BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2017
Today's Events
- Feasibility Studies for Municipal Broadband: The Good, The Bad, and the Best Practices, Vantage Point Solutions -- https://www.benton.org/node/265424
- Anne-Marie Slaughter: Technology for the People, New America -- https://www.benton.org/node/265453
COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
FCC Chairman Pai Says He Supports Free Speech But Does Not Condemn President Trump
Democratic Lawmakers: Chairman Pai Response to President Trump Tweets Falls Short
FCC Commissioner O'Rielly says President Trump is “rightfully venting” anger at the press
Sec of State Tillerson: Our strategies 'are resilient enough' for President Trump's tweets [links to Benton summary]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Remarks of Commissioner Mignon Clyburn at The Media Institute - speech
FCC Settles New York City E-Rate Investigation With Verizon - press release
Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs strikes deal to turn 800 acres of Toronto into an ‘internet city’ [links to Benton summary]
CEO: Unite Private Networks Small Cell Expansion is Latest Example of Success Based Fiber Build Strategy [links to telecompetitor]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Court Won't Force Broadcasters to Translate Emergency Alerts
New Hampshire considers opting out of FirstNet [links to Benton summary]
Hurricane Maria Communications Status Report for Oct. 17 [links to Federal Communications Commission]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Google introduces Advanced Protection for those at high risk of targeted online attacks [links to Benton summary]
Microsoft responded quietly after detecting secret database hack in 2013 [links to Benton summary]
Microsoft Cloud Can Now Host Classified Pentagon Data [links to nextgov]
FTC: The dark web: What your business needs to know [links to Federal Trade Commission]
SURVEILLANCE
FISA Section 702 renewal: The battle is joined [links to American Enterprise Institute]
ADVERTISING
Google Serves Fake News Ads in an Unlikely Place: Fact-Checking Sites [links to Benton summary]
U.S. Publishers: $15.8B Annual Revenue Lost To Ad Blocking [links to MediaPost]
Google Serves Fake News Ads in an Unlikely Place: Fact-Checking Sites [links to New York Times]
CONTENT
Wikipedia's Fate Shows How Social Media Endangers Knowledge - Wired op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Netflix, Amazon, movie studios sue over TickBox streaming device [links to Ars Technica]
TELEVISION
Why Dynamic Channels Will Be Transformative to TV As We Know It [links to Mutlichannel News]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Astronomers Are 'Racing Against Time' as Humanity Clogs the Air With Radio Signals [links to Vice]
SoftBank Venture Seeks 8,000 Cellular Sites Across US [links to Wall Street Journal]
OWNERSHIP
FCC Weighs Revamping Ownership Rules Before Sinclair Deal [links to Benton summary]
President Trump hates fake news, loves big media [links to Benton summary]
A deeper look at Silicon Valley’s long-term politics [links to Brookings]
JOURNALISM
Our Gutenberg Moment: It’s Time To Grapple With The Internet’s Effect On Democracy - HuffPo op-ed [links to Benton summary]
The Most Powerful Journalist In Hollywood Protected Harvey Weinstein For Years [links to Wrap, The]
Media reporting on campus protests plays into culture war narrative [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
Behind the digital curve, Philadelphia Media Network tries to straighten out its brand [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
EDUCATION
A Survey of Programs Using Digital-Age Approaches to Family Engagement & Early Learning [links to New America]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Op-Ed: How Data Can Save Us From The Trumpocalypse [links to Fast Company]
PHILANTHROPY
George Soros pumps $18 billion into Open Society Foundations, making it a philanthropic giant [links to Los Angeles Times]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Mexico tech industry benefits from US anti-immigration stance [links to Reuters]
COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
PAI SAYS HE SUPPORTS FREE SPEECH BUT DOES NOT CONDEMN TRUMP
[SOURCE: Fortune, AUTHOR: Aaron Pressman]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai declined to criticize President Donald Trump’s attacks on broadcasters. In his first public appearance since President Trump tweeted that Comcast’s NBC and other broadcasters should lose their licenses for reporting “fake news,” Chairman Pai instead noted that his agency could not do what the president wanted. “Look, I will reiterate what I have said for many years at the FCC up to and including last month,” Chairman Pai said in an appearance at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. “I believe in the First Amendment. The FCC under my leadership will stand for the First Amendment. And under the law, the FCC does not have the authority to revoke a license of a broadcast station based on the content of a particular newscast.” Asked a second time more directly if he would block a broadcaster’s license application based on content, Pai said he would “stand with exactly what I’ve said last month and for years at the FCC.” Pai did not mention the president by name. "Commissioner Pai's statement is a profile in cowardice," said Andrew Schwartzman, Benton Senior Counselor at the Institute for Public Representation, Georgetown Law Center. "Unlike his predecessors, who have forthrightly stood up to Presidential interference, he continues to equivocate. He needs to say that President Trump has no right to interfere in the FCC's licensing process and he will ignore the President's pressure."
benton.org/headlines/fcc-chairman-pai-says-he-supports-free-speech-does-not-condemn-president-trump | Fortune | Broadcasting&Cable
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DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS: PAI RESPONSE TO TRUMP TWEETS FALLS SHORT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The first returns from Capitol Hill on Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai's response to President Trump's tweeted attacks on the press were not promising. Senate Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Brian Schatz (D-HI) said, “This statement is better than nothing, but it is merely a reiteration of the FCC’s authorities under the law. What we needed is a full-throated defense of the independence of the FCC against political interference. When the president announced his intent to retaliate against a broadcaster based on content, the FCC should have rejected it.” House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) said, "Chairman Pai was right to assure the public that the FCC cannot revoke any broadcast licenses based on the content of a specific newscast, but I am disappointed that the Chairman continues to remain silent on the President’s ongoing efforts to intimidate and threaten news outlets. The Chairman should therefore be prepared to commit—under oath, if necessary—that he will take no actions whatsoever to retaliate against news outlets in response to the President’s pressure.”
benton.org/headlines/democratic-lawmakers-chairman-pai-response-president-trump-tweets-falls-short | Broadcasting&Cable | The Hill
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O'RIELLY SAYS PRESIDENT TRUMP IS RIGHTFULLY VENTING ANGER AT THE PRESS
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
Commissioner Michael O'Rielly of the Federal Communications Commission has now said that "politics" should not interfere with FCC decision-making, and that the agency should remain independent. Still, O'Rielly defended President Donald Trump's attacks on the media, saying the president has been treated poorly by journalists. Commissioner O'Rielly was asked about President Trump's tweets during an appearance at a conference on spectrum management on Oct 13. "I'm pretty consistent on licensing and would not want politics to influence our decision-making," O'Rielly said. "I believe in the independence of the agency." But O'Rielly also said that Trump is "rightfully venting" about the media. "I think that the president is rightfully venting his experiences and disappointment with how the coverage has been occurring regarding his administration. I've been surprised how vitriolic that the coverage has been," O'Rielly said. "I think that President Clinton got better coverage during the middle of impeachment than President Trump is getting these days."
benton.org/headlines/fcc-commissioner-orielly-says-president-trump-rightfully-venting-anger-press | Ars Technica
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
COMMISSIONER CLYBURN REMARKS AT MEDIA INSTITUTE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn]
What is unsettling is that many of the changes we are currently making at the Federal Communications Commission have a one-sided benefit, and the impact on consumers, competition, and the public interest are mere afterthoughts The FCC is a regulatory agency, with a charge that requires us to protect the public interest. This means we should strike and maintain the proper balance, when it comes to consumer and industry interests. Yet, when it comes to the future of our media landscape, the FCC majority is embarking on a path, toward a regulatory-free zone....In just about every other context and every other Universal Service program, we have acted with haste, to remove existing barriers to entry. But when it comes to the Lifeline program, that provides millions the chance to maintain a dial tone or should be providing millions more the opportunity to afford broadband at home, we erect insurmountable barriers to entry for Lifeline providers wishing to do business.
benton.org/headlines/remarks-commissioner-mignon-clyburn-media-institute | Federal Communications Commission
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FCC SETTLES NYC ERATE INVESTIGATION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission announced a settlement with Verizon for possible violations of the FCC’s competitive bidding rules for the E-rate program. Verizon agreed to pay $17.68 million to resolve parallel investigations by the FCC and the Department of Justice, $17.325 million of which will be repaid to the Universal Service Fund (USF). Verizon has further agreed to withdraw any rights it may have to hundreds of millions of dollars in requested and undisbursed E-rate support.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-settles-new-york-city-e-rate-investigation-verizon | Federal Communications Commission | order/consent decree
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
COURT WONT FORCE BROADCASTERS TO TRANSLATE EMERGENCY ALERTS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has said the Federal Communications Commission was within its authority to seek more input before deciding whether or not to require broadcasters to simulcast emergency alert information in other languages than English. The Multicultural Media, Telecom & Internet Council and the League of United Latin American Citizens and League of Latin American Citizens had challenged that FCC decision, both on statutory grounds and as arbitrary and capricious. The three-judge panel, with one partial dissent, rejected the appeal, concluding that the FCC's decision not to mandate bilingual simulcasts and instead gather more information was consistent with statute, "reasonable and reasonably explained." "Alert originators can (and sometimes do) compose and transmit alerts in languages in addition to English. And broadcasters in those circumstances then automatically broadcast the alerts in those other languages as well," wrote Judge Brett Kavanaugh in the opinion. "But as petitioners concede, the FCC lacks authority over alert originators and therefore cannot compel alert originators to transmit alerts in languages in addition to English."
benton.org/headlines/court-wont-force-broadcasters-translate-emergency-alerts | Broadcasting&Cable
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