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The FCC Just Authorized a $3.2 Billion Dollar Program Meant To Bring Low-Income Americans Online

The Federal Communications Commission unanimously voted late Thursday to adopt the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program—a $3.2 billion dollar initiative meant to lower the cost of internet services for the tens of millions of families struggling with connectivity during the ongoing pandemic.

gizmodo.com

The Commission will offer eligible households of up to $50 dollars per month for broadband access, or up to $75 dollars per month if their home is built on designated Tribal lands. Those that qualify will also be getting a one-time discount of up to $100 dollars off a tablet or computer. FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel stated that she expects the Program to be open to eligible recipients “within the next 60 days.”

Per the FCC, the Program is open to households that are already plugged into a pandemic-relief program offered by their broadband provider, or those that are part of the FCC’s Lifeline program. It also includes Pell grant and Medicaid recipients along with those that have “lost jobs and seen their income reduced in the last year.”

The $3.2 billion dollar sum was approved by Congress as part of the $900 billion dollar COVID-19 relief package late December.

New Net Neutrality Bill Would Strip FCC of Its Power to Mess With the Internet

Top congressional Democrats on Wednesday introduced legislation to restore the open internet rules repealed by the Trump administration in December 2017.

gizmodo.com|Dell Cameron

Democrats in the House and Senate introduced companions bills aimed at reinstating the Obama-era net neutrality rules that prohibited broadband providers from blocking or throttling websites or offering preferred businesses higher-quality service for additional fees.

The bill would further restore the Federal Communications Commission’s expansive authority to regulate internet service in the United States and penalize providers for “unjust and unreasonable” practices negatively affecting small business and consumers.

At a press conference announcing the legislation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that reinstating net neutrality would help promote American democracy and economic possibilities. “Democrats are proudly taking bold action to restore net neutrality protections: lowering costs and increasing choice for consumers, giving entrepreneurs a level playing field on which to compete, helping bring broadband to every corner of the country.”

The bill was also endorsed Wednesday afternoon by the Internet Association, which represents the interests of dozens of major internet companies, including Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft.

Tribune withdraws from Sinclair merger, sues for $1 billion in damages over ‘breach’ of contract

www.washingtonpost.com|https://www.facebook.com/brian.d.fung

A proposed merger that would have created the biggest U.S. television company collapsed Thursday when Tribune Media announced a $1 billion lawsuit against Sinclair Broadcast Group on grounds that the conservative television giant engaged in “misconduct” and precluded U.S. government approving of the deal.

Tribune said it would terminate the $3.9 billion deal and accused Sinclair in a lawsuit of engaging in “belligerent and unnecessarily protracted negotiations” with the FCC as well as the Justice Department, which reviewed the merger over its potential effects on competition. By failing to divest television stations as regulators recommended, Tribune said, Sinclair had “breached” the companies' merger agreement, which required them to make their best efforts to secure federal approval.

Peter Kern, Tribune’s chief executive officer, in a statement Thursday. “This uncertainty and delay would be detrimental to our company and our shareholders. Accordingly, we have exercised our right to terminate the Merger Agreement, and, by way of our lawsuit, intend to hold Sinclair accountable.”

Netflix and Alphabet will need to become ISPs, fast

This week completely scrambled the video landscape, and its implications are going to take months to fully understand.

techcrunch.com

First is the district court’s decision to approve the merger of AT&T and Time Warner announced just moments ago. That will create one of the largest content creation and distribution companies in the world when it closes. It is also expected to encourage Comcast to make a similar bid for 21st Century Fox, further consolidating the market. As Chip Pickering, CEO of pro-competition advocacy org INCOMPAS put it, “AT&T is getting the merger no one wants, but everyone will pay for.”

But the second major story was the final (final final) repeal of the FCC’s net neutrality rules yesterday that will allow telecom companies like AT&T to prioritize their own content over that of competitors. In the past, AT&T didn’t have all that much content, but the addition of Time Warner now gives them a library encompassing Warner Bros. to TBS, TNT, HBO and CNN. Suddenly, that control over prioritization just got a lot more powerful and profitable.

The Net Neutrality Repeal Is Official. Here’s How That Could Affect You.

Net Neutrality rules that required internet service providers to offer equal access to all web content are no longer in effect as of Monday.

www.nytimes.com

BLOCKING Internet service providers could not discriminate against any lawful content by blocking websites or apps. #InternetCensorship  #FreeSpeech

THROTTLING Service providers could not slow the transmission of data because of the nature of the content, as long as it was legal. #PayToPlay

PAID PRIORITIZATION Service providers could not create an internet fast lane for companies and consumers who paid premiums, and a slow lane for those who didn’t. #FastLanes

FCC Emails Show Agency Spread Lies to Bolster Dubious DDoS Attack Claims

As it wrestled with accusations about a fake cyberattack last spring, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) purposely misled several news organizations, choosing to feed journalists false information, while at the same time discouraging them from challenging the agency’s official story.

gizmodo.com|Dell Cameron

• Ajit Pai, FCC Commissioner
• David Bray, FCC’s chief information officer from 2013 until June 2017. He was the anonymous source behind reports that the FCC had been “hacked” in 2014
• Mark Wigfield, the FCC’s deputy director of media relations
• Michael Krigsman, columnist for ZDNet

Internal emails reviewed by Gizmodo lay bare the agency’s efforts to counter rife speculation that senior officials manufactured a cyberattack, allegedly to explain away technical problems plaguing the FCC’s comment system amid its high-profile collection of public comments on a controversial and since-passed proposal to overturn federal net neutrality rules.

The FCC’s system was overwhelmed on the night of May 7, 2017, after comedian John Oliver, host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, directed his audience to flood the agency with comments supporting net neutrality. In the immediate aftermath, the agency claimed the comment system had been deliberately impaired due to a series of distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS). Net neutrality supporters, however, accused the agency of fabricating the attack to absolve itself from failing to keep the system online.

“The security team was in agreement that this event was not an attack,” a former FCC security contractor told Gizmodo of the 2014 outage. “The security team produced no report suggesting it was an attack. The security team could not identify any records or evidence to indicate this type of attack occurred as described by Bray.” The contractor’s statements were supported by Sohn and confirmed by two other sources with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named or quoted.

In several emails, the FCC encouraged journalists to compare the 2017 incident to a DDoS attack on the Pokémon Go mobile game a year before. Michael Krigsman, a columnist for ZDNet, took the bait, despite the FCC continuing to withholding any proof an attack occurred. Krigsman wrote, unqualifiedly: “It’s similar to the distributed denial of service attack on Pokemon Go in July 2016.”

• Read the full collection of FCC emails.
• “Alternative Facts:” FCC E-Mails Reveal Agency Lied About Denial-of-Service Attack,  Stop the Cap!
• FCC Now Says There Is No Documented 'Analysis' of the Cyberattack It Claims Crippled Its Website in May, Gizmodo
• FCC Commissioner Says Her Agency Is Now Just A Giant Rubber Stamp For Sinclair Broadcasting, TechDirt
• Reporter manhandled by FCC guards because he asked FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly a question, The National Press Club

AT&T confirms it paid Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's company

AT&T confirmed Tuesday evening that it paid President Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen in 2017 for "insights into understanding the new administration."

money.cnn.com|Brian Stelter and Hadas Gold

A document released by Avenatti stated that "Essential received $200,000 in four separate payments of $50,000 in late 2017 and early 2018 from AT&T."

AT&T declined to comment on the total amount of the payments. But a source with knowledge of the matter said the total was actually higher than the $200,000 listed by Avenatti.

After a year-long review process, the DOJ sued to block the deal last November, saying it would violate antitrust law by harming competition and leading to an increase in prices paid by consumers.

The payments to Cohen stopped in December, according to AT&T. At the time, pre-trial status conferences were getting started.

Google sets new rules for U.S. election ads

That includes making ad buyers prove they're a US citizen or lawful permanent resident.

www.axios.com

People buying Google ads related to candidates in U.S. federal elections will have to prove they are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents beginning July 10

The gritty details: Under Google’s new rules, people or groups who want to advertise in elections will have to go through a process that includes producing a “government-issued ID” as well as other information, like a Federal Election Commission identification number and an IRS Employer Identification Number. Google says it aims to confirm that buyers are who they say they are and can legally participate in American elections.

The new policy will not cover ads that relate to politically contentious issues rather than a candidate, which was the case for many of the online ads placed by Russian operatives trying to interfere in the 2016 election. The company says it is looking at following Facebook in tightening restrictions on those ads as well.

FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly Violated Federal Law to Promote Trump, Special Counsel's Office Says

The federal agency charged with policing the political activity of federal employees has determined that FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly violated federal law in February when he instructed a crowd of people to vote for President Trump, according to a letter obtained by Gizmodo.

gizmodo.com|Dell Cameron

• Kellyanne Conway violated it twice
• Dan Scavino, Trump’s social media director
• Nikki Haley, UN Ambassador

• Ben Carson, HUD 
• Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State #VoterFraudLies

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) determined that O’Rielly violated the Hatch Act when he told a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to “make sure President Trump gets re-elected,” the letter says. The OSC wrote that O’Rielly “violated the Hatch Act’s prohibition against using his official authority or influence to affect an election.”

The Hatch Act, passed in 1939, expressly forbids federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity while on the job.

An employee who violates the Hatch Act shall be removed from their position and funds appropriated for the position from which removed thereafter may not be used to pay the employee or individual. However, if the Merit Systems Protection Board finds by unanimous vote that the violation does not warrant removal, a penalty of not less than 30 days' suspension without pay shall be imposed by direction of the Board. Federal employees should also be aware that certain political activities may also be criminal offenses under title 18 of the U.S. Code.

Mignon Clyburn, a Fierce Defender of Net Neutrality, Is Leaving the FCC

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a passionate advocate for protecting net neutrality, announced plans on Tuesday to step down from the agency.

gizmodo.com|Dell Cameron

“Mignon Clyburn will go down in history as one of the best FCC Commissioners of all time. For nearly 9 years, she has been a vocal and passionate advocate for the public interest and defender of the most vulnerable in our society.”, Gigi Sohn, who was counselor to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. 

The daughter of Rep. James Clyburn, the third-ranking Democrat in the House, Clyburn’s tenure at the FCC was largely spent advocating on behalf of America’s poor, championing, for example, the Lifeline Program, which promotes universal access to broadband and mobile services for economically strapped citizens.

Nominated by President Barack Obama in 2009, Clyburn became one of the most outspoken proponents for net neutrality, calling the FCC’s recent decision to repeal the 2015 rules that ensured net neutrality a “significant attack on internet freedom.”

FCC declines to punish Sinclair for its ‘must-run’ segments and scripts

It was hard to avoid seeing the video posted last week showing local news stations reciting a “must-run” script about fake news from their parent company, Sinclair broadcasting, in eerie synchrony. It creeped out a dozen Senators so much that they asked the FCC to look into it — and Chairman Ajit Pai has responded, saying that’s not going to happen.

techcrunch.com

The Senators’ letter, which you can read here, expresses concern that Sinclair is clearly using its power over local news stations to advance a political agenda at a national level:

“The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is responsible for ensuring that broadcast licensees use the public airwaves to serve the public interest. We call on the FCC to investigate whether Sinclair’s production of distorted news reports fails the public interest test.”

“In light of my commitment to protecting the First Amendment and freedom of the press, I must respectfully decline.”, Ajit Pai, fcc chairman 

And as icing on the cake, they bring up the fact that Sinclair ought to be under extra scrutiny since it is in the 

• middle of a merger that would give it unprecedented reach in broadcast,
• FCC is also accused by many of favoring Sinclair in particular with some of its deregulatory policies.

Oregon Governor Signs Net Neutrality Bill Alongside the Middle Schoolers Who Fought for Its Passage

In February, three middle school students helped push a statewide net neutrality bill. Today, Gov. Kate Brown is headed to the girls’ middle school in Portland, where she will sign the bill into law.

gizmodo.com|Melanie Ehrenkranz

In February, three middle school students helped push a statewide net neutrality bill. Today, Gov. Kate Brown is headed to the girls’ middle school in Portland, where she will sign the bill into law.

“It’s an honor for the Governor to come to our school and sign a bill that’s so important to the three of us,” Luca, a 12-year-old at Mt. Tabor Middle School, told Gizmodo in an email. Luca, along with friends Lola, 13, and Athena, 13, testified before the Oregon House Committee on Rules in support of the bill, helping bring greater attention to it before the state’s lawmakers voted it through to Gov. Brown’s desk.

The legislation, House Bill 4155, aims to help guarantee that Oregon residents get the net neutrality protections that the Federal Communications Commission killed in December of last year.

Specifically, the Republican-led FCC voted to overturn the agency’s 2015 Open Internet Order, which forbade internet service providers from throttling or blocking legal online content or “paid prioritization,” better known as “fast lanes” for companies that pay to have their services delivered to customers at greater speeds.