October 2017
Op-ed: Data rules raise tough questions about the meaning of privacy
Submitted by benton on Tue, 10/03/2017 - 06:15Sen Klobuchar -- How to stop Russian robots from attacking the next election: online ad disclosure
Submitted by benton on Tue, 10/03/2017 - 06:15
Benton Editorial
Benton Editorial
Benton Welcomes New Fellows Jonathan Sallet and Denise Linn Riedl
Submitted by benton on Tue, 10/03/2017 - 05:05Contact:
Adrianne B. Furniss
847-328-3040
afurniss@benton.org
Benton Welcomes New Fellows Jonathan Sallet and Denise Linn Riedl
Adrianne B. Furniss named two new Benton Fellows: former Federal Communications Commission General Counsel Jonathan Sallet and Denise Linn Riedl, Program Analyst for Smart Chicago Collaborative.
Senate confirms FCC Chairman Pai to another term
The Senate voted 52-41 to confirm Ajit Pai to another term as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Pai was approved with support from 48 Republicans and four Democrats: Sens Joe Manchin (D-WV), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Gary Peters (D-MI) and Jon Tester (D-MT).
Some Democratic Sens vocally opposed his confirmation, hammering him in a series of floor speeches over his efforts to roll back Obama-era regulations, in particular the network neutrality rules. “The FCC is tasked with the critical role of protecting consumers and promoting innovation in the telecommunications and technological fields that are becoming more and more integral to our day to day lives,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a statement ahead of the vote. “However, over his time at the FCC and particularly in his tenure as Chairman so far, Mr. Pai has established a clear record of favoring big corporations at the expense of consumers, innovators, and small businesses,” he said.
Justice Dept Okays CenturyLink-Level Three Merger
The Justice Department has said it is OK with CenturyLink's proposed merger with Level 3, contingent on the spin-off of some dark fiber and metro network assets. CenturyLink said the conditions had been outlined in a consent decree to which it has agreed. The deal is still subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission. CenturyLink must divest CenturyLink metro network assets in Albuquerque (NM), Boise (ID), and Tucson (AZ), but can still serve those customers if they choose the combined company over the buyer of the divested assets. The merged company will also divest 24 strands of dark fiber (not currently in use).
“We are pleased that the Department of Justice has conditionally cleared CenturyLink’s acquisition of Level 3,” said CenturyLink SVP John F. Jones. “It is an important milestone in our overall approval process. We anticipate court approval of our agreed resolution with the Department of Justice as early as this week. We are focused on meeting our targeted transaction closing timeframe of mid-to-late October.” The merger, which was filed last December, is valued at $34 billion including debt.
Trump’s company had more contact with Russia during campaign, according to documents
Apparently, associates of President Donald Trump and his company have turned over documents to federal investigators that reveal two previously unreported contacts from Russia during the 2016 campaign. In one case, Trump’s personal attorney and a business associate exchanged emails weeks before the Republican National Convention about the lawyer possibly traveling to an economic conference in Russia that would be attended by top Russian financial and government leaders, including President Vladimir Putin, according to people familiar with the correspondence. In the other case, the same Trump attorney, Michael Cohen, received a proposal in late 2015 for a Moscow residential project from a company founded by a billionaire who once served in the upper house of the Russian parliament, these people said.
The previously unreported inquiry marks the second proposal for a Trump-branded Moscow project that was delivered to the company during the presidential campaign and has since come to light. Cohen declined the invitation to the economic conference, citing the difficulty of attending so close to the GOP convention, according to people familiar with the matter. And Cohen rejected the Moscow building plan.
Reps could make public some of the Russia-backed ads that appeared on Facebook before the 2016 election
Rep Adam Schiff (D-CA), who is probing Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, wants Facebook to release at least some of the controversial political ads purchased by Kremlin-backed sources.
Facebook turned over those ads — roughly 3,000 of them in total, valued at more than $100,000 — to investigators on the House and Senate Intelligence Committees earlier Oct 2. Some of the posts specifically sought to stoke racial, religious or other social tensions by stirring conflict around issues like Black Lives Matter, gun control and gay rights. Rep Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House’s panel, said he planned to work with Facebook to release “a representative sampling” of the ads to the public — just in time for a hearing slated for October on the extent to which Russia spread misinformation through social networks. The goal, Schiff said, is to “inoculate the public against future Russian interference in our elections.”
Chairman Pai Appoints New Chief Technology Officer
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced his appointment of Eric Burger to serve as the agency’s Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Burger will advise Chairman Pai and the agency on technology and engineering issues, together with the Office of Engineering and Technology. Prior to joining the Commission, Dr. Burger served as director of the Security and Software Engineering Research Center in Washington, DC. The center helps propose solutions to network problems like robocalling, rural call completion, accessibility of communications for Americans with hearing and speech impairments, reducing the cost of deploying and operating communications networks, and ensuring communication network security and stability. He holds patents in telecommunications and is an expert in standards for telecommunications, network, and Internet technologies.
Dr. Burger has also held senior engineering and technology positions in various telecommunications companies and served as a technology consultant to others. He has also taught computer science at Georgetown University, George Mason University, and The George Washington University. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Illinois Institute of Technology, an MBA from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, and bachelor’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.