BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017
The week ahead https://www.benton.org/calendar
COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
President Trump tells NBC to stop covering Russia story [links to Hill, The]
President Trump Defends Michael Flynn, Blames Media and Democrats for ‘Witch Hunt’ [links to Benton summary]
Putin: 'Read my lips,' election interference claims are lies [links to Hill, The]
As he cuts federal research and targets immigration, President Trump has neglected and marginalized the White House’s own team of experts [links to Vox]
Messaging, misinformation and movements: Impact takeaways from the Frank conference [links to Media Impact Funders]
Oklahoma Bar Association investigating EPA Administrator Pruitt over private e-mail use [links to Hill, The]
INTERNET/BROADBAND/TELECOM
Technology Policy and the Trump Administration [links to Digitopoly]
Ajit Pai's Business Data Services Proposal Draws Mixed Reviews [links to Benton summary]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon say you shouldn’t worry about gutting of internet privacy rules
ISP privacy rules could be resurrected by states, starting in Minnesota
Reversing Obama's FCC Regulations: A Path to Consumer-Friendly Privacy Protections - press release
AT&T and Comcast say they weren’t invading your privacy in the first place [links to Benton summary]
Tech faces public anger over internet privacy repeal [links to Hill, The]
Former FTC Chair Leibowitz: Privacy fears are 'hyper-partisan hyperbole [links to CNN]
What does the new ISP data-sharing rollback actually change? - The Verge analysis [links to Benton summary]
Will the FCC rollback have political consequences? - IAPP op-ed [links to Benton summary]
USTelecom: FCC's Broadband Privacy Regulation Rollback No Reason for Panic [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
The Founding Fathers Encrypted Secret Messages, Too [links to Benton summary]
ADVERTISING
FCC Loses Fax Opt-Out Ad Ruling
Statement Of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai On The Latest DC Circuit Rebuke Of FCC Overreach - press release
Google Training Ad Placement Computers to Be Offended [links to New York Times]
5 Reasons Brands Could Be the Next Victims of Fake News [links to AdWeek]
CONTENT
The News Integrity Initiative Launches With Facebook as One of Its Founding Funders [links to AdWeek]
JOURNALISM
Journalism and Silicon Valley: The balance of power [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
Op-ed: Our biggest mistake in the fight against fake news [links to Washington Post]
Bill O’Reilly Thrives at Fox News, Even as Harassment Settlements Add Up [links to New York Times]
Thanks to the Election, Consumers Are Watching More Cable News Than Ever [links to AdWeek]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Reps Kinzinger and Loebsack Introduce the Bipartisan ‘Rural Spectrum Accessibility Act’ - press release [links to Benton summary]
COMMUNITY MEDIA
How public libraries help build healthy communities [links to Brookings]
LABOR
Op-ed: Barriers to opportunity in today’s America [links to Washington Post]
Upcoming NAFTA renegotiation should expand telecommunications freedom of choice
DIVERSITY
It's not women who are the problem in tech land [links to C-Net|News.com]
Hey Tech Giants: How About Action on Diversity, Not Just Reports? [links to Wired]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
911 systems are getting old, and the public can be in danger when they fail [links to Washington Post]
FirstNet Milestone Draws Crowd of Fans, Including White House [links to Benton summary]
GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
Beyond Tech: Policymaking in a Digital Age - op-ed [links to Benton summary]
I worked for Jared Kushner. He’s the wrong businessman to reinvent government. [links to Washington Post]
LOBBYING
Observations on Lobbyists' Compliance with Disclosure Requirements [links to Government Accountability Office]
As cash has flooded Washington from a variety of groups, even the anti-establishment activists and operatives who sided with President Trump have been enriched. [links to New York Times]
POLICYMAKERS
Is President Trump Eliminating the White House Science and Tech Office?
COMPANY NEWS
Verizon Said to Plan Online TV Package for Summer Launch [links to Benton summary]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
A new age of orchestration for 5G [links to International Telecommunication Union]
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SECURITY/PRIVACY
PRIVACY STATEMENTS
[SOURCE: The Verge, AUTHOR: Jacob Kastrenakes]
Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon published statements responding to the backlash they’ve been receiving since Congress voted to revoke a strong set of internet privacy rules that would have prevented internet providers from using or sharing their customers’ web browsing history without permission. The companies take different approaches when responding, but the takeaway from all three is that they think customers should stop worrying. Comcast takes a friendlier approach and actually makes some basic commitments to customers. “We do not sell our broadband customers’ individual web browsing history,” writes Gerard Lewis, Comcast’s chief privacy officer. “We did not do it before the FCC’s rules were adopted, and we have no plans to do so.” Verizon’s approach is similar. The company’s chief privacy officer, Karen Zacharia, offers a fairly clear statement: “Verizon does not sell the personal web browsing history of our customers,” she writes. “We don’t do it and that’s the bottom line.” AT&T’s response has the same message at its core, but the tone couldn’t be more different: it’s standoffish and argumentative, with AT&T’s public policy chief, Bob Quinn, trying to explain why nothing has changed and the FCC was wrong in the first place.
benton.org/headlines/comcast-att-and-verizon-say-you-shouldnt-worry-about-gutting-internet-privacy-rules | Verge, The
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ISP PRIVACY RULES COULD BE RESURRECTED BY STATES, STARTING IN MN
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
Legislation approved by the Minnesota House and Senate the week of March 27 would prevent Internet service providers from collecting personal information without written approval from customers. The quick action came in response to the US House and Senate voting to eliminate nationwide rules that would have forced ISPs to get consent from Americans before using or selling Web browsing history and app usage history for advertising purposes. President Donald Trump is expected to sign off on Congress' decision to kill the Federal Communications Commission privacy rules. While there wouldn't be any rules for ISPs at the national level, states could try to implement some form of the FCC rules for their own residents. ISPs might conceivably change their practices nationwide if enough states do so, or customers in some states could have fewer privacy protections than customers in other states. As on climate change, immigration and a host of other issues, some state legislatures may prove to be a counterweight to Washington by enacting new regulations to increase consumers’ privacy rights.
benton.org/headlines/isp-privacy-rules-could-be-resurrected-states-starting-minnesota | Ars Technica | New York Times
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REVERSING OBAMA'S FCC REGULATIONS
[SOURCE: AT&T, AUTHOR: Bob Quinn]
[C]ompanies that collect and use the most customer information on the internet are not the Internet service providers but other internet companies, including operating system providers, web browsers, search engines, and social media platforms. And the Federal Communications Commission rules had nothing – literally nothing – to do with these companies or their practices. Indeed, in fashioning the rules, the Tom Wheeler FCC gave consumers a false sense of security by limiting how ISPs – and ISPs alone – use internet data while knowing that other competitors in the internet ecosystem had access and freedom to use the same data across whatever platform the consumer used to access the internet. AT&T’s approach, which is to focus on the nature of the data and have a consistent framework on collection, use and sharing, was actually the Obama Administration policy for nearly eight years until the Wheeler FCC did a sudden about-face. Hopefully, this week’s action by Congress gets us back on the path to a more rational and consumer-friendly framework. I am also hopeful that facts actually work their way back into the debate.
benton.org/headlines/reversing-obamas-fcc-regulations-path-consumer-friendly-privacy-protections | AT&T
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ADVERTISING
FCC LOSES FAX OPT-OUT AD RULING
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Tom Wheeler Federal Communications Commission suffered another defeat in the opt-out advertising category March 31 as a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals—in a 2-1 decision—overturned a ruling regarding faxed advertisements, saying the FCC had exceeded its authority. The FCC in 2014 upheld a previous conclusion that its rule implementing The Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005 required opt-out notices not only on unsolicited faxed ads but solicited ones as well. That was more than an academic exercise since the FCC was responding to a 2010 request for a declaratory ruling by a drug company, Anda, that wanted the FCC to find the rule didn't apply to solicited faxes—since that meant the recipient had agreed to get them. Anda was being sued for $150 million by pharmacies that claimed, even though they had agreed to get the faxes, there should have still been an opt-out option. The FCC agreed; the court panel did not.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-loses-fax-opt-out-ad-ruling | Broadcasting&Cable
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PAI STATEMENT ON APPEALS COURT RULING
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai]
The DC Circuit reversed the Commission’s Anda Order, which had been adopted in relevant part on a 3-2 party-line vote. FCC Chairman Pai issued the following statement: “Today’s decision by the DC Circuit highlights the importance of the FCC adhering to the rule of law. I dissented from the FCC decision that the court has now overturned because, as I stated at the time, the agency’s approach to interpreting the law reflected ‘convoluted gymnastics.’ The court has now agreed that the FCC acted unlawfully. Going forward, the Commission will strive to follow the law and exercise only the authority that has been granted to us by Congress.”
benton.org/headlines/statement-fcc-chairman-ajit-pai-latest-dc-circuit-rebuke-fcc-overreach | Federal Communications Commission
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LABOR
TELECOM AND NAFTA RENEGOTIATION
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Stuart Brotman]
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico is expected to be at the top of the list for renegotiation under the Trump Administration. The treaty’s telecommunications provisions include a “bill of rights” for providers and users of telecommunications services that cover access to public telecommunications services; connection to private lines that reflect economic costs and availability of flat-rate pricing; and the right to choose, purchase, or lease terminal equipment best suited to their needs. These free-market principles reflect American values. Barriers such as international roaming rates for mobile calls, restrictions on cross-border transfer of digital information (such as electronic payments and digital signatures), and the forced localization of data centers have a detrimental impact on American companies. Consequently, the Trump Administration would be well-advised to advocate for a broader bill of rights that adheres to the notion of freedom of choice. It should uphold the ability of US companies to offer their world-class information services in Canada and Mexico. Such a position may be easier to gain in a renegotiated agreement since the other items on the NAFTA version 2.0 agenda (e.g., tariffs) undoubtedly will receive greater scrutiny and are likely to be far more contentious.
benton.org/headlines/upcoming-nafta-renegotiation-should-expand-telecommunications-freedom-choice | Brookings
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POLICYMAKERS
IS TRUMP ELIMINATING WH SCIENCE AND TECH OFFICE?
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Mohana Ravindranath]
President Donald Trump has yet to fill many key science and technology positions at the White House, and it's not clear when he will. Under President Barack Obama, the White House chief technology officer's staff included about 24 people. As of the week of March 27, President Trump has named only one person to that office—Michael Kratios, formerly chief of staff to Trump's tech adviser and tech investor Peter Thiel. The CTO's office is housed within the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, which also doesn't have a director yet. “The impression this leaves is that Trump isn’t interested in science and that scientific matters are a low priority at the White House,” said Vint Cerf, the Google technologist known as the "father of the internet". President Trump's budget blueprint, released earlier this month, proposed slashing federal research funding at agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and, at the Energy Department, eliminating a research and development unit altogether. Some of President Trump's advisers have recommended eliminating OSTP, which the administration is free to do. White House structure isn't set in law, said Martha Joynt Kumar, director of the White House Transition Project.
benton.org/headlines/president-trump-eliminating-white-house-science-and-tech-office | nextgov | New York Times
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