December 2015

PRIVACY/SECURITY

US CAN'T ACCESS NSA PHONE RECORDS IN CALIFORNIA TERROR CASE
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Ted Bridis]
The US government's ability to review and analyze five years' worth of telephone records for the married couple blamed in the deadly shootings in California lapsed just four days earlier when the National Security Agency's controversial mass surveillance program was formally shut down. Under a court order, those historical calling records at the NSA are now off-limits to agents running the FBI terrorism investigation even with a warrant. Instead, under the new USA Freedom Act, authorities were able to obtain roughly two years' worth of calling records directly from the phone companies of the married couple blamed in the attack. The period covered the entire time that the wife, Tashfeen Malik, lived in the United States, although her husband, Syed Farook, had been here much longer. FBI Director James Comey declined to say whether the NSA program's shutdown affected the government's terrorism investigation in California. "I won't answer, because we don't talk about the investigative techniques we use," Director Comey said. "I'm not going to characterize it."
benton.org/headlines/us-cant-access-nsa-phone-records-california-terror-case | Associated Press
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TERRORISTS MOCK SOCIAL MEDIA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Nicole Perlroth, Mike Isaac]
Silicon Valley’s efforts to crack down on the use by terrorists of social media have been toothless. And Washington is using the latest terrorist attacks to renew its calls for Silicon Valley to roll back the encryption in their products. But technology companies are dealing with a tenacious adversary. Also, when it comes to terrorists using encryption technologies to hide their communications — a frequent complaint of law enforcement — technology companies are quick to point out that of the top five encryption apps recommended by the Islamic State, none are American-made. Still, while the tech industry cannot block all terror content on the web, people who have battled other online threats say it could be doing more. They point to technology that has successfully eradicated large swaths of child pornography on the web, or even older tools for spotting computer viruses, as potential guideposts for blocking terror-related content.
benton.org/headlines/terrorists-mock-bids-end-use-social-media | New York Times
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HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN MOVES TO REIN IN 'DARK' NETWORKS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Julian Hattem]
The head of the House Homeland Security Committee is pushing a new initiative to deal with the proliferation of encrypted devices that critics say allow terrorists to communicate without detection. The effort by Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) will not force concessions on tech companies, he said. Instead, it would create “a national commission on security and technology challenges in the digital age,” which Chairman McCaul promised would be tasked with providing specific recommendations for dealing with an issue that has become a priority for law enforcement officials. “A legislative knee-jerk reaction could weaken Internet protections and privacy for everyday Americans, while doing nothing puts American lives at risk and makes it easier for terrorists and criminals to escape justice,” he said. “It is time for Congress to act because the White House has failed to bring all parties together -- transparently -- to find solutions." Chairman McCaul is planning to introduce his bill in the coming days. The new commission would be composed of tech industry leaders, privacy advocates, academics and law enforcement officials. “This will not be like other blue ribbon panels: established and forgotten,” he promised. ”The threats are real, so this legislation will require the commission to develop a range of actionable recommendations that protect privacy and public safety.”
benton.org/headlines/house-homeland-security-committee-chairman-moves-rein-dark-networks | Hill, The
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WE SHOULDN'T LET HIGH-TECH TOYS MAKE CHILDREN VULNERABLE TO HACKERS
[SOURCE: The Guardian, AUTHOR: Angela Campbell]
[Commentary] VTech, a Hong Kong-based company that sells various tablets, “learning” toys and apps designed for children, experienced one of the largest ever hacks targeting children. Nearly 5 million parent accounts and 6.4 million children’s profiles are believed to have been compromised. What can parents do to protect their children and themselves? The most foolproof method is simply not to buy these types of toys. They generally offer little or no benefit while imposing substantial risks. If parents want to go ahead anyway, being aware of privacy policies is key. The Hello Barbie privacy policy, for example, requires that parents agree to allow ToyTalk to “use, store, process, convert, transcribe, analyze or review” recordings of their child for a variety of purposes including the vague and open-ended “other research and development and data analysis purposes”. While ToyTalk says it will not use recordings “to contact children or advertise to them”, it is unclear exactly what this means. Because data collection and analysis is not well understood by the public and is constantly evolving, it is both unrealistic and unfair to place the burden of determining the risks on parents. The VTech hack has brought much-needed attention to the significant privacy issues raised by many new children’s toys. Until they are satisfactorily addressed, the best option for parents is to just say no to dubious toys that may risk your child’s privacy.
[Angela Campbell directs the Communications and Technology Law Clinic at Georgetown Law]
benton.org/headlines/we-shouldnt-let-high-tech-toys-make-children-vulnerable-hackers | Guardian, The
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

BROADBAND ADOPTION RATES AND GAPS IN US METROPOLITAN AREAS
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Adie Tomer, Joseph Kane]
Until now, public, private, and civic leaders have frequently concentrated on broadband adoption at a national or international scale, looking at how rates vary across large segments of the population. However, new survey questions from the US Census Bureau enable analysis at the metropolitan scale, creating new ways to measure and understand where America falls short in getting people online. This brief uses 2013 and 2014 American Community Survey data to track current and changing broadband adoption rates at the metropolitan scale, while using a combination of other Census and Internet speed data to model what factors affect metropolitan adoption rates. In turn, the results of this analysis have clear implications for efforts to address the significant gaps in American Internet adoption. Among the findings:
While 75.1 percent of American households had a broadband Internet subscription in 2014, there is enormous variation in US digital connectivity across demographic groups and between metropolitan areas.
Multiple factors -- including higher levels of income, educational attainment, and telecommuting -- all have a positive and significant effect on broadband adoption rates in metropolitan America.
From 2013 to 2014, the share of households with a broadband Internet subscription rose by 1.7 percentage points nationally, including a statistically significant increase among 58 of the country’s 100 largest metropolitan areas.
benton.org/headlines/broadband-adoption-rates-and-gaps-us-metropolitan-areas | Brookings | Report PDF
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MAJORITY OF AMERICANS USE MULTIPLE INTERNET-CONNECTED DEVICES, DATA SHOWS
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: Giulia McHenry]
In just a two-year span, between 2011 and 2013, Americans significantly shifted their Internet usage habits, moving toward more mobile Internet use and increasing the range of devices they use to connect, according to data collected in July 2013 as part of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration’s Computer and Internet Use Supplement to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey. A majority of Americans -- 52 percent -- used two or more Internet-connected devices, the data shows. That’s up from 41 percent in July 2011. Americans are using a wide variety of devices to access the Internet, including tablets, laptops, mobile phones, and TV-connected boxes such as gaming consoles or streaming video players. The data shows a big shift in Americans’ use of mobile devices, with double-digit percentage-point increases in Internet-connected tablet and mobile phone usage. Use of mobile phones to connect jumped from 27 percent in 2011 to 45 percent in 2013, while tablet use rose from 6 percent to 22 percent. NTIA analysis confirms what many of us already know: Americans increasingly prefer to use a wide range of devices to access the Internet, particularly mobile devices.
benton.org/headlines/majority-americans-use-multiple-internet-connected-devices-data-shows | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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HAROLD FELD'S REACTION TO NET NEUTRALITY ORAL ARGUMENT
[SOURCE: Tales of the Sausage Factory, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] It is always perilous to try to guess from oral argument how things are going to go. Judges may ask a lot of questions to explore options, or they may let one judge pursue a line of inquiry while hanging back. And there’s lots of issues that never get discussed that are part of the appeal and will get decided based on the written record. Or the judges may be leaning one way, but when they start drafting and hash things out further they change their mind. Taking all that into account, here are my impressions based on sitting in the front row listening and watching the judges and attending to all the nuances, as filtered to my obvious bias in wanting to see the Federal Communications Commission affirmed. Here are my big takeaways:
The FCC looks very likely to win on the big question of statutory authority.
Wireless More Murky, But FCC Win Still More Likely Than Not.
Nobody Was Interested In The First Amendment Arguments.
benton.org/headlines/harold-felds-reaction-net-neutrality-oral-argument | Tales of the Sausage Factory
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GO90 AND NET NEUTRALITY: VERIZON CFO SAYS SPONSORSHIPS WILL SIDESTEP ISSUES
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
Verizon expects to launch a sponsored version of its Go90 mobile video offering in 2016 that would enable end users to watch video without having it count against their monthly data allotment, said Verizon Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo. Shammo hastened to add that Verizon “will make sure we can deliver [this] to others” in order to avoid Net Neutrality issues. By “others,” he apparently meant other content providers. Verizon is pinning a lot of hope on its Go90 offering, which offers a mixture of pre-existing and original content to mobile devices on Verizon and other mobile networks. The service was originally launched in October but Shammo noted that the company only began mass advertising to support it beginning on November 27.
benton.org/headlines/go90-and-net-neutrality-verizon-cfo-says-sponsorships-will-sidestep-issues | telecompetitor
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BIG CABLE'S SLEDGEHAMMER IS COMING DOWN
[SOURCE: Medium, AUTHOR: Susan Crawford]
[Commentary] I want to talk about the sledgehammer of usage-based billing. I take no pride in saying that I’ve been talking about it for years. The sledgehammer is not something I welcome, and I would have been happy if my fears about it never materialized. After all, the sledgehammer could cost Internet users billions of dollars, enrich monopolists, and defeat the spirit -- if not the law -- of net neutrality. In a big way, the sledgehammer will also beat down our economic growth. This is one evil sledgehammer. The sledgehammer (as employed by the mobile carriers) is a part of a complex scheme designed to hijack the development of a fast, cheap, competitive, unlimited-capacity data communications systems -- like the one our country should have. If we upgraded to competitive wholesale publicly-overseen fiber optic networks all over the country, we could leave the cable industry and its ongoing destructive shenanigans behind. It’s time to stand up. And when we stand up, we should have a shared purpose and a goal: get wholesale fiber networks built across the country. Right now.
If we don’t -- we’ll deserve the scarcity and the sledgehammers that lie ahead.
[Susan Crawford is the John A. Reilly Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School]
benton.org/headlines/big-cables-sledgehammer-coming-down | Medium
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

T-MOBILE ADVERTISING
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Kaja Whitehouse]
T-Mobile is coming under scrutiny for its popular ad campaign promising to rip up service contracts and do away with hidden fees. The office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating complaints that the ads are misleading. And a letter alleging "deceptive marketing and abusive debt collection practices" is making its way to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is responsible for consumer financial products. Critics, led by labor and consumer organization Change to Win, are blasting T-Mobile's advertising, saying the vast majority, or 91%, of its customers are locked into two-year loans for new phones and other equipment, known as an equipment installment plan. The phone loans, which must be paid off over 24 months and require a lump sum to exit, contradict T-Mobile's splashy ads promising consumers they can switch carriers at any time, said the letter to the CFPB, which was also signed by numerous civil rights and consumer advocacy groups, including the Consumer Federation of California. Customers who end their financing agreements before 24 months may end up owing more than if they were to break a traditional service contract — or be placed in debt collection "with little or no notice," according to the CFPB complaint.
benton.org/headlines/t-mobile-accused-false-advertising-new-york-ag-investigates | USAToday
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EU SPECTRUM POLICY
[SOURCE: Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, AUTHOR: Doug Brake]
The European Union has outlined a set of ambitious goals in its Digital Single Market proposals, including a set of proposed reforms to radio spectrum management to create an EU-wide market for mobile communications. While challenging, the goal of a single telecoms market is also the most promising: the mobile digital economy is poised to have a tremendous impact on growth, productivity, and progress throughout the 21st century. Europe should take this opportunity to achieve a true single market for mobile by moving wireless policy from the national level and centralizing spectrum management functions, harmonizing regulations, and allowing for industry consolidation to fit the scale of a single market. The difficulty in enacting these reforms is considerable, with member countries wanting to retain autonomy and control over industries and inputs, but success will mean significantly greater value throughout the entire EU mobile ecosystem. ITIF recommends bold action over half-measures—most importantly in centralizing EU-wide spectrum management—and hopes the Commission is successful in these efforts. We offer five key lessons from the United States that may help inform the European Union’s attempt to create a true single market for mobile communications:
Consolidated EU-wide spectrum management and harmonization of regulations.
Permissive merger policy.
Reallocation of broadcast spectrum for mobile broadband.
Technologically neutral, flexible licenses tradeable on a secondary market.
Neutral spectrum policy eschewing active market shaping.
benton.org/headlines/spectrum-policy-and-eu-digital-single-market-lessons-united-states | Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
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EDUCATION

HOW IS MOBILE TECHNOLOGY IMPACTING EDUCATION?
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Beth Stone]
[Commentary] Despite the emergence of digital learning models, most countries around the world still design their educational systems for agrarian and industrial eras rather than modern society, writes Darrell West in a new paper, “Connected learning: How mobile technology can improve education.” West points out how a lack of education technology access is detrimental to young people entering the labor force as well as teachers and parents who want children to compete in the global economy. As the economy shifts and technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning improve, countries will need to update their curricula in order to train students with new skills for the 21st century. West focuses specifically on mobile technology and focuses on ways devices with cellular connectivity improve learning and engage students and teachers. West concludes by saying that connected learning through the use of technology is crucial to student development in the areas of critical-thinking and collaborative learning. Those are the skills that young people need in order to secure their place in the globally competitive economy.
benton.org/headlines/how-mobile-technology-impacting-education | Brookings | Brookings Paper
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA

TRUMP THINKS BILL GATES CAN CLOSE UP THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: The Verge, AUTHOR: Nick Statt]
[Commentary] Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said the US should consider "closing up" the Internet to curb radical extremism. Trump, a man that routinely claims everyone in charge of the US is stupid, believes that as president he could just call up Bill Gates to help him shut off the Internet. Trump floated the idea at a campaign rally at the USS Yorktown in South Carolina as a way to stop ISIS "jihadists" from recruiting Americans to commit acts of domestic terrorism. "We're losing a lot of people because of the Internet," Trump said. "We have to see Bill Gates and a lot of different people that really understand what's happening. We have to talk to them about, maybe in certain areas, closing that Internet up in some ways. Somebody will say, 'Oh freedom of speech, freedom of speech.' These are foolish people."
benton.org/headlines/donald-trump-thinks-he-can-call-bill-gates-close-internet | Verge, The
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DONALD TRUMP HAS GOTTEN MORE NIGHTLY NETWORK NEWS COVERAGE THAN THE ENTIRE DEMOCRATIC FIELD COMBINED
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Callum Borchers]
According to the Tyndall Report, which tracks the airtime that the various flagship news programs on NBC, CBS and ABC dedicate to a variety of stories, the 2016 election has received 857 minutes of combined coverage, through Nov 30. With a month to go, that’s already the second biggest total of any pre-election year in the last seven presidential cycles. That might sound like a big number, but the math works out to about 1 minute and 12 seconds on each newscast. The report found, for instance, that the Republican primary race has received more than twice as much coverage as the Democratic contest. “Besides the fact that there are many more Republican candidates than Democratic ones, the GOP debates have made much more news than the Democrats’ [debates],” Tyndall noted. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, unsurprisingly, is the most-covered candidate in the race. In fact, he alone has gotten more airtime (234 minutes) than the entire Democratic field (226 minutes). Two other things stand out: First, Vice President Joe Biden, who flirted with a run but ultimately stayed out of the Democratic race, got far more coverage (56 minutes) than Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (10 minutes), who actually is running and polled well for much of the summer and fall. Second, Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) has attracted a paltry seven minutes of coverage, though he’ll likely see more in the near future, now that he’s moved into third place nationally and appears poised to win Iowa.
benton.org/headlines/donald-trump-has-gotten-more-nightly-network-news-coverage-entire-democratic-field | Washington Post
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BUDGET

FCC DECISIONS IMPLICATED IN RIDER SHOWDOWN
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
It may or may not come to a showdown during the week of Dec 7 over Federal Communications Commission-related riders on bills being worked on and into an omnibus appropriations bill that needs to pass to keep the government open. A budget bill passed in October, but the omnibus specifies what that total will be spent on, including for agencies like the FCC. There is a Dec 11 deadline for appropriating the money or the government runs out of funds, though it it likely that a short continuing resolution will be passed -- say a week or so -- to avert a shutdown at allow them to continue to work on a bill. According to reports, the FCC appropriations bills submitted during the week of Nov 30 by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) would include the FCC-related amendments added by Republicans to the FCC appropriation bills.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-decisions-implicated-rider-showdown | Broadcasting&Cable
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December 2015

Mozilla’s newest app perfectly captures the ethical dilemma of ad-blocking

Huffington Post reverses policy of covering Trump under ‘Entertainment'

Rural Wireless Consolidation: Nsight Buys Spectrum from Three Rural Carriers

Analyzing the Subtle Bias in Tech Companies' Recruiting E-mails

Digital Ad Spending Expected to Soon Surpass TV

Qualcomm Is Accused of Violating Antitrust Rules in Europe

New EU cybersecurity rules neutered by future backdoors, weakened crypto

December 8, 2015 (David Cohen)

David Cohen, Pioneer of Public Interest Lobbying

Donald Trump thinks he can call Bill Gates to 'close up' the Internet