January 2016

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2016

Helping Victims Recover from Identity Theft https://www.benton.org/calendar/2016-01-26

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   NTIA’s Strickling Talks Internet Governance at State of the Net Conference - speech
   MMTC's Keenan: Broadband Must Be Two-Way Connection
   Editorial: Minnesota legislature needs to pass bipartisan broadband funding increase [links to Mankato Free Press]
   Some telecoms, anti-government groups oppose new state broadband network in Kentucky
   Scott Cleland op-ed: Title II’s Unintended Consequences [links to Multichannel News]

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
   Trump cracks Cruz’s lock on conservative media
   Michael Bloomberg's 2016 Ambitions May Shake Up The Race -- And His Media Company [links to Benton summary]
   Truth-Testing Ted Cruz’s Latest Net Neutrality Comments - Tim Karr op-ed

TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY
   What World Are We Building? - dana boyd op-ed

JOURNALISM
   The Great Disrupter of the News Industry [links to Benton summary]

DIVERSITY
   Privilege and inequality in Silicon Valley -- Why “few successful startup founders grew up desperately poor” [links to Medium]
   Film Academy Gives Guidance on Who Is In, Who Is Out After Rule Changes [links to New York Times]
   Directors Guild of America President Paris Barclay: Academy Changes Are Not Enough [links to Wrap, The]
   #BroadwaySoWhite: Hollywood Is Not the Only Arts Industry With a Race Problem [links to Huffington Post]

SECURITY/PRIVACY
   The Obama Administration’s Encryption Views Are All Over the Map [links to National Journal]
   Verizon releases transparency report for 2nd half of 2015 [links to Verizon]

OWNERSHIP
   CWA to Stump Against Altice-Cablevision [links to Broadcasting&Cable]

WIRELESS
   Some of Sprint’s prepaid customers will soon be able to get $5 off their wireless bill in exchange for putting up with more advertisements on their smartphones [links to Wall Street Journal]
   Mobile payment app use soars in US and UK [links to Financial Times]

TELEVISION
   Apple’s TV evolution demonstrates how difficult it will be for one tech company to control the living room [links to Wall Street Journal]
   Blizzard helps set record for on-demand TV viewing [links to CNN]
   Evercore ISI Group: 16% of Pay TV Base Will Be ‘Skinny’ in 2020 [links to Multichannel News]
   Brands Can Now Find Out in Real Time How Many People Watch Their TV Ads. Here's How [links to AdWeek]

EDUCATION
   For Some Schools, Learning Doesn't Stop On Snow Days [links to National Public Radio]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   US has proposed creating an "ombudsman" to deal with EU citizens' complaints about US surveillance as part of talks to clinch a new EU-US data transfer pact [links to Reuters]
   Digital attacks on China critics intensify, says cybersecurity firm [links to Christian Science Monitor]

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INTERNET/BROADBAND

STRICKLING AT STATE OF THE NET
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: Lawrence Strickling]
Despite this progress, it is clear that there are still those who oppose our efforts to maintain an open Internet and the free flow of information across the globe. In fact, the same week the United Nations reaffirmed its support for the multistakeholder approach to Internet governance, China held its own World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen at which the government appeared to return to its previous stance that Internet governance was the responsibility of governments. The statement issued at the end of the conference was notable for not including any mention whatsoever of the multistakeholder approach. As we begin 2016, what do we see as the landscape for Internet governance this year?
Will we complete the IANA stewardship transition this year? There is a lot riding on this question. First, of course, we want to preserve and strengthen the multistakeholder coordination of the Domain Name System through ICANN. Second, the efforts to date represent the largest multistakeholder process ever undertaken. Not only will ICANN be stronger as a result of this effort but a successful outcome here will serve as a powerful example to the world that the multistakeholder model can solve difficult issues regarding the Internet.
Will the multistakeholder model expand to meet the needs of the developing world? With its new ten-year mandate, the IGF is poised to play a major role here if the global Internet community takes up the challenge. This will also be an important year to determine if the NetMundial Initiative can become a useful resource. It has been handicapped from the start by its failure to make a compelling case to attract the support of the business community and the Internet Society. Its initial funding runs out this summer so it does not have much more time to demonstrate what value it can provide.
Where is China in the Internet governance debate? It has participated in ICANN – it even served on the first two accountability and review teams and Minister Lu Wei has said supportive things about the multistakeholder model in the past. But does the recent Wuzhen conference indicate that China intends to go its own way on these issues, more in line with its recent statements about the cyber sovereignty of nations and the need for multilateral, not multistakeholder, Internet governance?
And finally, can the multistakeholder model be used effectively to address Internet policy issues that come up in the context of privacy, cybersecurity and other issues where governments historically have had a mandate to act? For our part at NTIA, we have been utilizing the multistakeholder process the past few years as an alternative to traditional legislation and regulation and we will continue to do so this year with respect to work on drones, cybersecurity, privacy and copyright issues.
benton.org/headlines/ntias-strickling-talks-internet-governance-state-net-conference | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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MMTC ON BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Kim Keenan, president and CEO of the Multicultural Media, Telecom & Internet Council, said MMTC needs to take policy to the people and to remain constantly vigilant, noting that 32 million people are still not connected to a world "where they could become creators and not consumers." She told her audience they needed to be impatient and to stand up and say that all children needed to be connected. She said her son describes his iPhone as his "soul." But she said that should also enable him to create and participate, not simply consume and be consumed by it. "There has to be involvement," she said.
benton.org/headlines/mmtcs-keenan-broadband-must-be-two-way-connection | Multichannel News
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KENTUCKYWIRED
[SOURCE: Lexington Herald Leader, AUTHOR: Tom Eblen]
A year after state officials created a nationally recognized public-private partnership to build America’s best statewide broadband network, opponents are trying to kill it. Some telecom and cable companies that now provide Internet service around the state, along with several right-wing advocacy groups, are pushing legislators and Gov. Matt Bevin (R) to rethink the project, called KentuckyWired. KentuckyWired was created as part of the Shaping Our Appalachian Region initiative organized by former Gov. Steve Beshear (D) and US Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), Chairman of the House Appropriations committee. The high-speed, fiber-optic network is to be managed and ultimately paid for by private industry. But it will be owned by the public and offer open access to any Internet service provider. KentuckyWired officials say this network and its innovative structure could be a boon for economic development, giving businesses and homes better service, more choice and more competitive prices. But AT&T has filed a protest over the state’s process for awarding school Internet service contracts, many of which it now has. The Kentucky Telecom Association, which represents 15 rural Internet providers, thinks KentuckyWired should be reconsidered, claiming it would duplicate existing infrastructure and undermine existing businesses that need their state and school service contracts. The telecoms are getting backup from libertarian advocacy groups that object on principle to government-owned broadband networks.
benton.org/headlines/some-telecoms-anti-government-groups-oppose-new-state-broadband-network-kentucky | Lexington Herald Leader
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

TRUMP, CRUZ AND CONSERVATIVE MEDIA
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Eli Stokols, Hadas Gold]
Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) worked early and hard to cultivate the support of the most important voices in conservative talk radio and on the Web and was rewarded with an army of defenders who have for nearly a year inoculated him against criticism, advanced his message and bashed his rivals on a daily basis. No more. With just days to go before the Iowa caucuses, Cruz’s wires into conservative media have gotten crossed by Donald Trump. While opinion-makers on the right found it easy to dismiss Cruz’s earlier rivals — from Sens Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rand Paul (R-KY) to former Gov John Ellis Bush (R-FL) — Trump has proved a tougher foil. That’s partly because his rhetoric and stated policy positions appeal to so many conservative listeners and readers that covering them generates ratings gold. Breitbart, the conservative site, says it has experienced a 75 percent growth in traffic in the past year. And Rush Limbaugh says his audience “is expanding at near geometric proportions, as people seek guidance, answers, explanations, information, and an answer to the basic question, ‘What the hell is happening out there?’” But it’s also because leading voices in conservative media recognize, and appreciate, that it has been Trump, even more than Sen Cruz, who has driven the 2016 field to the right.
benton.org/headlines/trump-cracks-cruzs-lock-conservative-media | Politico
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TELLING TRUTH TO CRUZ
[SOURCE: Medium, AUTHOR: Tim Karr]
[Commentary] During a campaign stop in New Hampshire, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) slammed the Federal Communications Commission’s 2015 decision to protect the open Internet. His comments were captured in a video now being circulated by Protect Internet Freedom, an anti-Net Neutrality Astroturf group made up of GOP public relations staffers. The question itself fails the truth test. And Cruz’s response is so full of whoppers that it has to be taken apart, sentence by sentence, to fully demonstrate the depth of his dishonesty.
benton.org/headlines/truth-testing-ted-cruzs-latest-net-neutrality-comments | Medium
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TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

WHAT WORLD ARE WE BUILDING?
[SOURCE: Medium, AUTHOR: dana boyd]
[Commentary] It’s easy to love or hate technology, to blame it for social ills or to imagine that it will fix what people cannot. But technology is made by people. In a society. And it has a tendency to mirror and magnify the issues that affect everyday life. The good, bad, and ugly. Data is power. Increasingly we’re seeing data being used to assert power over people. It doesn’t have to be this way, but one of the things that I’ve learned is that, unchecked, new tools are almost always empowering to the privileged at the expense of those who are not. For most media activists, unfettered Internet access is at the center of the conversation, and that is critically important. Today we’re standing on a new precipice, and we need to think a few steps ahead of the current fight. We are moving into a world of prediction. A world where more people are going to be able to make judgments about others based on data. Data analysis that can mark the value of people as worthy workers, parents, borrowers, learners, and citizens. Data analysis that has been underway for decades but is increasingly salient in decision-making across numerous sectors. Data analysis that most people don’t understand.
benton.org/headlines/what-world-are-we-building | Medium
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