A public debate over the government’s surveillance programs is “long overdue,” said Tim Edgar, deputy for civil liberties in the office of the director of national intelligence from 2006 to 2009. The Bush administration’s decision to secretly expand the government’s surveillance authorities after 9/11 was a “colossal mistake,” said Edgar, now a visiting fellow at Brown University. The decision was “made mostly at the behest of [former Vice President Dick] Cheney and allies of Cheney … who never liked the FISA law in the first place,” he said Tuesday at the 23rd annual conference on computers, freedom and privacy. ACLU Policy Counsel Mike German said the public should demand “complete transparency into these programs to ensure that these programs aren’t doing harm.” He quoted former Justice Louis Brandeis and said: “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

Tax assessments have hurt telcos for years, but a new state law is poised to change that, said Joe Hrdlicka, Iowa Telecommunications Association director-government relations, in a Tuesday post for IowaLinkedUp (http://bit.ly/1aL6Ajp). Full savings won’t be seen until 2016, but effects will appear sooner, he said. “For the average company, a $5,000 cash savings will be recognized in 2014. In 2015, the company will see a $15,000 cash savings consisting of $5,000 in March and $10,000 in September.” Senate Bill 295 touched on several elements of taxation, including those for telecom, and was signed by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) June 12. The law provides for “a 40 percent exemption on taxable value, up to $20 million, once fully phased-in during 2014,” Hrdlicka said. “The exemption is 20 percent for the 2013 assessment year.” Hrdlicka said the law will help make the state more conducive to broadband infrastructure investment throughout rural Iowa.

Preston Padden, president of The Expanding Opportunities For Broadcasters Coalition, questioned T-Mobile’s “Dynamic Market Rule” proposal, which T-Mobile said is designed to guarantee broad participation in the auction and that the auction meet all its revenue goals (CD June 25 p1). “It seems perverse to label as a ‘Market Rule’ a proposal that restricts some bidders to favor others,” Padden said in an email Tuesday. “Also, since T-Mobile proposes to loosen bidder restrictions when necessary to meet revenue targets, they concede that bidder restrictions reduce auction revenues."

The Senate confirmed Penny Pritzker as secretary of commerce Tuesday. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., called Pritzker “a force of nature,” in a news release following the vote. “The unanimous bipartisan support she received in the committee, and the decisive 97-1 bipartisan vote today by the full Senate, reflects our confidence that she will be a highly successful driver for growth and change,” he said. The only vote in opposition was cast by Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt. Pritzker is the founder and CEO of PSP Capital Partners and a board member of the Hyatt Hotels Corp., which her father, Donald Pritzker, co-founded. Ms. Pritzker was one of President Barack Obama’s top fundraising bundlers, is a former member of Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and a former member of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Pritzker replaces acting Secretary Rebecca Blank, who took over in 2012 after John Bryson took a medical leave last June following reports that he was involved in car accidents related to a seizure that he suffered.

Rural households still fall behind urban households in broadband adoption, said a June report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (http://1.usa.gov/1aL4hwz). In 2010, 62 percent of rural households and farms subscribed to Internet service, vs. 73 percent of urban households, it said. “Rural households are almost as likely as urban households to use the Internet, but they are less likely to use broadband,” it said. “The lack of universal availability of broadband service partly accounts for the lagging usage rates of rural households, although ongoing technological changes and government programs have been improving broadband service availability and quality in rural areas.” Preference affects these subscriptions, and price drives that factor “to a certain extent,” the six-page document said. The report characterized farmers as early Internet adopters among rural residents. Access also differs by region, with residents of the rural South the least likely to subscribe to broadband, and households in the rural Northeast and West more likely to, said USDA. “Among rural households that use the Internet, broadband adoption rates are lowest in Appalachia and in several areas -- such as Michigan and South Carolina -- that experienced the highest unemployment rates during the Great Recession of 2008-09.” The report acknowledged a positive impact federal programs had on broadband coverage in rural areas, showcasing efforts from the Rural Utilities Service.

Time Warner Cable is spending $85 million to expand capacity by 75 percent at a data center in Centennial, Colo., one of the cable operator’s two such facilities, said TWC in a news release Tuesday. It will “support the equipment necessary to deliver digital video” and Internet Protocol-based services for residential and business subscribers, it said. Time Warner Cable also has a data center in Charlotte, N.C., and the Centennial facility will go online in January 2015, it said. Other operators also use data centers to send IP streams (CD July 24 p12).

The House Communications Subcommittee announced the witnesses for its wireless spectrum hearing scheduled for Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn. They are: Dean Brenner, senior vice president-government affairs at Qualcomm; Christopher Guttman-McCabe, executive vice president-regulatory affairs at CTIA; Karl Nebbia, NTIA associate administrator of the Office of Spectrum Management; and Teri Takai, Defense Department chief information officer.

The FCC Wireless Bureau said it gave the Enterprise Wireless Association and Sprint Nextel the clarity they sought in a 2008 petition asking for a tweak to the agency’s 900 MHz Business and Industrial/Land Transportation (B/ILT) license application freeze. The bureau modified the freeze to allow qualified entities to file an application for a new authorization in any National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee (NPSPAC) region before Sprint’s 800 MHz rebanding efforts are complete in that region. “Our action today will allow qualified applicants to gain access to 900 MHz B/ILT spectrum without unnecessary delay, thereby promoting spectrum efficiency by allowing access to spectrum that may otherwise be unused during the 800 MHz rebanding process,” the bureau said (http://bit.ly/1aKYrv2). “The pending Petition filed by EWA and Sprint Nextel asserts that the conditions for lifting the freeze are unnecessary to protect Sprint Nextel’s rebanding activities and its ability to use 900 MHz B/ILT spectrum pursuant to an STA [special temporary authority]. Petitioners note, for example, that in some NPSPAC regions Sprint Nextel does not need additional 900 MHz B/ILT spectrum to meet its 800 MHz rebanding obligations (e.g., Alaska, Idaho, North Dakota), and that in other regions Sprint Nextel needs 900 MHz spectrum only in a limited geographic area within a typical statewide NPSPAC region (e.g., Atlanta, but not all of Georgia; and Louisville, but not all of Kentucky).” The freeze has been in place since 2004.

Time Warner Cable started TV Everywhere offerings Starz Play and Encore Play for customers who subscribe to its Starz and Encore channels, it said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/15CLKNf). Subscribers will be able to watch Starz and Encore content on their computers, iPhones, iPads and the iPod touch, along with “select Android” and other devices including Kindle and Nook products and Google’s Nexus devices at no additional cost, said a TWC news release. It said Starz Play offers more than 400 monthly selections, including 300 first-run movies from Disney and Sony, and Starz original TV series such as Spartacus. Encore Play offers about 900 monthly selections with 300 movies and TV series. Hallmark Channel will offer on-demand services for Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS, Cablevision’s Optimum TV and Bright House Network customers, it said meanwhile in a Tuesday release. The service, which will be available online Wednesday, will give authenticated subscribers access to a variety of the network’s content, it said.

Rhode Island has forbidden state regulators from regulating the state’s wireless companies except for certain provisions touching on 911 and relay service and other small exceptions. Gov. Lincoln Chafee (D) signed House Bill 5454 into law after receiving it last week. “The interstate, and often international, nature of the wireless communication industry makes a state-by-state regulatory approach problematic and may limit access and increase costs for consumers,” according to the bill text (http://bit.ly/12huMpU). It enshrines into law what it calls the Wireless Telephone Regulatory Modernization Act, saying: “Notwithstanding any general or public law to the contrary, the [Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission] and the [Rhode Island Division of Public Utilities and Carriers] shall have no jurisdiction or authority over wireless service.” This law promotes wireless investment and innovation, “key to ensuring a competitive marketplace,” said Jamie Hastings, CTIA vice president-external and state affairs, in a statement Tuesday, applauding the bill’s signing. “With healthy and strong competition, consumers have a variety of providers to choose from. That’s why it’s great that Rhode Island joined 37 other states and the District of Columbia by enacting legislation that avoids the creation of a separate set of state rules for wireless technology.”