October 26, 2017 (Fats Domino, Rita Henley Jensen)

Fats Domino, Rock and Roll Pioneer

Rita Henley Jensen, Founder of Women’s eNews

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2017

Today's Event -- Antitrust and Innovation: What the Alarmists Get Wrong, ITIF -- https://www.benton.org/node/265681

OWNERSHIP
   The FCC plans to roll back some of its biggest rules against media consolidation
   FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel: Pro-Sinclair FCC Policies Deserve Investigating
   Trump’s FCC Chair Announces Plan to Scrap Ownership Limits Standing in Way of Sinclair Mega-Merger - Free Press press release [links to Benton summary]
   Can Washington Stop Big Tech Companies? Don’t Bet on It [links to Benton summary]
    See also:Big Tech’s Rivals Pounce at Chances to Win in Washington [links to Benton summary]
   Google’s Government Influence Nixed Competition for Winner-Take All Results [links to Scott Cleland]
   Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Talks Edge Closer but Still Drag On [links to Wall Street Journal]
    See also:Sprint Merger With T-Mobile Would Kill 20,000 Jobs, Union Says [links to Bloomberg]
   Facebook's Aggressive Moves on Startups Threaten Innovation [links to Wired]

COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
   FCC Chairman Pai Commits to No Retribution, Period, Over News Content
   There is no 1st Amendment right to speak on a college campus - Vox op-ed [links to Benton summary]
   Hate speech is protected free speech, even on college campuses - Vox op-ed [links to Benton summary]

NET NEUTRALITY
   Verizon will stop throttling video on unlimited plans if you pay an extra $10 per month [links to Verge, The]
   ISPs Have Throttled, Blocked Content - Tech Dirt op-ed
   A Public Focused Approach To Network Neutrality - Tech Dirt op-ed [links to Benton summary]
   National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce: Legislation can guarantee the neutrality our internet economy deserves [links to Hill, The]
   Ending Net Neutrality Can Help Puerto Rico Recover, Proposes Verizon-Funded National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce [links to Intercept, The]

MORE INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Big Telecom Spent $200,000 to Try to Prevent a Colorado Town From Even Talking About a City-Run Internet [links to Benton summary]
   Misconceptions about KentuckyWired - Insider Louisville op-ed [links to Benton summary]
   Digital Inclusion Showcase: #MNBroadband Conference 2017 [links to Blandin Foundation]

SECURITY/PRIVACY
   New DHS Social Media Retention Practices Threaten Privacy, Freedom of Expression - New America press release [links to Benton summary]
   Right-leaning groups back international data privacy bill [links to Benton summary]
   3 Ways to Fight the Cybertalent War [links to Government Technology]

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
   FCC Chairman Pai Proposes Order Aiding Hurricane-Affected Schools, Libraries - press release
   Hurricane Maria Communications Status Report for Oct. 25 [links to Federal Communications Commission]
   A ‘How-To’ Guide for Governors Considering Opting Out of FirstNet [links to National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
   Verizon: First Responders don’t have to change providers just because their state opts-in to FirstNet [links to Verizon]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   The FCC Rethinks Citizens Broadband at the Eleventh Hour - CommLawBlog analysis [links to Benton summary]
   Smartphones Ring Big With Hispanic Women [links to Multichannel News]

TELEVISION
   Senate Democrats Want FCC to Mediate Verizon/Univision Impasse [links to Benton summary]
   National Association of Broadcasters Slams Verizon at FCC Over ATSC 3.0 [links to Broadcasting&Cable]

JOURNALISM
   'Downright Orwellian': journalists count cost of Facebook's impact on democracy
   CBS Names Jeff Glor Its Evening News Anchor [links to New York Times]
   The man who saved his local news site in two days [links to Columbia Journalism Review]

CONTENT
   Musicians group launches ad campaign against Google, YouTube [links to Benton summary]
   Why is YouTube undercutting anti-ISIS efforts? [links to American Enterprise Institute]
   Reddit bans Nazi chat pages [links to Hill, The]

LABOR
   Sprint Merger With T-Mobile Would Kill 20,000 Jobs, Union Says [links to Bloomberg]

PHILANTHROPY
   Gates Foundation Announces New $1.7 Billion for K-12 Public Education [links to Education Week]

FCC REFORM
   Chairman Pai: It's Official Policy to Release Meeting Items in Advance

LOBBYING
   How lobbyists convinced lawmakers to kill a broadband privacy bill
   Silicon Valley Gets Behind Initiative to Challenge Trump’s Agenda in Court [links to Benton summary]
   Telecom Lobbyists Fund MI Lawmaker Who Sponsors Bill To Ban Municipal Broadband [links to Benton summary]

POLICYMAKERS
   Progress Report on FCC Chairman Ajit Pai - New America press release [links to Benton summary]

COMPANY NEWS
   AT&T gains 125K IP broadband subscriptions in Q3, but DSL losses remain a drag [links to Fierce]
   Bill O’Reilly May Wind Up at Sinclair Broadcasting

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Kenyans need more than fact-checking tips to resist misinformation - CJR op-ed [links to Benton summary]

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OWNERSHIP

FCC PLANS TO ROLL BACK SOME OF ITS BIGGEST RULES AGAINST MEDIA CONSOLIDATION
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
The Federal Communications Commission will vote in Nov to eliminate a decades-old rule designed to preserve media diversity in local markets, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Oct 25. The move is aimed at supporting economically struggling media outlets in an age of digital consumption. But critics say it will lead to greater media consolidation and the loss of independent voices. The regulations, passed in 1975, prevent any single company from owning both a full-power TV station in a given market and a daily newspaper at the same time. “The marketplace is nothing like it was in 1975,” Chairman Pai told House Communications Subcommittee members at a hearing, arguing that the restriction on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership was outdated. “The FCC's rules still presume the market is defined by pulp and rabbit ears.” The FCC vote, expected Nov 16, could also eliminate a rule that prevents TV stations in the same market from merging if the outcome leads to fewer than eight independent stations operating in that market. “If the federal government has no business intervening in news, then we must stop the government from intervening in the news business,” he said.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-plans-roll-back-some-its-biggest-rules-against-media-consolidation | Washington Post | B&C
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ROSENWORCEL: PRO-SINCLAIR FCC POLICIES DESERVE INVESTIGATING
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel of the Federal Communications Commission told Congress that the FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai has been taking actions that appear to favor Sinclair Broadcasting, and suggested that needs investigating. Commissioner Rosenworcel was asked to weigh in during an FCC oversight hearing in the House Communications Subcommittee Oct 25, and she did not hesitate. She said she was concerned that the FCC's recent policy decisions, from restoring the UHF discount to "foisting" on American households a new broadcast standard (ATSC 3.0) for which Sinclair has patents, seemed to serve Sinclair's business plans. "I think it has reached a point where all our media policy decisions seem to be custom built for this one company, and I think it merits investigation," she said. "That is a pretty strong statement," responded Rep Jerry McNerney (D-CA), who clearly shared her concern.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-commissioner-rosenworcel-pro-sinclair-fcc-policies-deserve-investigating | Broadcasting&Cable
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BILL O'REILLY MAY WIND UP AT SINCLAIR
[SOURCE: NBC, AUTHOR: Claire Atkinson]
Apparently, Bill O'Reilly, the former Fox News anchor, has been negotiating for a position with the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the nation's largest television-station owner. Sinclair, known for its conservative commentary, is continuing with the talks despite the sexual harassment cases that cost O'Reilly his job at Fox earlier this year, the sources said. Last week, The New York Times reported that O’Reilly settled a $32 million sex harassment claim against him by a former legal analyst, Lis Wiehl. Apparently, the news does not appear to have sidelined the talks. "They took a pause but it didn't really change anything for them," one of the sources said. O’Reilly has said the Times article was designed to hurt him in the marketplace. He told The Times that the report was “politically and financially motivated.”
benton.org/headlines/bill-oreilly-may-wind-sinclair-broadcasting | NBC
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COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY

PAI COMMITS TO NO RETRIBUTION, PERIOD, OVER NEWS CONTENT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai got a grilling from Democratic members of the House Communications Subcommittee, who were unhappy with his deregulatory thrust and his perceived failure to sufficiently parry the President's threats against TV licenses. Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) was among a host of Democrats who upbraided the chairman for what they said was a delayed, and "tepid," as Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) put it, response to the President's tweeted threats against TV licenses and NBC over a news story he called fake. Chairman Pai said he had repeated "again and again and again" that the First Amendment must be and would be at the heart of the FCC's work, including journalists reporting as they see fit without government interference. He said that was why he opposed a news diversity study under his predecessor. Chairman Pai said his record is clear, but that presidential attacks on the press were not new. But it was not as clear to Democrats that the chairman was not leaving room in his past statements for actions beyond just not pulling licenses. Pressed for more clarity from Pallone, Pai committed to not affecting license transfers in other ways due to the content of newscasts, not to launch investigations based on the content of newscasts, and that the FCC would not retaliate against companies based on the content of newscasts.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-chairman-pai-commits-no-retribution-period-over-news-content | Broadcasting&Cable
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NET NEUTRALITY

ISPS HAVE BLOCKED, THROTTLED CONTENT
[SOURCE: Tech Dirt, AUTHOR: John Ottman]
[Commentary] Here are just a few ways internet service providers (ISPs) have throttled or blocked content in the past:
Packet forgery: In 2007 Comcast was caught interfering with their customers’ use of BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer file sharing
Discriminatory traffic shaping that prioritizes some protocols over others: a Canadian ISP slowed down all encrypted file transfers for five years
Prohibitions on tethering: the Federal Communications Commission fined Verizon for charging consumers for using their phone as a mobile hotspot
Overreaching clauses in ISP terms of service, such as prohibitions on sharing your home Wi-Fi network
Hindering innovation with "fast lane" discrimination that allows wireless customers without data plans to access certain sites but not the whole Internet
Hijacking and interference with DNS, search engines, HTTP transmission, and other basic Internet functionality to inject ads and raise revenue from affiliate marketing schemes, from companies like Paxfire, FairEagle, and others
Individually and collectively, these practices pose a dire threat to this purely democratic engine of innovation that has allowed hackers, startups, and kids in their college dorm rooms to create the free Internet that we know and love today.
[John Ottman is Chairman and co-founder of Minds, Inc. a social media network.]
benton.org/headlines/isps-have-throttled-blocked-content | Tech Dirt
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

PAI PROPOSES ORDER AIDING HURRICANE-AFFECTED SCHOOLS, LIBRARIES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai issued the following statement on his proposal to help schools and libraries affected by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria restore connectivity through the FCC’s E-rate program:
“[Oct 24], I shared with my colleagues an emergency order that would help schools and libraries recover from the devastation of hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. This order would provide targeted financial support to these institutions through the FCC’s E-rate program and give them maximum flexibility as they try to restore connectivity. It would also make available additional funds to schools that are serving a substantial number of students displaced by this season’s hurricanes. Once my fellow commissioners have had the opportunity to review this proposed order, I hope they will be able to quickly vote to support this relief.”
benton.org/headlines/fcc-chairman-pai-proposes-order-aiding-hurricane-affected-schools-libraries | Federal Communications Commission
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JOURNALISM

JOURNALISTS COUNT COST OF FACEBOOK IMPACT ON DEMOCRACY
[SOURCE: The Guardian, AUTHOR: Alex Hern]
Facebook has been criticised for the worrying impact on democracy of its “downright Orwellian” decision to run an experiment seeing professional media removed from the main news feed in six countries. The experiment, which began 19 Oct and is still ongoing, involves limiting the core element of Facebook’s social network to only personal posts and paid adverts. So-called public posts, such as those from media organisation Facebook pages, are being moved to a separate “explore” feed timeline. As a result, media organisations in the six countries containing 1% of the world’s population – Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Bolivia, Cambodia, Serbia and Slovakia – have had one of their most important publishing platforms removed overnight. “The Facebook explore tab killed 66% of our traffic. Just destroyed it … years of really hard work were just swept away,” says Dina Fernandez, a journalist and member of the editorial board at Guatemalan news site Soy502. “It has been catastrophic, and I am very, very worried.” For those who rely on Facebook to campaign politically, share breaking news, or keep up to date with the world, that might be a concerning thought. “I’m worried about the impact of Facebook on democracy,” said Fernandez. “One company in particular has a gigantic control on the flow of information worldwide. This alone should be worrisome. It’s downright Orwellian.”
benton.org/headlines/downright-orwellian-journalists-count-cost-facebooks-impact-democracy | Guardian, The
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FCC REFORM

PAI: ITS OFFICIAL POLICY TO RELEASE MEETING ITEMS IN ADVANCE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has officially declared an end to the pilot project of publishing the text of meeting items three weeks before they are voted, but only to declare it his policy going forward. That came at a press conference following the FCC's public meeting Oct 24. The chairman early on instituted the test as part of his transparency agenda. Asked at the meeting about the status of the test, he first said it had been a success and making it permanent was certainly something he was willing to discuss with his colleagues and "working with the commission staff to determine the feasibility and benefits of doing so. But after a pause, he continued: "In fact, you know what, let's just go ahead and declare the pilot over. It is not the official policy of the FCC to release these at least three weeks in advance of the monthly meeting." As leader of the loyal opposition under former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, Ajit Pai was a frequent critic of FCC process, saying it lacked transparency—he has long argued for letting the public know what is being voted on at public meetings—and said it was the kind of regulatory certainty that a competitive marketplace needs.
benton.org/headlines/chairman-pai-its-official-policy-release-meeting-items-advance | Broadcasting&Cable
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LOBBYING

HOW LOBBYISTS CONVINCED LAWMAKERS TO KILL A BROADBAND PRIVACY BILL
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
When a California state legislator proposed new broadband privacy rules that would mirror the federal rules previously killed by Congress, broadband industry lobbyists got to work. The lobbyists were successful in convincing the state legislature to let the bill die without passage in Sept, leaving Internet users without stronger rules protecting the privacy of their Web browsing histories. The week of Oct 23, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) released documents that lobbyists distributed to lawmakers before the vote. The EFF described one as "an anonymous and fact-free document the industry put directly into the hands of state senators to stall the bill" and the other as "a second document that attempted to play off fears emerging from the recent Charlottesville attack by white supremacists." The California bill, introduced by Assembly-member Ed Chau (D-Monterey Park), was modeled on now-defunct Federal Communications Commission rules and would have required Internet service providers to obtain customers' permission before they use, share, or sell the customers' Web browsing and application usage histories.
benton.org/headlines/how-lobbyists-convinced-lawmakers-kill-broadband-privacy-bill | Ars Technica
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