BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2016
Today's Events:
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Classified 2002 Letter on NSA Eavesdropping Is Made Public
EU and US Release Details on Trans-Atlantic Data Transfer Deal
“Privacy Shield” proposed to replace US-EU Safe Harbor, faces skepticism [links to Benton summary]
Pentagon admits it is 'looking to accelerate' cyberattacks against ISIS
Sen Franken Seeks Answers From Clear Channel [links to Benton summary]
Effective Regulators, Effective Privacy Choices - op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Attorney General Lynch: Wiretap agreement with Britain would protect privacy, human rights [links to Washington Post]
Utilities Cautioned About Potential for a Cyberattack After Ukraine’s [links to New York Times]
APPLE/FBI
Apple Wins Ruling in New York iPhone Hacking Order
The fight between Apple and the FBI moves to Capitol Hill [links to Los Angeles Times]
Apple faces tall test against FBI director in Congress hearing [links to Financial Times]
Apple lawyer says helping FBI break into iPhone will lead to more crime
The technology at the heart of the Apple-FBI debate, explained - WaPo op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Congress Warily Eyes Apple-FBI Standoff [links to Benton summary]
It’s Unlikely Congress Could Pass an Encryption Workaround Bill [links to Benton summary]
Apple to Tell Congress Complying With FBI Would Harm Privacy [links to Bloomberg]
The five questions that will decide Apple’s fight with the FBI [links to Verge, The]
Privacy debate overshadows what's on San Bernardino killer's phone [links to USAToday]
If Apple Creates an iPhone Backdoor, It Immediately Becomes a Hacking Target [links to Vice]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Working Paper: Online Privacy and ISPs - research
Emerging tools for cities to address the digital divide - Brookings
Oregon created a tax break for Google Fiber – but Comcast may be the big winner [links to Benton summary]
AT&T Fiber Ready Designation Targets Economic Development in Georgia [links to Benton summary]
Robert Reich Gets Broadband Wrong - Real Clear Policy op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Who’s Connected: 2 Stories of “Free Internet” - Anil Dash op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Chairman Wheeler's Response to Senators Capito, Daines and King Regarding CAF Phase II [links to Federal Communications Commission]
Chairman Wheeler's Response to Members of Congress Regarding Enhanced Transparency Requirements in Open Internet Order [links to Federal Communications Commission]
Chairman Wheeler's Response to Members of Congress Regarding GAO Report on Internet Protocol Transition [links to Federal Communications Commission]
NET NEUTRALITY
FCC Commissioner Pai Is Dead Wrong on Investment and Net Neutrality - Free Press [links to Benton summary]
Happy Birthday Net Neutrality! Where Do We Stand One Year Later? - PK analysis [links to Benton summary]
TELEVISION
Diversity in Television: An FCC Principle Now Being Reconsidered - HuffPo op-ed
Media Mogul Sumner Redstone Competency Case Will Go Forward [links to New York Times]
The big new worry: Cord shaving [links to Media life]
ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
US election race puts harsh spotlight on media
CONTENT
Mark Zuckerberg is 'very concerned' about ISIS threats [links to CNNMoney]
Internet outrage, explained [links to Vox]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
1-Gigabit LTE will incorporate unlicensed spectrum [links to Fierce]
TELECOM
Op-ed: Are telecoms falling back in love with payphone booths? [links to American Enterprise Institute]
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Les Moonves: Ugly Election Is Awesome for Business [links to Wrap, The]
Here's How Presidential Campaign Ad Spending Adds Up, Post-Bush [links to AdAge]
COMMUNITY MEDIA
Eight Public Media Stations Awarded Grant by Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Form New England News Collaborative [links to Corporation for Public Broadcasting]
POLICYMAKERS
‘Wasteland’ Revisited [links to Benton summary]
EDUCATION
A Tennessee District Perseveres in Wake of Online-Testing Woes [links to Education Week]
DIVERSITY
Diversity in Television: An FCC Principle Now Being Reconsidered - HuffPo op-ed
Under diversity pressure, tech courts minority groups in DC [links to Politico]
LABOR
The Information Revolution’s Dark Turn [links to Benton summary]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
EU and US Release Details on Trans-Atlantic Data Transfer Deal
“Privacy Shield” proposed to replace US-EU Safe Harbor, faces skepticism [links to Benton summary]
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SECURITY/PRIVACY
YOO MEMO RELEASED
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Charlie Savage, Eric Lichtblau]
The Obama Administration made public a previously classified letter from 2002 about the Bush administration’s secret program that allowed the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans’ international communications without court orders. The release of the 22-page letter, written by John Yoo, then a top lawyer in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, adds to the historical record of one of the most controversial pieces of the Bush administration’s response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001: The surveillance and bulk data collection program known by the code name Stellarwind. The letter explained to Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who at that time was the new chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, why the Justice Department considered the program lawful even though, as Yoo acknowledged, it clashed with wiretapping laws laid out in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The letter appeared to track a memorandum Yoo had written in Nov. 2, 2001, soon after President George W. Bush directed the NSA to begin the program. A previously released inspector general report about the program included a partially redacted summary of that memo. Among other things, Yoo claimed in the letter that the president’s constitutional authority as commander-in-chief overruled statutory prohibitions and that under the circumstances the program complied with the Fourth Amendment, which bars unreasonable searches and usually requires warrants.
benton.org/headlines/classified-2002-letter-nsa-eavesdropping-made-public | New York Times
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EU AND US RELEASE DETAILS ON TRANS-ATLANTIC DATA TRANSFER DEAL
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Mark Scott]
American and European officials released details about a new trans-Atlantic data transfer agreement, prompting a new round of debate about how companies like Google move digital information between the two regions. The pact is the formal version of an agreement hashed out in early February after often-bitter negotiations, revamping the rules for how technology giants like Facebook and other conglomerates like GE look up, collect and manage online data, including social media posts, search queries and e-commerce purchases. As part of the new agreement — known as the EU-US Privacy Shield — companies will face stricter rules over how they move people’s digital data from the European Union to the United States. American officials have also agreed to new limits on the powers of the country’s intelligence agencies to gain access to Europeans’ online information when it is transferred to the United States. The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, also gave its official backing after it released a so-called adequacy decision, an official text required to turn the data transfer pact into law. Though the agreement still needs to be ratified by European Union member states, that is not expected to be contentious and is likely to happen in the coming months. Europe’s approval, however, was somewhat offset by a separate document also released Feb 29, in which the European Union called on the United States to bolster its domestic privacy rules. Federal efforts to offer new privacy protections have so far produced few new controls for American consumers.
benton.org/headlines/eu-and-us-release-details-trans-atlantic-data-transfer-deal | New York Times
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PENTAGON ADMITS IT IS 'LOOKING TO ACCELERATE' CYBERATTACKS AGAINST ISIS
[SOURCE: The Guardian, AUTHOR: Spencer Ackerman]
The Pentagon has acknowledged using its storehouse of new digital weapons to attack Islamic State communications networks, the first time that the US military has acknowledged doing so during an active war. Operators from the US Cyber Command, the young military command twinned to the National Security Agency, have launched assaults on nodes, overloading them with data, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said. Sec Carter said the US was “looking to accelerate” cyberstrikes he likened to the traditional disruption of enemy command networks. The US cyberattacks, which Sec Carter said complemented familiar methods of signal jamming over radio frequencies, seek to instill a loss of confidence in the security and efficacy of internal Isis communications. Analysts who have long tracked the development and incorporation of digital weapons into the US military arsenal considered Sec Carter’s acknowledgment to be a milestone.
benton.org/headlines/pentagon-admits-it-looking-accelerate-cyberattacks-against-isis | Guardian, The
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APPLE/FBI
APPLE WINS RULING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Katie Bender, Joseph Goldstein]
Judge James Orenstein in New York’s Eastern District denied the United States government’s request that Apple extract data from an iPhone in a drug case in New York, giving the company’s pro-privacy stance a boost as it battles law enforcement officials over opening up the device in other cases. The ruling is the first time that the government’s legal argument for opening up devices like the iPhone has been put to the test. The denial could influence other cases where law enforcement officials are trying to compel Apple to help unlock iPhones, including the standoff between Apple and the FBI over the iPhone used by one of the attackers in a mass shooting in San Bernardino. Judge Orenstein, in his 50-page ruling, took particular aim at a 1789 statute called the All Writs Act that underlies many government requests for extracting data from tech companies. The All Writs Act broadly says that courts can require actions to comply with their orders when not covered by existing law. Judge Orenstein said the government was inflating its authority by using the All Writs Act to force Apple to extract data from an iPhone seized in connection with a drug case.
benton.org/headlines/apple-wins-ruling-new-york-iphone-hacking-order | New York Times | WSJ | CSM | Mercury News | Bloomberg
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APPLE LAWYER SAYS HELPING FBI BREAK INTO IPHONE WILL LEAD TO MORE CRIME
[SOURCE: The Guardian, AUTHOR: Sam Thielman, Spencer Ackerman]
As Apple prepares to move its encryption battle with the Federal Bureau of Investigation from the courts to the halls of Congress, its chief lawyer is arguing that unlocking the iPhone used by a San Bernardino (CA) terrorist will ultimately create more crime than it prevents. Bruce Sewell, Apple’s general counsel, will warn legislators on the House Judiciary Committee that the Feb 16 court order on Apple to help the FBI break into the iPhone will create a digital vulnerability that jeopardises another US government imperative: cybersecurity. “Hackers and cyber criminals could use this to wreak havoc on our privacy and personal safety,” Sewell will tell the House panel at a hotly anticipated hearing on March 1, according to prepared remarks the company has released. “Some of you might have an iPhone in your pocket right now, and if you think about it, there’s probably more information stored on that iPhone than a thief could steal by breaking into your house,” Sewell will testify. Sewell’s testimony will follow that of James Comey, the director of the FBI who has since 2014 publicly warned that thorough mobile encryption will jeopardise law enforcement.
benton.org/headlines/apple-lawyer-says-helping-fbi-break-iphone-will-lead-more-crime | Guardian, The | Revere Digital
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
WORKING PAPER: ONLINE PRIVACY AND ISPS
[SOURCE: The Institute for Information Security & Privacy at Georgia Tech, AUTHOR: Peter Swire, Justin Hemmings, Alana Kirkland]
This Working Paper provides a detailed, factual description of today’s online ecosystem for the United States, with attention to user privacy and the data collected about individual users. The Working Paper addresses a widely-held, but mistaken view about Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and privacy. That view asserts that ISPs have comprehensive and unique access to, and knowledge about, users’ online activity because ISPs operate the last mile of the network connecting end users to the Internet. Some have cited this view to suggest that ISPs' collection and use of their customers’ online data may justify heightened privacy restrictions on ISPs. This Working Paper takes no position on what rules should apply to ISPs and other players in the Internet ecosystem going forward. But public policy should be consistent and based on an up-to-date and accurate understanding of the facts of this ecosystem. The Working Paper addresses two fundamental points. First, ISP access to user data is not comprehensive – technological developments place substantial limits on ISPs’ visibility. Second, ISP access to user data is not unique – other companies often have access to more information and a wider range of user information than ISPs. In summary, based on a factual analysis of today’s Internet ecosystem in the United States, ISPs have neither comprehensive nor unique access to information about users’ online activity. Rather, the most commercially valuable information about online users, which can be used for targeted advertising and other purposes, is coming from other contexts. Market leaders are combining these contexts for insight into a wide range of activity on each device and across devices.
benton.org/headlines/working-paper-online-privacy-and-isps | Institute for Information Security & Privacy at Georgia Tech, The | The Hill | Broadcasting & Cable
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EMERGING TOOLS FOR CITIES TO ADDRESS THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Blair Levin]
[Commentary] Recently, the New York Times ran an article on how the digital divide particularly affects schoolchildren, creating what they termed a “homework gap.” The article illustrates vividly what has been clear, at least since the 2010 National Broadband Plan advocated universal adoption—that today, a person’s full participation in the economy and civic life requires connectivity. An outcome of the plan’s discussions included various private efforts, such as Cox Cable’s program and Comcast’s Internet Essentials, now the largest program connecting low-income Americans to broadband. AT&T and other telecommunication companies offer similar programs. Google also entered the space, including in its first fiber roll-out an inexpensive option—a one time connection fee of $300, payable over time but no monthly service charge—for a 5Mbps service, priced well below the comparable DSL service. Google also supports programs like Digital Inclusion Fellows, to help aid local training sessions. What’s great about these private efforts, which will enjoy increased momentum when the Federal Communications Commission reforms Lifeline, is they demonstrate how market forces are taking hold and spurring behavior common to more competitive markets: experimentation and adjustments to find more effective ways to bring customers value. Market forces along will not solve the adoption issue, but market forces, particularly if supported by smarter government, can accelerate the closing of the digital divide.
benton.org/headlines/emerging-tools-cities-address-digital-divide | Brookings
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TELEVISION
DIVERSITY IN TV: AN FCC PRINCIPLE IS NOW BEING RECONSIDERED
[SOURCE: Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Tracy Rosenberg]
[Commentary] A founding principle of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is protecting the public interest in communications - in television, radio, internet and new emerging mediums. In a country of increasing diversity, the public interest is not a "one size fits all" proposition. In the United States of 2016, the public interest must serve a Spanish-speaking mother in Los Angeles as well as it serves a rural rancher in South Dakota or a millennial urbanite in Brooklyn. As an industry, broadcast television has long served the largest number of Americans with its mass, free, over-the-air broadcasts. For this reason, Media Alliance finds it troubling that the FCC's current re-examination of the rules for exclusivity may jeopardize local broadcast television as it exists today. The Commission is in the process of reexamining rules which allow broadcasters to negotiate the terms of use for broadcast content to be disseminated to cable providers. The current exclusivity rules preserve diversity in broadcast programming. And while there is nowhere near enough diversity, taking actions to further reduce it in order to increase profit levels for cable providers is not in the public interest. We believe that the current exclusivity rules should be preserved by the FCC. Any change to these regulations is a win for Big Cable and a terrible loss for small broadcasters across the country and the local communities in which they serve. The "public interest" that the FCC must protect includes Americans who have affordability challenges with pay TV and high-speed broadband access and the FCC must recognize this when considering how it should act on this important issue.
[Tracy Rosenberg is the Executive Director of Media Alliance, based in Northern California]
benton.org/headlines/diversity-television-fcc-principle-now-being-reconsidered | Huffington Post
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
ELECTION 2016 AND THE MEDIA
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Shannon Bond]
The juxtaposition of Donald Trump’s latest attack on what he described as “among the most dishonest groups of people I’ve ever met”, and the accolades for Spotlight has laid bare the uncomfortable status of US journalism as 2016’s rancorous political climate adds to business pressures on an industry facing sweeping digital change. Political bashing of the news media tends to peak during elections as candidates vie for coverage but lash out when that coverage is not to their liking. Marty Baron, executive editor of the Washington Post, said: “On the one hand, when they’re succeeding they say they don’t need us and when they’re failing they say we’re to blame. I don’t know that both of those can be true, actually.” Baron said the criticism in this year’s presidential primary season has come from all sides: “The ones who said they succeeded, they said they did it despite the media. So Trump succeeded despite the media, [Ted] Cruz did it despite the media, [Marco] Rubio did it despite the media . . . And that’s true on the Democratic side too.” But, he noted, “the reality is they need us for some things and they can do other things on their own and there’s a very complicated media ecosystem that they operate in . . . When the Rubio campaign started to falter a little bit, he made himself much more accessible to the media.”
benton.org/headlines/us-election-race-puts-harsh-spotlight-media | Financial Times
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