Headlines

Using Private E-mail, Hillary Clinton Thwarted Record Requests

Benton Foundation — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 13:18:05 +0000

Clinton’s aides sought to play down the significance of her exclusive use of a personal e-mail account for State Department business. But an examination of records requests sent to the department reveals how the practice protected a significant amount of her correspondence from the eyes of investigators and the public. Clinton’s exclusive use of personal e-mail for her government business is unusual for a high-level official, archive experts have said.

Clinton isn’t first senior government leader to use personal e-mail for official business

Benton Foundation — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 13:17:06 +0000

Hillary Rodham Clinton was not the first senior government leader to conduct official business on personal e-mail, a practice that -- while discouraged -- apparently became widespread enough that Congress tightened rules on its use late in 2014.

What Hillary Clinton’s E-mails Really Reveal

Benton Foundation — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 13:16:27 +0000

How will history judge a generation of leaders who don’t preserve the historical record?

Hillary Clinton’s Use of Personal E-mail

Benton Foundation — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 13:14:58 +0000

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s decision when she was secretary of state to use only her personal e-mail account to conduct official business was a disturbing departure from the normal practice of relying primarily on departmental e-mails for official business.

Affirmatively Expand Permissible Foreign Ownership

Benton Foundation — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 13:13:54 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission has the opportunity to reduce barriers to foreign investment in the US communications marketplace. Let's seize this moment!

How the Internet Was Saved... and Why the Battle Continues

Benton Foundation — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 13:12:54 +0000

The history of media reform tells us that if we ignore core systemic problems like the power of monopolies and the lack of structural diversity, important protections like net neutrality can be short-lived. Anti-network neutrality forces will no doubt try to chip away at it once public attention wanes. This calls for continued vigilance; we cannot declare victory and tune out. Structural alternatives to the Internet monopolies are still needed. The battle for Internet freedom has only just begun.

John Oliver’s rock-solid case for the repeal of Title II

Benton Foundation — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 13:11:43 +0000

HBO’s John Oliver made a case for Title II’s repeal as solid as any telecom lobbyist could make: namely, that the status of the nation’s utility infrastructure is deplorable, and that a lack of political urgency on the issue ensures it will remain that way.

Europe’s Digital Chief Vows to Intervene on Technology Abuses

Benton Foundation — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 13:10:48 +0000

For many American technology companies, it often feels as if Europe is out to get them. At the Mobile World Congress, Andrus Ansip, the digital chief at the European Commission, reaffirmed the region’s tough stance on anticompetitive practices, data protection and tax avoidance. But he tried to play down those concerns by companies in the United States.

Apple Edges Out Samsung in Global Smartphone Sales: Gartner

Benton Foundation — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 13:09:28 +0000

Apple sold the most number of smartphones globally in the fourth quarter, overtaking Samsung for the first time since 2011, according to research firm Gartner.

Network neutrality is like free speech – and the Internet needs rules, says FCC’s Wheeler

Robbie McBeath — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 00:22:32 +0000

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler hit back at critics of new network neutrality rules, comparing them to the first amendment and saying neither government nor private companies had the right to restrict the openness of the Internet.

National Association of Broadcasters: Treat Online Video Distributors Same as Cable, Satellite

Robbie McBeath — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 00:19:03 +0000

The National Association of Broadcasters endorsed the Federal Communications Commission proposal that online video distributors (OVDs) wishing to carry broadcast signals must obtain retransmission consent from the owners of the signals just as cable and satellite operators do.

Net Neutrality Rules Don't Protect AT&T In Battle Over Throttling, FTC Argues

Robbie McBeath — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 00:16:51 +0000

The Federal Trade Commission says in new court papers that it is entitled to continue pursuing a lawsuit against AT&T, despite the new network neutrality rules. The agency argues in court papers filed on March 2 that the net neutrality rules don't “relieve AT&T of liability for its unfair and deceptive throttling program.”

There are good reasons not to save every e-mail sent by public officials. The reasons to do so are better still.

Robbie McBeath — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 00:15:27 +0000

The revelation that Hillary Clinton used a personal e-mail account during her tenure as Secretary of State has drawn attention to an area of public transparency that, most would agree, is still in an evolutionary period.

Hillary's e-mails 'not technically illegal'

Robbie McBeath — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 00:14:30 +0000

Hillary Clinton's exclusive use of a personal email account to conduct official business as secretary of State caused seems to have stayed within the law, experts say. “What she did was not technically illegal,” said Patrice McDermott, a former National Archives staffer and the head of the Open The Government coalition, a transparency group.

State: No classified e-mails sent through Clinton’s personal account

Robbie McBeath — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 00:13:15 +0000

The State Department has said that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton never sent any classified e-mails through her personal e-mail account during the multiple years that she was in office.

Google and Facebook's Race to Bring the Web to the Developing World

Robbie McBeath — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 00:12:03 +0000

At the 2015 Mobile World Congress, Google and Facebook spent much stage time focusing on the other end of the market of new gadgets and services. Each company has a plan to radically boost the number of people using its services by delivering or lowering the cost of Internet access for the billions who aren’t online.

Spotlight on NTIA: Chris Hemmerlein, Telecommunications Policy Specialist, Office of International Affairs

Robbie McBeath — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 00:09:56 +0000

Chris Hemmerlein says he feels fortunate to have a job that he enjoys so much. Hemmerlein, a telecommunications policy specialist in the Office of International Affairs, handles Asia- and United Nations-related issues for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Internet Memes And 'The Right To Be Forgotten'

Robbie McBeath — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 00:09:11 +0000

The Internet is a difficult place to police. "The law is frankly very ill-suited to respond to that," says Woodrow Hartzog, an associate professor at Stanford University's Cumberland School of Law. "It doesn't really offer a great tool to respond to unwanted attention."

Why Comcast, AT&T and other Internet providers might not sue the FCC after all

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:09:21 +0000

Internet providers are widely expected to sue the Federal Communications Commission to overturn the agency's new network neutrality rules. Who will fire the opening salvo, and when, is becoming the subject of a new Washington parlor game -- at least until the rules are actually published. But will the country's biggest broadband companies be part of the mix?

FCC Commissioners Pai and O'Rielly Submit Formal Title II Dissents

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:07:42 +0000

Ajit Pai and Michael O'Rielly, the two Republican Commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission, have submitted their formal dissents to the Feb. 26 vote by the agency's three Democrats to reclassify Internet access as a telecommunications service under Title II common-carrier regulations.

Gov Haslam may appeal FCC ruling that allows EPB to expand gig

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:06:57 +0000

Gov. Bill Haslam (R-TN) said he will explore whether to appeal Feb 26's Federal Communications Commission's decision allowing Chattanooga's EPB to offer lightning-speed Internet broadband beyond the municipal power distributor's service area.

Kentucky legislature votes to ease out landline phones

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:05:43 +0000

Kentucky appears ready to join at least two dozen other states in deregulating its landline telephone services, the beginning of the end for the more than 100-year-old technology that is being pushed out by cellphones and high-speed Internet access.

Oregon's Proposed Gigabit Tax Break Written With Google Fiber In Mind

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:03:35 +0000

An Oregon Senate committee has proposed an unusual tax break, designed to help lure Google Fiber or other hyperfast Internet services to the Portland area.

The President and the Press

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:01:12 +0000

The press conference with President Barack Obama following the 2014 midterm elections just the fourth formal, solo question-and-answer exchange Obama had held in the White House in 2014, has come to define the current state of White House reporting, one in which there is a gulf between the press and the head of state it’s charged with covering.

Why Big Data Get a Bad Rap in Government

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:59:23 +0000

Emerging technologies like big data are polarizing. It’s not all fire and brimstone, surveillance and mass-spying.

Feds Say They Finally Have a Database of Every Cyber Job in Government

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:57:43 +0000

The federal government is finally getting a sense of the size, shape and skills of its cybersecurity workforce. “Preliminary analysis” of a new database of all cyber jobs government-wide, which went live in January, indicates employees doing cybersecurity work hail from more than 100 different job categories scattered across agencies.

What Clinton's E-mail Habits Reveal About Federal Records Laws

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:56:29 +0000

As more details continue to be revealed regarding Hilary Clinton's exclusive use of a personal e-mail to conduct government business during her four years as Secretary of State, there are three things you should know about federal records keeping -- and what's actually allowed.

“FREAK” flaw undermines security for Apple and Google users, researchers discover

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 21:30:51 +0000

Technology companies are scrambling to fix a major security flaw that for more than a decade left users of Apple and Google devices vulnerable to hacking when they visited hundreds of thousands of supposedly secure Web sites, including Whitehouse.gov, NSA.gov and FBI.gov.

City-run Internet services still in limbo after FCC vote

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 21:29:41 +0000

After the nation’s top Internet regulator moved to allow two cities to offer broadband service to their residents, don’t expect a lot of other cities to follow. Expect lawsuits.

Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Announces Update to PSAP Text-to-911 Readiness and Certification Registry

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 21:28:44 +0000

The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission announces that it is updating the FCC’s Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Text-to-911 Readiness and Certification Registry (Text-to-911 Registry) listing PSAPs that are ready to receive text-to-911 messages.