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  2. October 2018

October 2018

Telecom Groups Urge FCC to Increase Rural Broadband Focused 2018 USF Budget to At Least $2.4B

Four telecommunication groups have come together to urge the Federal Communications Commission to increase the Universal Service Fund (USF) budget to at least $2.4 billion for 2018 for the high-cost portion of the program. The request took the form of a letter from ITTA – The Voice of America’s Broadband Providers, USTelecom – The Broadband Association, NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association and WTA – Advocates for Rural Broadband.

EducationSuperHighway 2018 State of the States report

EducationSuperHighway released its annual State of the States report highlighting the major progress that has been achieved to connect nearly every public school classroom to high-speed broadband. At the same time, the report cites the urgent need to close the digital divide for 2.3 million students across the nation who lack access to the minimum connectivity required for digital learning. The report credits strong bipartisan support from state policymakers for the progress made over the past five years.

FBI vs. Facebook Messenger: What’s at stake?

In the wake of news that a federal court in CA rejected Department of Justice demands that Facebook break, bypass, or remove the encryption in its Messenger app, it’s worth noting how little we still know about such an important dispute. Depending on what specific relief the government sought from the court, the case may signal a potentially significant threat to the security of Internet-based communications. In a hyperconnected world, the implications of the government’s demand for expanded surveillance capabilities go far beyond any legitimate law enforcement equities in any single case.

Facebook disclosed a major hack very quickly. But the alert was short on details.

It took just three days for Facebook to notify authorities and the public that hackers had compromised as many as 50 million user accounts on the social media platform. A swift response. But the flip side: Facebook leaders did not have enough information to paint a clear picture of the hack and the risk to its users during the announcement. They didn’t offer details about who the attackers were, or what motivated them. Nor could they say where the affected users were located or how many users of Facebook-linked third-party applications were affected.

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