October 2017

White House officials have begun examining e-mails associated with a third and previously unreported e-mail account on Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s private domain, apparently. Hundreds of e-mails have been sent since January from White House addresses to accounts on the Kushner family domain. Many of those e-mails went not to Kushner’s or Ivanka Trump’s personal addresses but to an account they both had access to and shared with their personal household staff for family scheduling. The e-mails — which include nonpublic travel documents, internal schedules and some official White House materials —were in many cases sent from Ivanka Trump, her assistant Bridges Lamar and others who work with the couple in the White House.

The e-mails to the third account were largely sent from White House accounts but occasionally came from other private accounts, apparently. The existence of additional accounts on the family domain beyond the two personal accounts used by Kushner and Ivanka Trump and reported earlier raises new questions about the extent of personal e-mail use by the couple during their time as White House aides. Their use of private e-mail accounts for White House business also raises concerns about the security of potentially sensitive government documents, which have been forwarded to private accounts.

[Commentary] As an investor in and adviser to socially-minded startups—and as a parent of two young children—I spend a lot of time grappling with the question of how we can build a better world for the next generation. As the digital revolution remakes almost every aspect of our lives, it's more clear than ever that any forward-looking agenda must focus on expanding digital access and participation. We cannot build a more equal America, or a future with greater opportunity and economic mobility, if large numbers of Americans are stuck on the wrong side of a growing digital divide.

Above all, we need strong policies to make the internet open and free and prevent Big Tech monopolies from distorting or undermining opportunity and competition online. One of the most important things we can do to make this happen is to push Congress to enact a strong "net neutrality" law ensuring all viewpoints and communities have full access to the internet and that no one can block access to websites or manipulate the flow of data to silence critics or competitors.

[Jimmy Lee is president of Goodcity Chicago, a nonprofit that provides startup financing and organizational assistance to social entrepreneurs from low-income neighborhoods.]

Intelsat and Intel (no relation) are teaming up on a marketplace-based proposal to allow for joint use of parts of the C-band spectrum (3700-4200) for 5G wireless, with satellite operators giving up spectrum in metro markets for a price set by the marketplace. That is the spectrum broadcast nets use to get their programming to stations, and stations use to get their programming to cable and satellite operators. Intel and Intelsat argue that their proposal will be a voluntary, efficient and expeditious route to more spectrum for mobile broadband, while protecting their broadcast/cable clients from interference.

Wireless and computer companies have pushed for terrestrial use of C-band, while broadcasters have been worried about possible new interference to their critical broadcast distribution system. But the FCC has been looking high and low (band) for more spectrum for mobile devices that are the way most folks are now accessing the internet of everything and in August asked for input on where it might find some, including in the C-band swath of spectrum. The deadline was Oct 2 for comments in the FCC's notice of inquiry on the possibilities of sharing C-band spectrum with wireless companies. Intel and Intelsat filed their joint proposal as comments in that proceeding.