Jonathan Demme, Oscar-Winning Director
Cecilia Alvear, Trailblazing Latina Journalist at NBC
Agustín Edwards, Conservative Media Tycoon in Chile
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2017
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
The Future of Internet Freedom - FCC Chairman Pai speech
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai: Why I'm trying to change how the FCC regulates the Internet [links to Los Angeles Times]
FCC Commissioner O'Rielly on the Future of Internet Regulation - speech
FCC Commissioner Clyburn blasts network neutrality repeal
What is net neutrality and what would its reversal mean? [links to USAToday]
Why Net Neutrality Rules are in danger [links to American Public Media]
Trump's FCC chair just declared war on Obama's net neutrality rules [links to Vox]
Trump’s FCC chairman wants to hand the Internet over to big corporations - Wyden, Franken, Wheeler op-ed
Benton Committed to Fast, Fair, Open Internet - press release
Reactions to FCC Chairman Pai's Net Neutrality Proposal [links to Benton summary]
Speaker Ryan praises FCC chief's plans to roll back network neutrality [links to Hill, The]
Internet providers are thrilled with the FCC’s plan for weaker regulations [links to Verge, The]
Free Press Joins Senators in Opposing President Trump's Net Neutrality Rollback - press release
Mark Jamison -- The economics and evidence leave no doubt: Repealing Title II will benefit consumers and the economy [links to American Enterprise Institute]
Opinion -- Chairman Pai's net neutrality plan: Repeal and maybe replace [links to Los Angeles Times]
Editorial: The fight for net neutrality is officially back on. The Verge is ready to rumble. [links to Verge, The]
Six definitions that are preventing consensus on net neutrality - Scott Cleland op-ed
Chairman Pai to brief House Commerce Committee on net neutrality plan April 28 [links to Benton summary]
Hundreds of startups call on FCC to preserve net neutrality [links to Benton summary]
Sen Schatz (D-HI) Meets With NCTA, Others on Open Internet Order [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
FCC Chairman Pai courts conservative groups ahead of net neutrality fight [links to Benton summary]
'Tech Elders' Urge Title II Rollback [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Tim Wu: Undoing net neutrality may be harder than it looks [links to American Public Media]
Daniel Lyons -- A win for the internet: The FCC wants to repeal Title II net neutrality regulations [links to American Enterprise Institute]
MORE INTERNET/BROADBAND
Bill Introduced in Maine Legislature to Limit Local Authority over Broadband Investment - press release
Comcast offers Utah customers 1-Gig internet [links to Benton summary]
Google Fiber confirms it will wire Louisville [links to USAToday]
AT&T Denies Request to Address Shareholders Over Redlining Allegations [links to Benton summary]
JOURNALISM
At least half of Americans think President Trump and the media are ‘regularly’ wrong [links to Washington Post]
President Trump faces conundrum with conservative media [links to Hill, The]
News Voices: North Carolina Launches With Two Community-Building Events [links to Free Press]
TELECOM
Court Urged To Restore FTC's Power To Prosecute AT&T - MediaPost analysis [links to Benton summary]
OWNERSHIP
CommLawBlog: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same – UHF Discount Restored [links to CommLawBlog]
AT&T hopes you forget it's a phone company [links to Benton summary]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Congressional Staffers to get Cybersecurity Crash Course [links to nextgov]
Can an app really track you after you delete it? Yes and No [links to USAToday]
ADVERTISING
FTC Puts “Influencers” on Notice: Disclose Marketing Relationships in Social Media Posts [links to Broadcast Law Blog]
CONTENT
Elite social media: where the internet’s 1 percent hangs out [links to Verge, The]
LABOR
ESPN cuts 100 staffers as cable subscribers flee [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
Disrupting work and workers in the age of cognitive computing systems [links to Brookings]
Op-ed: Tech Made Cities Too Expensive. Here’s How to Fix It [links to Wired]
GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS
If the Government shuts down, some of its website, databases and IT does too [links to nextgov]
COMPANY NEWS
Twitter sees its first revenue drop since going public [links to Los Angeles Times]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
The Difficulties of Reporting When China Limits Your Internet [links to Benton summary]
Kashmir Shuts Down Social Networks for a Month [links to New York Times]
back to top
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
THE FUTURE OF INTERNET FREEDOM
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai]
Earlier today, I shared with my fellow Commissioners a proposal to reverse the mistake of Title II and return to the light-touch regulatory framework that served our nation so well during the Clinton Administration, the Bush Administration, and the first six years of the Obama Administration. The document that we will be voting on at the FCC’s May meeting is called a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. If it is adopted, the FCC will seek public input on this proposal. In other words, this will be the beginning of the discussion, not the end. Now, some have called on the FCC to reverse Title II immediately, through what is known as a Declaratory Ruling. But I don’t believe that is the right path forward. This decision should be made through an open and transparent process in which every American can share his or her views.
So what are the basic elements of this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking?
First, we are proposing to return the classification of broadband service from a Title II telecommunications service to a Title I information service—that is, light-touch regulation drawn from the Clinton Administration. As I mentioned earlier, this Title I classification was expressly upheld by the Supreme Court in 2005, and it’s more consistent with the facts and the law.
Second, we are proposing to eliminate the so-called Internet conduct standard. This 2015 rule gives the FCC a roving mandate to micromanage the Internet.
Third, we are seeking comment on how we should approach the so-called bright-line rules adopted in 2015.
benton.org/headlines/future-internet-freedom | Federal Communications Commission | Washington Post | The Hill | LA Times | ars technica
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
O’RIELLY SPEECH
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly]
Today, my colleague and I announce the beginning of a process to free the Internet from the terrible restraints of common carrier regulation now imposed on America’s broadband providers. After almost two years of experience, it is clear that this archaic regime never should have been imposed in the first place. Based on hyperbole, rent seeking, imaginary problems and liberal ideology, the previous FCC took Internet policy down into a dark and horrible abyss. Well, we are here to declare that those days are over; we are bringing sanity and evidence-based decision-making back to the Commission’s rules. In releasing a new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission initiates the necessary procedures to expunge net neutrality regulations from the Internet. Following a methodical and transparent path, which I commend the Chairman for pursuing, will help prevent opponents from complaining about procedural shortcuts and the like. Instead, we will follow the Administrative Procedure Act to the letter of the law. Hopefully, over the course of the next few months, we can move forward to a final order.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-commissioner-orielly-future-internet-regulation | Federal Communications Commission
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
CLYBURN REACTS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Harper Neidig]
Federal Communications Commissioner Mignon Clyburn blasted FCC Chairman Ajit Pai for launching an attack on network neutrality. Commissioner Clyburn said the plan will result in a regulatory oversight vacuum over internet service providers. “They’re willing to dismantle a carefully struck balance that has served us well, and grant the wishes of a handful of broadband providers that soon will have the right to police themselves when it comes to consumer rights,” she said. “The FCC must never take a backseat while the nation’s broadband providers are calling all the shots.”
benton.org/headlines/fcc-commissioner-clyburn-blasts-network-neutrality-repeal | Hill, The | Multichannel News
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
HANDING INTERNET TO BIG CORPORATIONS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR), Al Franken (D-MN), Tom Wheeler]
[Commentary] For as long as the Internet has existed, it has been grounded on the principle of net neutrality — that what you read, see or watch online shouldn’t be favored, blocked or slowed down based on where that content is coming from. Net neutrality means that cable companies can’t reserve the fastest Internet speeds for the biggest companies and leave everyone else in the slow lane. That’s what ensures a website for a local pizza place in rural Oregon or Minnesota loads as quickly as the website for Pizza Hut or Domino’s. Or why a social network built in a garage is available to the same people as Instagram or Twitter. That’s why it’s so alarming to see that the Federal Communications Commission, a federal agency that’s expected to help protect the Internet, is planning to roll back net neutrality rules. It’s amazing that President Donald Trump, having promised to stand up to the powerful on behalf of ordinary Americans, now has an FCC that gives the powerful what they ask for — even if it hurts consumers.
[Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, and Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota, are members of the U.S. Senate. Tom Wheeler was FCC chairman from 2013 to January.]
benton.org/headlines/trumps-fcc-chairman-wants-hand-internet-over-big-corporations | Washington Post
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
BENTON COMMITTED TO FAST, FAIR, OPEN INTERNET
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Adrianne Furniss]
It is always a sad day when government regulators choose commercial interests over the public interest. When the FCC’s net neutrality rules were adopted in February 2015, the Benton Foundation proclaimed them “the greatest commitment ever made to preserve and protect an open and free Internet.” Today, FCC Chairman Pai and Commissioner O’Rielly celebrated their latest moves to favor large Internet service providers over the American values of access and equity, democracy and diversity, opportunity and innovation. The message I heard from the commissioners and other speakers: “No one is against net neutrality; we’re just against any rules to ensure it.” Chairman Pai’s plan is not what the American people want or are asking for. Americans want to employ any legal applications, content, devices, and services of their choosing on the broadband networks they rely on. Americans want the Internet to remain a platform for all consumers, content creators, and innovators, regardless of their ability to pay infrastructure owners special fees for special access. I am sure the American people will tell Chairman Pai and Commissioner O’Rielly what they want. I hope the commissioners will listen.
benton.org/headlines/benton-committed-fast-fair-open-internet | Benton Foundation
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
FREE PRESS JOINS SENS IN OPPOSING TRUMP'S NET NEUTRALITY ROLLBACK
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Craig Aaron]
Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron joined a press conference with Sens Ed Markey (D–MA), Richard Blumenthal (D–CT) and Ron Wyden (D–OR), as well as Evan Greer of Fight for the Future, to talk about the Trump Federal Communications Commission’s threats to network neutrality. In his remarks, Aaron said, "In Ajit Pai’s fantasy world, all will be fine if the companies double-pinky-swear not to interfere with online pathways and portals — despite their long history of doing just that. His justification for launching this attack on internet users is the utterly false and repeatedly debunked claim that the FCC rules are dampening investment to build out and improve networks. Do not believe Pai’s alternative facts. The reality is that in the two years since the FCC's 2015 vote, we’ve actually seen an explosion in over-the-top video competition as well as a dramatic increase in next-generation broadband network deployment. Aggregate investments by publicly traded ISPs are up by more than 5 percent since the order came down....The public won’t be fooled by Chairman Pai’s laughable plan or the empty promises of telecom executives. The free and open internet is just too important to our ability to communicate, to organize and to innovate — and we will fight with everything we’ve got against those trying to take it away."
benton.org/headlines/free-press-joins-senators-opposing-president-trumps-net-neutrality-rollback | Free Press | B&C
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
SIX DEFINITIONS PREVENTING CONSENSUS ON NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Scott Cleland]
[Commentary] Here are the core six terms with double meanings that torment net neutrality consensus: Internet, net neutrality, free, open, competition, and economics.
Internet: Internet service providers see themselves as an integral part of the Internet...[h]owever, proponents of net neutrality...want to define ISPs as Title II telephone utilities, and the physical hardware part of the Internet as the public switched telephone network, to effectively redefine the Internet on their terms as “the edge” made up of only “edge,” software or virtual providers.
Net Neutrality: The snowballing definition now has many net neutrality proponents seeing net neutrality as the same as 1934 monopoly telephone utility law which regulated telecommunications as a common carrier.
Free: Increasingly proponents of Title II net neutrality define “free” as no-cost or a price of zero. However, opponents define “free” as shorthand for individual freedom, since most people pay for Internet access most of the time.
Open: Proponents define open as the strongest possible utility regulation, and non-proprietary, like open-source software that confers no property rights. Opponents see an open market as a deregulated market.
Competition: Proponents and the previous Federal Communications Commission, defined broadband competition as government-managed competition where the government determines some prices, terms and conditions of ISPs to advantage edge providers. In contrast, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai defines broadband competition as market-driven competition between facilities-based providers of broadband Internet access, and where consumers pick winners and losers.
Economics: Many of the most ardent net neutrality supporters consider the Internet like a public common, ie online resources that do not require payment of permission to use. In contrast to most other people, including Chairman Pai and Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, believe in the market organizing principle of the economics of scarcity, where pricing must ultimately reflect total costs, not cherry-picked marginal costs, and supply and demand.
[Scott Cleland is president of Precursor LLC and the chairman of NetCompetition]
benton.org/headlines/six-definitions-are-preventing-consensus-net-neutrality | Hill, The
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
MORE INTERNET/BROADBAND
BILL IN ME TO LIMIT LOCAL AUTHORITY OVER BROADBAND INVESTMENT
[SOURCE: Institute for Local Self-Reliance, AUTHOR: Christopher Mitchell]
Maine State Representative Nathan Wadsworth (R-Hiram) introduced a bill to revoke local authority over building Internet networks needed by local businesses and residents. The one-time Maine state American Legislative Exchange Council chair introduced HP 1040 (also cross filed as LD 1516) to advantage the big cable and telephone monopolies. This bill will introduce procedural hurdles to discourage local governments from investing in modern broadband networks, including public-private partnerships with companies rooted in Maine – like GWI. Little has changed since 2014, when Gizmodo rated Maine 49th in terms of broadband Internet service. Rather than finding ways to encourage investment, this bill would have the state actually slow it. “This effort joins a national trend of big cable and telephone companies, like Time Warner Cable and FairPoint, leaning heavily on state legislatures to protect themselves from competition,” says Christopher Mitchell, director of the Community Broadband Networks initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. “Communities do not make these investments when they are well served. If big cable and telephone companies want to preserve market share, they should invest in better services rather than crony capitalist laws.”
benton.org/headlines/bill-introduced-maine-legislature-limit-local-authority-over-broadband-investment | Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Share: Twitter | Facebook
back to top
