Daily Digest 7/23/2018 (New Policy Framework for an Open Internet Ecosystem)

The Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act of 2018 (HR 4881) would direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish the Task Force for Reviewing the Connectivity and Technology Needs of Precision Agriculture in the United States and select 15 members to serve two-year terms. The task force would be required to recommend rules and steps the FCC should take to expand broadband Internet access to unserved agricultural land and to report annually to the FCC. The task force would terminate on January 1, 2025. Under the bill, the FCC and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) would be required to provide information to the task force on all federal programs and resources available for the expansion of broadband Internet access to unserved agricultural land. Using information from the FCC, CBO estimates that implementing HR 4881 would cost $1 million over the 2018-2023 period for the agency to oversee and appoint members to serve on the task force and to produce the required reports. However, under current law, the FCC is authorized to collect fees sufficient to offset the costs of its regulatory activities each year; therefore, CBO estimates that the net cost to the FCC to implement the bill would be negligible, assuming appropriation actions consistent with that authority. CBO estimates that the costs to USDA to coordinate with the task force and produce the required report would not be significant. On June 5, 2018, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 2343, the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act of 2018. The two bills are similar and CBO’s estimates of their budgetary effects are the same.

Sinclair Broadcast Group’s latest efforts to appease the Federal Communications Commission and get approval for its massive expansion plan don’t seem to have fooled anyone. And the questionable maneuvers that triggered the FCC’s slow-down of the deal represent only a fraction of the regulatory tricks Sinclair uses to keep expanding its reach. What about the proposed sidecar agreements with Howard Stirk Holdings? Sinclair has proposed entering into sidecar arrangements for three other stations as part of the Tribune deal, and those stations haven’t received the same level of scrutiny. The company is still proposing to sell three stations -- KUNS in Seattle (WA), KAUT in Oklahoma City (OK), and KMYU in Salt Lake City (UT) -- to another Sinclair business partner, Howard Stirk Holdings. What about the other nearly 50 stations Sinclair already operates using sidecar agreements? Craig Aaron, the president and CEO of consumer rights group Free Press, said, “Sinclair has dozens of identical shell operations in numerous markets around the country. If the new ones were improper, so are all the existing ones.” And what about the UHF discount, the wonky rule that enabled the Sinclair-Tribune deal proposal in the first place? And what about the internal investigation of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's relationship with Sinclair?

[Commentary]  Not only has voter participation in local elections fallen to dangerously low levels, but the health of local newspapers, traditional watchdogs for the most direct and abundant form of government in the United States, has also been deteriorating. The Republican Party — yes, the same party whose leader derides the media as “fake news” and “the enemy of the people”  — should be particularly alarmed. Because if conservatives are concerned about keeping government as efficient and local as possible, they need the hundreds of local newspapers to make the system work across the country. As illustrated by a new paper presented at the Brookings Institution’s Municipal Finance Conference, there is a symbiotic relationship between local papers and the governments they cover.  The paper, which is in the process of being peer-reviewed, looked at newspaper closures between 1996 and 2015 and found that once a newspaper goes under, it becomes more expensive in the long run for its local government to borrow money. And it’s not just bond markets. Newspaper closures are also linked to rising wages for government employees and to growing numbers of government employees per capita in a county. Other research shows that elected officials from areas with little local media coverage are less responsive to their constituents. The decline of the local free press is a threat to the decentralized system of government envisioned by the Founding Fathers.

[Robert Gebelhoff is an assistant editor for The Post's Opinions section]

[Commentary] Telemedicine providers can’t catch senior citizens when they fall. But health services delivered over broadband can make it possible for seniors to live independently for longer periods of time. For all of the potential that telehealth holds for assisting the aging-in-place process, telehealth’s success rides squarely on the back of quality broadband in the community. Municipal fiber networks can drive telehealth and broadband use. Small towns such as Wilson (NC) and Sebewaing (MI) with gigabit capacity infrastructure, keep subscribers happy. But even networks with speeds of 50-100 Megabits per second are fast enough for smaller populations. Telehealth vendors and community network builders should consider theirs a symbiotic relationship that benefits communities. There are signs that telehealth is taking hold. Along with last week’s proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services to reimburse for telehealth came news that the Federal Communications Commission might commit $100 million for telehealth from the Universal Service Fund. With more use of telehealth may come more independence for America’s seniors.

[Craig Settles consults with municipalities and co-ops about their broadband networks’ business and marketing plans]

Increasingly, African governments are looking at the internet as a threat and are using a motley of targeted shutdowns, surveillance, and arbitrary legislation to silence digital users. In the world’s least connected continent, dictators—and some democrats—are realizing they not only need the batons or bullets to stave off criticism but could also power off live feeds to undermine the vibrant conversations taking place online. And these disruptions are having a costly impact: not just on democracy and social cohesion, but on economic growth, innovation, internet openness, net neutrality, and freedom of expression. Across Africa, the examples are plenty: In Tanzania, bloggers now have to pay authorities over $900 to license their websites. In Egypt, officials have banned calls made over social media apps, blocked hundreds of local and international websites, and called for the launch of a state-owned, Facebook-like platform. In DR Congo, president Joseph Kabila’s administration has used a decades-old law to monitor and censor the internet. Kenya, bedeviled by fake news during its elections last year, recently passed a sweeping law that critics say could stifle press freedom.