NTCA members will meet with the White House Rural Council Wednesday to “identify and make recommendations on barriers and opportunities to increased deployment and participation in telehealth services,” NTCA said in a news release Tuesday. The event will be in the White House Executive Office Building, the group said. NTCA “is pleased to partner with the White House Rural Council to discuss issues critical to the success of rural America,” NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield said. “Access to health care is a key component for a rural community, and it is clear that broadband can play a vital role in that regard. Telemedicine can keep essential services supported, and we look forward to engaging with the administration to build upon its commitment to expanding access to opportunity through quality, affordable health care.” Bloomfield wrote about such engagement in a November blog post.
President Barack Obama sees a role for the FCC in the economic relationship between the U.S. and Argentina, said a White House fact sheet released this week. “Technical assistance” from the U.S. “includes support from the [FTC] and the Department of Justice for Argentina’s Commission for the Defense of Competition,” the White House said. “The United States and Argentina will also deepen discussions on telecommunications policy, including through consultations with the [FCC] regarding spectrum management and regulatory reform.”
The Internet Innovation Alliance drafted a memo for the next president, released Thursday, slamming Communications Act Title II reclassification of broadband and urging a rewrite of the Telecom Act. FCC 2015 net neutrality rules, relying on Title II, “inappropriately and unwisely apply decades-old, monopoly-style regulation to vibrant, competitive broadband and wireless Internet,” said the group, which includes Title II opponent AT&T. “They deter investment, not foster it. They limit innovation, not promote it. Their impact has been small at first, but it will become more evident over time.” The memo urged the next president to favor private sector broadband investment, promote competition and manage spectrum well. “As a finite resource, it is vital that spectrum resources be made available for mobile broadband services,” it said. “We should continue efforts to make spectrum available for mobile broadband by either reallocating spectrum currently used for other purposes or making underutilized government-controlled spectrum available for commercial wireless services. Policymakers should also continue to ensure we find the right mix in making spectrum available for licensed and unlicensed services.” It also endorsed universal service goals and urged protection of both privacy and security of users. “While the 1996 Act has been a great success, it’s time to update the Act to reflect current conditions and the competitive markets that now exist with a new regulatory model that ensures government does not slow down the pace of innovation,” the group said of a telecom rewrite. “Support for a new Act would be a major accomplishment of your Administration and would show the public that bipartisan cooperation in Congress is still possible -- no small achievement in this time of sharp partisan division.”
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., dropped his presidential bid Tuesday after another primary contest loss to GOP front-runner Donald Trump, this time in Rubio's home state of Florida. Rubio is a member of the Commerce Committee fiercely opposed to the FCC net neutrality order and focused on spectrum legislation. He has been largely absent from Commerce and the Capitol in recent months while on the campaign trail. His Senate term continues through the end of this year. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is the other Commerce Committee member running for president, and he is continuing his campaign. Rubio received a mix of high-profile endorsements in the telecom space. Backers included former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, now with Wiley Rein; CTA President Gary Shapiro; and AT&T Vice Chairman Ralph de La Vega.
Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama's Supreme Court pick, is highly respected by communications attorneys we talked to Wednesday after the White House announced his nomination. Garland has been a judge since 1997 on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which decides many FCC cases, and he is now chief judge. "People get jaded about hearing judicial nominees described as 'brilliant' and 'unbiased' and having a 'perfect judicial temperament.' But it's all true here. No one can oppose this choice on the merits,'" said Harris Wiltshire attorney Chris Wright, a former FCC general counsel, who has argued several cases before Garland and read many of his opinions. "He's a great judge," said another telecom attorney. "He's straight down the line, a good judge, a very solid appointment," said a media attorney. "He's certainly qualified, but it sounds like he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting confirmed. It would take a miracle." Republican senators have vowed not to act on Garland's nomination. Despite Garland's long tenure, some attorneys said it's hard to pigeonhole his communications views. Andrew Schwartzman, Georgetown University Institute for Public Representation senior counselor, said Garland doesn't have a clear-cut "communications track record," because most of his FCC decisions weren't in big cases. "I'd have to go back and look," he said. Another veteran attorney, who called Garland a moderate Democrat and "smart guy," had a similar impression: "I don't believe he's been a key player in many major FCC decisions." One significant case Garland did help decide was a Verizon challenge to FCC wireless data-roaming rules, where he joined two other judges in upholding the agency's order in December 2012 (Cellco Partnership v. FCC). Judge David Tatel wrote that opinion.
Free Press released what it’s calling the 2016 Internet Voter Guide about the presidential election. “The Internet Voter Guide shows that some presidential candidates care more about their campaigns’ digital operations than about the digital rights and needs of Americans across the country,” said Free Press President Craig Aaron. The guide includes a chart comparing the positions for Democratic and Republican presidential contenders on issues such as net neutrality, encryption policy and affordability. The guide underscores some established partisan divides on telecom policy. “All three Republican contenders have come out against the FCC’s open Internet rules,” Free Press said of the platforms on net neutrality. “Both Democratic candidates have advocated for enforcing strong Net Neutrality rules.” Industry consolidation was an issue where Democrats staked out opposition, Free Press said: “Only a few candidates have declared any position on runaway media consolidation, which has led to skyrocketing costs for consumers as competition for services has dwindled. Both Democratic candidates have fought industry consolidation.” Free Press said no candidate of either party has backed “strong pro-consumer encryption measures.”
President Barack Obama wants to ensure his administration and future White House administrations stay engaged with the tech industry, he said Friday during a conversation at the South by Southwest festival in Austin. “The reason I’m here really is to recruit all of you,” Obama said. He brought up the broadband stimulus funds and talked about the “enormous progress in extending more and more Internet access, high-speed Internet access, to communities across the country.” The administration is “on track” to meet its ConnectED goals, Obama said. He said the initiatives involve federal spending but also private industry stepping up. He said the initiative requires more than simply infrastructure but also efforts of community adoption, such as in schools. Obama said he couldn't comment on the ongoing Apple/FBI fight over unlocking a terrorist attacker's iPhone. But he cited the history of probable causes and warrants to investigate. "I am of the view that there are very real reasons why we want to make sure that government cannot just willy-nilly get into everyone's iPhones, or smartphones, that are full of very personal information," Obama said. Popular culture and the revelations of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden exacerbated this, he said. "What makes it more complicated is we also want really strong encryption," he added. "We've got two values, both of which are important. The question we now have to ask is, if technologically it is possible to make an impenetrable device or system where the encryption is so strong there's no key, there's no door at all, then how do we apprehend the child pornographer? How do we solve or disrupt a terrorist plot? What mechanisms do we have to do even simple things like tax enforcement?" Obama urged "some concession" to get to the information. He cited many ways the government interacts with tech officials, from civic participation in the voting booth to how government agencies use the Internet to how to confront terrorists online. "I am way on the civil liberties side of this thing," Obama insisted. "You cannot take an absolutist view on this," he said, and referred to engaging the tech industry aggressively on this issue. He foresees a future with strong encryption but one in which the key is available to a small subset of people on the right occasions. “Technology, globalization, our economy is changing so fast,” Obama said. “This gathering, South by Southwest, brings together people who are at the cutting edge of those changes. Those changes offer us enormous opportunities but also are very disruptive and unsettling. They empower individuals to do things they could have never dreamed of before, but they also empower folks who are very dangerous to spread dangerous messages.” Obama emphasized a desire to use big data and analytics to make civic participation easier. White House Chief Digital Officer Jason Goldman wrote a blog post outlining ways the administration has engaged with the tech industry.
A coalition of privacy, civil liberties and human rights groups is demanding the U.S. government include the organizations in discussions of free expression and privacy online as federal efforts to combat violent extremism widen. In a letter sent Tuesday to three top White House officials, nearly a dozen groups -- including Access Now, Center for Democracy and Technology and New America's Open Technology Institute -- cited a couple of private meetings since January between the government and technology company executives on how to counter terrorists' use of the Internet to radicalize and recruit people. "When the government sits down with those companies that have practical control over a broad swath of public speech and private communication, and especially if and when those conversations lead to voluntary surveillance or censorship measures that would be illegal or unconstitutional for the government to undertake itself, the consequences are truly global," the letter said. The coalition said the potential human rights threat is "especially acute" since many federal programs "overwhelmingly target Muslim and other marginalized communities and individuals." To ensure human rights are protected, the groups said the government must engage with civil society groups "to the same extent" as technology companies. The administration and companies also need to be transparent about steps being taken, such as changes to security features in services and products -- amid the FBI's legal fight to force Apple to help the agency gain access to an iPhone (see 1603040023) -- "or any changes to policies and practices that determine what speech is censored or reported to the government," the letter said. The U.S. has promoted the Internet internationally through a multistakeholder approach, and it should do the same domestically, the coalition said. The letter was addressed to Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Holdren, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and National Economic Council Director Jeffrey Zients. The White House did not comment.
The Obama administration unveiled its new open data initiative, the Opportunity Project -- a resource meant to assist individuals in using government data to access resources in their communities, during an event at the White House Monday. "Federal open data is much more meaningful when we do some of the work of combining and curating so that the data can really paint a comprehensive picture of something that matters a lot to people, which is access to assets in their community," said Aden Van Noppen, adviser to U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith. Van Noppen said the project was developed as a collaboration of 12 software development teams, plus subject matter experts, for use within Baltimore, Detroit, Kansas City, Missouri, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Washington. It uses "user-friendly digital tools to expose inequality and access to opportunity" and help many different groups access that information, Van Noppen said. Users of the various tools provided by the project can access aggregated federal data collected from their community related to affordable housing, transportation, schools and more, said Van Noppen. "The project represents a collaboration [of] the White House, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Census Bureau, private sector and local communities," said Smith. "It's been a true collaboration." The Opportunity Project is at www.opportunity.census.gov.
Jonathan Blake, retired partner at Covington & Burling, sent offices on the Senate Homeland Security Committee and its companion House committee copies of an exchange he had in articles for the Free State Foundation with Enrique Armijo, an assistant professor at the Elon University School of Law. He reached out after the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s GOP staff report on the White House influence on the FCC net neutrality order (see 1603010066). Blake’s essay and the response from Armijo were both dated Dec. 22. “One aspect of the Net Neutrality controversy has attracted special attention, namely the appropriateness of the White House role in providing its views of the controversy to the FCC,” Blake said in a note to the Capitol Hill offices. “While this feature of the debate has attracted attention for over a year, the Senate Committee’s recent report has renewed the spotlight on this issue.” His exchange with Armijo in late-2015 essays “discusses the pros and cons of this issue from the limited point of view of the appropriateness of the executive branch’s role in agency rulemaking proceedings, specifically the FCC’s, and not the merits of its substantive positions on the issue,” Blake said.