keeter. "We've been looking at that over the years and it's a problem that gets worse the more local your geography is. But for national polling -- cellphones are not presenting a problem for us other than that they're more costly to call."
benton.org/headlines/pollsters-used-worry-cellphone-users-would-skew-results-these-days-not-so-much | Washington Post
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DEATH BY DATA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Brooks]
[Commentary] As politics has gotten more scientific, the campaigns have gotten worse, especially for the candidates who over-rely on these techniques. That’s because the data-driven style of politics is built on a questionable philosophy and a set of dubious assumptions. Data-driven politics is built on a philosophy you might call Impersonalism. This is the belief that what matters in politics is the reaction of populations and not the idiosyncratic judgment, moral character or creativity of individuals. Data-driven politics assumes that demography is destiny, that the electorate is not best seen as a group of free-thinking citizens but as a collection of demographic slices. This method assumes that mobilization is more important than persuasion; that it is more important to target your likely supporters than to try to reframe debates or persuade the whole country. Data-driven candidates sacrifice their own souls. Instead of being inner-directed leaders driven by their own beliefs, they become outer-directed pleasers driven by incomplete numbers.
benton.org/headlines/death-data | New York Times
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MIDTERM ELECTION SPENDING
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Joseph Tanfani]
For months, a billion-dollar ad blitz has flooded the airwaves here and in other closely contested states leading up to the midterm election, another sign that the nation has entered a new era in political spending driven less by candidates and more by outside groups and their deep-pocketed donors. "The money is shifting away from candidates and toward outside groups," said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. "It is still really hard to raise contributions for candidates, so you see the attraction of having someone who will come in and bankroll the campaign effort, albeit from the outside, and take the low road." Such outside groups are unencumbered by disclosure rules and are increasingly supplanting campaign committees controlled by candidates in setting the tone of campaigns. Experts say the continuing shift to "super PAC" spending is the most important development to emerge in this election, in which close to $4 billion is expected to be spent, a record.
benton.org/headlines/midterm-ad-blitz-marks-new-era-political-spending | Los Angeles Times
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GOTV MESSAGES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Vindu Goel]
Facebook wants its users in the United States to vote this Election Day -- and it plans to put a reminder Nov 4 at the top of the news feed of each of its American users of voting age. Virtually every American logging on to Facebook -- roughly 100 million people -- will see a reminder that it’s Election Day, a guide to local polling places and a button that says, “I’m a Voter.” If you click on the button, your status as a voter will be shared with your friends (although just like anything else you share, it will have to duke it out with all the other postings competing for a spot in their news feed). Google has teamed up with The Voting Information Project, Rock the Vote and other organizations to make it easier for people to figure out how to vote. Google is displaying state-specific details when people use search phrases such as “register to vote” or “how do I vote.”
benton.org/headlines/facebook-and-google-have-their-own-get-out-vote-messages | New York Times | The Hill
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
US IGNITE FUNDING
[SOURCE: US Ignite, AUTHOR: Glenn Ricart]
The US Ignite Initiative has taken a big step forward with the issuance of an official NSF program solicitation, number 15-508, entitled “US Ignite.” We are very excited about this solicitation, as we believe that it can help enhance and advance many of the activities that US Ignite and its partners and communities have been undertaking in the past two years. The NSF wrote that they “seek proposals for innovative applications that leverage or enhance advanced networking technologies (i.e., gigabit throughput, software-defined networking, advanced wireless), and that address national priority areas.” Track 1 of this solicitation, entitled US Ignite Applications: Moving Novel Gigabit Applications into Practice, includes an exciting new opportunity for those of you who are working on or considering possible next-generation Internet applications. Up to $600,000 is available in funding for your application project. We would be happy to discuss and review your idea or possible proposal so that it is the strongest possible. It’s in all of our interests to submit as many strong proposals by January 21st. We, the US Ignite non-profit organization, are currently preparing a response to Track 2 of this solicitation, in coordination with existing US Ignite testbed communities and partners. A few new testbed cities may also be included. If you have unique and valuable applications to share with other testbed cities, we’d like to consider you for our ecosystem proposal. The results and lessons learned under a successful ecosystem proposal will benefit everyone. US Ignite Corporate partners are invited to play important roles in both Track 1 and Track 2 proposals. Innovation continues to be an incredibly important part of the US Ignite movement.
benton.org/headlines/two-exciting-new-funding-opportunities-us-ignite-community | US Ignite | National Science Foundation
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SECTION 10 FORBEARANCE: ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS TO GET THE RIGHT ANSWERS
[SOURCE: Phoenix Center, AUTHOR: George Ford, Lawrence Spiwak]
According to its preamble, the stated purpose of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is to "provide for a pro-competitive, de-regulatory national policy framework designed to accelerate rapidly private sector deployment of advanced telecommunications and information technologies and services to all Americans...." The key statutory tool to facilitate Congress's deregulatory mandate is contained in Section 10 of the Act, which provides the Federal Communications Commission with the express legal authority to forbear from enforcing various portions of the Communications Act once certain conditions are met. However, the FCC's precedent in implementing Section 10 prevents the agency from using its forbearance authority as a way to establish some sort of "Title II Lite." Perhaps the most important lesson learned from the FCC’s Phoenix Forbearance Order is that when contemplating forbearance from any regulation or mandate, the first and most-important step is to ask the right question. That is: does removing the regulation make society worse off? This simple question points to a cost-benefit analysis in which the agency considers the purpose of the regulation, provides an honest assessment of the efficacy of it (including the compliance costs and unintended consequences of the regulations), and then decides how much competition, if any, is sufficient to accomplish the same goal. In its Phoenix Forbearance Order, the FCC focused instead on a comparison of the observed level of competition to some unobtainable competitive nirvana, leading the agency far astray from its assigned task. And, given the FCC's repeated finding that Broadband Service Providers are "terminating monopolists" as a justification for implementing Open Internet Rules, the Phoenix Forbearance Order -- by rejecting the use of forbearance under monopoly and duopolistic competition -- stands in the way of using forbearance to create a "Title II Lite" form of regulation.
benton.org/headlines/section-10-forbearance-asking-right-questions-get-right-answers | Phoenix Center
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FORBEARANCE ISN’T EASY
[SOURCE: Verizon, AUTHOR: Craig Silliman]
In the ongoing push for heavier regulation of the Internet, pro-regulation advocates try to downplay the impact of imposing 80-year-old telecom rules on the Internet by invoking the concept of “forbearance” as a magic wand that will simply make all the harmful aspects of Title II disappear. Well, the DC Circuit and the Federal Communications Commission have provided more evidence that the forbearance process is not easy. The FCC rejected a request to forbear from the Part 32 accounting rules. So Verizon appealed that decision to the DC Circuit. The court released its decision, noting that the need for the Part 32 accounting data “appears marginal,” but concluding that the FCC is entitled to deference in its decisions so the court wasn’t in a position to second-guess it. So at the end of a process lasting almost three years, the “easy” forbearance process has failed to achieve the simple task of doing away with a requirement that has been obsolete for decades. And this is the process that pro-regulation advocates are counting on to keep rotary-telephone-era regulations from harming the Internet ecosystem? It’s enough to make you sick.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-proves-yet-again-easy-forbearance-under-title-ii-myth | Verizon
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TELECOM
FCC SEEKS COMMENT ON TRACFONE’S PETITION FOR RULEMAKING AND INTERIM RELIEF TO AMEND THE LIFELINE USAGE RULES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
By this Public Notice, the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau seeks comment on a petition for rulemaking filed by TracFone Wireless. In its petition, TracFone asks the FCC to initiate a rulemaking to amend section 54.407(c)(2) to allow the sending and receiving of text messages to count as usage for the purpose of the Lifeline usage requirements. TracFone also requests an interim waiver of this same rule to allow TracFone’s customers to demonstrate their intent to use their Lifeline service via text messaging pending adoption of the proposed rule amendment. Comments due December 1, 2014; reply comments due December 16, 2014.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-seeks-comment-tracfones-petition-rulemaking-and-interim-relief-amend-lifeline-usage | Federal Communications Commission
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PRIVACY
SUPERCOOKIES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Craig Timberg]
Verizon and AT&T have been quietly tracking the Internet activity of more than 100 million cellular customers with what critics have dubbed “supercookies” -- markers so powerful that it’s difficult for even savvy users to escape them. The technology has allowed the companies to monitor which sites their customers visit, cataloging their tastes and interests. Consumers cannot erase these supercookies or evade them by using browser settings, such as the “private” or “incognito” modes that are popular among users wary of corporate or government surveillance. Verizon and AT&T say they have taken steps to alert their customers to the tracking and to protect customer privacy as the companies develop programs intended to help advertisers hone their pitches based on individual Internet behavior. But as word has spread about the supercookies, privacy advocates have reacted with alarm, saying the tracking could expose user Internet behavior to a wide range of outsiders -- including intelligence services -- and may also violate federal telecommunications and wiretapping laws.
benton.org/headlines/verizon-att-tracking-their-users-supercookies | Washington Post
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