November 2015

FCC MEETING RECAP

FCC PROPOSES ENHANCEMENTS TO WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERTS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission proposed rules to strengthen Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), a system that delivers critical warnings and information to Americans on their wireless phones. The proposals are intended to promote the wider use and effectiveness of this lifesaving service, especially for state and local authorities to convey important information to their communities. In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) adopted, the FCC proposed changes to improve WEA message content, ensure that the messages reach only those people for whom an alert is relevant, and to establish a WEA testing program that will improve the effectiveness of the system for public safety officials and the public. The NPRM includes proposals to:
Increase the maximum length of WEA messages (from 90 to 360 characters) in order to convey more information.
Enable alerts to contain embedded phone numbers and URLs to improve message quality and accessibility.
Create a new class of WEA alerts (“Emergency Government Information”) as a means of sending action-oriented public safety advisories (such as “boil water” messages or information on shelter locations during weather emergencies) to communities.
Require participating wireless providers to deliver the alerts to more granular geographic areas.
Make it easier for state and local authorities to test WEA service and train personnel.
The FCC is also seeking comment on a variety of other potential improvements, including the technical feasibility of implementing multilingual and multimedia alerting. In addition, the Commission is seeking comment on steps it can take to promote Americans’ participation in WEA, including options for personalizing the display and receipt of WEA messages.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-proposes-enhancements-wireless-emergency-alerts | Federal Communications Commission | NPRM | Wheeler Statement | Clyburn Statement | Rosenworcel Statement | Pai Statement | O'Rielly Statement | The Hill | The Verge
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FCC ENSURES HEARING AID COMPATIBILITY FOR ALL WIRELESS VOICE TECHNOLOGIES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission took major steps to ensure greater access to wireless communications services and handset devices for the tens of millions of Americans with hearing loss. New rules and proposed rules passed reflect a consensus-driven approach to foster accessibility for individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing while promoting innovation and investment by the wireless industry. The action taken has two parts. First, the Fourth Report and Order expands the scope of the hearing aid compatibility rules to cover the wireless technologies of today and tomorrow. Until now, the hearing aid compatibility rules generally were limited only to handsets that used
traditional cellular networks. Recognizing that wireless voice communications increasingly operate via alternative technologies, the Commission has expanded the rules to cover IP-based communications services like Wi-Fi Calling and Voice-over-LTE. In addition, the new rules will require that future technologies comply with current and future hearing aid compatibility rules, encouraging manufacturers to consider hearing aid compatibility at the earliest stages of the product design process, ensuring that consumers with hearing loss are not always trying to catch up to technology and providing industry with additional regulatory certainty. Second, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeks comment on a landmark consensus plan that would, for the first time, establish a consensus path to ensure that all wireless handsets are accessible to and usable by people who use hearing aid devices and cochlear implants. The consensus plan was developed through collaborative discussions between consumer and industry representatives. The current hearing aid compatibility rules require service providers and handset manufacturers to ensure that a specified fraction or number of their offerings are hearing aid compliant. The consensus approach would give consumers with hearing loss the same range of device choices available to any other consumer while at the same time preserving industry’s ability to innovate.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-ensures-hearing-aid-compatibility-all-wireless-voice-technologies | Federal Communications Commission
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FCC ADOPTS 5 ITEMS FOR NOVEMBER 2015 MEETING
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The following items have been adopted by the Federal Communications Commission:
Accessibility of User Interfaces, and Video Programming Guides and Menus: The Commission will consider a Second Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to provide consumers with better information about the availability of accessible devices and features, and create easier access to video programming and closed captioning on devices. (MB Dcoket No. 12-108)
Enforcement Bureau Order: The Commission will consider an Order concerning an Application for Review.
Bellizzi Broadcasting Network, Inc. Station WEYW-LP, Key West (FL): The Commission will consider a Memorandum Opinion and Order concerning an Application for Review filed by Bellizzi Broadcasting Network, Inc. seeking review of a Media Bureau Order on Reconsideration finding WEYW is not a qualified low-power television station.
Hawaii Public Radio, Inc. for a New Noncommercial Educational FM station at Kailua (HI), et al. The Commission : will consider a Memorandum Opinion and Order concerning Applications for Review filed by Wren Communications, Inc., Cedar Cove Broadcasting, Inc. and Kanu O Ka Aina Learning Ohana seeking review the Media Bureau’s decisions regarding NCE MX Group 510
Susquehanna Radio Corp. and Whitley Media, LLC Application for Consent to Assignment of License and Cancellation of License for DKTDK(FM), Sanger (TX): The Commission will consider a Memorandum Opinion and Order concerning Petitions for Reconsideration filed by Whitley Media and North Texas Radio Group seeking review of a Commission Order regarding the Petitioners standing to challenge the cancellation of DKTDK(FM).
Christian Broadcasting of East Point, Inc. Applications to Renew and Assign the License of DWTJH(AM), East Point (GA): The Commission will consider a Memorandum Opinion and Order concerning two
Applications for Review filed by Praise 95, Inc. and Christian Broadcasting of East Point, Inc. seeking review of a Media Bureau decision finding that the license of DWTJH(AM) had forfeited.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-adopts-5-items-november-2015-open-meeting | Federal Communications Commission
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CHAIRMAN WHEELER COMMENTS ON T-MOBILE'S BINGE ON
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said he thought T-Mobile's Binge On zero rating plan was the sort of highly innovative approach the FCC's new network neutrality rules were predicted to thwart, but clearly didn't. Chairman Wheeler appeared to endorse the Binge On offering, calling it pro-competitive and innovative. "It is clear in the Open Internet order that we are pro-competition and pro-innovation and clearly, this meets both of those criteria," he said. "It is highly innovative and highly competitive." He then said that it appeared the plan does not violate the brightline no paid prioritization rule, but took something off the endorsement. He said the FCC would keep an eye on Binge On per the general conduct standard in those new Open Internet rules, which allows the FCC to look at such business models on a case-by-case basis. That rule, he elaborated, says a carrier "should not unreasonably interfere with the access to someone who is trying to get to an edge provider and an edge provider who is trying to get to a consumer. So, what we are going to be doing is watching Binge On, keeping an eye on it, and measure it against the general conduct rule."
benton.org/headlines/chairman-wheeler-says-t-mobiles-binge-pro-competitive-pro-innovation | Broadcasting&Cable | ars technica | The Hill
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FCC COMMISSIONER ROSENWORCEL ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE OF POLICY ADVISOR VALERY GALASSO
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel announced that her Policy Advisor, Valery Galasso, is departing her office at the Federal Communications Commission to head to New York. Galasso had been special assistant for legislative affairs in the office of Vice President Joe Biden when she was tapped by then-new commissioner Rosenworcel in June 2012 to be her confidential assistant and special advisor.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-commissioner-rosenworcel-announces-departure-policy-advisor-valery-galasso | Federal Communications Commission | Broadcasting & Cable
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SECURITY/PRIVACY

IF GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE EXPANDS AFTER PARIS, THE MEDIA WILL BE PARTLY TO BLAME
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
[Commentary] Hours after the attacks in Paris, Forbes quickly pointed to remarks by a Belgian official who said that Islamic State militants use the PlayStation 4's chat functions as a way to communicate securely. The article also mentioned that a Sony PlayStation 4 was recovered in a police raid connected to the Paris investigation. That report was later undermined by the real facts -- that no PlayStation 4 had been collected and that the Belgian official had been talking about the use of PlayStation technology generally by terrorism suspects. But it was too late. Reports spread across the news industry tying the PlayStation to the attacks (there is a second wave of stories sweeping the Internet trying to undo the damage). On Nov 17, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler suggested that one of the "specific things" Congress could do in response to the Paris attacks would be to revisit the nation's wiretapping laws. Chairman Wheeler even cited the now-debunked reports on the Playstation 4's involvement in the incident, another sign of how the media has played a role in shaping the current policy atmosphere in Washington. In the wake of any attack, there is always the pressure to do something, anything. Doing nothing until the facts are clear is the politically difficult choice, even if it may be the correct one. The pressure to expand government surveillance predated the Paris attacks. But to the extent that the government now has renewed momentum for those efforts, it's hard to deny that the mainstream media shares some of the responsibility.
benton.org/headlines/if-government-surveillance-expands-after-paris-media-will-be-partly-blame | Washington Post
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WHY IT'S HARD TO DRAW A LINE BETWEEN SNOWDEN AND THE PARIS ATTACKS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller]
In a pair of public appearances, CIA Director John O. Brennan made clear that he blames leaks by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden for enabling terrorists to evade detection. “Because of a number of unauthorized disclosures, and a lot of hand-wringing over the government’s role in the effort to try to uncover these terrorists,” Brennan said, the CIA and others agencies have lost use of critical tools needed “to find these terrorists.” But drawing a line from Snowden to the Paris tragedy is problematic, according to some analysts, because even two years after the leaks it is difficult to isolate the extent to which they caused terrorist networks to change the way they communicate. The revelations that were the source of greatest controversy involved programs that would likely have been of little value in disrupting the Paris plot, experts said. The National Security Agency’s collection of data about the times and durations of billions of domestic phones calls was not designed to pick up calls entirely outside the United States. A second program that relied heavily on cooperation from companies including AOL, Microsoft and Google was aimed at intercepting e-mail and phone calls between foreign operatives and individuals in the United States. Nothing has changed since that revelation to restrict the NSA’s ability to sweep up communications exclusively among foreigners, as was apparently the case for the plot in France.
benton.org/headlines/why-its-hard-draw-line-between-snowden-and-paris-attacks | Washington Post
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TRUMP ON ISIS: 'WE'VE GOT TO TAKE BACK THE INTERNET'
[SOURCE: The Verge, AUTHOR: Colin Lecher]
Following the attacks on Paris, Donald Trump suggested the United States would have to "take back the Internet" from ISIS, which he says has been effectively using the web as a recruitment tool. "They're using the Internet, and they're recruiting people," Trump said. "We've got to take back the Internet because they are taking people. They're literally brainwashing people. They're brainwashing our youth... We can't let that happen. We have innocent youth, and they are misguided." But Trump, in another interview, suggested the US wasn't doing enough to stop ISIS. "They’re using the Internet better than we use the Internet," he said. "And we just don’t have a clue. I mean, our people don’t have a clue."
benton.org/headlines/trump-isis-weve-got-take-back-internet | Verge, The
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ADVERTISING

YOUR PHONE KNOWS WHAT YOU WATCH ON TV
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Kaveh Waddell]
The TV is on in the background, and you’re replying to a quick e-mail on your phone nearby. You don’t know it, but the devices are communicating. During a commercial, the TV emits an inaudible tone and your phone, which was listening for it, picks it up. Somewhere far away, a server makes a note: Both devices probably belong to you. This information about which devices belong to whom is immensely valuable to advertisers hoping to target ads specifically to you. In a simpler time, targeted marketing was easy. Most people had a computer at work and maybe another at home. Now, between laptops, phones, tablets, wearables, and Internet-enabled cars and TVs, advertisers have access to more information than ever before for ad targeting. They just need to figure out which devices live under the same roof. That’s harder than it sounds. Unless you’re logged into a service on all your devices-- for example, by using Google’s various services everywhere -- advertisers need to get creative to stitch together a portrait of you. Verizon’s “supercookies” -- a snippet of code injected into mobile users’ web requests -- silently identify and track its customers, sharing the information with AOL’s wide-reaching ad network. Vizio Smart TVs tie customers’ viewing habits to a home Internet address and sell the information to advertisers. And both programs require customers, who are often unaware of the programs, to opt out of them if they don’t wish to be tracked. But a newer method of cross-device tracking wanders into the realm of science fiction. According to a filing from the Center from Democracy and Technology, a digital human rights and privacy advocacy organization, companies have figured out how to use inaudible sounds to establish links between devices.
benton.org/headlines/your-phone-knows-what-you-watch-tv | Atlantic, The
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

SENATORS GET CLASSIFIED BRIEFING ON THREATS TO UNDERSEA INTERNET CABLES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Mario Trujillo]
Military, Intelligence and Homeland Security officials briefed a group of senators on Nov 18 on reports of Russia’s potential threat to underseas fiberoptic cables that make up the backbone of the world’s Internet. The classified briefing came at the request of Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS) after it was reported that US officials were worried that Russia could be planning to sever some of the cables that run along the ocean’s floor. There is no evidence that any of the cables had been intentionally cut, but it has been reported Russian ships and submarines are operating near the cables with increased intensity. While the US has figured out ways to tap the cables to glean data flowing across them, the worry is that Russia could cut them to sabatoge communications flow. Those officials who briefed senators were from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Naval Intelligence, the Department of Homeland Security and the Joint Operations Division for US European Command. Sen Wicker provided no details from the top-secret briefing but said he would work “in the coming weeks” to provide military and intelligence agencies with tools they need to protect American interests. “Undersea cables are critical to our economy, our communications, and our national security,” he said in a statement. “The United States needs to take seriously the growing Russian threat to these cables.”
benton.org/headlines/senators-get-classified-briefing-threats-undersea-internet-cables | Hill, The
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CONTENT

YOUTUBE TO PAY FEES FOR SOME VIDEO MAKERS TO FIGHT TAKEDOWNS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Since its inception, YouTube has been embroiled in long and bitter battles over copyright infringement. And over the years, the video site has increased its policing of pirated material. But too often, the company says, the demands of copyright holders to take down videos go too far. Now, YouTube is taking the unusual step of financially supporting YouTube creators so they can fight back. YouTube said that it would pick up the legal costs of a handful of video creators that the company thinks are the targets of unfair takedown demands. It said the creators it chose legally use third-party content under “fair use” provisions carved out for commentary, criticism, news and parody. An example of fair use is a segment by the TV host Stephen Colbert that rebroadcasts cable news clips for the comedian to react to. YouTube is starting small, initially supporting four video creators, but it said it may expand its program. The company said it wanted to protect free speech and educate users on fair use. But its announcement is also is aimed at strengthening loyalty with video creators. YouTube faces new competition from Facebook, Twitter and traditional media companies that are trying to get consumers to upload more content onto their platforms.
benton.org/headlines/youtube-pay-fees-some-video-makers-fight-takedowns | New York Times | Public Knowledge
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COMCAST LAUNCHES STREAMING TV SERVICE THAT DOESN'T COUNT AGAINST DATA CAPS
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
Comcast's live streaming TV service, Steam TV, has launched in the Boston (MA) and Chicago (IL) areas, with plans to bring it to Comcast's entire cable territory by early 2016. When asked if Stream TV usage will count against the 300GB data plans imposed in certain parts of Comcast's territory, a Comcast spokesperson replied, "No, Stream is an IP cable service delivered over our managed network to the home." A Comcast FAQ says, "Stream TV is a cable streaming service delivered over Comcast's cable system, not over the Internet. Therefore, Stream TV data usage will not be counted towards your Xfinity Internet monthly data usage." Stream TV is intended for Comcast's Internet-only customers, offering live TV on computers, tablets, and phones. In-home streaming video is delivered as a managed service over the Comcast IP gateway in customers' homes and works similarly to cable TV -- despite not requiring a cable TV subscription or set-top box -- potentially providing greater video quality than rival streaming services.
benton.org/headlines/comcast-launches-streaming-tv-service-doesnt-count-against-data-caps | Ars Technica | Multichannel News
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COMMUNITY MEDIA

A FUTURE FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING
[SOURCE: Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Michael Rosenblum]
[Commentary] When there were only three networks, there was a role for Public Broadcasting -- PBS in the US. In Britain, there was ONLY public broadcasting once -- The BBC. Today, there are hundreds of channels -- and millions once online video really takes off. Is there any longer any purpose for public broadcasters? There are plenty of channels to choose from -- infinite once you include Amazon, Netflix, Apple TV (and we're just getting started with those). Yes, The BBC makes some great programs -- period dramas, documentaries, news. It certainly has a role as a produce of content -- as a production studio, but frankly (and since they don't even sell ads), what is the point of having a public broadcaster? Who cares if you watch Blue Planet on PBS or The BBC (where its free) or on National Geographic (where they actually PAY The BBC for their work!) If we don't really have a broadcasting role for PBS or any other public broadcaster, then what are they good for? Here's an interesting idea: Education. Not educational broadcasting (which tends to be rather unwatchable), but rather educating the public in what we might call television or video literacy. What Public Broadcasting could do is to become the video education center (or centre as we say at The BBC) for the world. Like the monks in the pre Gutenberg world, they have been tiny islands of literacy in a sea of illiteracy -- video illiteracy. This could be the greatest revolution in creativity in 500 years. As anyone at PBS or The BBC can tell you, great storyteling in video is more than just pointing a camera at someone and hitting the record button. It takes a certain skill -- in writing, in videography, in editing. The tools to do that are in 3 billion hands. What they are lacking is the training. This is a task worthy of public broadcasting.
[Michael Rosenblum is the founder of Current TV]
benton.org/headlines/future-public-broadcasting | Huffington Post
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EDUCATION

MARK ZUCKERBERG GIVES $20 MILLION TO HELP SCHOOLS GET FASTER INTERNET
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Vindu Goel, Natasha Singer]
Mark Zuckerberg, who has made global Internet access a top priority through Facebook’s Internet.org project, is now using some of his personal wealth to expand high-speed Internet access in the United States. On Nov 16, a nonprofit group that helps kindergarten through 12th-grade schools tap federal funds to acquire and improve high-speed Internet connections announced that Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, had agreed to donate $20 million to its work. The nonprofit group, called EducationSuperHighway, had received a gift of $3 million from Zuckerberg and Dr. Chan in 2013. Zuckerberg, co-founder and chief executive of Facebook, supports the group’s goals as a means to his ultimate goal of spreading “personalized learning” -- the idea of using online platforms to help tailor education to the needs and interests of individual students. He and his wife are hoping to accelerate school district adoption of the telecommunications infrastructure needed to support those kind of customized digital education programs. “Mark and Priscilla believe that equipping K-12 classrooms with Internet connections is essential for students to thrive in the knowledge economy,” Jen Holleran, the executive director of Startup:Education, a nonprofit that oversees the Zuckerberg family’s educational giving, said in a statement. “Fast, reliable broadband is the foundational infrastructure that is needed to bring personalized and digital learning to every child and teacher in America."
benton.org/headlines/mark-zuckerberg-gives-20-million-help-schools-get-faster-internet | New York Times
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AMERICA'S CLASSROOMS ONLINE: 24.5 MILLION STUDENTS NOW UP TO SPEED
[SOURCE: edSurge, AUTHOR: Patricia Gomes, Tony Wan]
In 2013, more than 40 million US students could barely stream online videos. Only 30 percent of K-12 districts provided sufficient Internet access speed to support digital learning, defined by the Federal Communications Commission at 100 kbps per student. In 2015, that number has been slashed nearly in half, with 20 million more students enjoying Internet speeds that meet the FCC’s goal. A new report, “ 2015 State of the States,” published by San Francisco (CA)-based nonprofit by EducationSuperHighway, found that 77 percent of school districts have hit the target speed. In all, an estimated 24.5 million students and 1.7 million teachers now enjoy enough broadband to make the most out of education technology tools. Researchers collected data from 6,781 public school districts across the nation, representing over 25 million students across approximately 49,000 schools.
benton.org/headlines/americas-classrooms-online-245-million-students-now-speed | EdSurge
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JOURNALISM

IF WE DON'T SEE BEIRUT NEWS, IS FACEBOOK TO BLAME?
[SOURCE: Fortune, AUTHOR: Mathew Ingram]
[Commentary] The recent bombings in Paris, and the outpouring of sympathy about those attacks, has sparked an ongoing debate about why there hasn’t been as much attention paid to similar events in places like Beirut. In particular, people seem concerned that “the media” hasn’t been doing as much reporting about the latter as it has about Paris, for a variety of reasons having to do with racism, cultural bias, etc. Is this really true though? The answer is: Yes and no. And the question of whose fault it is -- ours as news consumers, the media as information gatekeepers, or algorithm-driven news platforms like Facebook is even more complicated than that. What many of the people who made this complaint seem to be saying isn’t “Why was there no news coverage of this,” but rather “Why didn’t I see any news stories about this?” There are a number of possible answers to that question. One answer is that those people either didn’t seek out the publications that reported on those incidents, or didn’t notice the stories that they published, for whatever reason. And that’s where Facebook and our disjointed and atomized experience of the news comes in. In order to help filter the noise, many people turn to platforms like Twitter and Facebook and Snapchat to show them what is important. A young millennial once said “If the news is important, it will find me” -- but what if it is important and it still doesn’t find you? Whose fault is that? In the current news environment, Facebook has to bear at least some of that blame. It is a massive platform for news, to the extent that a majority of younger users say they get their news from the social network. And the fact that its algorithm chooses what to show us and what not to show us means that it is exercising a very obvious editorial function, much like newspaper editors used to.
benton.org/headlines/if-we-dont-see-beirut-news-facebook-blame | Fortune
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LABOR

'SEARCHING FOR WORK IN THE DIGITAL ERA
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center, AUTHOR: Aaron Smith]
The Internet is a central resource for Americans looking for work, but a notable minority lack confidence in their digital job-seeking skills. Among the key findings:
The Internet is a top resource for many of today’s job hunters: Among Americans who have looked for work in the last two years, 79 percent utilized online resources in their most recent job search and 34 percent say these online resources were the most important tool available to them.
Like many other aspects of life, job seeking is going mobile: 28 percent of Americans have used a smartphone as part of a job search, and half of these “smartphone job seekers” have used their smartphone to fill out a job application.
Even as digital job seeking skills have become increasingly important, a minority of Americans would find it challenging to engage in tasks such as creating a professional resume, using email to contact potential employers, or filling out a job application online.
Many Americans now use social media to look for and research jobs, share employment opportunities with friends, and highlight their skills to potential employers; 13 percent of social media users say their social media presence has helped them find a job.
benton.org/headlines/searching-work-digital-era | Pew Research Center
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Analysis

November 2015

Programmatic, Anti-Ad Blockers and Digital Audiences Will Drive the 2016 Elections

As France and Belgium Strengthen Security, a Classic Debate Arises

James Murdoch Says Digital Advertising Needs An Overhaul

Cisco Spends $700 Million on UK Video Firm Acano

How Reuters is using automation to analyze its polling data

Palestinians to Get Own Broadband Networks

The Decline of Antiterror Surveillance

Privacy, Public Safety Collide as Terror Groups Collaborate on Social Media

November 20, 2015 (FCC Meeting Recap)

FCC Proposes Enhancements to Wireless Emergency Alerts