The digital divide is narrowing, but the nation must turn its attention to a gap in digital readiness, said John Horrigan, a communications researcher and former FCC official, at a forum sponsored by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Releasing a new study at the event Tuesday, Horrigan noted the percentage of Americans with broadband at home has increased from 63 percent in 2009 to 72 percent in 2013, and when new devices like smartphones are included, the percentage of Americans with advanced online access rises to 82 percent. Horrigan also said 85 percent of Americans use the Internet. The number of people without access to broadband has decreased from 83 million in 2009 to 43 million now.
The digital divide is narrowing, but the nation must turn its attention to a gap in digital readiness, said John Horrigan, a communications researcher and former FCC official, at a forum sponsored by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Releasing a new study at the event Tuesday, Horrigan noted the percentage of Americans with broadband at home has increased from 63 percent in 2009 to 72 percent in 2013, and when new devices like smartphones are included, the percentage of Americans with advanced online access rises to 82 percent. Horrigan also said 85 percent of Americans use the Internet. The number of people without access to broadband has decreased from 83 million in 2009 to 43 million now.
Congressional Democrats introduced bicameral legislation Tuesday that would end paid prioritization deals. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., released the bill, attracting some industry pushback as well as praise from consumer advocates. After approving, on a party-line vote, a net neutrality NPRM last month that critics said would allow fast lines, the FCC now is looking into interconnection deals between ISPs and websites like Netflix (WID June 17 p3).
Congressional Democrats introduced bicameral legislation Tuesday that would end paid prioritization deals. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., released the bill, attracting some industry pushback as well as praise from consumer advocates. After approving, on a party-line vote, a net neutrality NPRM last month that critics said would allow fast lines, the FCC now is looking into interconnection deals between ISPs and websites like Netflix (CD June 17 p2).
The “myth” that data sets cannot be de-identified has been perpetuated by individuals misrepresenting and overstating the claims of prominent research showing instances of re-identification, said a joint report released Monday by Ontario Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) (http://bit.ly/1kYvlPr). But in interviews Monday, other researchers took exception to how the report discussed their own work, saying it misrepresented findings and ignored facts. This is the first in a two-part story on the report.
A public notice proceeding on whether to establish an emergency alert system process for multilingual broadcast alerts aims to find a consensus, FCC officials said. The concept of establishing a broadcaster as a “designated hitter” to transmit EAS messages for non-English stations knocked off-air stemmed from a Minority Media and Telecommunications Council petition (CD March 13 p10). Circulating, meanwhile, is a Public Safety Bureau NPRM on issues that were identified after the first nationwide EAS test, the officials said.
Senators pressed telecom regulators, officials and consumer advocates Thursday on possible IP transition dangers and the need for reliable networks that don’t leave vulnerable communities behind. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., also requested a GAO study of the resilience and reliability of IP networks.
Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., faced off against a fierce challenger backed by the tech industry Tuesday in his Silicon Valley district’s highly watched Democratic primary. Ro Khanna, an attorney who was formerly deputy assistant secretary of Commerce during President Barack Obama’s first term, has outraised the seven-term Honda, amassing $2.6 million, compared with Honda’s $2.09 million. Khanna’s campaign website touts several telecom and media priorities, such as an Internet Bill of Rights (http://bit.ly/1otwRbg) that calls for a right to net neutrality, universal Web access, the right to be free of warrantless metadata collection and more. Last month, Khanna blasted FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler for his net neutrality NPRM, saying it fell short: “Frankly, a former telecommunications lobbyist should never have been appointed to chair the Federal Communications Commission in the first place,” Khanna said. Honda is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and had signed a letter to Wheeler asking for Title II reclassification of broadband and expressing his own disappointments in the NPRM. Honda’s website points to his own tech focus, spotlighting his work in bringing a patent office to California and an emphasis on nanotechnology and broadband, from access and adoption issues to fighting for net neutrality protections. Honda was an “instrumental ally in the establishment of a National Broadband Plan to lay out a bold roadmap to internet accessibility and service,” it said (http://bit.ly/1x2ayPu). Election rules would allow both Honda and Khanna to proceed to the November general election if they emerge with the two highest tallies of votes in what is an open primary, allowing both Democrats and Republicans to compete. Results were still coming in at our deadline.
Phone surveillance is still legally fine for now, the U.S. District Court for Idaho ruled without enthusiasm Tuesday in Anna Smith v. Barack Obama. The eight-page ruling is bound to the legal reasoning of the 1979 Smith v. Maryland Supreme Court case, which has been used to uphold the government’s bulk collection of phone metadata, it said. But differences have emerged since that case, the court ruling argued. The National Security Agency collection “goes beyond the telephone numbers that Smith dials, and reaches into her personal information,” the court said, also pointing to location information as particularly revealing. Thus the Supreme Court should reconsider Smith v. Maryland, the court said.
Phone surveillance is still legally fine for now, the U.S. District Court for Idaho ruled without enthusiasm Tuesday in Anna Smith v. Barack Obama. The eight-page ruling is bound to the legal reasoning of the 1979 Smith v. Maryland Supreme Court case, which has been used to uphold the government’s bulk collection of phone metadata, it said. But differences have emerged since that case, the court ruling argued. The National Security Agency collection “goes beyond the telephone numbers that Smith dials, and reaches into her personal information,” the court said, also pointing to location information as particularly revealing. Thus the Supreme Court should reconsider Smith v. Maryland, the court said.