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June 9, 2013
Source 
telecompetitor
Author 
Joan Engebretson
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Cable companies will have an increasingly dominant position in the broadband market moving forward – but they soon may be compelled to move to usage-based pricing, said Craig Moffett, a financial analyst focused on the communications industry.

Cable companies offer the highest broadband speeds throughout 80% of U.S., with only markets served by fiber-to-the-home offering higher speeds. Moffett doesn’t anticipate telcos deploying FTTH much more widely than they already have. And even with pair bonding and vectoring, DSL cannot match DOCSIS broadband speeds, he noted. “For 80% of the country, cable will emerge as the only game in town,” said Moffett. On the video side, however, cable companies are seeing steep content cost increases which the cablecos have passed on to their subscribers. Because of the rise in over-the-top video, content companies are faced with declining revenues and are trying to make up those losses by increasing prices which, in turn, makes cable offerings increasingly less attractive to consumers.

Moffett: Cablecos Should Impose Usage-Based Pricing; But Can They?

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June 9, 2013
Source 
White House, The
Author 
Sally Jewell
Nancy Sutley
Tom Vilsack
Ernest Moniz
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

As part of President Obama’s initiative to make America a magnet for jobs by building a 21st century infrastructure, he signed a Presidential Memorandum that will speed the modernization of the nation’s electric grid. This will help make electricity more reliable, save consumers money on their energy bills, and support homegrown American clean energy jobs and industries by making renewable energy easier to access across the country.

Building a 21st Century Electric Grid Presidential Memorandum -- Transforming our Nation's Electric Grid Through Improved Siting, Permitting, and Review (read the memorandum)

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June 9, 2013
Source 
Benton Foundation
Author 
Kevin Taglang
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

President Barack Obama’s unveiled ConnectED, an initiative aimed at connecting 99 percent of America’s students to the Internet through high-speed broadband and high-speed wireless within 5 years. “This is not connectivity for connectivity’s sake,” noted Cecilia Muñoz, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and Gene Sperling, the Director of the National Economic Council. “It is laying the foundation for a vision of classrooms where students are engaged in individualized digital learning and where teachers can assess progress lesson by lesson and day by day. It’s about creating learning environments where students can both succeed and struggle without embarrassment, where barriers for children with disabilities are removed, and where we can bring the most modern, innovative, and up-to-date content into the classroom.”

ConnectED: Here Comes E-rate 2.0

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June 9, 2013
Source 
TiVo
Author 
press release
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

TiVo has settled its pending patent litigation with Motorola (now owned by Google and Arris), Cisco and Time Warner Cable and that TiVo has agreed to enter into certain patent licensing arrangements with Arris, Cisco, and Google.

As part of the settlement, Google and Cisco will pay TiVo an upfront lump-sum payment of $490 million, bringing the total from awards and settlements related to the use of certain TiVo intellectual property to roughly $1.6 billion. As part of the settlement, TiVo and Motorola, Cisco, and Time Warner Cable agreed to dismiss all pending litigation between the companies. TiVo will recognize a portion of the payment as past damages during the second quarter and the remainder over time. The company intends to provide additional details regarding the timing of revenue recognition in its second quarter fiscal year 2014 earnings report. Further, as a result of this settlement, TiVo expects net income and Adjusted EBITDA to benefit from lower litigation spend in the remainder of its fiscal year ending January 31, 2014 and beyond.

TiVo Announces Settlement of Patent Litigation

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June 9, 2013
Source 
AT&T
Author 
Bob Quinn
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

In the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2012 , Congress made provisions to secure up to $7 billion to fund the deployment of the first nationwide public safety broadband network, or FirstNet. This funding, however, only becomes available upon the successful implementation of the broadcast TV incentive auction, which to succeed must generate proceeds far in excess of the costs associated with paying broadcasters to give up their spectrum, the costs of relocating the remaining broadcasters, and the administrative costs of running the auction.

Indeed, the incentive auction cannot be considered successful unless it raises sufficient revenue to fund FirstNet, as recently recognized by five FCC Commissioners at a Senate hearing. In considering auction rules, the Commission should adhere to the statutory mandate to conduct an open and competitive auction that allows all bidders to fully compete. The carriers that place the highest value on the spectrum will win the licenses, and history tells us that all carriers can be successful. In the last major auction in which T-Mobile participated, it won more spectrum than either Verizon or AT&T. This approach offers the best prospect for a successful auction that meets all of Congress‘s stated goals, including freeing up the maximum amount of spectrum for mobile broadband use, reducing the deficit, and funding a nationwide public safety network. It also would ensure all the consumer benefits that will flow from putting spectrum to its best and highest use.

AT&T: Supporting Public Safety Through Effective Spectrum Policy

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June 9, 2013
Source 
Detroit Free Press
Author 
Todd Spangler
Coverage Type 
Lauren Frayer

Rep John David Dingell Jr. (D-MI) officially became the longest-serving member of Congress ever.

Rep Dingell, 86, beat the record previously held by the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-WV). If nothing else, Rep Dingell — whose service dates back to before Alaska and Hawaii were states — will be happy that the record rests again with a House member instead of in the Senate. He’s always been a House man, after all. For the record, Dingell’s got no plans on leaving, though he hasn’t yet committed to a 30th full 2-year term either. He’s been on the job since Dec. 13, 1955, after being elected to replace his dad.

John Dingell becomes longest-serving member of Congress ever

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Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
House Commerce Committee
Wednesday, June 12
10:30 a.m.
http://energycommerce.house.gov/hearing/satellite-television-law-repeal-...

This is the subcommittee’s second hearing this Congress on the satellite television law, portions of which are set to sunset on December 31, 2014. This hearing builds on the subcommittee’s February 13, 2013, “Satellite 101” hearing that provided members with a broad overview and history of the satellite television law. In this hearing, members will examine whether the law, which Congress first passed in 1988, still serves an important function or if it is out of step with today’s video marketplace.

Additionally, members will discuss whether Congress should repeal the law, reauthorize it as is, or revise it, possibly even tackling non-satellite specific video issues arising from increased competition and evolving technology.

Submitted on June 7, 2013

Although history may remember this week for the revelations of National Security Agency phone and Internet surveillance, delving any deeper into that story may be beyond Headlines staff’s security clearance. So we focus instead on President Barack Obama’s unveiling of ConnectED, an initiative aimed at connecting 99 percent of America’s students to the Internet through high-speed broadband and high-speed wireless within 5 years.

“This is not connectivity for connectivity’s sake,” noted Cecilia Muñoz, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and Gene Sperling, the Director of the National Economic Council. “It is laying the foundation for a vision of classrooms where students are engaged in individualized digital learning and where teachers can assess progress lesson by lesson and day by day. It’s about creating learning environments where students can both succeed and struggle without embarrassment, where barriers for children with disabilities are removed, and where we can bring the most modern, innovative, and up-to-date content into the classroom.”

The White House argues that preparing America’s students with the skills they need to get good jobs and compete with countries around the world will rely increasingly on interactive, individualized learning experiences driven by new technology. But today, millions of students lack high-speed broadband access and fewer than 20 percent of educators say their school’s Internet connection meets their teaching needs. ConnectED would bring high-speed Internet within their reach, with a particular benefit for rural communities that have lagged behind in connectivity.

“We are living in a digital age, and to help our students get ahead, we must make sure they have access to cutting-edge technology,” said President Obama. “So today, I’m issuing a new challenge for America – one that families, businesses, school districts and the federal government can rally around together – to connect virtually every student in America’s classrooms to high-speed broadband Internet within five years, and equip them with the tools to make the most of it.”

The President introduced ConnectED in Mooresville, North Carolina. Mooresville is in the bottom ten out of 115 state school districts in spending per student, but performs second in student achievement. Mooresville has accomplished this by going all-in on the promise of education technology, and since providing one-to-one digital devices for every student and training teachers on how to use them effectively in the classroom, graduation, academic achievement, and attendance rates are up significantly. The Mooresville Graded School District distributes one device per student (grades 3-12) and uses predominantly digital curriculum content. All teachers are trained on how to integrate technology into their teaching. Since beginning the shift to greater use of technology, learning in Mooresville has changed. As superintendent Mark Edwards has said, “This is not about the technology. It’s not about the box. It’s about changing the culture of instruction — preparing students for their future, not our past.”

In the classroom, students now collaborate in small groups rather than listening to lectures. They are using individualized software that functions like a personal tutor, adapting to their pace of learning. Teachers receive immediate feedback on students’ progress and can better direct their lessons and their teaching to meet each student’s needs. There has been strong evidence of success in Mooresville. The district’s graduation rate was 91 percent in 2011, up from 80 percent in 2008. On state tests in reading, math and science, an average of 88 percent of students across grades and subjects met proficiency standards, compared with 73 percent three years ago. Mooresville ranks 100th out of 115 districts in North Carolina in terms of dollars spent per student, but it is now third in test scores and second in graduation rates.

The President called on the Federal Communications Commission to modernize and leverage its existing schools and libraries universal service support program, commonly known as the E-rate program, to meet this goal. Currently, the E-rate program helps schools and libraries to obtain affordable telecommunications services, broadband Internet access and internal network connections. Eligible schools, school districts and libraries may apply individually or as part of a consortium. Funding may be requested under five categories of service: telecommunications, telecommunications services, Internet access, internal connections, and basic maintenance of internal connections. Discounts for support depend on the level of poverty and whether the school or library is located in an urban or rural area. The discounts range from 20 percent to 90 percent of the costs of eligible services. E-rate program funding is based on demand up to an annual Commission-established cap of about $2.3 billion.

As an independent agency, the FCC does not answer directly to the President. Any changes to the program’s structure would have to go through a rule-making procedure and be approved by a majority of the commission’s members. Currently, there are three FCC commissioners and two were quick to voice support for the President’s proposal. Acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn said, “Over the last 15 years, the FCC’s E-Rate program has successfully helped bring Internet access to our nation’s schools and libraries. But basic Internet access is no longer sufficient, and the FCC has been taking a hard look at ways to further modernize the E-Rate program to bring robust broadband to schools and libraries, especially those in low income and rural communities.” FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said , “It is time to answer the President’s call to upgrade the E-Rate program for the 21st Century. It is time for E-Rate 2.0. We need to protect what we have done, build on it, and put it on a course to provide higher speeds and greater opportunities in the days ahead. This initiative is an exciting effort that has my wholehearted and enthusiastic support.”

ConnectED is a multi-faceted proposal to improve education with technology. The proposal calls for:

Connecting America’s Schools

  • The ConnectED initiative would, within five years, connect 99 percent of America’s students, through next-generation broadband (at speeds no less than 100Mbps and with a target of 1Gbps) to, and high-speed wireless within, their schools and libraries. The President is calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to modernize and leverage the existing E-Rate program, and leverage the expertise of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to deliver this connectivity to states, districts, and schools.
  • ConnectED would build upon the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) that was part of the 2009 economic stimulus law and the long-standing Universal Service Fund to provide new learning opportunities to level the playing field for rural students. BTOP connected around 10% of America’s schools to next-generation broadband.

Improving Teaching

  • The ConnectED initiative invests in improving the skills of teachers, ensuring that every educator in America receives support and training in using education technology tools to improve student learning. Using existing federal funding through Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Department of Education will work with states and school districts to invest in this kind of professional development to help teachers keep pace with changing technology. Additionally, federal funds under Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act may be used to train educators to use the educational technology needed to implement new, computer-based assessments of student learning.
  • ConnectED will lead to new resources for teachers from any school, at any time, to open their classrooms to interactive demonstrations, lessons from world-renowned experts, or the opportunity to build learning communities and to collaborate with other educators across the country or world. New digital education tools that allow for real-time assessments of student learning, provide more immediate feedback to drive professional development, and enable the creation of interactive online lessons can empower teachers to understand each student’s strengths and weaknesses and design lessons and activities that better meet their needs.

Private-Sector Innovation

  • Leading companies in technology are capable of producing feature-rich educational devices that are price-competitive with basic textbooks. Districts that choose to purchase devices can come together to purchase them in volume to achieve greater cost savings — but purchasing choices remain in the hands of local educational leaders.
  • With access to high-speed broadband and digital technologies, students can have access to more rigorous and engaging classes, new learning resources, rich visualizations of complex concepts, and instruction in any foreign language. With new technology, students also have increased opportunities to work at their own speed and receive the additional one-on-one help they need to develop their knowledge and skills.
  • A robust market in educational software can unlock the full educational potential of these investments and create American jobs and export opportunities in a global education marketplace of over $1 trillion. Third-party validators can help schools find educational software (including apps) that provide content aligned with college- and career-ready standards being adopted and implemented by states across America.
  • Many of the U.S.’s leading competitors are moving forward with aggressive investments in digital learning and technology education. The durability of American competitiveness will be tied to our ability to produce graduates with the skills the economy demands.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, who helped create the E-rate program in the mid-1990s, said, "I share the president's enthusiasm for expanding high-speed broadband connections to our schools and libraries and agree the FCC should update the successful E-Rate program to meet that goal. At a recent oversight hearing of the FCC, I received public commitments from all members of the FCC to work with me to update and strengthen the E-Rate program. Today, I join the President and renew my call on the FCC to fund and adapt E-Rate to meet the needs of a data-driven society." [Note: FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel served as Rockefeller’s Senior Communications Counsel before joining the FCC]

"I wholeheartedly support the President's call to modernize the E-Rate program in order to bring faster broadband speeds to our nation's schools and libraries," said Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), who recently outlined a similar proposal with FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel. Writing in Politico, Rep Eshoo and Commissioner Rosenworcel proposed “E-Rate 2.0” with a goal of delivering broadband access capacity of 1 gigabit per 1,000 students in schools and high-speed access in libraries, too. “By using the E-Rate program to uniformly increase bandwidth, we can avoid fracturing this bandwidth update through every local school jurisdiction. This will yield greater opportunities for consortia and purchasing savings. Moreover, it will bring scale that will help develop a market for exciting new digital age education materials and teaching tools.”

In a speech at the Washington Education Technology Policy Summit in April 2013, Commissioner Rosenworcel outlined four steps to achieve E-Rate 2.0:

  • Increase E-Rate funding so that it can handle the increasing demand.
  • By the 2015 school year, every school should have access to 100 Megabits per 1000 students; by 2020, every school should have access to 1 Gigabit per 1000 students.
  • Encourage and institute new and creative public-private partnerships.
  • Simplify the process for applicants.

National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Michael Powell welcomed the White House announcement saying the NCTA looks forward to exploring “new ideas that will wisely modernize existing support mechanisms and connect America's schools with new tools for education and learning.”

“In today’s ultra-fast, super-competitive global economy, all students and teachers need to be up to speed and connected to the information superhighway. Currently, however, far too many are stuck in proverbial traffic jams or idling at on-ramps because they lack access to high-speed Internet connections,” said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former West Virginia governor. “With today’s announcement, President Obama makes it possible for every school to build on the ‘Mooresville momentum’ and ensures that all students are on the same track, moving at the fastest possible speed, and heading toward higher standards and better learning outcomes.”

“President Obama’s announcement is a giant leap toward realizing CoSN’s and the administration’s shared goal of ensuring that all students have adequate bandwidth to maximize online and digital learning,” said Keith Krueger, CEO of the Consortium for School Networking. “We have long advocated the need to equip classrooms with greater bandwidth and provide E-rate with additional funding. The bold vision put forth by the President can be realized by adding just a few pennies per month to our phone bills and is an investment that will create a 21st century learning environment. This is an investment that we cannot afford not to make.”

Benton Foundation Chairman Charles Benton said, “I commend the President on his commitment to education and his understanding on the vital role of telecommunications in expanding educational opportunity and improving educational outcomes. This is just the kind of bold proposal our country needs to realize the National Broadband Plan goal of bringing gigabit broadband service to every community in the U.S."

For now, advocates consider it unlikely that there will be substantial changes in the E-rate until a new chairman is in place. Recently, former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell warned that the replacements for former FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and himself might not be installed until late fall, if then. So E-rate 2.0 may take some time to launch. But we’ll be tracking it and we’ll see you in the Headlines.

Benton Applauds ConnectED Initiative

Submitted by benton on Fri, 06/07/2013 - 09:24

At an event in Mooresville, North Carolina June 6, 2013, President Barack Obama called for the Federal Communications Commission to revamp the Schools and Libraries program, known as E-rate, to help provide institutions with Internet speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second and wireless networks throughout their buildings and campuses. The following can be attributed to Benton Foundation Chairman Charles Benton:

“If the U.S. is to lead the world in 21st century educational innovation, we must invest now in the networks that connect our schools and libraries. Since the mid-1990s, the Benton Foundation has been examining the role of the Internet in the classroom. We know that with next-generation wireline and wireless networks, students and teachers can expand instruction beyond the physical classroom and traditional school day. With broadband networks, schools can provide more customized learning opportunities for students to access high-quality, low-cost and personally relevant educational material. And use of these networks can also improve the flow of educational information, allowing teachers, parents and organizations to make better decisions tied to each student’s needs and abilities.

“I commend the President on his commitment to education and his understanding on the vital role of telecommunications in expanding educational opportunity and improving educational outcomes. This is just the kind of bold proposal our country needs to realize the National Broadband Plan goal of bringing gigabit broadband service to every community in the U.S."

The Benton Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting communication in the public interest. These comments reflect the institutional view of the Foundation and, unless obvious from the text, are not intended to reflect the views of individual Foundation officers, directors, or advisors.

June 7, 2013 (US Collects Vast Data Trove)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 2013

Next week’s agenda http://benton.org/calendar/2013-06-09--P1W/


GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   US Collects Vast Data Trove
   Documents: U.S. mining data from 9 leading Internet firms; companies deny knowledge
   US declassifies phone program details after uproar [links to web]
   Administration: NSA Internet tapping not targeted at Americans [links to web]
   Congress to review NSA's surveillance of phones, Internet [links to web]
   Obama's Civil-Liberties Record Questioned [links to web]
    Brennan Center for Justice: The Spying on Americans Never Ended [links to web]
   NY Times: President Obama’s Dragnet - editorial [links to web]
   WSJ: Thank You for Data-Mining - editorial [links to web]
   Washington Post: The government needs to explain about the NSA’s phone data program - editorial [links to web]
    Glenn Greenwald: Blogger, With Focus on Surveillance, Is at Center of a Debate [links to web]
   How the NSA Monitors America’s Phone Traffic
   Verizon on offense behind the scenes
   Internet giants push back on NSA tapping reports
   Disclosures Spotlight Tightrope for Phone Firms - analysis
   NSA data mining can help stop cybercrime, analysts say [links to web]
   Members of Congress Respond to NSA-Verizon Revelation [links to web]
   Sen Obama sponsored bill that would have made Verizon order illegal [links to web]
   Will the latest NSA surveillance scandal be a wake-up call about the power of data? - analysis [links to web]
   Wisconsin legislators vote to kick investigative journalism out

JOURNALISM
   The Value of a New Media Shield Law Depends on Your Definition of 'Media' [links to web]
   Second Amendment Hero Dick Heller Offers Searing Indictment Of Media Coverage Of Guns [links to web]
   Holder, saying he won't step down now, seeks better balance after press subpoenas [links to web]
   Why Google Reader Really Got the Axe [links to web]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   President Obama Unveils ConnectED Initiative to Bring America’s Students into Digital Age - press release
   Cost could complicate school broadband plan [links to web]
   Rep. Peter King introduces online gambling bill [links to web]
   U.S.-China cybersecurity meetings have Silicon Valley anxious

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
   Let’s Test an Emergency Ad Hoc Network in Boston

OWNERSHIP
   Civil rights group's FCC positions reflect industry funding, critics say
   Mergers and Acquisitions on rise as big players seek content [links to web]
   Media General, Young Broadcasting to Merge [links to web]
   Why AT&T might be interested in Hulu: A big mobile data payday - analysis [links to web]
   As sports TV costs soar, leagues find new ways to slice up video dollars [links to web]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Rep Lofgren: Cellphone unlocking should never be a crime [links to web]
   Is FCC Going Too Fast on Spectrum Auction? [links to web]
   With the big cities covered, AT&T starts filling in its LTE gaps [links to web]
   Say goodbye to the connected device price gap. Adding connectivity will soon cost $5 [links to web]

TELEVISION
   ‘What If’ Scenarios on the Fate of Aereo [links to web]
   Station retransmission Fees Up, But ESPN Still King [links to web]

AGENDA
   FCC Announces Tentative Agenda For June Open Meeting - press release
   U.S.-China cybersecurity meetings have Silicon Valley anxious

POLICYMAKERS
   Husock Tapped for CPB Board - press release [links to web]
   Gigi Sohn: Clarifying What I Would Do If I Were FCC Chair - editorial [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Europe Continues Wrestling With Online Privacy Rules
   So, how’s Huawei’s trust-us facility in the UK working out then? [links to web]

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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

US COLLECTS VAST DATA TROVE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Siobhan Gorman, Evan Perez, Janet Hook]
The National Security Agency's monitoring of Americans includes customer records from the three major phone networks as well as emails and Web searches, and the agency also has cataloged credit-card transactions, said people familiar with the agency's activities. People familiar with the NSA's operations said the initiative also encompasses phone-call data from AT&T and Sprint Nextel, records from Internet-service providers and purchase information from credit-card providers. The agency is using its secret access to the communications of millions of Americans to target possible terrorists, said people familiar with the effort. The NSA's efforts have become institutionalized—yet not so well known to the public—under laws passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Most members of Congress defended them June 6 as a way to root out terrorism, but civil-liberties groups decried the program. "Everyone should just calm down and understand this isn't anything that is brand new,'' said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who added that the phone-data program has "worked to prevent'' terrorist attacks.
benton.org/node/153439 | Wall Street Journal
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INTERNET DATA PART OF SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Barton Gellman, Laura Poitras]
The National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets. The program, code-named PRISM, has not been made public until now. It may be the first of its kind. The NSA prides itself on stealing secrets and breaking codes, and it is accustomed to corporate partnerships that help it divert data traffic or sidestep barriers. But there has never been a Google or Facebook before, and it is unlikely that there are richer troves of valuable intelligence than the ones in Silicon Valley. Equally unusual is the way the NSA extracts what it wants, according to a top-secret document: “Collection directly from the servers of these U.S. Service Providers: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple.” PRISM was launched from the ashes of President George W. Bush’s secret program of warrantless domestic surveillance in 2007, after news media disclosures, lawsuits and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court forced the president to look for new authority. Congress obliged with the Protect America Act in 2007 and the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which immunized private companies that cooperated voluntarily with U.S. intelligence collection. PRISM recruited its first partner, Microsoft, and began six years of rapidly growing data collection beneath the surface of a roiling national debate on surveillance and privacy. Late last year, when critics in Congress sought changes in the FISA Amendments Act, the only lawmakers who knew about PRISM were bound by oaths of office to hold their tongues. The court-approved program is focused on foreign communications traffic, which often flows through U.S. servers even when sent from one overseas location to another.
benton.org/node/153438 | Washington Post | New York Times | WSJ | LA Times
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HOW THE NSA MONITORS AMERICA'S PHONE TRAFFIC
[SOURCE: Fast Company, AUTHOR: Neal Ungerleider]
The National Security Agency (NSA) obtained bulk phone records for Verizon's customers on a daily basis. Each day, the NSA would receive a massive flood of data from Verizon. This dataset documents which phone numbers their customers call or are called from, alongside some identifying metadata. Judge Roger Vinson authorized the NSA on April 25 to obtain unlimited data for a three-month period from Verizon. While phone calls themselves were not monitored under the terms of the court order, related metadata were. The data Verizon handed over to the NSA covered both domestic and international phone activity going through their network. The kicker, however, is that circumstantial evidence implies the NSA has been monitoring Verizon phone calls in bulk for years. Evidence in on-the-record court orders, found by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), found that mass communications spying had been taking place for at least seven years. This spying also includes AT&T landline and mobile customers, and could include customers of all major telecommunications providers.
benton.org/node/153397 | Fast Company
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VERIZON ON OFFENSIVE
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Anna Palmer]
Officially, telecom giant Verizon has no comment about turning over millions of customers call logs to the government. But behind the scenes, the company is vetting requests from senior Capitol Hill aides and others, asking Obama Administration officials for political cover, and relying on its lawyers to craft the company’s messaging. Verizon circulated a company memo from General Counsel Randy Milch that laid out its position, including that it would be legally obligated to respond to government requests like these and that it takes steps to protect customers’ private information. The memo went out internally and then it was sent to consultants to use as talking points. “You may have seen stories in the news about a top secret order Verizon allegedly received to produce certain calling information to the U.S. Government,” Verizon’s Milch wrote. “We have no comment on the accuracy of The Guardian newspaper story or the documents referenced, but a few items in these stories are important. The alleged court order that The Guardian published on its website contains language that: compels Verizon to respond; forbids Verizon from revealing the order’s existence; and excludes from production the ‘content of any communication … or the name, address, or financial information of a subscriber or customer.’” The memo also states that Verizon takes measures to protect customers’ privacy, but if the company “were to receive such an order, we would be required to comply.”
benton.org/node/153396 | Politico
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INTERNET GIANTS PUSH BACK
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Jessica Meyers]
Suddenly implicated in a plot to monitor Americans, Silicon Valley’s premier Internet companies denied knowledge of an ongoing operation by the National Security Administration and the FBI to invade their servers. The data — everything from e-mails to video — has allowed analysts to track movements and contacts over an extended period of time, according to two newspapers that secured classified information. This marks the first time the secret program, nicknamed PRISM and established in 2007, has been made public. The companies read like a who’s who of the tech industry — Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube and Apple — companies whose products and services reach millions of Americans. The news capped a day the Obama Administration spent fielding charges that it secretly obtained records for millions of Verizon phone calls. And it fed growing concerns that Americans have sacrificed civil liberties to the mantle of security.
benton.org/node/153395 | Politico
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DISCLOSURES SPOTLIGHT CARRIERS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Anton Troianovski, Spencer Ante, Danny Yadron]
Fresh disclosures about the U.S. National Security Agency's vast data-gathering operation have cast a new spotlight on the difficult balancing act for telecommunications providers as they try to maintain customers' trust while complying with extensive government requests for information about their activity. Carriers like Verizon Communications are the guardians of sensitive data about their customers, including who they call and where they are located. But it is precisely that information that security officials are interested in as they try to hunt down potential or suspected terrorists. Cooperating with government demands for phone data got carriers into hot water in the middle of the past decade, when the legality of the government's requests hadn't been established. Verizon and AT&T faced dozens of lawsuits stemming from their participation in the highly classified program. Carriers were let off the hook by a sweeping rewrite of U.S. domestic spying laws in 2008, which expanded the government's power to monitor calls and gave telecom companies immunity for previous cooperation. But the issue re-emerged after Britain's Guardian newspaper on Wednesday published a secret court order requiring Verizon to turn over data about all calls within, to and from the U.S. to the NSA. Verizon general counsel Randy Milch said in a memo to employees Thursday that the company takes steps to safeguard its customers' privacy but has to turn over information when ordered to do so by a federal court. He didn't confirm the existence of the order, which Verizon is forbidden from revealing, according to the order, but said that Verizon, in general, is compelled to respond in such cases.
benton.org/node/153394 | Wall Street Journal
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WISCONSIN WATCH
[SOURCE: Investigative Reporting Workshop, AUTHOR: Charles Lewis]
For reasons as yet unclear, a group of Republican state legislators in control of the Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee voted to kick the nationally respected, award-winning, nonpartisan Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, better known online as “Wisconsin Watch,” off the University of Wisconsin premises. The Wisconsin Center has never received state money, and it has had a no-cash “facilities use agreement” in which it occupies two small university offices in exchange for providing invaluable student internships, classroom collaborations, guest lectures by veteran Center journalists, etc. It works closely with the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and also Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television. Top officials at the University of Wisconsin today came out forcefully against the nocturnal mischief of the reckless Republicans.
benton.org/node/153368 | Investigative Reporting Workshop
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

CONNECTED
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: press release]
President Barack Obama unveiled a bold, new initiative called ConnectED to connect 99 percent of America’s students to the Internet through high-speed broadband and high-speed wireless within 5 years, calling on the Federal Communications Commission to modernize and leverage its existing E-Rate program to meet that goal. The President also directed the federal government to make better use of existing funds to get Internet connectivity and educational technology into classrooms, and into the hands of teachers trained on its advantages. And he called on businesses, states, districts, schools and communities to support this vision. This ambitious initiative does not require Congressional action. Millions of students lack high-speed broadband access and fewer than 20 percent of educators say their school’s Internet connection meets their teaching needs. ConnectED will bring high-speed Internet within their reach, with a particular benefit for rural communities that have lagged behind in connectivity. In addition to connecting America’s students, ConnectED harnesses the ingenuity of the American private sector get new technologies into students’ hands and support digital learning content. ConnectED also better invests existing federal funds to ensure that every educator in America receives support and training in using education technology tools to improve student learning. The ambitious new vision for digital, connected learning builds on work the Administration has done over the past four years to increase broadband access across the country.
benton.org/node/153399 | White House, The | White House blog | White House blog II | White House fact sheet | FCC Chairwoman Clyburn | FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel | Multichannel News
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

EMERGENCY AD HOC NETWORK
[SOURCE: Technology Review, AUTHOR: Julius Genachowski, Jonathan Zittrain]
[Commentary] Our day-to-day communications networks aren’t always geared to scale up in emergencies. At these times, some citizens and companies need help, and others are eager to help—and all need to communicate. With some emerging technologies and a little advance coordination, we can harness our civic instinct to come together in times of crisis to keep data flowing. We can start with an idea that needs no additional technology. Many people and companies operate Wi-Fi access points. Each of these points—whether used by apartment roommates, Starbucks patrons, or cell subscribers who get Wi-Fi “off-load” from their service providers—is connected to the Internet and often remains so even if cellular voice and data towers are out or overloaded. These are tremendous potential resource. They could be preconfigured to allow their owners to quickly fling their digital doors wide in times of trouble, channeling a surge of traffic through broadband with a capacity naturally greater than that of cellular networks. The same folks who contemplated rushing to a hospital to give blood, or merchants who deplete their stores of bottled water without fretting about the cost, can share their network access in a way that can make a huge difference to fellow citizens in distress.
benton.org/node/153387 | Technology Review
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OWNERSHIP

MMTC’S DONORS
[SOURCE: Center for Public Integrity, AUTHOR: Jason McLure]
When the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission pitched a plan to allow more media mergers earlier this year, he received support from a curious source: the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, once an ardent critic of industry consolidation. Julius Genachowski wanted backing for a proposed loosening of a rule that bars the same company from owning a newspaper and a radio or television broadcast station in a top media market. MMTC and its executive director, David Honig, have historically opposed relaxing ownership restrictions, saying they protect minority interests. Yet last week, the group released a key study arguing the opposite position. So why the change of heart? Critics say MMTC’s position may have something to do with its extensive industry funding. This includes more than $440,000 in luncheon sponsorships since 2010 from broadcast giants who favor the rule change. In an 18-page response to questions for this article, Honig says the support does not influence the group’s positions. “The most valuable asset that a nonprofit organization has is its integrity, and to imply that donations and fees influence our positions on issues is to suggest that we lack integrity, something we do not take lightly,” he wrote. Once a shoestring operation dependent almost solely on the volunteer efforts of Honig, MMTC has evolved in recent years into a potent organization that exercises much influence on the FCC through its ability to shape the positions of large civil rights organizations on relatively obscure FCC issues. After years of defending the FCC’s media ownership rules, Honig, wrote in a blog post in December that the cross-ownership ban should be relaxed, citing concern in minority communities about the decline of newspapers. What he didn't disclose was the hundreds of thousands of dollars his group had received from CBS Corp., radio giant Clear Channel Communications Inc., Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and the National Association of Broadcasters. All four have previously gone to court in an effort to end the ban. Spokesmen for the NAB and CBS say their organization’s donations weren’t intended to change MMTC’s positions on cross-ownership or other matters. MMTC took in just under $2 million in 2011. Of that, $1.7 million was derived from sponsorships, donations and fees from companies, lobbyists, lawyers and religious broadcasters with interests before the FCC, according to an IRS filing.
benton.org/node/153369 | Center for Public Integrity
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AGENDA

FCC’S JUNE AGENDA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn announced that the following items will be on the tentative agenda for the next open meeting scheduled for Thursday, June 27, 2013:
Improving Broadband Data Collection: The Commission will consider a Report and Order to improve and streamline the collection of broadband subscription and deployment data.
Increasing the Nation’s Supply of Spectrum: The Commission will consider a Report and Order with licensing, service, and technical rules in the H Block at 1915-1920 and 1995-2000 MHz, that would help increase the Nation’s supply of spectrum for flexible-use services, including mobile broadband.
Protecting Customer Propriety Network Information on Mobile Devices: The Commission will consider a Declaratory Ruling clarifying that wireless carriers that collect, or direct the collection of, customer proprietary network information (CPNI) on mobile devices must adhere to statutory and regulatory CPNI requirements in protecting that information.
Status of Universal Service Reform Implementation: The Wireline Competition Bureau and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau will present an update on universal service reform implementation.
Status of the Broadcast Incentive Auction: The Incentive Auction Task Force will present an update on progress towards the television broadcast incentive auction.
benton.org/node/153385 | Federal Communications Commission
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US-CHINA TALKS
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Steve Johnson]
When President Barack Obama begins two days of meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Southern California on June 7, in part to discuss China's alleged computer thefts of some of this nation's most sensitive secrets, many Silicon Valley businesses will be monitoring the talks with intense interest. This area is widely considered a key battleground in the country's war on cybercrime, and while skeptical of the meeting's outcome, many Silicon Valley executives hope Obama will win concessions from Xi to help halt the attacks. In recent years, tech companies here have been targeted by hackers, and reports that some of the computerized break-ins have been directed by Chinese authorities has corporate officials throughout Silicon Valley worried. "They are freaking out," said Patrick Peterson, CEO of Palo Alto-based Agari, one of the legions of security companies in the region that offer software and other products to deter hackers. "It's a flaming-hot issue, which has the industry extremely concerned all the way up to the board level." The meetings are likely to cover a variety of topics, ranging from economic issues to the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons. But White House officials say cybersecurity will be a major focus, and they expect the two nations to form a working group to begin wrestling with the problem in detail in July.
benton.org/node/153422 | San Jose Mercury News
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

EUROPE CONTINUES WRESTLING WITH PRIVACY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: James Kanter, Somini Sengupta]
More than a year ago, the European Union’s top justice official proposed a tough set of measures for protecting the privacy of personal data online. But because of intense lobbying by Silicon Valley companies and other powerful groups in Brussels, several proposals have been softened, no agreement is in sight and governments are openly sparring with one another over how far to go in protecting privacy. On June 6, justice ministers from the European Union’s 27 member states agreed to a business-friendly proposal that what companies do with personal data would be scrutinized by regulators only if there were “risks” to individuals, including identity theft or discrimination. The ministers debated a proposal that would no longer require companies to obtain “explicit” consent from users whose personal data they collect and process, instead of “unambiguous” consent, which is considered to be a lower legal threshold. And they discussed a proposal on balancing an individual’s right to data protection with other rights, including the freedom to do business. The ministers deferred discussion of the other most fractious provision, the so-called right to be forgotten. But in recent weeks, public comments by lawmakers and draft language suggested a softening of approach.
benton.org/node/153421 | New York Times
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