December 2016

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016

Today's Events --

• Future of Advertising and Privacy, Silicon Flatirons -- https://www.benton.org/node/249683
• How Free is Freedom of the Press Today?, Newseum and the Embassy of Sweden -- https://www.benton.org/node/250933

TRUMP TRANSITION
   Fears ebb of Trump blocking AT&T’s Time Warner deal
   Rep Walden to head House Commerce Committee
   Trump has chosen retired Marine Gen. James Mattis for secretary of defense [links to Benton summary]
   A political temper tantrum at the FCC - The Hill op-ed
   Likely and Behind the Scenes Changes at the FCC - TeleFrieden editorial
   As power shifts in Washington, public broadcasting has allies in key posts
   ITIF: Carrier Deal Should Carry Over to Broader Tech Policy [links to Benton summary]
   TIA, ITIC, other groups urge President-elect Trump to make technology infrastructure investments a priority [links to Fierce]
   Tech Groups Offer VP-Elect Pence FCC, FTC Job Descriptions [links to Benton summary]
   Net neutrality advocates brace for fight with Trump [links to CNN]
   The FCC under Trump: what's next for the Internet? [links to America Public Media]
   Farewell to President Obama, our first digital president - Vox op-ed [links to Benton summary]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   USAC Offers FCC Draft Lifeline National Verifier Plan; Public Welcomed to Comment - public notice
   FCC Releases Sixth 'Measuring Broadband America' Report - press release
   FCC Releases Internet Access Services Stats - press release
   American Consumer Institute: ISPs Create Twice as Many Jobs as Edge Providers [links to Benton summary]
   CenturyLink lights 1 Gbps FTTP services for over 4K businesses in Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota [links to Fierce]
   Connecting Alaskans: Telecommunications in Alaska from Telegraph to Broadband [links to Telecommunications Policy]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Broadcasters Set New $40 Billion Spectrum-Clearing Price
   J.D. Power: Wireless Router Satisfaction Rises [links to telecompetitor]
   IDC: Smartphone Shipment Growth to Slow Sharply, Total 1.45 Billion in 2016 [links to telecompetitor]

SECURITY/PRIVACY
   Destructive Hacks Strike Saudi Arabia, Posing Challenge to Trump [links to Benton summary]
   Correcting the cyber cacophony in our cybersecurity institutions - AEI op-ed [links to Benton summary]
   Op-ed: The FCC needs to end warrantless cellphone spying [links to Christian Science Monitor]
   DOJ Takes Down Cyber Criminal Network That Cost Hundreds of Millions [links to nextgov]
   Overcoming Hacking and Cybercrimes — The Next Obstacle to Edtech [links to EdSurge]
   A beginner’s guide to beefing up your privacy and security online [links to Ars Technica]

CONTENT
   Social Media Is Killing Discourse Because It’s Too Much Like TV - Technology Review op-ed
   Facebook’s AI boss: Facebook could fix its filter bubble if it wanted to [links to Vox]
   The state of the music industry Part 1: the loss of music [links to Conversation, The]
   Lawmakers mull US role in AI technology [links to Benton summary]
   While We Weren’t Looking, Snapchat Revolutionized Social Networks [links to Benton summary]
   Reddit will limit the reach of a pro-Trump board and crack down on its ‘most toxic users’ [links to Washington Post]

OWNERSHIP
   Bandwidth’s Republic Wireless spins off with $30 Million [links to Fierce]
   Media Alliance to Trump: Dump Cross-Ownership Rules [links to Benton summary]

JOURNALISM
   Letters to the Editor: How the Media Covers Donald Trump’s Tweets [links to New York Times]
   Politico co-founder’s new media startup is eyeing $10,000 subscriptions — eventually [links to Vox]
   Reuters built an algorithm to flag and verify breaking news on Twitter [links to Verge, The]
   Finding new ways to follow the story [links to Columbia Journalism Review]

LABOR
   Progress and Momentum in Support of TechHire Initiative - White House press release [links to Benton summary]

DIVERSITY
   Addressing racial bias in the online economy - Brookings analysis [links to Benton summary]
   More than 80 percent of tech founders still have no formal plans to promote diversity [links to Vox]

ELECTIONS & MEDIA
   CNN’s Coverage of Trump Was Biased, Presidential Candidates’ Aides Say
   Interest groups keep the political ads coming [links to Hill, The]

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   House passes intelligence bill enhancing efforts against Russia [links to Benton summary]
   President Obama Sends Broadcasting Board of Governors Chair Nomination to Senate [links to Benton summary]
   Defense Bill Would Abolish BBG Governing Board [links to Benton summary]
   The White House’s new app builds 1600 Pennsylvania Ave on a real $1 bill [links to Verge, The]
   Sens Propose Making Presidential Innovation Fellows Permanent [links to nextgov]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Ofcom wants tougher rules to protect UK consumers from ‘oligopolies’ as Britain plans exit from EU [links to Financial Times]

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TRUMP TRANSITION

ATT, TIME WARNER AND TRUMP
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: James Fontanella-Khan, David Crow]
Donald Trump’s transition team has reassured AT&T that its acquisition of Time Warner will be scrutinised without prejudice despite the President-elect vowing to block the deal because it concentrated too much “power in the hands of too few.” America’s largest telecommunications group by market value has been encouraged by Trump’s appointments to his transition team of two former competition officials with a hands-off record on antitrust enforcement, people close to the company said. President-elect Trump picked as his antitrust advisers Joshua Wright, a former federal trade commissioner with traditional Republican views on competition policy, and David Higbee, who worked in the business-friendly administration of George W Bush. After talking with the president-elect’s team, AT&T executives are confident that their deal has a good chance of passing regulatory scrutiny.
benton.org/headlines/fears-ebb-trump-blocking-atts-time-warner-deal | Financial Times
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WALDEN TO HEAD HOUSE COMMERCE COMMITTEE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Devin Henry, Scott Wong]
Republicans have elected Rep Greg Walden (R-OR) the next Chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. Rep Walden defeated Reps John Shimkus (R-IL) and Joe Barton (R-TX), the former committee chairman, in the race for the gavel. Current Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), is stepping down from the position due to term limits. Support for Rep Walden's elevation to chairman surged after two successful terms as head of the House GOP's campaign arm, a tenure that endeared him to both leadership and the House GOP Steering Committee members who elected him on Dec 1. A nine-term lawmaker, Rep Walden has experience on both the Energy panel and within the industries over which it has jurisdiction. He previously owned radio stations in Oregon and has chaired the panel’s technology and telecom subcommittee. He has also worked on healthcare issues in rural Oregon.
benton.org/headlines/rep-walden-head-house-commerce-committee | Hill, The
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A POLITICAL TEMPER TANTRUM AT THE FCC
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Lawrence Spiwak]
[Commentary] Two days after the election, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced an aggressive agenda for the FCC's Nov 17 open meeting to push through some of his remaining high-priority items, including, among other things, mandating a massive rate reduction for Business Data Services without any economic justification for the naked benefit of select constituencies. As to be expected after a major election where the other party takes control, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD), shortly thereafter wrote a letter to the FCC behooving Chairman Wheeler to refrain from acting on "complex, partisan, or otherwise controversial items" during the Presidential transition. Telecom policy is a serious business and — as Chairman Wheeler's tenure as chairman amply demonstrates — the public interest is ill-suited by partisan leadership. Instead, President-elect Donald Trump should appoint somebody to lead the FCC who truly understands the economics of the business, respects the law and, most importantly, is committed to uphold every American's basic right to due process. If not, then just when you think the next chairman can't be any worse than the last — they will be.
[Lawrence J. Spiwak is the president of the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies]
benton.org/headlines/political-temper-tantrum-fcc | Hill, The
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LIKELY AND BEHIND THE SCENES CHANGES AT THE FCC
[SOURCE: TeleFrieden, AUTHOR: Rob Frieden]
[Commentary] It should come as no surprise that the Federal Communications Commission will substantially change its regulatory approach, wingspan and philosophy under a President-elect Donald Trump appointed Chairman. One can readily predict that the new FCC will largely undo what has transpired in previous years. However, that conclusion warrants greater calibration. As a threshold matter, the new senior managers at the FCC will have to establish new broad themes and missions. They have several options, some of which will limit how deregulatory and libertarian the Commission can proceed. Several ways forward come to mind:
1) Channeling Trump Populism—the FCC can execute President Trump’s mission of standing up to cronyism and rent seeking, even when it harms traditional constituencies and stakeholders.
2) What’s Good for Incumbents is Good for America—the FCC can revert to the comfortable and typical bias in favor of incumbents like Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and the major broadcast networks.
3) A Libertarian Credo—the FCC can reduce its regulatory wingspan, budget and economic impact by concentrating on limited core statutory mandates, such as spectrum management.
4) Humility—without having the goal of draining the FCC’s pond, senior managers can temper their partisanship and snarkiness by refraining from mission creep.
benton.org/headlines/likely-and-behind-scenes-changes-fcc | TeleFrieden
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AS POWER SHIFTS IN DC, PUBLIC BROADCASTING HAS ALLIES IN KEY POSTS
[SOURCE: Current, AUTHOR: Patrick Butler]
The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States promises sweeping change in Washington (DC), and members of the public broadcasting community are naturally asking what that may mean for us. Let’s start with what hasn’t changed. Three powerful congressional chairmen who support public broadcasting will continue in their key roles in both the House and Senate. Sen Thad Cochran (R-MI), a champion of public broadcasting since his father served as chairman of the Mississippi Public Broadcasting Commission in the 1960s, continues as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Sen Roy Blunt (R-MO), who has helped us secure funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Ready To Learn and our updated interconnection system, continues as chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, which oversees funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Rep Tom Cole (R-OK), who accepted the America’s Public Television Stations’ Champion of Public Broadcasting award at the Public Media Summit earlier in 2016 and has been an effective advocate for our federal funding, continues to lead the House Appropriations subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education. In addition, the Republican majorities in Congress will retain the same leaders.
benton.org/headlines/power-shifts-washington-public-broadcasting-has-allies-key-posts | Current
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

LIFELINE NATIONAL VERIFIER PLAN
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
On March 31, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission adopted the 2016 Lifeline Modernization Order, with the goals of ensuring the affordability of voice and broadband service for low-income consumers and promoting the fiscal integrity of the Lifeline program. In the Order, the FCC established a National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier (National Verifier) to make eligibility determinations and perform other functions necessary to enroll eligible subscribers into the Lifeline program. The Order also directed the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to submit a Draft National Verifier Plan to the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau and the Office of the Managing Director (OMD) before December 1, 2016. By this Public Notice, the Bureau announces that USAC submitted the Draft National Verifier Plan to the Bureau and OMD on November 30, 2016. The Draft Lifeline National Verifier Plan is now available for public review. Beginning December 5, 2016, USAC will accept comments, questions, and feedback. Feedback is welcome throughout the implementation of the National Verifier, however, stakeholders are encouraged to provide comments by December 30, 2016 with respect to the National Verifier Plan.
benton.org/headlines/usac-offers-fcc-draft-lifeline-national-verifier-plan-public-welcomed-comment | Federal Communications Commission | read the draft plan | USAC rollout page
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FCC RELEASES SIXTH 'MEASURING BROADBAND AMERICA' REPORT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission released the results of its ongoing nationwide performance study of consumers’ fixed broadband Internet access service in its sixth “Measuring Broadband America” report. The report furthers the Commission’s efforts to provide greater transparency about network performance to help consumers make more informed choices about their Internet Service Provider. 2016’s report highlights the following findings:
Significant growth in advertised broadband speeds available to consumers, though the results are not uniform across technologies.
Actual speeds experienced by most consumers meet or exceed advertised speeds.
Consumers with access to faster services continue to migrate to higher service tiers.
Latency and packet loss vary by technologies.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-releases-sixth-measuring-broadband-america-report | Federal Communications Commission
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INTERNET ACCESS SERVICES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
This report summarizes information about Internet access connections in the United States as of December 31, 2015 as collected by FCC Form 477. For purposes of this report, Internet access connections are those in service, over 200 kilobits per second (kbps) in at least one direction. The total number of Internet connections increased by 11% between December 2014 and December 2015 to 355 million. Most of the growth in total Internet connections is attributable to increased mobile Internet access subscribership. The number of mobile Internet connections increased 13% year-over-year to 253 million in December 2015, while the number of fixed connections grew to 102 million – up 4% from December 2014.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-releases-internet-access-services-stats | Federal Communications Commission
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

BROADCASTERS SET NEW 40 BILLION SPECTRUM-CLEARING PRICE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The third stage of the Federal Communications Commission's broadcast incentive spectrum auction closed Dec 1 after 52 rounds, with the broadcasters' new asking price now $40,313,164,425 for 108 MHz of spectrum. That is less than half of the broadcasters' original asking price, though that was for more spectrum. The FCC has said stage three of the forward auction is likely to begin Dec. 5, with all eyes on whether those bidders—wireless companies and others—will beat, meet, or at least approach that total. Beating or meeting it means the auction can close and the FCC can start the process of repacking TV stations into the smaller space, at least after there is a second mini-auction to allocate specific frequencies to the winning bidders.
benton.org/headlines/broadcasters-set-new-40-billion-spectrum-clearing-price | Broadcasting&Cable
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA

CNN AND TRUMP
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Michael Grynbaum]
In extraordinary exchanges, aides to Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Jeb Bush openly accused Jeffrey A. Zucker, CNN’s president, of enabling Donald Trump and undermining their candidates in the Republican primary, heckling from their seats as Zucker spoke on a panel in a hotel ballroom. It was a visceral airing of grievances before an audience of the country’s leading political operatives and journalists, gathered for what is typically a staid postelection conference at Harvard. And it captured CNN’s lightning-rod position in the debate over the role of the media in Trump’s rise and, now, his looming presidency.
benton.org/headlines/cnns-coverage-trump-was-biased-presidential-candidates-aides-say | New York Times
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CONTENT

SOCIAL MEDIA IS KILLING DISCOURSE BECAUSE IT'S TOO MUCH LIKE TV
[SOURCE: Technology Review, AUTHOR: Hossein Derakhshan]
[Commentary] If I say that social media aided Donald Trump’s election, you might think of fake news on Facebook. But even if Facebook fixes the algorithms that elevate phony stories, there’s something else going on: social media represents the ultimate ascendance of television over other media. I've been warning about this since November 2014, when I was freed from six years of incarceration in Tehran, a punishment I received for my online activism in Iran. Before I went to prison, I blogged frequently on what I now call the open Web: it was decentralized, text-centered, and abundant with hyperlinks to source material and rich background. It nurtured varying opinions. It was related to the world of books. Then for six years I got disconnected; when I left prison and came back online, I was confronted by a brave new world. Facebook and Twitter had replaced blogging and had made the Internet like TV: centralized and image-centered, with content embedded in pictures, without links. Like TV it now increasingly entertains us, and even more so than television it amplifies our existing beliefs and habits. It makes us feel more than think, and it comforts more than challenges. The result is a deeply fragmented society, driven by emotions, and radicalized by lack of contact and challenge from outside.
[Hossein Derakshan is an Iranian-Canadian author, media analyst, and performance artist who lives in Tehran]
benton.org/headlines/social-media-killing-discourse-because-its-too-much-tv | Technology Review
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