Benton RSS Feed
By now, reports of lost or stolen business devices are so common that many people open data-breach notices from their banks, insurers, medical institutions, schools and state agencies with something like resignation.
In fact, negligence by employees and contractors has been a more common cause of corporate data breaches in the United States than malicious attacks, according to a study of 2011 done by the Ponemon Institute, a research center on data security, and financed by Symantec, a data security company. Institutions, companies and government agencies often devote more resources to collecting information about employees and consumers than to protecting it, security specialists say. “This is an unfortunate but perfectly cautionary tale of not only how we should look more carefully at protecting data after it is collected,” says Lee Tien, a senior staff lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group in San Francisco, “but also how the data is to be safeguarded before we collect it to make sure it isn’t used improperly or disclosed accidentally.”
If You’re Collecting Our Data, You Ought to Protect It
Hedge fund Paulson & Co. may join P. Schoenfeld Asset Management LP in opposing the planned acquisition of MetroPCS by Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA. Paulson is waiting for the final merger proxy before deciding how it will vote, but said arguments made recently by fellow MetroPCS shareholder P. Schoenfeld "make a lot of sense." "The new company…has too much debt, the interest rate on Deutsche Telekom's debt financing is too high, and the exchange ratio is too low for PCS stockholders," Paulson said. "It may be more prudent for PCS to remain independent and explore other higher value alternatives." Paulson owns 8.7% of MetroPCS, according to FactSet.
Paulson & Co. May Oppose Deal Between MetroPCS, T-Mobile Paulson Buys Sprint, MetroPCS in Telecom Takeover Plays (Bloomberg)
There are already a number of laws on the books in various states designed to thwart so-called distracted driving and teens and texting. But one California lawmaker thinks those laws must change to keep up with technological developments.
Under current California law, drivers younger than 18 are already prohibited from talking on their mobile phones, even if they use a hands-free device or mobile service device. Another state law already prohibits texting while driving. But California state Sen. Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) recently introduced a bill supported by the California Assn. of Highway Patrol that would go further to stop teens from texting. SB 194 "clarifies provisions of existing law related to the prohibition against teen (under 18 years of age) texting while driving to include new technologies, even if equipped with a voice-operated device," according to a fact sheet released by Galgiani's chief of staff, Trent Hager. SB 194 would broaden existing laws to cover any electronic wireless communications device.
Lawmakers look to further restrict teen drivers' use of mobile devices
[Commentary] The buoyant recent quarterly financial results at Time Warner and News Corp. and the decision last week at Comcast to buy up the rest of NBCUniversal are all based on the outsized profitability of cable networks. Time Warner is CNN, HLN, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies, Adult Swim, truTV and Turner Sports and HBO. News Corp. is Fox News, Fox Business Network, FX, Star, Big Ten Network, Fox Sports, Nat Geo. And NBCUniversal is Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, USA, Oxygen, Weather Channel, Golf Channel. And yet every sentient person in the media business not being directly paid to support this charade knows cable is on a fast train to oblivion. How fast is one question. How willfully blind are the executives of these companies to oncoming reality is another. The cable programming business — running, practically speaking, on consumer inertia — doesn't work anymore, and shouldn't. It's too costly and inefficient. It will die. This is easy: There will not be a cable business in five years, or at least not a healthy one. This is so evident that in the media business one is not even regarded as a Cassandra to say as much — but rather a killjoy. And yet, somehow the end of cable seems no more threatening than global warming, a problem perhaps, but for some other executives and investors.
Cable is taking the fast train to oblivion
Former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), the head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), said regulating violent content in movies is not the best solution to reducing gun violence in the United States.
"You start getting into the business here of trying to regulate content and that's a very slippery slope, in my view, and you've got to be very careful about that," Dodd said at a National Press Club luncheon. "There's a temptation, I think, to do that. I think the best space to be in is giving people the right information they need to make the right choice, particularly parents." Dodd said the movie industry is keen to work with the Obama administration to find ways it can support initiatives that aim to reduce gun violence, but cautioned against regulating movie content. The film industry is focused on providing consumers with as much information as it can about the content in movies before families head to the theaters, he said.
MPAA chief: Regulating movie content is a 'slippery slope'
Advocates of online sales tax legislation are worried that their bill could become bogged down in the larger debate over reforming the federal tax code. The measure’s backers – including the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin (IL) – say it doesn't affect federal revenue collection, and therefore there's no reason for their proposal to be wrapped up in tax reform. But Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), whose panel has jurisdiction over the online sales tax measure, likely will want to consider the measure in the broader context of tax reform, a Democratic aide said. Chairman Baucus has expressed broader concerns about the proposal, in large part because Montana is one of five states without a sales tax.
Online sales tax effort may get swallowed by larger tax code deal
Privacy advocates say a controversial cybersecurity bill will likely face tough odds of clearing Congress this year due to recent developments in the debate over how to protect critical infrastructure from hacker attacks.
House Intelligence Committee leaders Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) re-introduced the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, known as CISPA. It is designed to remove legal barriers that prevent government and industry from sharing information about cyber threats in real time. Privacy groups that rallied against CISPA last year say the discussion about cybersecurity policy has changed significantly since 2012, and the cyber threat information-sharing bill will have a difficult time working its way through Congress unless additional privacy protections are baked into it. "Continuing with CISPA as is and without substantive changes will prevent any real movement on this issue," said Michelle Richardson, legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). "The bill is toxic. Right now, the Senate won't touch it if they choose to continue down that route. If anything, they're shooting themselves in the foot."
Privacy advocates: Cybersecurity bill faces tough odds in Congress this year
The White House is currently deciding who should head the Federal Trade Commission, an agency with key competition enforcement and consumer protection responsibilities.
President Barack Obama could skip the lengthy confirmation process if he chooses one of the two current Democratic commissioners, Julie Brill or Edith Ramirez. Sitting commissioners have already been confirmed, and the president does not need Senate approval to elevate them to the chairman's spot. Brill, who has been ramping up her public appearances in recent months, is widely believed to want the agency's top job. She has a reputation as an aggressive enforcer who is tough on consumer protection issues like online privacy. Brill has many supporters, including on Capitol Hill, and is the front-runner for the job, according to one person who follows the commission closely. But the source predicted that naming Brill as chairman could upset the business community and Republicans. If President Obama names one of the two current Democratic commissioners as chairman, he would still have to pick a new fifth commissioner. The source said that if President Obama picks Brill, he could be forced to name a business-friendly fifth commissioner or risk sparking a fight with Senate Republicans.
President Obama looks for new trade commission chairman
The National Association of Broadcasters says the Federal Communications Commission doesn't need to expand its ownership reporting requirements to include nonattributable interests.
In comments filed with the commission on its form 323 reporting requirement, NAB says that it is all for the FCC enhancing the quality of its data in an effort to find ways to boost minority and female ownership. But it also says it should not expand reporting to include nonattributable interest because it would not yield useful information while imposing burdens on broadcasters and potentially deterring investment.
NAB: FCC Should Not Expand Ownership Report to Nonattributable Interests
The same social data-mining ability and concept — that voters are more likely to consider new ideas from people they know and trust — that helped power President Barack Obama’s unprecedented field operation is coming to K Street.
More than two dozen trade organizations, local chambers of commerce and advocacy groups have already used the RAP (which stands for Relationships, Advocability and Political capital) Index, a one-of-a-kind piece of advocacy and lobbying software, to help find hidden social connections between lawmakers and their members. The goal? To leverage real-life connections on behalf of organizations — and to put a human face on complicated policy questions. Here’s how it works: a trade association or advocacy group sends the RAP Index survey to their members by email. The software confirms their address, and finds a list of their local, state or federal elected officials. The survey asks members in-depth questions about any relationships with those officials and whether they’d be willing to be media surrogates.
Data mining is new lobbying gold