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January 2017

January 5, 2017 (White House Submits Renomination for Rosenworcel)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017

TRANSITION
   Surprise: White House Resubmits Rosenworcel Nomination to FCC
   Donald Trump asked Rupert Murdoch to name picks for FCC chair
   Trump to tap Wall Street lawyer, Jay Clayton, to head SEC [links to Benton summary]
   Trump Names Deputy Chiefs of Staff [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
   MPAA Congratulates Trump US Trade Representative Pick [links to Benton summary]
   Trump holding press conference Jan 11 [links to Hill, The]

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   House passes bill to overturn 'midnight' regulations en masse
   Public Knowledge Joins Group Letter Urging Congress to Vote Against Midnight Rules Relief Act [links to Public Knowledge]
   Public Knowledge Opposes Industry Effort to Exploit Routine FCC Regulatory Review - press release [links to Benton summary]
   Is Trump's Twitter future @realDonaldTrump or @POTUS? Probably both [links to CNN]
   Practical Uses of the Internet of Things in Government Are Everywhere [links to Government Technology]

SECURITY/PRIVACY
   It’s begun: Internet providers are pushing to repeal Obama-era privacy rules
   ACA Slams Broadband Privacy Order as Error-Ridden Train Wreck [links to Multichannel News]
   Cyberwar for Sale [links to Benton summary]
   FTC Announces Internet of Things Challenge to Combat Security Vulnerabilities in Home Devices - press release [links to Benton summary]
   Get Silicon Valley Executives Out of Government Cyber, Major Report Urges [links to nextgov]
   Now That NYC's Subway Has Free Internet, Here's How To Stay Safe On Public Wi-Fi [links to Fast Company]

AGENDA
   FCC Moves January Meeting From Jan 26 to Jan 31
   FTC Announces Workshop on Hearing Health and Technology for April 18 [links to Federal Trade Commission]

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
   FCC Calls Emergency Alert System Test A Success [links to Benton summary]

BROADCASTING
   Pai and O'Rielly Statement on Protecting Noncommercial Educational Broadcasters from Needless Regulation - press release [links to Benton summary]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   This Is the Year Donald Trump Kills Net Neutrality [links to Benton summary]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   FCC: Stage 4 of Reverse Auction to End Jan. 13 [links to Benton summary]
   Verizon to boost data network for inauguration [links to Hill, The]
   AT&T joins Sprint, T-Mobile in race to 1 Gbps this year [links to Fierce]
   The Wireless Router Renaissance And Where It Will Take Us Next [links to Fast Company]

CONTENT
   Endangered Species Under GOP? Climate Change Information on the Web [links to ProPublica]

OWNERSHIP
   Tech Giants Seem Invincible. That Worries Lawmakers. [links to Benton summary]
   FCC Allows Univision to Boost Foreign Ownership [links to Benton summary]

JOURNALISM
   Megyn Kelly’s Departure Is a Big Clue About the Future of Fox News [links to New York Magazine]
   Medium says it can’t make money selling ads so it’s laying off a third of its staff [links to Vox]
   5 Questions for...Jennifer Preston, Vice President for Journalism, Knight Foundation [links to Foundation Center]
   Op-ed: Who will be the Walter Lippmann of the Trump era? Is such a thing even possible? [links to Washington Post]

CHILDREN & MEDIA
   We Need to Teach Kids How to Be Skeptical of the Internet [links to Benton summary]

EDUCATION
   Among high school seniors, interest in science varies by race, ethnicity [links to Pew Research Center]

LABOR
   Department of Labor sues Google for withholding data in anti-discrimination audit [links to Benton summary]

COMPANY NEWS
   Apple confirmed it’s putting $1 billion into the SoftBank fund that Donald Trump loves [links to Benton summary]
   AT&T will test 5G with DirecTV in 2017 [links to CNN]
   Apple sued for not adding safety fix to prevent use of FaceTime while driving [links to Guardian, The]

POLICYMAKERS
   Is Mark Zuckerberg considering White House run? [links to USAToday]
   National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) Names Six National Board Directors [links to Multichannel News]
   Blacknight CEO, Michele Neylon, Appointed Chair Elect of i2Coalition [links to Internet Infrastructure Coalition]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Apple Removes New York Times Apps From Its Store in China [links to Benton summary]

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TRANSITION

WH RESUBMITS ROSENWORCEL NOMINATION TO FCC
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The White House has apparently not given up on the re-nomination of FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, or at least is making the gesture. Rosenworcel's was among several nominations submitted by the President Barack Obama to the Senate Jan 4. The Senate in the last Congress failed to vote on her re-nomination, which meant she had to leave before the new congress convened Jan 3. But, at least theoretically, she could be named to fill the seat she just vacated, paired with the Republican President-elect Donald Trump will be nominating for chairman, or commissioner if he picks the chair from one of the two Republicans currently serving. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler released a statement saying, “I applaud President Obama’s reappointment of Jessica Rosenworcel to the FCC, and hope that Congress will act quickly to confirm her nomination.”
benton.org/headlines/surprise-white-house-resubmits-rosenworcel-nomination-fcc | Multichannel News | Wheeler Statement
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TRUMP ASKED MURDOCH TO NAME PICKS FOR FCC CHAIR
[SOURCE: The Verge, AUTHOR: Russell Brandom]
Newscorp CEO Rupert Murdoch may have a significant influence in the next four years of American telecommunication policy. According to a new report from New York Magazine’s Gabriel Sherman, President-elect Donald Trump has asked the conservative Australian broadcast titan to submit names of his preferred candidates for chair of the Federal Communications Commission. There’s no guarantee Trump will follow Murdoch’s recommendations, but the news suggests Murdoch already wields significant influence in the incoming administration. Apparently, Murdoch is also lobbying for further conditions on AT&T’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner, potentially because he sees the new conglomerate as a threat to his holdings.
benton.org/headlines/donald-trump-asked-rupert-murdoch-name-picks-fcc-chair | Verge, The | Media Matters
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

HOUSE PASSES BILL TO OVERTURN 'MIDNIGHT' REGULATIONS EN MASSE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Lydia Wheeler]
Legislation to allow Congress to repeal in a single vote any rule finalized in the last 60 legislative days of the Obama Administration sailed through the House Jan 4, the second time in less than two months. The GOP-backed Midnight Rule Relief Act, which passed the previous Congress in November, was approved largely along party lines by a vote of 238-184 on the second day of the new Congress, despite Democratic opposition. If passed by the Senate and signed by President-elect Donald Trump, the legislation would amend the Congressional Review Act to allow lawmakers to bundle together multiple rules and overturn them en masse with a joint resolution of disapproval. That could include things like Federal Communications Commission broadband privacy regulations or Lifeline subsidy reforms that drew fire from Hill and FCC Republicans. The White House has already threatened to veto the bill if it were to make it to President Obama's desk before he leaves office.
benton.org/headlines/house-passes-bill-overturn-midnight-regulations-en-masse | Hill, The | Broadcasting&Cable
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SECURITY/PRIVACY

ISPS ARE PUSHING TO REPEAL OBAMA-ERA PRIVACY RULES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
Some of the nation's biggest Internet providers are asking the government to roll back a landmark set of privacy regulations it approved last fall — kicking off an effort by the industry and its allies to dismantle key Internet policies of the Obama years. In a petition filed to federal regulators Jan 2, a top Washington trade group whose members include Comcast, Charter and Cox argued that the rules should be thrown out. “They are unnecessary, unjustified, unmoored from a cost-benefit assessment, and unlikely to advance the Commission’s stated goal of enhancing consumer privacy,” wrote the Internet & Television Association, known as NCTA. The petition joins a bevy of others from groups representing telecom companies, wireless carriers, tech companies and advertisers. The rules, which passed by a 3-to-2 partisan vote favoring Democrats at the Federal Communications Commission in October, are meant to keep Internet providers such as Comcast, Verizon and others from abusing the behavioral data they collect on customers as they regularly use the Internet.
benton.org/headlines/its-begun-internet-providers-are-pushing-repeal-obama-era-privacy-rules | Washington Post
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AGENDA

FCC MOVES JANUARY MEETING
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission has moved the January meeting from Jan 26 to Jan 31. In either event, it will come after FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has left the building and the new Trump Administration has taken over. It is not clear yet which of the Republican commissioners will preside as acting chair, though it is likely senior Republican Ajit Pai. The FCC will now circulate a tentative agenda for the meeting on Jan 10 (three weeks beforehand, per custom). The move of the meeting was to provide more time for planning following the change in administration and more time with the agenda, apparently, given that one of those Republican commissioners will almost certainly be presiding and in control of that agenda for the meeting.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-moves-january-meeting-jan-26-jan-31 | Broadcasting&Cable
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Surprise: White House Resubmits Rosenworcel Nomination to FCC

The White House has apparently not given up on the re-nomination of FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, or at least is making the gesture. Rosenworcel's was among several nominations submitted by the President Barack Obama to the Senate Jan 4. The Senate in the last Congress failed to vote on her re-nomination, which meant she had to leave before the new congress convened Jan 3. But, at least theoretically, she could be named to fill the seat she just vacated, paired with the Republican President-elect Donald Trump will be nominating for chairman, or commissioner if he picks the chair from one of the two Republicans currently serving. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler released a statement saying, “I applaud President Obama’s reappointment of Jessica Rosenworcel to the FCC, and hope that Congress will act quickly to confirm her nomination.”

House passes bill to overturn 'midnight' regulations en masse

Legislation to allow Congress to repeal in a single vote any rule finalized in the last 60 legislative days of the Obama Administration sailed through the House Jan 4, the second time in less than two months. The GOP-backed Midnight Rule Relief Act, which passed the previous Congress in November, was approved largely along party lines by a vote of 238-184 on the second day of the new Congress, despite Democratic opposition. If passed by the Senate and signed by President-elect Donald Trump, the legislation would amend the Congressional Review Act to allow lawmakers to bundle together multiple rules and overturn them en masse with a joint resolution of disapproval. That could include things like Federal Communications Commission broadband privacy regulations or Lifeline subsidy reforms that drew fire from Hill and FCC Republicans. The White House has already threatened to veto the bill if it were to make it to President Obama's desk before he leaves office.

Pai and O'Rielly Statement on Protecting Noncommercial Educational Broadcasters from Needless Regulation

We strongly object to the Media Bureau’s decision to resolve the petitions for reconsideration of the Commission’s decision in 2016 to impose unnecessary reporting requirements on noncommercial educational (NCE) television stations. The Commission’s ruling no longer enjoys the support of the majority of Commissioners—nor is there a majority that supports today’s Media Bureau decision—so it was wrong for the Bureau to bypass Commissioners and reaffirm these reporting requirements unilaterally. And making matters worse, the Bureau gave no notice to Commissioners of its decision, leaving our offices to find out about its order from the press. This basic lack of comity is unacceptable in any situation, but is especially unfortunate during a transition between Administrations.

Department of Labor sues Google for withholding data in anti-discrimination audit

Google has been sued by the Department of Labor for withholding data in an ongoing audit. In a complaint filed Jan 4, the Department says Google refused to provide compensation data as part of an anti-discrimination audit, and seeks a court order forcing the company to comply. The case stems from Google’s federal contracting business, which provides advertising and cloud computing services to a number of federal agencies. The lawsuit doesn’t allege that Google actually engaged in discrimination, only that it dragged its heels as the Department of Labor conducted the necessary audit. According to the complaint, officers launched the audit in September 2015, requesting a series of compensation snapshots drawn from current Google employees that could be compared over time. A few months later, Google replied with a letter declining to produce the some of the data. Google says it withheld that data for privacy reasons, but has produced hundreds of thousands of records over the course of the audit.

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