December 2015

INTERNET/TELECOMMUNICATIONS

NET NEUTRALITY HAS ITS DAY IN COURT
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
The Federal Communications Commission’s latest attempt at network neutrality rules got a thorough review in lengthy oral arguments in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. But so did Internet service providers' and others' litany of challenges to various parts of those new rules, most notably for reclassification of broadband access service under Title II. The judges seemed to be equal opportunity probers. Questions from the panel of judges, during four rounds of arguments, gave hints to which way each judge is leaning. The crux of the case is meant to answer the questions: Did Congress give deference to the FCC to choose how Internet service should be classified, and is the FCC’s decision to change course now justified? [much more at the URL below]
benton.org/headlines/fccs-open-internet-order-gets-its-day-court | Benton Foundation | The Hill | Public Knowledge | Free Press | Consumers Union | USTelecom | NCTA
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DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS INTRODUCE THE RURAL BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT ACT
[SOURCE: House of Representatives, AUTHOR: Press release]
Reps Jared Huffman (D-CA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), and Rick Nolan (D-MN) introduced the Rural Broadband Infrastructure Investment Act, which would unlock new opportunities for broadband deployment on California’s North Coast and in rural communities across America. The bill would make North Coast communities eligible for $670 million in federal broadband financing; promote regional broadband solutions by allowing the Rural Utility Service (RUS) to offer broadband grants in addition to loans and loan guarantees; and increase overall RUS broadband investment to $50 million annually from $25 million. The legislation builds on the successful legacy of the Rural Electrification Act, which brought power and telephone service to rural communities across America during the New Deal.
benton.org/headlines/democratic-lawmakers-introduce-rural-broadband-infrastructure-investment-act | House of Representatives
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OVER 80 PERCENT OF US HOUSEHOLDS GET BROADBAND AT HOME
[SOURCE: Leichtman Research Group, AUTHOR: Press release]
81% of US households get a broadband Internet service at home, an increase from 26% in 2005. Broadband now accounts for 97% of all households with Internet service at home -- an increase from 91% in 2010, and 40% in 2005. Overall, 84% of households get an Internet service at home, and 69% of adults access the Internet on a smartphone. While the percentage of households getting an Internet service at home is similar to three years ago, those accessing the Internet on a smartphone increased from 44% in 2012. Other related findings include:
78% with broadband at home also access the Internet on a smartphone -- compared to 52% in 2012
31% not online at home access the Internet on a smartphone -- compared to 12% in 2012
The mean time spent online at home per day among broadband subscribers is 2.9 hours -- up from 2.4 hours per day in 2010
13% of households get a broadband Internet service, but do not subscribe to a pay-TV service, while 68% of households get both broadband and pay-TV services
32% of households with annual incomes <$30,000 do not use a laptop or desktop computer at home -- compared to 4% with incomes >$50,000
About 3.5% of all households have an iPad or tablet, but do not use a laptop or desktop computer -- up from 1% in 2013
benton.org/headlines/81-percent-us-households-get-broadband-home | Leichtman Research Group
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CENTURYLINK SAYS IT NEEDS MORE GUIDANCE TO MEASURE BROADBAND SERVICE PERFORMANCE
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Sean Buckley]
CenturyLink wants to give its wireline users what they pay for when they purchase a broadband connection, but it has a number of concerns with how the Federal Communications Commission collects information about service providers' broadband performance via their Measuring Broadband America (MBA) program. The FCC developed the MBA program as a performance study of broadband service in the United States. It was developed out of a recommendation by the National Broadband Plan to improve the availability of information for consumers about their broadband service. In particular, CenturyLink said in an FCC filing that it wants clarity on how Measurement Lab servers collect information on the quality of its DSL connections. During a call with members of the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau, CenturyLink discussed if the regulatory should provide it and other Internet service providers additional guidance on speed definitions, latency and packet loss, and the methods of measuring these metrics. It also asked the FCC to rely on industry standards while encouraging "reasonable flexibility in methodologies."
benton.org/headlines/centurylink-says-it-needs-more-guidance-measure-broadband-service-performance | Fierce
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LANDLINES NO LONGER A "DOMINANT" SERVICE
[SOURCE: USTelecom, AUTHOR: Patrick Brogan]
[Commentary] The portion of US households using landlines for voice service has fallen below half for the first time, according to the latest data (link is external) on household voice telephony choices from the Centers for Disease Control. This is because more and more American households are cutting the cord for voice services and using only wireless telephones. Based on a USTelecom analysis of the new CDC data, by the middle of 2015 the US likely reached the cross-over point where more than half of telephone households were wireless-only and less than half used landlines. In any case, the US almost certainly will have reached that point by the end of this year. As Commissioner Mike O’Reilly suggested in a recent blog, traditional wireline voice carriers are no longer dominant providers and should not be singled out for more burdensome regulation.
benton.org/headlines/landlines-no-longer-dominant-service | USTelecom
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

WHY DO DATA JOURNALISTS KEEP MISSING THE POLITICAL STORY OF THE YEAR?
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: David Weigel]
[Commentary] Four months ago, after Donald Trump built a surprise lead in national (and some state) polls, I asked the most prominent political "data journalists" if they were eating crow yet. Nate Cohn, a reporter for the New York Times's Upshot, admitted his "surprise" that Trump had not yet eroded. Nate Silver, the founder and editor of FiveThirtyEight, was somewhat less retrospective, pointing to evidence that the media was overrating Trump. "It seems like you’re being pretty straw-manny and cherry-picky," wrote Silver. Well, it's December, and good luck reaching into the tree and plucking anything but cherries. When I wrote that piece, Trump was averaging 23.8 percent in national polls. In a CNN poll released Dec 4, Trump is at 36 percent. When that poll is added to the invaluable RealClearPolitics average, Trump is at 30.8 percent. For five months, Trump has been able to swing into states and draw the biggest crowds of any Republican candidate. It's been two and a half months since a thinly-attended South Carolina event, organized by a third party group, that was supposed to mark the end of Trumpmania. It's been a month since a rambling Trump speech in Iowa, where even the people standing behind him grew bored with his rants about Ben Carson. The crowds kept coming. And they keep coming.
benton.org/headlines/why-do-data-journalists-keep-missing-political-story-year | Washington Post
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REP BEN RAY LUJÁN INTRODUCES THE FAIR AND CLEAR CAMPAIGN TRANSPARENCY ACT
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: ]
Rep Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) says he has a plan to make political advertisement buys more transparent. While certain information about political-campaign TV ads, like who's actually paying for them, is technically supposed to be part of the public record through the Federal Communications Commission, Rep Luján says that in practice the information is not truly accessible. So he's introducing The Fair and Clear Campaign Transparency Act to direct the FCC to make the information "available in a way that allows the public to actually use it and evaluate who is trying to influence their vote." It's a Big Data solution that would require the FCC to publish its political ad buying information in "a format that is searchable, sortable and downloadable."
benton.org/headlines/rep-ben-ray-lujan-introduces-fair-and-clear-campaign-transparency-act | AdAge
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PRIVACY/SECURITY

TECH AND TERRORISM
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: John Ribeiro]
President Barack Obama is seeking the help of tech companies to combat terror threats, which he described as entering a new phase. Obama's remarks could put into sharp focus again the demand by law enforcement agencies for tech companies to provide ways for the government to be able to access encrypted communications. In an address from the Oval Office, President Obama said he "would urge hi-tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice." As the Internet erases the distance between countries, "we see growing efforts by terrorists to poison the minds of people," he said. The President did not, however, provide details of how the administration planned to work with the tech industry on combating terrorism. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey has previously asked for a "robust debate" on encryption of communications, saying that the technology could come in the way of his doing his job to keep people safe.
benton.org/headlines/president-obama-wants-help-tech-firms-fight-terrorism | IDG News Service | The Verge
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MONITORING TERRORIST CONTENT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Deepa Seetharaman, Alistair Barr, Yoree Koh]
There’s growing pressure on sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to monitor, and sometimes remove, violent content and propaganda from terror groups. It is unclear how closely each company works with governments, how frequently they remove content and how it is identified. “When it comes to terrorist content, it’s certainly a tricky position for companies, and one that I don’t envy,” said Jillian York, the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s director of international freedom of expression. “Still, I worry that giving more power to companies—which are undemocratic by nature—to regulate speech is dangerous.” All three companies employ technology to scan for images related to child sexual exploitation. Hany Farid, chair of the computer-science division at Dartmouth College, who helped develop the system, said he expected it to be expanded to other types of questionable content.
benton.org/headlines/social-media-sites-face-pressure-monitor-terrorist-content | Wall Street Journal | CNN Money
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OMB DIRECTOR ANNOUNCES NEW PRIVACY PANEL
[SOURCE: FCW, AUTHOR: Aisha Chowdhry]
A new Federal Privacy Council will be formed in early 2016 to tackle privacy issues, the White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan announced Dec 2. The overarching goal is the protection of data the government collects on citizens. The new council is looking to develop policy to prevent data breaches, mitigate their effects when they do occur, improving the productivity and eliminating duplication of effort in privacy protection, while building and retaining trust in government, Donovan said. The formation of the council, modeled on other federal communities of practice such as the Chief Information Officers Council, will begin at the beginning of 2016. It builds on the the work of a privacy committee and eight working groups that are up and running. A top priority for the council will be to "professionalize the privacy profession," Donovan said. A big impetus for the new body is to shift from a reactive to proactive posture when it comes to data breaches and other failures that put privacy at risks. Priorities for the Privacy Council include expanding education, training professional development for privacy professionals, and building a community within the privacy government professionals.
benton.org/headlines/omb-director-announces-new-privacy-panel | FCW | Federal Times
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HELLO HACKABLE BARBIE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Andrea Peterson]
Toys that talk back are some of the hottest holidays gifts in 2015. And they may soon be hot items for hackers, too. Cybersecurity researchers uncovered a number of major security flaws in systems behind Hello Barbie, an Internet-connected doll that listens to children and uses artificial intelligence to respond. Vulnerabilities in the mobile app and cloud storage used by the doll could have allowed hackers to eavesdrop on even the most intimate of those play sessions, according to a report released Dec 4 by Bluebox Security and independent security researcher Andrew Hay. Martin Reddy, co-founder and chief technology officer of ToyTalk -- the company behind the voice features in Hello Barbie -- said that the company has been working with Bluebox and has “already fixed many of the issues they raised.” The researchers say that they informed ToyTalk about the issues in mid-November and that the company was very responsive. But the news comes on the heels of a major breach at VTech, a Hong Kong-based seller of toys for toddlers and young children, which exposed profiles on more than 6 million children around the world. And Hello Barbie's security issues are yet another sign that Internet-connected devices are making their way into children's hands with problems that leave privacy at risk.
benton.org/headlines/hello-hackable-barbie | Washington Post
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JOURNALISM
WHEN MASS MEDIA COMMITS A
MASSIVE PRIVACY INVASION
[SOURCE: International Association of Privacy Professionals, AUTHOR: Jedidiah Bracy]
[Commentary] It seems as though the world is getting more chaotic by the minute. There have been awful terrorist attacks around the world, seemingly unabated – from Egypt to Paris to Mali to San Bernadino (CA). And it appears that chaos is infecting the news media. On Dec 4, reporters from CNN and MSNBC openly rummaged through the now-deceased San Bernadino attackers’ home like eager shoppers on Black Friday. Live on TV for everyone to see, reporters unapologetically let the world into this home – a crime scene – sharing baby pictures, clothing, contents of their refrigerator. And get this: passports, work IDs and even a California state driver’s license. The privacy of this now orphaned child and the grandmother was clearly invaded here. It didn't have to be. People who should know better made a series of decisions in the moment that I would hope they'd like to have a do-over on. Or maybe they need a little privacy training. It was somewhat heartening to see such a robust backlash about this insensitive reporting on Twitter, but as we deal with tough issues posed by these new forms of terrorism, I hope our society -- and that includes the media -- can keep human dignity and privacy in mind.
benton.org/headlines/when-mass-media-commits-massive-privacy-invasion | International Association of Privacy Professionals
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NAVIGATING SOCIAL MEDIA
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Queenie Wong]
Facebook is trying to harness the power of artificial intelligence to create new tools that not only describe items in a photo but allows users to ask what's in an image. Facebook is testing these features in 32 languages, and if all goes well, hopes to publicly release the new tools early in 2016. "Social media is becoming more and more important whether it be for advertising, networking or keeping in touch with family and friends. The same is true for people who are blind and visually impaired," said Lee Huffman, editor-in-chief of a technology magazine run by the American Foundation for the Blind.
benton.org/headlines/facebooks-new-tools-help-blind-navigate-social-media | San Jose Mercury News
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COMMUNITY & MEDIA

PHILADELPHIA AND COMCAST FINALLY REACH A DEAL
[SOURCE: Philadelphia Inquirer, AUTHOR: Tricia Nadolny]
After eight months of negotiations, Comcast and the City of Philadelphia (PA) agreed to the terms of a new 15-year franchise agreement. Both sides favorably described the deal, which includes added discounts for low-income Philadelphians, commitments to paying workers a living wage, and installation of a new network in more than 200 city buildings. Comcast officials called it the best in the nation. With the ink barely dry, City Council's public property committee signed off on Dec 3, sending the agreement for a vote of the full body the following week. The negotiations were far-reaching. Chief among Council's concerns was Comcast's Internet Essentials discount program, open to low-income families with school-age children. Under the deal, Comcast would expand that program to seniors. The company said it would also provide up to $2.7 million over the next five years to allow other low-income Philadelphians to enroll. The money would help about 1,000 Philadelphians in the first year. Council also asked Comcast to drop the stipulation that only those without Internet service for 90 days qualify for the program. Instead, the city said it would give $170,000 per year to provide discounted Internet service to those excluded by the 90-day rule. The money, estimated to cover about 700 users, would come from the franchise fee Comcast pays to the city, officials said.
benton.org/headlines/philadelphia-and-comcast-finally-reach-deal | Philadelphia Inquirer
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

DETERRING GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS' MISUSE OF PRIVATE E-MAIL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: JH Snider]
[Commentary] Hillary Clinton’s widely publicized misuse of private e-mail for official correspondence should be used to spur reforms to deter such behavior among high-level government officials. By using private rather than government e-mail systems, Clinton and other high-level government officials seek enhanced control of public records concerning their job performance. This control prevents potentially embarrassing work e-mails from becoming public. Such control can be attained by using a hosted e-mail server such as Gmail or Outlook, or, as Clinton used, a home-based e-mail server. Using a hosted e-mail server is much more widespread because of its greater convenience and lower cost. But both types of server can be equally effective in selectively shielding work e-mails from public scrutiny. Much of law enforcement has always been based on motivating witnesses and co-conspirators to whistle blow, partly by providing them with some immunity for doing so. It is long past time when this principle should have been applied to curb the abuses of high level government officials using private e-mail systems to shield their official work from public scrutiny.
[Snider, a former American Political Science Association Congressional fellow in Communications and Public Policy, is the president of iSolon.org]
benton.org/headlines/deterring-government-officials-misuse-private-e-mail | Hill, The
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Analysis

December 2015

Harold Feld’s Reaction To Net Neutrality Oral Argument

How is mobile technology impacting education?

Do You Make Racist Comments Online? In Brazil, You Could End Up On A Billboard

Streaming Video Now Accounts for 70 Percent of Broadband Usage

December 7, 2015 (Net Neutrality's Day in Court; President Obama wants help from tech firms)

President Obama wants help from tech firms to fight terrorism

Social-Media Sites Face Pressure to Monitor Terrorist Content

Hillary Clinton Urges Silicon Valley to ‘Disrupt’ ISIS

Facebook's new tools to help the blind navigate social media

The Open Internet order: Analyzing the FCC’s day in court