As federal regulators consider opening new radio frequencies to wireless services, Google is already eyeing the frequencies to deliver Internet access from the sky via drones and balloons.
In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, Google said new bands could “be useful for offering broadband access via airborne platforms such as high-altitude balloons or unmanned aerial vehicles.” This suggests Google may be considering using such high-frequency spectrum for Project Loon, its effort to beam Internet signals from balloons circling the earth, and Titan Aerospace, a solar-powered drone maker that Google acquired.
57,606,609. That’s the staggering number of illegal telemarketing calls a federal judge in Illinois has ruled that satellite TV company Dish Network is liable for.
The Order granting partial summary judgment against Dish is the latest development in an ongoing case filed by the Department of Justice on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission and in cooperation with four states -- California, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio. The complaint alleges that Dish violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, related rules, and state telemarketing laws. First, the company made outbound telemarketing calls -- or caused calls to be made -- to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. The Court also held that Dish violated the entity-specific provisions of the TSR. That portion of the Rule makes it illegal for a business to call a particular number after that person says they don’t want any more calls from that company. In addition, the Court found Dish responsible for 49,738,073 abandoned calls.
Apple is becoming more of a regular around Washington. While co-founder Steve Jobs shunned the nation’s capital, Apple lobbied the White House, Congress and 13 departments and agencies from the Food and Drug Administration to the Federal Trade Commission in 2014 through the third quarter, according to OpenSecrets.org. In 2009, Apple lobbied only Congress and six agencies. It’s all part of a broader push by Apple CEO Tim Cook, who took the reins in 2011, to make the company more open while laying the groundwork for new products that naturally attract more government scrutiny. That includes Apple Watch, the smartwatch arriving in stores in 2015, which has applications that track user health data.
Five years after the Supreme Court opened the floodgates of campaign spending with its Citizens United decision, top newspapers in the three states with the most expensive judicial campaigns, Ohio, Alabama, and Texas, have largely failed to connect Citizens United with major changes in these races. The influx of money into state judicial elections following the decision has accelerated negative advertisements and campaign financing that may influence judges' decisions.
A Judge of the US District Court for the Central District of California has ruled in a summary judgment that DISH's Hopper and Sling DVRs (and their associated services) do not infringe copyright. The Judge also ruled that consumers do not infringe copyright when they use these devices. This makes it clear that viewers have the right to record programming, play it back anywhere (from a device or through streaming), and in the manner they choose -- even without commercials.
John Bergmayer, Senior Staff Attorney at Public Knowledge, said, "While the Supreme Court's decision in Aereo created some uncertainty as to the future of viewer rights with respect to programming, this decision is a welcome indication that TV viewers still have the right to record TV they have lawful access to, and play it back at the time and place and in the manner of their choosing. As the Judge's opinion demonstrates, the law is clear on this point, and companies like DISH can continue developing and marketing services and devices that allow consumers to use their rights."
Moosa Abd-Ali Ali has spent most of his life campaigning for democracy and equal rights in Bahrain, a Middle East island nation of 1.3 million that has been ruled by the Khalifa family dynasty for more than 200 years. He’s been jailed seven times -- "Not a small number," he says -- and has endured brutal torture and assault at the hand of Bahraini officials.
One day in 2011, Moosa opened the Facebook Messenger app on his iPhone. What he saw was chilling: someone else typing under his name to an activist friend of his in Bahrain. Unbeknownst to him, Moosa’s phone and computer had been infected with a highly sophisticated piece of spyware, built and sold in secret. The implant effectively commandeered his digital existence, collecting everything he did or said online. An investigation would later reveal that Moosa’s online life was hijacked for eight months. All signs pointed to Bahrain as the culprit, and FinFisher, a mysterious spyware for-hire tool, as the weapon of choice. Bill Marczak, a research fellow at CitizenLab and the co-founder of Bahrain Watch, calls FinFisher just the latest step in "productized surveillance," an approach pioneered by companies like Gamma and Milan-based Hacking Team that aims to make digital intrusion as easy and full-service as any other government technology package.
FreedomPop has launched an unlimited, $5 monthly Wi-Fi hotspot service that will offer connectivity to "approximately 120 million people".
The company is known for providing free cellular service (which runs on Sprint's network), but is now setting its sights on more potential customers by expanding into Wi-Fi. 10 million hotspots are being switched on today, spread across fast food chains (McDonalds, Burger King), coffee shops (Starbucks), and retail locations (Best Buy). And that'll ramp up to 25 million by the end of Q1 2015. FreedomPop is mostly concentrating on metro areas at the outset. Customers also get unlimited calls and texts while connected.
In response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, Charles Benton, chairman of the Benton Foundation, made the following statement:
"I intend to protect a free and open internet, extend its reach to every classroom, and every community, and help folks build the fastest networks, so that the next generation of digital innovators and entrepreneurs have the platform to keep reshaping our world."
"21st century businesses need 21st century infrastructure -- modern ports, stronger bridges, faster trains and the fastest Internet."
- President Barack Obama in the State of the Union address
"I intend to protect a free and open internet, extend its reach to every classroom, and every community, and help folks build the fastest networks, so that the next generation of digital innovators and entrepreneurs have the platform to keep reshaping our world."
"21st century businesses need 21st century infrastructure -- modern ports, stronger bridges, faster trains and the fastest Internet."
- President Barack Obama in the State of the Union address
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015
Today’s busy agenda http://benton.org/calendar/2015-01-21
INTERNET/BROADBAND
President Obama Calls for More Internet Options for Consumers
President Obama just lumped the Internet in with trains, bridges and Keystone XL. Here’s why that’s a big deal. - analysis
Net Neutrality, Munibroadband and the SOTU Shout Out. - Harold Feld analysis
Power Play: How Obama Is Shaping Policy -- and His Legacy -- by Pushing for a Faster Internet, Utility Rules for ISPs - analysis
What will President Obama’s State of the Union mean for the Internet? [links to web]
Will Obama’s Support of Broadband Competition Matter? - analysis [links to web]
Why Chattanooga is not the "Poster Child" for Municipal Broadband - Phoenix Center analysis [links to web]
Municipal networks will not wire US for broadband - Communications Workers of America analysis [links to web]
Report Finds Strong Link Between Broadband and Population Growth [links to web]
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
House, Senate to tackle open Internet legislation
CTIA to Senate: We Will Accept Net Neutrality Rules [links to web]
Rep Eshoo: Net Neutrality Bill Would Tie FCC's Hands [links to web]
Amazon wants changes to GOP Network Neutrality bill [links to web]
Introducing Title X: Net neutrality in 2015 - Richard Bennett analysis [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Time Warner Cable mistreats customers, shouldn’t merge with Comcast - Bruce Kushnick [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
NAB, Sinclair Count Ways FCC Auction Methodology Is Wrong
AT&T tries to overturn T-Mobile victory on data roaming prices [links to web]
Latest FCC auction shatters spectrum myths - Peter Rysavy op-ed
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
FCC must cap jailhouse phone charges - op-ed
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Proof-of-concept FirstNet project gets underway in New Jersey
FCC Fines Viacom and ESPN $1.4 Million for Misuse of Emergency Alert Warnings [links to web]
CONTENT
Facebook Tries to Block ‘Hoaxes’ From the News Feed [links to web]
Google is now a more trusted source of news than the websites it aggregates [links to web]
What the Miss Lebanon selfie ‘scandal’ says about meaning on the Internet - analysis [links to web]
Malvertising: Ads that turn computers into zombies [links to web]
What If You Got Paid For Everything You Post On Social Networks? [links to web]
TELEVISION
Future of TV, cord cutting still jumbled - analysis [links to web]
Saturday Morning Cartoons Return [links to web]
DIVERSITY
Why is gender diversity in tech so much easier to solve than racial diversity? - analysis [links to web]
EDUCATION
Every Khan Academy course is now available on the iPad for the first time [links to web]
HEALTH
Texas prisons try telemedicine to curb spending [links to web]
Smartphones Don’t Make Us Dumb - op-ed [links to web]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
The first tech moment of the State of the Union happened before President Obama started speaking
The 4 Kinds of people who watch the State of the Union [links to web]
A short history of Obama trying (really hard) to look cool online [links to web]
US settles case over fake Facebook page [links to web]
PRIVACY/SECURITY
President Obama: I haven’t forgotten NSA reform
GOP faces Patriot Act choice
Government Agencies May Be Better Than the Private Sector At Responding to Hacks [links to web]
Banning encryption is digital equivalent of banning books - op-ed [links to web]
Law enforcement is getting new surveillance tools. But they don’t always want to talk about them. [links to web]
Google, Khan Academy join in student privacy pledge [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
Sen Schatz will be top Dem on Senate tech subcommittee [links to web]
New CEO Andy Lack Sworn In To Lead BBG - press release [links to web]
US Digital Team Reaches Across Pond to Share Code, Best Practices [links to web]
Who's Got the chops to Run a Transatlantic Cyberspy Cell? [links to web]
Statement of FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn on the Passing of Mrs. Martha Wright - press release [links to web]
Former Communications Director to Sen Reid Has Joined Media Matters For America [links to web]
COMPANY NEWS
Facebook adds estimated $227 billion to global economy [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
France, Germany Seek Help From Tech Firms in Policing Terrorism Online
US Sets a Goal in Cuba: Open Internet
Deutsche Telekom CEO Holds Out Hope for a T-Mobile US Deal [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
MORE INTERNET OPTIONS FOR CONSUMERS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Claire Cain Miller]
When President Obama said in the State of the Union that he wanted to extend the reach of the Internet to “every community,” he was really talking about increasing competition among Internet providers. The cable and phone companies that provide Internet service are among the least-liked companies in the country. Yet as anyone who has shopped for Internet and cable knows, most people have no choice to buy it from any company besides Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T or Verizon. For Internet at the speed of 25 megabits per second, which is not that fast compared to the speeds in many countries, three-quarters of American homes have one option at most, according to the Federal Communications Commission. The result of the lack of competition is that most Americans have both slower and more expensive Internet service than people in many other countries.
benton.org/headlines/president-obama-calls-more-internet-options-consumers | New York Times | read the speech | The Hill – Net neutrality | San Jose Mercury News – reaction
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INTERNET AS CRUCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
In one part of the State of the Union, President Barack Obama mentions the Internet in the same breath as other forms of US infrastructure. This is a bigger deal than you might think. "21st century businesses need 21st century infrastructure — modern ports, stronger bridges, faster trains and the fastest Internet," the President said. "Let’s pass a bipartisan infrastructure plan that could create more than 30 times as many jobs per year, and make this country stronger for decades to come." Lumping the country's Internet onramps in with roads and bridges is a significant rhetorical move, laying a kind of governmental claim over these types of commercial conduits. It helps justify Obama's recent calls for new rules on Internet providers and his proposal that federal regulators have a role to play in helping cities build and sell their own Internet service.
benton.org/headlines/president-obama-just-lumped-internet-trains-bridges-and-keystone-xl-heres-why-thats-big | Washington Post | San Jose Mercury News – reaction
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SOTU SHOUT OUT
[SOURCE: Tales of the Sausage Factory, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] For all us telecom geeks out there, the big deal was the President’s rather brief shout out on network neutrality and municipal broadband. “I intend to protect a free and open internet, extend its reach to every classroom, and every community, and help folks build the fastest networks, so that the next generation of digital innovators and entrepreneurs have the platform to keep reshaping our world,” the President said. That little paragraph actually packs some good punch in Washington speak. What the President was actually doing is sending a strong signal to the FCC that the White House still has their back on this, stay the course, keep on schedule for the February vote. It was also a clear message to Congress, where Republicans have pushed back against these priorities: “You know all that stuff I said in November about Title II and that stuff I said last week about munibroadband? I meant it. Srsly. This is not something where I will take a quicky “compromise” that sells out the Internet to get this issue settled. It’s not peripheral, it’s not a chip to get traded. It’s part of a core agenda to develop infrastructure, promote job creation and innovation, and provide opportunity to working class and middle class Americans. So either work with me for real or stay out of our way.”
benton.org/headlines/net-neutrality-munibroadband-and-sotu-shout-out | Tales of the Sausage Factory
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POWER PLAY: HOW OBAMA IS SHAPING POLICY -- AND HIS LEGACY -- BY PUSHING FOR A FASTER INTERNET, UTILITY RULES FOR ISPS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
[Commentary] The signal from the Obama Administration and an army of regulators appears to be that it almost doesn’t matter how Internet service providers gained the power they have -- that the power to connect people to the Internet is now so great, and the Web so central to daily life and commerce, that it is in the public interest for government to step in. In the call for new rules, the Obama Administration has made the speed of delivery an issue to be highlighted. Its message: ISPs aren’t delivering broadband that’s fast enough to meet all of those needs, and they aren’t facing enough competition for service to lower prices and boost those speeds. Moreover, they need common-carrier rules to keep them from blocking and discriminating and prioritizing that Internet traffic. President Barack Obama's broadband initiatives include: calling to end laws that harm broadband service competition, expanding the national movement of local leaders for better broadband, announcing a new initiative to support community broadband projects, unveiling new grant and loan opportunities for rural providers, and removing regulatory barriers and improving investment incentives.
benton.org/headlines/power-play-how-obama-shaping-policy-and-his-legacy-pushing-faster-internet-utility-rules | Multichannel News
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NET NEUTRALITY
NET NEUTRALITY HEARINGS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Mike Snider]
Network neutrality is bubbling back to the top of Capitol Hill's agenda. Committees in both houses of Congress hold hearings Jan 21 on proposed legislation designed to protect the open Internet. The hearings come just weeks before the Federal Communications Commission is expected to vote on its own net neutrality rules. All this activity comes because the FCC's previous set of rules were tossed by a federal court in January 2014. Congressional Republicans aim to achieve an open Internet by updating communications law to prohibit blocking, throttling and paid prioritization of data. The bill would also sidestep the need for the FCC to use Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 as its authority to regulate the Net. Not all Internet-related businesses agree that the planned legislation, as drafted, solves the problem. The legislation unnecessarily weakens the FCC, said Paul Misener, vice president for global public policy at Amazon.
benton.org/headlines/house-senate-tackle-open-internet-legislation | USAToday | The Hill
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
NAB, SINCLAIR COUNT WAYS FCC AUCTION METHODOLOGY IS WRONG
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Association of Broadcasters and Sinclair have told a federal court that the Federal Communications Commission is bent on ignoring the will of Congress in its rush to reclaim spectrum from TV stations. "Congress directed the FCC, in repacking broadcasters who retain their spectrum rights in the incentive auction, to ‘make all reasonable efforts to preserve, as of February 22, 2012, the coverage area and population served of each broadcast television licensee, as determined using the methodology described in OET Bulletin.’ Yet the FCC repeatedly treats that unambiguous preservation mandate as an inconvenience to be minimized or ignored in the FCC’s myopic quest to transfer spectrum to wireless companies," they said in reply briefs to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. That was accompanied by a laundry list of problems the broadcasters have with the way the FCC is calculating TV station coverage areas and populations served, as well as the way the FCC defended that decision to the court.
benton.org/headlines/nab-sinclair-count-ways-fcc-auction-methodology-wrong | Broadcasting&Cable
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LATEST FCC AUCTION SHATTERS SPECTRUM MYTHS
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Peter Rysavy]
[Commentary] The Federal Communication Commission’s Advanced Wireless Services-3 (AWS-3) auction, which is in its final rounds, has harvested close to $45 billion for the US Treasury, more than twice the amount of any previous auction. It’s also shattered prevailing myths about the value of mid-band and high-band spectrum. First, the record sums that are being paid for relatively high-band spectrum at 1.7 and 2.1 GHz obliterate the notion that low-band spectrum below 1 GHz is the holy grail. Second, the mountain of dollars carriers are willing to spend to obtain more of the precious asset proves that more infrastructure or more efficient technology cannot be the sole solution for adding capacity to wireless networks.
[Peter Rysavy is the President of Rysavy Research]
benton.org/headlines/latest-fcc-auction-shatters-spectrum-myths | GigaOm
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS
JAILHOUSE PHONE CHARGES
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Ross Mirkarimi]
[Commentary] Research shows that inmates who preserve ties with their families, especially their spouse and children, have a much better chance of staying out of jail. But imagine paying $10 for a 10-minute phone call. Whether from inside or outside a correctional facility, that’s what it costs (sometimes more, depending on the phone provider) to stay in touch with an inmate -- $1 per minute for an in-state, long-distance or prepaid collect call. The cost is typically shouldered by the inmate’s loved ones. The Federal Communications Commission recently made a landmark recommendation to significantly limit commissions generated by high phone rates. It faces fierce opposition from scores of public agencies and private corporations that preside over prisons and jails. Last month I presented to the commissioners my support for reform. Within weeks, the FCC will render a decision on what may be a seminal turn for some of this nation’s poorest consumers.
[Ross Mirkarimi is the elected sheriff for the city and county of San Francisco]
benton.org/headlines/fcc-must-cap-jailhouse-phone-charges | San Francisco Chronicle
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
PROOF-OF-CONCEPT FIRSTNET PROJECT GETS UNDERWAY IN NEW JERSEY
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Monica Alleven]
Setting out to meet an ambitious timeline, first responders in three regions of New Jersey are expected in 2015 to use a new dedicated public-safety LTE network composed entirely of deployable infrastructure operating on 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum licensed to the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). PMC Associates, a New Jersey-based company specializing in mission-critical radio solutions for first responders, is teaming up with Oceus Networks and Fujitsu Network Communications to build the proof-of-concept network, known as JerseyNet. Under the terms of its Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) funding, the JerseyNet deployment must be completed by September, a requirement that is expected to be met under the current schedule.
benton.org/headlines/proof-concept-firstnet-project-gets-underway-new-jersey | Fierce
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
RELEASE OF SPEECH
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Andrea Peterson]
The first tech moment of the State of the Union address came before President Barack Obama had even taken the stage, when the White House released the prepared remarks on blogging platform Medium. The Administration posted the speech directly online and shared links through social media a few minutes before the speech was scheduled -- roughly the same time it shared it with reporters. Leaving the press out of the loop wasn't an accident -- it was a strategy.
benton.org/headlines/first-tech-moment-state-union-happened-president-obama-started-speaking | Washington Post
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PRIVACY/SECURITY
NSA REFORM ON AGENDA
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
President Barack Obama still has plans to change US spying programs, he maintained in the State of the Union address, even as many of the concerns about surveillance have slipped from the headlines. “While some have moved on from the debates over our surveillance programs, I haven’t,” he said. “As promised, our intelligence agencies have worked hard, with the recommendations of privacy advocates, to increase transparency and build more safeguards against potential abuse. “As Americans, we cherish our civil liberties -- and we need to uphold that commitment if we want maximum cooperation from other countries and industry in our fight against terrorist networks,” he added. In the speech, President Obama announced that the White House would issue a report next month “on how we’re keeping our promise to keep our country safe while strengthening privacy.” The new report is expected to detail progress the Obama Administration has made to curtail some of the most controversial programs at the National Security Agency
benton.org/headlines/president-obama-i-havent-forgotten-nsa-reform | Hill, The
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GOP FACES PATRIOT ACT CHOICE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
The battle over what changes should be made to the Patriot Act -- and whether it should be reauthorized at all -- is likely to be an early test of Republican leaders’ ability to keep their party unified while controlling both chambers of Congress. Republicans are far from united on the spy programs. Leaders on Capitol Hill could face an insurrection from the libertarian wing of their party if they try to push through a blanket reauthorization or make only cosmetic changes to the law. On June 1, key portions of the Patriot Act that update the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) are set to expire. Among them is Section 215, which the National Security Agency has used to authorize the collection of bulk records about millions of US citizens’ phone calls.
benton.org/headlines/gop-faces-patriot-act-choice | Hill, The
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
POLICING ONLINE TERROR
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sam Schechner]
France and Germany demanded that US tech companies help them police terrorism on the Internet, escalating European efforts to wrangle more law-enforcement help from Silicon Valley. Top law-enforcement officials from the two countries said they expect US Internet and social-networking companies like Twitter, Facebook and Google to pre-emptively remove terror content from their services -- or face new laws aimed at forcing them to do so. At stake is where these global firms draw the line of acceptable discussion, and how far they must go to enforce local laws limiting online speech.
benton.org/headlines/france-germany-seek-help-tech-firms-policing-terrorism-online | Wall Street Journal
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OPEN INTERNET FOR CUBA?
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Kejal Vyas]
Cuba’s regime, which has curbed the Internet to help prevent any popular uprising, faces a new challenge to its policy: US diplomacy. Roberta Jacobson, the US State Department’s top diplomat for the hemisphere, will lay the path to a potential new era in connectivity for the region’s least-wired nation. Promoting Internet access for Cubans is a top priority for Washington, where the Obama Administration began to permit commercial shipments of devices like mobile phones and laptops, as well as related software and hardware. A senior US official said that American negotiators didn’t expect any breakthroughs in the first round of talks, which are set to focus on the details of establishing formal embassies in both countries. But the rapprochement is raising hopes of a freer Internet on the Caribbean island.
benton.org/headlines/us-sets-goal-cuba-open-internet | Wall Street Journal
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