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December 2017

The Return of the Techno-Moral Panic

Our present panics tend to arrive just as new parts of our economy, culture and politics are reconstituted within platform marketplaces — shifts that have turned out to be bigger than anyone anticipated. Aggravation about “fake news” followed the realization that the business and consumption of online news had been substantially captured by Facebook, which had strenuously resisted categorization as a media company. Children’s entertainment has migrated to new and unexpected venues faster and more completely than either parents or YouTube expected or accounted for.

The FCC is swiftly changing national media policy. What does that mean on the local level?

The Federal Communications Commission’s anticipated decision on net neutrality has (rightfully) garnered a lot of publicity and scrutiny. The FCC’s repeal of different regulations earlier this fall, however, could reshape a news source often left out of predictions of the industry’s future: local TV newsrooms.

Chairman Pai Falsely Claims Killing Net Neutrality Will Help Sick and Disabled People

A popular claim by [telecom industry lobbyists, policy vessels, and loyal lawmakers] is that network neutrality rules are somehow preventing people who are sick or disabled from gaining access to essential medical services they need to survive. Despite the fact that the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules clearly exempt medical services from the ban on uncompetitive paid prioritization, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has consistently tried to claim otherwise.

Sponsor 

Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet

Senate Commerce Committee

Date 
Tue, 12/12/2017 - 16:00 to 20:00

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet, will convene a hearing titled “Digital Decision-Making: The Building Blocks of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence,” at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 12, 2017. The hearing will examine the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) in today’s digital economy, the development of algorithms powering AI, and what practices are in place or should be in place to ensure proper use of this technology.

Witnesses: 


Sponsor 

Federal Communications Commission

Date 
Thu, 12/14/2017 - 16:30 to 18:30

Agenda


Related Headlines 
FCC Adds Blue Alerts to Nation's Emergency Alert Systems
FCC Launches Review of its Rural Health Care Program
FCC Seeks Comment on Plan to Ease Collocations on Twilight Towers
FCC Streamlines Paperwork Requirements for New Mobile Services
FCC Proposes Modernizing Pay TV Subscriber Notification Rules
FCC Opens Review of National Broadcast TV Ownership Cap
FCC Adopts Restoring Internet Freedom Order, Ends Net Neutrality Protections

Small Businesses Rely on Open Internet Protections

Reflections from a variety of representatives from startups, small businesses, and established companies that began as startups who say they have open internet protections to thank for their prior and continued success. 

Remarks of Assistant Secretary Redl at the Phoenix Center 2017 Annual US Telecoms Symposium

This is an exciting time to lead NTIA, which plays a vital role in many important areas of telecommunications, including managing federal spectrum use, promoting investments in broadband infrastructure, and developing policies that improve cybersecurity, Internet governance and more. There is much to celebrate when it comes to the Internet, but there are real problems we need to tackle. Many Americans, especially in rural areas, still can't access broadband at the speeds needed to meaningfully participate in the modern economy.

Trust, Democracy and Media, and the Evolving Role of Digital Platforms and First Amendment Rights

[Commentary] A few weeks ago, representatives from Facebook, Google and Twitter came to town to testify before Congress. But let’s look beyond the narrow scope of those hearings and explore a broader conceptual issue, a massive and thorny topic: the role and responsibility of technology companies that began as platforms and transformed, I believe, into publishers. These are two very different things, with different roles in society. Are they merely platforms and tech companies, or are they publishers with social and legal responsibility for what they publish?

What will repealing net neutrality rules mean for communities in rural America?

What will repealing net neutrality rules mean for communities in rural America? Public interest groups say it could present unique challenges. Jessica Gonzalez, deputy director and senior counsel for the group Free Press, says most rural communities only have one Internet provider and that provider could do as it pleases if the rule is repealed.

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