BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2016 (see you at the parade!)
Today's Events -- Direct Video Calling Showcase, FCC - https://www.benton.org/node/247850
Chicago Cubs WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP PARADE - http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/watch-chicago-cubs-world-series-par...
WORLD SERIES
World Series Game 7’s 40 Million Viewers Make It Biggest Baseball Game in 25 Years [links to Wrap, The]
Budweiser Lets Harry Carry Call Cubs Victory [links to TVNewsCheck]
INTERNET/TELECOM
SHLB Coalition Has Issues With FCC's BDS Approach
FCC Seeks Public Comment in 2016 Biennial Review of Telecommunications Regulations - public notice
SECURITY/PRIVACY
The Nitty-Gritty Details About the Big Privacy Win at the FCC - Free Press
Remarks of Commissioner O'Rielly on Protecting Consumer Privacy and Promoting Innovation in the Internet Era - speech [links to Benton summary]
House Democrats Ask FTC to Beef Up IoT Security [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Op-ed: Your WiFi-connected thermostat can take down the whole Internet. We need new regulations. [links to Washington Post]
Opting in to better online privacy protection - press release [links to Benton summary]
Don’t Connect to a Public Wi-Fi Network Anywhere You Wouldn’t Go Barefoot - op-ed [links to Benton summary]
ELECTIONS 2016
The Media Has To Own Donald Trump Now - HuffPo op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Donald Trump leaves the press behind, again [links to Benton summary]
Video: Melania Trump vows to fight online bullying as first lady [links to Washington Post]
Republican super PAC invests last big chunk of cash on key Senate races [links to Washington Post]
Juan Gonzalez and Others Tackle The Media's Coverage of Race and Dog-Whistle Politics [links to Free Press]
Hillary Clinton’s quiet revolution [links to Vox]
Sorting Through the Clinton Email Case and What the F.B.I.’s Options Are [links to New York Times]
TV and radio stations love this presidential election [links to American Public Media]
What TV Nets Are Planning For Election Night [links to TVNewsCheck]
Op-ed: Both Old and New Media Are Failing Voters [links to Wall Street Journal]
Melania Trump says people should be nicer on social media. Her husband is Donald Trump. [links to Vox]
Melania Trump’s tips for stopping cyberbullying [links to Washington Post]
Melania Trump Accused of Plagiarism Again, This Time From Marla Maples [links to Wrap, The]
Hollywood Democrats ‘Terrified’ as Polls Show Clinton-Trump Race Tightening [links to Wrap, The]
RADIO/TELEVISION
FCC Designates License Renewal For Entercom's KDND/Sacramento For Hearing Over Fatal Contest
Fed’s antitrust suit against AT&T’s DirecTV is odd, legal experts say [links to Los Angeles Times]
Average Person Spends 1.3 Years Looking for Something to Watch on TV [links to Wrap, The]
GLAAD's 'Where We Are on TV' report finds progress in LGBTQ representation on TV, but much work still to be done [links to Federal Communications Commission]
CONTENT
Over Half the World's Internet Users Have Facebook [links to nextgov]
JOURNALISM
Civic Engagement Strongly Tied to Local News Habits - Pew research
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Communicating in a Catastrophe: The Lessons of Orlando - press release [links to Benton summary]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Big AT&T Deal Proves It’s Time to Stop ‘Zero-Rating’ - Wired [links to Benton summary]
State Dept: The Internet of Things - Challenges and Opportunities [links to Medium]
ENVIRONMENT
Dumping 4.3 Million Samsung Phones is an Environmental Fiasco that Could Show Us How to Recycle Smartphones [links to nextgov]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Congress.gov Homepage Highlights, Alerts, and More Enhancements [links to Library of Congress]
COMPANY NEWS
Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google still rule tech [links to CNNMoney]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Massive cyber-attack grinds Liberia's internet to a halt [links to Guardian, The]
Google Attacks EU Case That ‘Doesn’t Fit the Reality’ [links to Bloomberg]
Google dismisses European commission Shopping charges as 'wrong' [links to Guardian, The]
BROADBAND/TELECOM
SHLB COALITION HAS ISSUES WITH FCC'S BDS APPROACH
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition has launched a campaign trying to get the Federal Communications Commission to reverse course on its new approach to business data services (BDS), saying with that approach "our kids will suffer from buffer brains rather than developing into the next-generation of entrepreneurs and leaders." FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler was initially going to impose rate regulations on both the ethernet BDS service used by new competitive entrants like cable ISPs and the traditional TDM (time-division multiplexing)-based service provided by the incumbent telecommunication companies, but he subsequently switched to a case-by-case, market-by-market, complaint-driven approach to ethernet service price regulations. SHLB Coalition wants the FCC to regulate both TDM and ethernet below 50 Mbps in an "equivalent manner," saying not to do so excludes schools and libraries from the BDS revamp. The campaign is called #NoBufferBrains, and it wants the FCC to make "emergency improvements" to the proposal. "Emergency" because Chairman Wheeler has scheduled a vote on the latest BDS proposal for the Nov 17 public meeting after originally circulating it for a vote outside a public meeting.
benton.org/headlines/shlb-coalition-has-issues-fccs-bds-approach | Broadcasting&Cable | see SHLB press release | video
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REVIEW OF TELECOM REGULATION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
The Federal Communications Commission is in the process of conducting its comprehensive 2016 biennial review of telecommunications regulations. The law requires the FCC to (1) review biennially its regulations “that apply to the operations or activities of any provider of telecommunications service,” and (2) “determine whether any such regulation is no longer necessary in the public interest as the result of meaningful economic competition between providers of such service.” The law directs the FCC to repeal or modify any regulation that it finds are no longer in the public interest. The FCC seeks input from the public as to what rules should be modified or repealed as part of the 2016 biennial review. Submissions should identify with as much specificity as possible the rule or rules that the commenting party believes should be modified or repealed, and explain why and how the rule or rules should be modified or repealed.
Comments due Dec 5; reply comments Jan 3, 2017.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-seeks-public-comment-2016-biennial-review-telecommunications-regulations | Federal Communications Commission | Commissioner Pai | Commissioner O’Rielly
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SECURITY/PRIVACY
NITTY-GRITTY DETAILS ABOUT THE BIG PRIVACY WIN AT THE FCC
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Gaurav Laroia]
Recently, Internet users won a huge victory for online privacy at the Federal Communications Commission. At its October meeting, the Commission took a tremendous stride forward and voted 3–2 to adopt broadband-privacy rules. As we’ve written, these rules stand on the same legal foundation as Net Neutrality, built on the reclassification of broadband Internet access providers as telecommunications carriers under Title II of the Communications Act. Properly treating these providers as carriers means restoring people’s rights, under the law, to service that’s affordable, nondiscriminatory — and protected from the carriers’ prying eyes. On Nov 2 the FCC released the full text of its new broadband-privacy rules and here’s what we know so far: ISPs must now get their customers’ permission before they surveil, sell or share any of their sensitive information for marketing purposes. The FCC reported almost a quarter-million filings in the docket — with the vast majority of them in favor. The decision isn’t perfect, and the details will continue to be tweaked over the next year. We’ll be there to ensure that these privacy safeguards stay strong and reflect the will of the people who demanded them.
benton.org/headlines/nitty-gritty-details-about-big-privacy-win-fcc | Free Press
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RADIO
LICENSE RENEWAL CHALLENGE
[SOURCE: All Access, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission has designated the 2005 and 2013 license renewal applications of Entercom for Top 40 KDND (107.9 The End)/Sacramento for hearing over the "Hold Your Wee For A Wii" contest in 2007 that led to the water intoxication death of contestant Jennifer Lee Strange. The notice of designation for hearing says, "Information now before the Commission raises serious questions as to whether Entercom operated Station KDND in the public interest during the most recent license term. As discussed below, the record suggests that Entercom formulated, promoted, conducted and aired over the station an inherently dangerous contest in which one listener-contestant died of water intoxication and many others suffered serious physical distress. This information could lead to the conclusion that ENTERCOM failed to serve the public interest with the Station during the previous license term, warranting denial of the above-captioned renewal applications." The FCC noted that the "pre-contest announcements did not mention any risks associated with the Contest in general or water intoxication (hyponatremia) specifically."
benton.org/headlines/fcc-designates-license-renewal-entercoms-kdndsacramento-hearing-over-fatal-contest | All Access | FCC
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JOURNALISM
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT STRONGLY TIED TO LOCAL NEWS HABITS
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center Media and News, AUTHOR: Michael Barthel, Jesse Holcomb, Jessica Mahone, Amy Mitchell]
In local communities, the civically engaged – the people who vote, volunteer and connect with those around them – play a key role in community life. Thus, how and to what degree they stay informed about their communities carries added weight. A new study by Pew Research Center in association with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation reveals that, overall, the civically engaged are indeed more likely than the less engaged to use and value local news. But two particular aspects of civic engagement stand out as most closely associated with local news habits: a strong connection to one’s community and always voting in local elections. Americans with one of these two attributes, the study finds, consistently display stronger local news habits across a range of measures: news interest, news intake (the number and types of sources they turn to) and news attitudes – their views of local news organizations. The roughly one-in-five US adults (19%) who feel highly attached to their communities demonstrate much stronger ties to local news than those who do not feel attached. Similar to the highly attached, those who say they always vote in local elections (27% of US adults) display strikingly stronger local news habits than those who do not regularly vote in local elections.
benton.org/headlines/civic-engagement-strongly-tied-local-news-habits | Pew Research Center Media and News
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