December 2016

AT&T-Time Warner: Is Bigger Badder? [links to Benton summary]

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2016

ELECTION 2016
   Obama Orders Intelligence Report on Russian Election Hacking
   Trump says CIA report that Russia helped his electoral win is “ridiculous” [links to Ars Technica]
   Key GOP senators join call for bipartisan Russia election probe, even as their leaders remain mum [links to Washington Post]
   Sen Schumer calls for full investigation by Congress of Russian interference in U.S. elections [links to Washington Post]
   FBI and CIA give differing accounts to lawmakers on Russia’s motives in 2016 hacks [links to Washington Post]
   FBI covered up Russian influence on Trump's election win, Sen Harry Reid claims [links to Guardian, The]
   Russian involvement in US vote raises fears for European elections [links to Guardian, The]
   Editorial: Russia’s Hand in America’s Election [links to New York Times]
   Editorial: Russian Hackers and American Hacks [links to Wall Street Journal]
   Pro-Trump Group Blew by Basic Campaign Finance Laws [links to Pro Publica]
   Trump Aide Conway: 'The most fake news’ was Trump couldn’t beat Clinton [links to Hill, The]

TRANSITION
   To understand President-elect Trump is to realize that he is not just a TV celebrity; he is, in a strange, meta way, a spectator of his own performance [links to New York Times]
   For Sec of State, Trump Taps Rex Tillerson, ExxanMobil’s Aggressive Dealmaker Whose Ties With Russia May Prompt Scrutiny [links to New York Times]
   Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson Faces Senate Dissent as Potential State Pick [links to Wall Street Journal]
   Telecom Industry Sees Relief in Trump Policy Agenda [links to Benton summary]
   Donald Trump rewarding million-dollar donors with plum postings [links to Center for Public Integrity]
   Trump to name Goldman Sachs veteran, Gary Cohn, to head National Economic Council [links to Washington Post]
   An ‘Apprentice’ Role for Trump Opens Door Wide for Questions
   Lawmakers who slammed Barack Obama’s stimulus say they’re fine with Trump’s — among other ideological accommodations they’re making for the president-elect. [links to Politico]
   Eric Boehlert: One Month Later, Press Failing Trump Transition Test...Badly [links to Huffington Post]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Rural Broadband Programs and Community Anchor Institutions - research
   Broadband and High-speed Internet Access in the Fourth District - Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland research
   CenturyLink says E-Rate funding should not be used to fund residential broadband
   Verizon General Counsel: We Still Support Net Neutrality

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   FCC Speeds Reverse Auction for Stage Four on Dec 13
   Sens Propose TV Station Relocation Fund
   Jessell Alert: Spectrum Auction Terribly Sick - TVNewsCheck editorial [links to Benton summary]
   Calls on an airplane? Rule change may allow them, despite skepticism from airlines, flight attendents
   FCC Announces the Completion of 800 MHz Band Reconfiguration in Certain NPSPAC Regions and the Availability of Additional Sprint Vacated Channels [links to Federal Communications Commission]

OWNERSHIP
   21st Century Fox In Talks to Buy Rest of UK’s Sky
   Google Makes So Much Money, It Never Had to Worry About Financial Discipline—Until Now [links to Benton summary]

SECURITY/PRIVACY
   NIST invites organizations to provide products and technical expertise to support and demonstrate technology platforms for the Privacy-Enhancing Identity Federation Building Block [links to National Institute of Standards and Technology]
   Terror Scanning Database For Social Media Raises More Questions than Answers [links to Vice]

CONTENT
   Inside the social media echo chamber - Brookings analysis [links to Benton summary]
   Elite Soccer Clubs Sign Gamers to Play Hardball in E-Sports Industry [links to New York Times]

TELEVISION
   Over-the-Top Confusion With Comcast [links to Benton summary]
   Sen Warren Joins Call for Proof NBC Won't Shut Out Boston Viewers [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
   Comcast Commits to Networks for Bicultural Kids [links to Multichannel News]

JOURNALISM
   In Trump Era, Uncompromising TV News Should Be the Norm, Not the Exception - analysis
   Fake news and the law, from 1798 to now [links to Washington Post]
   Newseum’s Jeffrey Herbst: How to Beat the Scourge of Fake News [links to Wall Street Journal]
   Steve Inskeep: A Finder's Guide To Facts [links to National Public Radio]
   Sen Cornyn (R-TX): Bring Journalist Austin Tice Home [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
   Newspapers Lobby Trump About Google News [links to MediaPost]
   Can journalism be virtual? - op-ed [links to Benton summary]
   An astonishing number of people believe Pizzagate could be true [links to Vox]
   I Covered Tech for the Times for 28 Years, And Now My Time Is Over - Medium op-ed [links to Benton summary]
   Associated Press announces layoffs [links to Washington Post]

DIVERSITY
   Nina Jacobson Has Her Revenge on Hollywood’s Old-Boy Network [links to New York Times]

EDUCATION
   Google Effect Rubs Off on Schools in One Rural Oklahoma Town

ENVIRONMENT
   Will the internet of things sacrifice or save the environment? [links to Guardian, The]

TELECOM
   FTC Issues FY 2016 National Do Not Call Registry Data Book - press release [links to Benton summary]

PATENTS
   Samsung strikes back: Supreme Court ruling on design patents overturns Apple's big damages award [links to American Enterprise Institute]

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Politics and Business Don’t Mix in Trump’s America - analysis
   Police Reform Can Start On Twitter - Susan Crawford op-ed [links to Benton summary]
   Does open government work? - Brookings analysis [links to Benton summary]

POLICYMAKERS
   Chairman-elect Walden Names Senior Staff for House Commerce Committee - press release [links to Benton summary]

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ELECTIONS 2016

OBAMA ORDERS INTELLIGENCE REPORT ON RUSSIAN ELECTION HACKING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Sanger]
President Barack Obama has ordered American intelligence agencies to produce a full report on Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election. He also directed them to develop a list of “lessons learned” from the broad campaign the United States has accused Russia of carrying out to steal e-mails, publish their contents and probe the vote-counting system. “We may have crossed a new threshold here,” said Lisa Monaco, one of President Obama’s closest aides and the former head of the national security division of the Justice Department. “He expects to receive this report before he leaves office.” The report, according to senior administration officials, will trace the attacks on the Democratic National Committee and on prominent individuals like John D. Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. But it is unclear that the contents of the report will be made public. Intelligence agencies and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which still has an active investigation of the hacking underway, have been reluctant to make public any of their findings; they fear it will reveal sources and methods of how the incursions were traced back to Russia. After past investigations involving sensitive intelligence information, declassified versions of reports were sometimes published, with a classified version sent to congressional committees and some agencies.
benton.org/headlines/obama-orders-intelligence-report-russian-election-hacking | New York Times | Reuters | Washington Post
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TRANSITION

TRUMP AND THE APPRENTICE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Michael Grynbaum]
President-elect Donald Trump is entering office with financial entanglements that are exotic and far-flung: a condominium project in Manila, a luxury furniture maker in Istanbul, golf courses in Scotland and Ireland, and a hotel in Azerbaijan. But starting in January, Trump’s most visible business interest will be beamed directly into millions of American living rooms: “The Celebrity Apprentice” is back, and the president-elect is coming with it. Just weeks before Inauguration Day, President-elect Trump will resume his role as an executive producer of the NBC reality show, an unlikely side project for a commander in chief, and one that is poised to bring him hundreds of thousands of dollars in income. Modern presidents, including the current one, have received royalties from sales of memoirs and book projects. But Trump’s ties to the show — now starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and renamed “The New Celebrity Apprentice” — potentially thrust the president-elect into a host of potential conflicts, from coziness with the brands that advertise on the show to his relationship with the network that airs it.
benton.org/headlines/apprentice-role-trump-opens-door-wide-questions | New York Times
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

RURAL BROADBAND PROGRAMS AND COMMUNITY ANCHOR INSTITUTION
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Tom Koutsky]
In thinly-populated rural and tribal areas, community anchor institutions (CAIs) can be vitally important to connecting residents to the rest of the world. Schools, libraries, health clinics, and many other anchor institutions rely upon high-capacity broadband to provide education, health, and information services to rural consumers. Unfortunately, because of the economic factors described below, anchor institutions in rural and tribal areas have an especially difficult time obtaining high-capacity broadband connections at affordable rates. Ensuring every rural community has access to high-capacity Internet access through their anchor institutions will often require financial support and other government initiatives to stimulate deployment and promote competition. Connecting rural CAIs to high-capacity broadband can be a catalyst for further investment; when CAIs serve as the “anchor tenant” on a rural network, they improve the business case for community-wide network upgrades or further network expansion. When implementing programs designed to increase access to broadband service in rural areas, federal, state, and local efforts should give high priority to the broadband needs of rural community anchor institutions.
[Tom Koutsky served as Chief Policy Counsel for Connected Nation, where he provided vision and leadership for Connected Nation’s broadband research and policy initiatives.]
https://www.benton.org/blog/rural-broadband-programs-and-community-ancho...
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BROADBAND AND HIGH-SPEED INTERNET ACCESS IN THE FOURTH DISTRICT
[SOURCE: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, AUTHOR: Kyle Fee, Shruthi Arvind]
Broadband Internet service is now considered by many to be a new form of infrastructure, and Federal regulators confirmed the importance of broadband access to rural communities in their recently updated guidance for the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). This report documents the availability of high-speed Internet access in the Fourth Federal Reserve District, which comprises all of Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia, using a series of maps and charts. While our analysis clearly shows there is limited broadband access in rural parts of the Fourth District, it shows that urban low- and moderate-income (LMI) areas also have limited access. As such, a case could be made to include investments in communications infrastructure in urban areas as CRA eligible based upon essential community needs.
benton.org/headlines/broadband-and-high-speed-internet-access-fourth-district | Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
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CENTURYLINK SAYS E-RATE FUNDING SHOULD NOT BE USED TO FUND RESIDENTIAL BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Sean Buckley]
CenturyLink says a request from a consortium of parties, including Microsoft, to extend E-Rate services to rural students' homes is not in line with the way the statute was written. The telecommunication company said in an Federal Communications Commission filing that if the FCC granted the petitions, the regulator would actually cause more harm than good to the E-Rate program. “Despite good intentions, however, the petitions to use E-rate funded bandwidth without cost allocation would be inconsistent with the statute, raise too many problems, create too many distortions, and create too many risks for the E-rate program,” CenturyLink said. “The petitions also cannot be granted by the Bureau on delegated authority, but need review and rulemaking by the full commission.”
benton.org/headlines/centurylink-says-e-rate-funding-should-not-be-used-fund-residential-broadband | Fierce
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VERIZON GENERAL COUNSEL: WE STILL SUPPORT NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Verizon general counsel Craig Silliman says his company supports the principles of network neutrality, but the current fight is about "the jurisdictional hook the [Federal Communications Commission] used to get there." He also says zero rating is nothing new and likens it to Amazon’s free shipping. Verizon was a key player in the ongoing fight, having filed a court challenge to the initial, compromise, non-Title II approach to net neutrality rules that the FCC struck with other Internet service providers under then FCC chairman Julius Genachowski. But Silliman pointed out that before the court decisions, Verizon had favored Congress weighing in and codifying the net neutrality principles to "put the whole Title II debate behind us." He suggested that the end game for some activists had always been Title II, so they fought a congressional solution. He said in hindsight—that being a new Donald Trump Administration almost certain to roll back Title II—that was probably a "bad political calculation." He said net neutrality principles are still important but can be protected in a "much smarter, much more efficient way" than the FCC's effort, which he characterized as trying to put square pegs into round holes and said applies broadly to issues of FCC jurisdiction, the sort of issues congressional action could have cleared up.
benton.org/headlines/verizon-general-counsel-we-still-support-net-neutrality | Broadcasting&Cable
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

FCC SPEEDS REVERSE AUCTION FOR STAGE FOUR
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission is hoping the fourth time is the charm. The commission said that it will start stage four of the reverse portion of the broadcast incentive auction Dec 13, as planned, and when it is done that spectrum will be uniform across all markets and totally unimpaired. The FCC is also goosing the process with shorter rounds to begin with (one hour instead of two) and will move more swiftly (starting Dec. 19) from two rounds to three rounds per day. In this round, the spectrum-clearing target is 84 MHz, down from 108 MHz in stage three, 114 MHz in stage two and 126 MHz in stage one as the FCC tries to find a clearing target/price point that broadcasters and wireless companies can agree on. The auction is designed for multiple rounds.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-speeds-reverse-auction-stage-four-dec-13 | Broadcasting&Cable | FCC
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SENS PROPOSE TV STATION RELOCATION FUND
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Association of Broadcasters is praising a bipartisan effort by a handful of senators to make sure there is enough money to cover the costs of TV station moves after the spectrum auction and that stations can't be forced to meet a moving deadline for reasons beyond their control. But it would also impose a "penalty" on stations that did not meet the deadlines of a phased transition absent those extenuating circumstances. There is currently a $1.75 billion relocation fund, which is looking larger every time the Federal Communications Commission reduces the amount of spectrum it is reclaiming from broadcasters in the auction and thus increases the space in which to repack stations—the FCC is now in its third reduction. But in case that does not prove sufficient, Sens Jerry Moran (R-KS), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Tom Udall (D-NM), Deb Fischer (R-NE), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have drafted a bill, the Viewer Protection Act of 2016, that would create a Viewer Protection Fund. Rep Frank Pallone (D-NJ) proposed a similar discussion draft last January, putting a figure of $1 billion on the fund. The senators did not have a figure in mind, at least not in the draft NAB supplied, but simply such sums as "are necessary to provide reimbursements for relocation costs to 1 or more broadcast television licensees" if the initial funds are exhausted.
benton.org/headlines/sens-propose-tv-station-relocation-fund | Broadcasting&Cable
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CALLS ON AN AIRPLANE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Hugo Martin]
If airlines allow passengers to make in-flight cellphone calls, the carrier must notify passengers in advance, under a rule proposed by the US Department of Transportation. The rule, proposed during the week of Dec 5, may be a moot question because the Department of Transportation is still considering a complete ban on airborne voice calls within, to or from the United States. Still, the agency said that if such calls are allowed, airlines could prohibit them on all or some individual flights, and should notify passengers of the policy for their flight in advance. “Consumers deserve to have clear and accurate information about whether any airline permits voice calls before they purchase a ticket and board the aircraft,” said US Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx. The Federal Communications Commission currently prohibits cellphone calls on commercial flights but has opened the door for phone calls using the airplane’s Wi-Fi connection. Several airlines, including Delta Air Lines, have said they oppose allowing voice calls on their planes — even those using Wi-Fi. Flight attendants have also spoken out against calls on planes, saying loud phone conversations are sure to create conflict and confusion.
benton.org/headlines/calls-airplane-rule-change-may-allow-them-despite-skepticism-airlines-flight-attendents | Los Angeles Times | Department of Transportation
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OWNERSHIP

21ST CENTURY FOX IN TALKS TO BUY REST OF UK'S SKY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Austen Hufford]
21st Century Fox Inc is in late-stage discussions to buy the rest of Sky PLC, the UK’s market-leading pay-TV provider, as Fox again tries to consolidate its holdings years after its previous attempt was thwarted by a phone-hacking scandal. Fox already owns 39.1% of the company. The companies said that it reached a preliminary agreement for £10.75 per share in cash ($13.52) but that certain material offer terms remained under discussion. The $14 billion offer was a 40% premium to Sky’s Dec. 6 closing price. If completed, the deal would value Sky at about $23 billion. Fox has until Jan 6 to say whether it will make a firm offer. In 2011, News Corp. dropped its bid to take full control of Sky after a scandal over the reporting tactics at one of its UK newspaper titles raised government and public outcry over the deal. News Corp has since split into 21st Century Fox and News Corp, parent company of The Wall Street Journal.
benton.org/headlines/21st-century-fox-talks-buy-rest-uks-sky | Wall Street Journal | USAToday | The Wrap
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JOURNALISM

UNCOMPROMISING TV NEWS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jim Rutenberg]
[Commentary] Television news is going to have to do its part should President-elect Donald Trump and his administration try to make policy based on false assertions, the same way he used them on the campaign trail. (And, yes, television will have to be just as vigilant should Mr. Trump’s opponents use falsehoods to fight him, too.) The same holds for all of the news media, of course. But live television can be a safe harbor for falsehood and deflection. It’s easy for me to criticize as a columnist who has time to analyze and fact-check before writing. On television, in real time, even the best-prepared interviewers may have neither the time nor the facts to catch a lie and call it out. Even when they do, their attempts to call foul can turn into stalemates if the interviewee insists on continuing to forward something that’s false or unsubstantiated, which seems to be the latest craze. CNN’s Jake Tapper said, in this “year in which basic facts and basic decency are at risk, persistence is important at the end of the day.”
benton.org/headlines/trump-era-uncompromising-tv-news-should-be-norm-not-exception | New York Times
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EDUCATION

GOOGLE DATA CENTERS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Quentin Hardy]
As increasing focus is being paid to the wealth and jobs created by tech companies outside Silicon Valley, Google’s arrival in small-town Pryor (OK) serves as a complex example of what happens when a modern internet company builds one of its data centers in a community. While they do bring in some work, these mostly automated facilities will never provide the thousands of good-paying blue-collar jobs that come with a new auto plant. What they do bring, however, is some stability to local tax revenues, and — at least in the case of Google — a cash-rich megacompany looking to make nice with the locals.
benton.org/headlines/google-effect-rubs-schools-one-rural-oklahoma-town | New York Times
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

POLITICS AND BUSINESS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Spencer Jakab]
Until recently it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for a company to wear its political leanings on its sleeve. But the recent backlash against Kellogg and other companies shows that political stances can come with costs. After the cereal maker joined other companies in pulling advertising from controversial right-wing website Breitbart over hate speech, the outlet launched a #DumpKelloggs campaign and wrote articles critical of the company. As American society becomes more divided it is becoming more dangerous to mix business and politics.
benton.org/headlines/politics-and-business-dont-mix-trumps-america | Wall Street Journal
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