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[Commentary] The Justice Department’s secret seizure of Associated Press reporters’ private telephone records is a slap in the face to a free press — and a free people. But it’s part of both a larger assault on the traditional function of the media by the Obama administration, as well as a broader government intrusion into the privacy of U.S. citizens.
Under Obama, the government has pursued six cases against individuals suspected of handing over classified information, more than under all previous presidents combined, as the Associated Press pointed out. Meanwhile, disturbing news about the government’s ability and willingness to use electronic surveillance on Americans has continued to mount. It adds up to a chilling effect on citizens, journalists and potential whistleblowers, who rightly now must think twice about offering information concerning government misdeeds or secrets. That comes at an incredibly high cost for society.
AP case reflects larger government assault on press and privacy
[Commentary] After coming under scorching bipartisan criticism for secretly going through the phone records of reporters at The Associated Press in a leak investigation, the Obama administration now says it supports a law that might have prevented this outrageous conduct. The idea of a national shield law is a good one — many states now have laws protecting journalists from those trying to get notes or sources or outtakes. But any such law must provide the maximum protections for a free press. For years, there have been administrative guidelines about how to get information from the media. The Justice Department apparently decided not to use the guidelines in the A.P. case. This scandal shows that there is a desperate need for more protection of press freedoms.
After Attacking The AP, a Peace Offering
[Commentary] Americans look to both government and the press to protect their interests. But when the two institutions battle over who better defends those interests – especially on national security – it’s time for each side to strike a deal.
That should now be the case in light of the news that the Justice Department had secretly obtained two months’ worth of phone records belonging to The Associated Press. The investigation is part of a hunt for someone in government who leaked information to the AP last year about a thwarted terrorist plot in Yemen. This case highlights the need for a rebalancing of the trust and mistrust between government and the media in dealing with national security. Letting courts have more of a balancing role between the press and executive branch would be a good first step in preventing another case like this.
How to avoid another Justice raid on reporter phone records
News organizations are scrambling to find ways to protect their confidential sources in the digital age as they push back against government attempts to identify whistleblowers. The New Yorker unveiled a nine-step process for sources to send documents and messages to the Condé Nast-owned magazine, saying the system could offer them “a reasonable degree of anonymity”.
Called Strongbox, it involves the use of multiple computers, thumb drives, encryption codes and secure networks. The project was started by Aaron Swartz, the internet activist who committed suicide earlier this year, and Kevin Poulsen of Wired, another of Condé Nast’s magazines. They designed Strongbox using open source software, Mr Thompson said, to encourage developers to be able to continue strengthening its security code. Mr Thompson said the system had been designed to be complex to use, which may deter some sources, but that this was necessary to ensure security. “It takes a lot of steps to make it really hard to hack into this. Hackers are clever people. We’ll see what happens.”
New Yorker reveals Aaron Swartz-inspired system to protect sources
[Commentary] It’s vital that we keep pushing for faster broadband speeds. Google Fiber is an important positive development and has been followed by a growing number of other high-speed broadband deployments, including expansions by AT&T, CenturyLink, and other companies and municipalities. Smart policies at all levels of government are needed to drive capital investment by new entrants and expansion by existing players.
Over the past four years, the Federal Communications Commission has adopted significant policies to do so, including rules to lower broadband deployment costs. We’ve also modernized universal service programs from telephone to broadband, creating the Connect America Fund to invest $45 billion in our broadband infrastructure; eliminated outdated regulations that were discouraging network upgrades; and adopted open Internet rules and other policies to spur competition. Particularly in today’s global economy, it’s essential that the FCC — revitalized and focused on broadband — continue to implement policies to unleash private investment and promote competition.
Faster Broadband Speeds: The View From the FCC
Apparently, Dish Network has lined up financing on its $25.5 billion bid for Sprint Nextel, overcoming attempts by its rival suitor SoftBank of Japan to persuade banks to boycott the US group.
The US satellite broadcaster, run by billionaire entrepreneur Charlie Ergen, has now lined up a consortium of four banks – Barclays, Jefferies, Macquarie and Royal Bank of Canada – to fund its bid. They have agreed to arrange a $2.5 billion bond deal for Dish and to provide at least $6.5bn in syndicated loans, which would later be refinanced with bonds. Dish has said it needs $9 billion of financing to back its bid for Sprint.
This was flagged up as a big weakness in the US group’s proposal by SoftBank’s chief executive Masayoshi Son during the public war of words between the rivals. SoftBank tried to thwart Dish’s financing talks by telling banks that it could threaten their chances of being involved in the $60bn-plus share listing of Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce group in which SoftBank holds a one-third stake, according to two people familiar with the situation. However, it is widely expected within the financial industry that the nine banks which recently agreed to lend Alibaba $8 billion to refinance older debt will be in pole position to secure the prime roles on the initial public offering. Those banks were ANZ, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, DBS of Singapore, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan, Mizuho of Japan and Morgan Stanley.
Dish Network gains edge in battle for Sprint with $9 billion financing Sprint Faces Mounting Pressure as Dish Lines Up Financing (Bloomberg)
U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton in Manhattan denied class-action status to copyright owners suing Google over the use of material posted on YouTube without their permission. Judge Stanton denied a motion to certify a worldwide class of copyright owners in a long-running lawsuit over videos and music posted to popular website. "The suggestion that a class action of these dimensions can be managed with judicial resourcefulness is flattering, but unrealistic," Judge Stanton wrote. Each copyright owner's case would need to be decided based on facts particular to their individual claims, Judge Stanton ruled.
Copyright owners can't sue Google's YouTube as a group, judge says
Tribune Company Chief Executive Officer Peter Liguori, responding to a protest over a possible sale of the Los Angeles Times to Koch Industries Inc., said speculation over potential buyers of the company’s papers is “premature.”
“There’s been a lot of noise recently about the possible sale of our newspapers and speculation on who the interested parties might be,” Liguori said in a memo to employees. “From the get-go, such speculation has been and is premature. A sale transaction is only one of our possible strategic options, and there are many others.” Koch Industries has been cited among several potential buyers -- a group that includes News Corp., Berkshire Hathaway, Wrapports LLC and Freedom Communications Inc., people familiar with the negotiations said in March. Labor groups, including the AFL-CIO, have raised concerns about a Koch purchase, citing the Koch brothers’ support for initiatives such as California’s Proposition 32, a failed ballot measure that would have prohibited unions from using payroll deductions for political purposes without permission.
Tribune CEO Says Protest Over Koch Newspaper Sale Is Premature Tribune newspapers attract suitors, 'noise' (Chicago Tribune)
Aereo is starting to sprout wings. Its liftoff could ground a key source of broadcaster revenues. The Internet-TV startup launched service in Boston on May 15, its first move beyond New York City. Atlanta is scheduled to follow June 17. The expansion moves Aereo beyond the experimental phase, offering consumers in those markets the ability to stream broadcast signals over the Web or record shows to a cloud-based DVR for as little as $8 a month.
All this poses a threat to broadcasters, which reap roughly $2.4 billion in fees charged to pay-TV providers and local stations to carry their signal, according to Janney Capital Markets. Janney expects this revenue to grow faster than that from advertising, reaching an estimated $4.1 billion by 2017. Aereo has argued that it shouldn't have to pay such fees, as broadcast signals are transmitted free. Broadcasters disagree, and some have sued already. But with Aereo having won two rulings in federal court in New York, it is better placed to face any further legal challenges as it expands.
Aereo Flies in the Face of Broadcast Revenues
[Commentary] Barry Diller’s new Aereo venture may turn out to be the ultimate Catch-22. Aereo is possible only because of the existence of broadcast television, but broadcasters view it as a threat and have warned that they may stop broadcasting. If that happens, broadcast television and Aereo could both cease to exist.
Unlike the iconic fictional Catch-22, however, this outcome would yield benefits to society: Hastening the demise of broadcast television would accelerate the transfer of spectrum to higher-value uses. Only a small fraction of TV viewers — about 10 percent — still rely on over-the-air broadcasts to receive their programs; the remaining 90 percent view their programs through subscription TV services like local cable or satellite transmissions. The current over-the-air broadcasters occupy a large block of spectrum that would most likely be more valuable if converted to mobile broadband use. The effective supply of spectrum for such mobile broadband uses hasn’t expanded sufficiently to keep up with the exploding demand, contributing to a growing and widely acknowledged scarcity problem.
[Thomas M. Lenard is president of the Technology Policy Institute; Lawrence J. White is professor of economics at the NYU Stern School of Business.]
Streaming poses ultimate Catch-22