1. Monthly archive
  2. October 2016

October 2016

China’s Internet Child-Safety Policies Could Force Changes at Tech Firms

China has proposed strengthening its policies on internet safety for children, which could force technology companies to make substantial operational changes to meet the new requirements.

The draft rules would require online-game operators to lock out anyone under the age of 18 between midnight and 8 a.m. They would also call for an increased number of websites to post warnings about content deemed unsuitable for minors. Few companies will criticize Chinese policies openly. However, industry experts said that a strict implementation of the proposed rules could also force foreign companies to use Chinese censorship software that they can’t control and that could potentially serve as backdoors for Chinese surveillance. The proposed regulations posted online Sept. 30 are vague as to whether companies’ existing parental control systems would suffice or if they would have to use Beijing-approved software.

The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet regulator, said that it would support the development of web-filtering software to keep children safe online and would determine which products comply with its requirements.

BT questions viability of third UK ultrafast broadband network

The development of a third ultrafast broadband network for the UK, to compete with Openreach and Virgin Media, is “highly unlikely”, according to a report commissioned by BT and submitted to the regulator Ofcom.

Ofcom is trying to improve competition with the opening up of BT’s network of underground ducts and telegraph poles for other companies to use to run their own fibre cables to homes and businesses. “A good long-term outcome would be to achieve fully competition between three or more networks for around 40 percent of premises, with competition from two providers in many areas beyond that,” the regulator said. But BT’s report, from telecoms consultancy Analysys Mason, said it would only be financially viable for a new entrant to deploy to 2 million homes, or 7 percent of the country, if it was achieving a market share of 25 percent. If a “more realistic” outcome of a 20 percent market share was achieved by the new operator, coverage would fall to a mere 4 percent, using ducts and poles.

Sen Thune wanted Donald Trump gone. Now it looks like he’ll vote for him.

On October 8, Sen John Thune (R-SD), the Senate Commerce Committee Chairman, was the highest-ranking Republican to call for Donald Trump to quit the presidential race. On Oct 11, Sen Thune said he'll probably vote for him.

A reasonable reading of this situation is that Trump has managed to stop the bleeding among Republicans tempted to ditch him — whether by a stronger-than-expected debate performance, or by making life hard for Republicans who did bail. There could be a few reasons high-profile Republicans such as Sen Thune have reversed their decision to jump ship. The first is obvious: the ticking clock. Sen Thune still thinks Trump should go, he told Steva, but said it may be too late.

Facebook Helped Drive a Voter Registration Surge, Election Officials Say

A 17-word Facebook reminder contributed to substantial increases in online voter registration across the country, according to top election officials.

At least nine secretaries of state have credited the social network’s voter registration reminder, displayed for four days in September, with boosting sign-ups, in some cases by considerable amounts. Data from nine other states show that registrations rose drastically on the first day of the campaign compared with the day before. “Facebook clearly moved the needle in a significant way,” said Alex Padilla, California’s secretary of state. In California, 123,279 people registered to vote or updated their registrations on Friday, Sept. 23, the first day that Facebook users were presented with the reminder. That was the fourth-highest daily total in the history of the state’s online registration site.

Facebook’s effort is notable not just for boosting voter registration, but also for the kinds of voters it may have helped to enlist. While Facebook could not provide demographic breakdowns of the users who registered, the social network is more popular among female internet users than male users, and the same is true for young users compared with older users. Both groups — women and younger adults — tend to lean Democratic.

Data, Experimentation and Evaluation needed to Inform Broadband Policy

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and National Science Foundation’s request for comments on a broadband research agenda is an important step towards a coherent, data-driven national policy, states Technology Policy Institute President Scott Wallsten in comments filed with the agencies. Research on broadband adoption and programs should focus on what could drive consumer demand among the unconnected, experimentation in programs, and independent evaluation on the effectiveness of current policies. Broadband subsidy programs “have tended to focus on supply, with little regard to how people use the Internet or what will attract them to it,” explains Wallsten.

For example, recent reforms made to the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program failed to acknowledge the results of pilot programs, which suggested subsidies “have little effect on adoption. It is crucial that we understand more about the nature of demand if we are to encourage the remaining non-adopters to join the network.” Agencies must be able to experiment to determine what programs or actions may or may not increase adoption. “Experimentation should extend beyond adoption issues, as well,” explained Wallsten. “Research can also focus on ways of distributing subsidies and grants in ways that yield the most benefits.” Research should also focus on independent evaluation of existing programs and determining ways of building evaluation into new programs. “Evaluation should focus on long-term programs that have not yet received any attention, such as broadband subsidies distributed by the Rural Utilities Service, and others that are now ripe for evaluation, such as the Connect America Fund.”

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