August 2016

INTERNET/BROADBAND

COMCAST ANNOUNCES 3 MILLION LOW-INCOME AMERICANS SERVED BY INTERNET ESSENTIALS
[SOURCE: Comcast, AUTHOR: Press release]
According to a five-year progress report, Comcast’s acclaimed Internet Essentials program has helped connect 750,000 families, or 3 million low-income Americans, to low-cost, high-speed Internet service at home. David L. Cohen, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of Comcast Corporation, made the announcement alongside six-time Olympic Medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who was recently named the national spokesperson for Internet Essentials. The two kicked off a multi-city tour that, over the next six weeks, will stop in Chicago (IL), Houston (TX), San Francisco (CA), Denver (CO), and Philadelphia (PA) where the company will announce more than $2 million in grants to community-based organizations that provide vital digital literacy training and Internet access.
benton.org/headlines/comcast-announces-3-million-low-income-americans-have-crossed-digital-divide-through | Comcast
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ROSENWORCEL LETTER RE: "TOO POOR TO AFFORD THE INTERNET"
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel]
[Commentary] There was a time, not that long ago, when paper and pencil were all that homework required. But as Anthony W. Marx notes, that time has passed. In urban areas, rural areas and everywhere in between, students who lack Internet service at home have difficulty doing their nightly schoolwork. Many of them cobble together whatever connectivity they can, picking up free Wi-Fi signals in front of libraries, in school parking lots, and at fast-food restaurants. Credit them with creativity and resilience. But getting homework done should not be this hard. Solving this problem will take a mix of initiatives. Already the Federal Communications Commission has updated its program supporting connectivity in low-income households to include broadband. Many broadband providers have low-cost offerings, and we need to ensure that schools and students are aware of them. We also need federal policies to increase unlicensed spectrum, which is used to support Wi-Fi. Finally, we need to keep tabs on local efforts — from outfitting school buses with wireless service to lending out library hot spots — and make sure that successful programs are copied elsewhere.
benton.org/headlines/letter-editor-pencils-books-and-full-internet-access-0 | New York Times
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MICHAEL COPPS LETTER RE: "TOO POOR TO AFFORD THE INTERNET"
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Michael Copps]
[Commentary] The Internet is the 21st century’s marketplace, politically and economically; it’s where the next generation will do business and exchange ideas. That’s why it’s critical that Congress resist partisan efforts to gut the Federal Communications Commission’s recent action modernizing its Lifeline program to support broadband. For more than 30 years, the Lifeline program has enjoyed bipartisan support and helped low-income households buy telephone service. Beginning in December, barring hostile actions from Congress, qualifying households will be able to use their Lifeline dollars to offset the cost of broadband. Our children deserve access to this century’s public square.
[Michael Copps is a former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission appointed by President George W. Bush, and a special adviser to Common Cause.]
benton.org/headlines/letter-editor-pencils-books-and-full-internet-access | New York Times
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NEXT CENTURY CITIES MAYORS OPPOSE ANTI-MUNICIPAL BROADBAND DECISION
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Andrew Burger]
Forty-two mayors and city leaders have sent letters of support to Chattanooga (TN) Mayor Andy Berke and Wilson (NC) Mayor Bruce Rose, who are advocating to overturn an anti-municipal broadband decision made by the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The decision put a halt to an Federal Communications Commission ruling that would have preempted recently enacted legislation in NC and Tennessee that prohibits municipalities from creating publicly owned and operated broadband networks. The mayors are members of the Next Century Cities association of public and private sector organizations, whose primary aims include providing affordable broadband access in cities and towns throughout the US. “As mayors and municipal leaders, we know that there is no single best solution for supporting connectivity in our communities,” they state in the letter. “While our paths vary, we are united by our commitment to competition and the right of self-determination for all our communities, free from interference."
benton.org/headlines/next-century-cities-mayors-oppose-anti-municipal-broadband-decision | telecompetitor
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OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO HELP APPALACHIAN COMMUNITIES REVITALIZE DOWNTOWNS THROUGH BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Department of Agriculture, AUTHOR: ]
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) announced the selection of 10 communities in six states that will participate in the Cool & Connected planning assistance program, an innovative initiative to help people use broadband service for downtown revitalization and economic development. Through Cool & Connected, partner communities will receive direct technical assistance from a team of experts to develop strategies and an action plan for using expected or existing broadband service to create connected, economically vibrant main streets and small-town neighborhoods. By combining broadband service with other local assets, such as cultural and recreational amenities, communities can attract and retain investment and people, revitalize downtowns and diversify local economies. Cool & Connected also protects the environment by encouraging the reuse of existing infrastructure and by improving walkability. For example, strategies that help communities reinvest in established areas can help preserve open spaces and farmlands and protect air and water quality.
benton.org/headlines/obama-administration-help-appalachian-communities-revitalize-downtowns-through-broadband | Department of Agriculture
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ONLINE SALES TAX
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Richard Rubin]
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) will release a new proposal in coming days that attempts to resolve the long-running dispute among retailers, state governments and online retailers over how to tax purchases made across state lines. His discussion draft would introduce a new legal framework for cross-border sales, largely replacing the current system that relies on whether a seller has a physical presence in a state. Instead, sales would be taxed according to the tax base of the retailer and a single tax rate chosen by the consumer’s state. That is an enormous change from the way sales taxes have traditionally worked, and it could create complications, including how to handle the five states—Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon—that don’t levy sales taxes.
benton.org/headlines/key-house-republican-unveil-sales-tax-plan-purchases-across-state-lines | Wall Street Journal
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CENTURYLINK SUES IDAHO FOR $37 MILLION OVER STATE BROADBAND PROJECT
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Sean Buckley]
CenturyLink and Education Networks of America are suing the state of Idaho for $37 million over claims that it broke the terms of their broadband agreement, one that includes expanding their fiber network to support a state broadband project for local schools. This suit follows a decision made by Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden demanding the two companies repay the millions of dollars that the state had paid them for services. CenturyLink and Education Networks of America said in a Salt Lake Tribune article that the contract was void due to missteps taken by the state. The pair said they want to be paid for the work they did. Additionally, the two companies said they want to be compensated for the investment they made to meet the future terms of the contract, including the extension of fiber facilities to hard to reach rural areas. In its lawsuit, CenturyLink officials said that state officials -- including Gov CL "Butch" Otter (R-ID) and other legislative leaders -- told them that Idaho should pay for the network services the telecommunication company provided to them. Although state lawmakers proposed an $8 million settlement, Idaho will have to pay out a larger amount of money for the troubled state broadband plan. The project, which was launched in 2008, aimed to provide one broadband network for all schools across the state. To date, Idaho taxpayers have paid over $29 million for the project.
benton.org/headlines/centurylink-sues-idaho-37-million-over-state-broadband-project | Fierce
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ELECTIONS 2016

INSIDE FACEBOOK'S POLITICAL-MEDIA MACHINE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Herrman]
Facebook, in the years leading up to the 2016 election, hasn’t just become nearly ubiquitous among American Internet users; it has centralized online news consumption in an unprecedented way. According to the company, its site is used by more than 200 million people in the United States each month, out of a total population of 320 million. A 2016 Pew study found that 44 percent of Americans read or watch news on Facebook. These are approximate exterior dimensions and can tell us only so much. But we can know, based on these facts alone, that Facebook is hosting a huge portion of the political conversation in America. The Facebook product, to users in 2016, is familiar yet subtly expansive. Its algorithms have their pick of text, photos and video produced and posted by established media organizations large and small, local and national, openly partisan or nominally unbiased. But there’s also a new and distinctive sort of operation that has become hard to miss: political news and advocacy pages made specifically for Facebook, uniquely positioned and cleverly engineered to reach audiences exclusively in the context of the news feed.
benton.org/headlines/inside-facebooks-totally-insane-unintentionally-gigantic-hyperpartisan-political-media | New York Times
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SECURITY/PRIVACY

NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY ALLIANCES SURVEY
[SOURCE: National Cyber Security Alliance , AUTHOR: ]
A National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) study of online safety attitudes and behaviors reveals a complex relationship between American teens and parents. The US-based survey, Keeping Up with Generation App: NCSA Parent/Teen Online Safety Survey, which interviewed 804 online teens between the ages of 13 and 17 and a separate sample of 810 online parents, found several signs of an apparent digital disconnect, illustrated by the finding that 60 percent of teen Internet users have created online accounts that their parents are unaware of – more than double the 28 percent of online parents who suspect their teens have secret accounts. The study also found a high reliance by teens on peer-to-peer support with 43 percent of respondents saying friends have sought their support because they encountered issues online. The survey also highlights an array of issues teens face online and how they respond:
Thirty-nine percent of teen Internet users report someone has been mean or cruel to them online in the past year. Fifty-two percent of those incidents involved a response to something they said or did, 45 percent involved something about their appearance, and about one in four say the content was about their sexual orientation, gender or race.
When teens face a serious problem online, 40 percent say that a friend would be the first person they turn to, while 85 percent of parents say they hope their child would come to them for help.
Across the board, teens report that they are “very concerned” about someone:
Accessing their account without permission (47%)
Sharing personal information about them online (43%)
Having a photo or video shared that they wanted to keep private (38%)
Receiving unwanted communications that make them uncomfortable (32%)
benton.org/headlines/national-cyber-security-alliance-survey-reveals-complex-digital-lives-american-teens-and | National Cyber Security Alliance | The Guardian
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August 2016

US CIO Tony Scott continues push for Information Technology Modernization Fund

All the Ways Your Wi-Fi Router Can Spy on You

“Silicon Valley is hostile to diversity,” says Slack Director of Engineering Leslie Miley

Want to Own a Newspaper? A Vermont Contest Has Trouble Finding Takers

Where Are the Women? Not Behind the Mic.

Solving the Mystery of Cyber Diversity

August 25, 2016 (Inside Facebook’s Political-Media Machine)

Key House Republican to Unveil Sales Tax Plan for Purchases Across State Lines

Clinton buries Trump in negative ads

Snapchat Lures More Campaign Spending as Candidates Court Young Voters