Tech Policy Leaders

Helen Nissenbaum (@HNissenbaum) is on the faculty if Cornell Tech, on leave from NYU where she Professor of Media, Culture and Communication and Director of the Information Law Institute. Her eight books include Obfuscation: A User's Guide for Privacy and Protest, with Finn Brunton (MIT Press, 2015), Values at Play in Digital Games, with Mary Flanagan (MIT Press, 2014), and Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy, and the Integrity of Social Life (Stanford, 2010). Her research has been published in journals of philosophy, politics, law, media studies, information studies, and computer science. Grants from the National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator have supported her work on privacy, trust online, and security, as well as studies of values embodied in design, search engines, digital games, facial recognition technology, and health information systems.

Recipient of the 2014 Barwise Prize of the American Philosophical Association, Prof. Nissenbaum has contributed to privacy-enhancing software, including TrackMeNot (for protecting against profiling based on Web search) and AdNauseam (protecting against profiling based on ad clicks). Both are free and freely available.

Nissenbaum holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Stanford University and a B.A. (Hons) from the University of the Witwatersrand. Before joining the faculty at NYU, she served as Associate Director of the Center for Human Values at Princeton University.

In this episode, we discussed:

• the commercial and political contexts that animate policy discussion around privacy.
• the means by which citizens may use technology to obfuscate their lawful online activity and activism.
• points of alignment between consumer privacy advocates and the tech sector.
• policy recommendations.

Resources:

Cornell Tech

NYU Steinhardt Department of Media, Culture and Communication

Obfuscation: A User's Guide for Privacy and Protest by Finn Brunton and Helen Nissenbaum (MIT, 2016)

The Crooked Timber of Humanity by Isaiah Berlin (Princeton, 2013)

Ad Nauseum

TrackMeNot

NEWS ROUNDUP

Republican California Representative David Nunes, who is Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which has been investigating Russia's role in the 2016 election, has said he'd like to know why the FBI recorded former national security advisor Michael Flynn's conversations with the Russian ambassador in the first place. He said it was an invasion of Flynn's privacy. Trump forced Flynn to resign two weeks ago, after it was revealed that Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence about Flynn's contacts with Russian officials days before the election. Trump himself did not inform Pence about Flynn's conversations until at least 2 weeks after Trump knew about them, according to the Washington Post. House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chafetz also said his committee had no plans to conduct a further investigation. Mike Debonis has the story in the Washington Post. Politico reports that conservatives worried about leaks from federal employees have asked federal agencies to look into employees' use of the encrypted data app Signal.

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Amidst intense competition from T-Mobile and Sprint which have long offered unlimited data plans, Verizon will now itself offer unlimited data once again. Verizon had stopped offering unlimited data in 2011.

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The Chief of Samsung Group was arrested last week in South Korea. Forty-eight year old Jay Y. Lee, a member of South Korea's richest family, is accused bribing individuals connected with South Korean President Park Geun Hye, who was impeached in December on corruption charges. Hyunjoo Jin and Joyce Lee cover this in Reuters.

--

Amid increased cyber warfare, Microsoft President Brad Smith is calling for a "digital Geneva Convention". At the RSA security conference last week, Smith noted "Let's face it, cyberspace is the new battlefield." Smith said the convention should define rules of engagement, such as rules under which nation's would pledge not to disrupt civilian infrastructure. Elizabeth Weise covers this in USA Today.

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg published a 5,800 word missive last week in which he took a stand in support of globalization and Facebook's role in it. The wave of nationalism that has swept the Western world has prompted a debate about the merits of globalization. Mike Isaac has the story in The New York Times.

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Snapchat set its valuation between $19.5 and $22 billion ahead of its long-anticipated IPO. In that range, it would be the largest IPO since Alibaba's in 2014.

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At the RSA conference last week, Assistant FBI Director Scott Smith said the federal law enforcement agency will be ramping up its use of predictive policing technology. Smith said, "It's where we are moving, and hope to go when you talk about predicting as opposed to proactive and reactive. Reactive is consistently where we have been, proactive means we're really trying to get ahead of it. But predictive is where we want to be. And that's where I know FBI Cyber Division is strongly moving towards as we speak ..." Catch Chris Bing's full story is in FedScoop.

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Finally, Senator Orrin Hatch--Utah Republican and head of the Republican High Tech Task Force--offered up his tech agenda last week. The agenda targets H1B visa reform and improving cross-border digital trade. Hatch also supports the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which passed the House earlier this month, which would require law enforcement officials to obtain search warrants for emails. Hatch's plan was praised by tech sector leaders, including Consumer Technology Association president Gary Shapiro. Alexis Kramer has more at Bloomberg BNA.

Helen Nissenbaum (@HNissenbaum) is on the faculty if Cornell Tech, on leave from NYU where she Professor of Media, Culture and Communication and Director of the Information Law Institute. Her eight books include Obfuscation: A User's Guide for Privacy and Protest, with Finn Brunton (MIT Press, 2015), Values at Play in Digital Games, with Mary Flanagan (MIT Press, 2014), and Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy, and the Integrity of Social Life (Stanford, 2010). Her research has been published in journals of philosophy, politics, law, media studies, information studies, and computer science. Grants from the National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator have supported her work on privacy, trust online, and security, as well as studies of values embodied in design, search engines, digital games, facial recognition technology, and health information systems.

Recipient of the 2014 Barwise Prize of the American Philosophical Association, Prof. Nissenbaum has contributed to privacy-enhancing software, including TrackMeNot (for protecting against profiling based on Web search) and AdNauseam (protecting against profiling based on ad clicks). Both are free and freely available.

Nissenbaum holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Stanford University and a B.A. (Hons) from the University of the Witwatersrand. Before joining the faculty at NYU, she served as Associate Director of the Center for Human Values at Princeton University.

In this episode, we discussed:

• the commercial and political contexts that animate policy discussion around privacy.
• the means by which citizens may use technology to obfuscate their lawful online activity and activism.
• points of alignment between consumer privacy advocates and the tech sector.
• policy recommendations.

Resources:

Cornell Tech

NYU Steinhardt Department of Media, Culture and Communication

Obfuscation: A User's Guide for Privacy and Protest by Finn Brunton and Helen Nissenbaum (MIT, 2016)

The Crooked Timber of Humanity by Isaiah Berlin (Princeton, 2013)

Ad Nauseum

TrackMeNot

NEWS ROUNDUP

Republican California Representative David Nunes, who is Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which has been investigating Russia's role in the 2016 election, has said he'd like to know why the FBI recorded former national security advisor Michael Flynn's conversations with the Russian ambassador in the first place. He said it was an invasion of Flynn's privacy. Trump forced Flynn to resign two weeks ago, after it was revealed that Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence about Flynn's contacts with Russian officials days before the election. Trump himself did not inform Pence about Flynn's conversations until at least 2 weeks after Trump knew about them, according to the Washington Post. House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chafetz also said his committee had no plans to conduct a further investigation. Mike Debonis has the story in the Washington Post.  Politico reports that conservatives worried about leaks from federal employees have asked federal agencies to look into employees' use of the encrypted data app Signal.

--

Amidst intense competition from T-Mobile and Sprint which have long offered unlimited data plans, Verizon will now itself offer unlimited data once again. Verizon had stopped offering unlimited data in 2011.

--

The Chief of Samsung Group was arrested last week in South Korea. Forty-eight year old Jay Y. Lee, a member of South Korea's richest family,  is accused bribing individuals connected with South Korean President Park Geun Hye, who was impeached in December on corruption charges. Hyunjoo Jin and Joyce Lee cover this in Reuters.

--

Amid increased cyber warfare, Microsoft President Brad Smith is calling for a "digital Geneva Convention". At the RSA security conference last week, Smith noted “Let’s face it, cyberspace is the new battlefield." Smith said the convention should define rules of engagement, such as rules under which nation's would pledge not to disrupt civilian infrastructure. Elizabeth Weise covers this in USA Today.

--

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg published a 5,800 word missive last week in which he took a stand in support of globalization and Facebook's role in it. The wave of nationalism that has swept the Western world has prompted a debate about the merits of globalization. Mike Isaac has the story in The New York Times.

--

Snapchat set its valuation between $19.5 and $22 billion ahead of its long-anticipated IPO. In that range, it would be the largest IPO since Alibaba's in 2014.

--

At the RSA conference last week, Assistant FBI Director Scott Smith said the federal law enforcement agency will be ramping up its use of predictive policing technology. Smith said, "It’s where we are moving, and hope to go when you talk about predicting as opposed to proactive and reactive. Reactive is consistently where we have been, proactive means we’re really trying to get ahead of it. But predictive is where we want to be. And that’s where I know FBI Cyber Division is strongly moving towards as we speak ..." Catch Chris Bing's full story is in FedScoop.

--

Finally, Senator Orrin Hatch--Utah Republican and head of the Republican High Tech Task Force--offered up his tech agenda last week. The agenda targets H1B visa reform and improving cross-border digital trade. Hatch also supports the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which passed the House earlier this month, which would require law enforcement officials to obtain search warrants for emails. Hatch's plan was praised by tech sector leaders, including Consumer Technology Association president Gary Shapiro. Alexis Kramer has more at Bloomberg BNA.

Harold Feld (@haroldfeld) is Public Knowledge's Senior Vice President. Before becoming Senior Vice President at Public Knowledge, Harold worked as Senior Vice President of Media Access Project, advocating for the public interest in media, telecommunications, and technology policy for almost 10 years. Prior to joining MAP, Harold was an associate at Covington & Burling, worked on Freedom of Information Act, Privacy Act, and accountability issues at the Department of Energy, and clerked for the D.C. Court of Appeals. He received his B.A. from Princeton University, and his J.D. from Boston University Law School. Harold also writes Tales of the Sausage Factory, a progressive blog on media and telecom policy. In 2007, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin praised him and his blog for "[doing] a lot of great work helping people understand how FCC decisions affect people and communities on the ground."

In this episode, we discussed:

• early trends from the Ajit Pai FCC.
• what to expect on FCC reform from the 115th Congress.
• where consumer advocates and the Trump administration can find common ground.

Resources

Public Knowledge

Slack

The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

The Federalist Papers

NEWS ROUNDUP

The Federal Trade Commission found last week that Vizio--the TV manufacturer--has been spying on its 11 million customers. The company had apparently been collecting and selling customers' locations, demographics and viewing habits. Vizio will now have to pay a $2.2 million settlement to the FTC and New Jersey Attorney General's office. Hayley Tsukayama covers this in the Washington Post.--The Department of Homeland Security is considering requiring refugees and other immigrants from the 7 Muslim Ban countries to turn over their social media usernames and passwords before entering the United States. DHS Secretary John Kelly made the announcement last week before the House Committee on Homeland Security. But of course a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling last week which blocked the President's ban on refugees entering the country. Next steps include possible appeals to the full 9th Circuit, or to the U.S. Supreme Court. David Kravets has the story in Ars Technica.--The White House mysteriously let go its Chief Information Security Officer, Cory Louie, last week. Louie, who is Asian, had been appointed to the position by former President Obama and was one of the few minorities on Trump's staff. Check out Zack Whittaker's coverage in ZD Net.--A federal grand jury has indicted the National Security Agency contractor accused of stealing highly sensitive materials from the United States government, which he then collected at his Maryland home. Harold Thomas Martin faces up to 200 years in prison if convicted of all 20 criminal counts he has been charged with. Dustin Volz covers this for Reuters.--The House passed last week the Email Privacy Act, which would update existing law to require law enforcement to get a search warrant before asking technology companies for their users' emails. The bill is expected to get some resistance in the Senate. Dustin Volz has this story as well, in Reuters.--Benjamin Herold reports for Ed Week that the Ajit Pai FCC has rescinded a report the previous administration put out illustrating the success of the E-rate program. The E-rate program is a multi-billion dollar initiative designed to help schools and libraries access high speed internet service. Democratic leaders as well as consumer and tech advocates took Pai to task accusing Pai of paying lip service to the digital divide, while pursuing contradictory policies.--Finally, Amazon expressed serious concerns Friday about President Trump's "America First" agenda. The company said this more protectionist attitude has the potential to harm its business. Jeffrey Dastin has the story in Reuters.

Harold Feld (@haroldfeld)  is Public Knowledge's Senior Vice President. Before becoming Senior Vice President at Public Knowledge, Harold worked as Senior Vice President of Media Access Project, advocating for the public interest in media, telecommunications, and technology policy for almost 10 years. Prior to joining MAP, Harold was an associate at Covington & Burling, worked on Freedom of Information Act, Privacy Act, and accountability issues at the Department of Energy, and clerked for the D.C. Court of Appeals. He received his B.A. from Princeton University, and his J.D. from Boston University Law School. Harold also writes Tales of the Sausage Factory, a progressive blog on media and telecom policy. In 2007, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin praised him and his blog for "[doing] a lot of great work helping people understand how FCC decisions affect people and communities on the ground."

In this episode, we discussed:

• early trends from the Ajit Pai FCC.
• what to expect on FCC reform from the 115th Congress.
• where consumer advocates and the Trump administration can find common ground.

Resources

Public Knowledge

Slack

The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

The Federalist Papers

NEWS ROUNDUP

The Federal Trade Commission found last week that Vizio--the TV manufacturer--has been spying on its 11 million customers. The company had apparently been collecting and selling customers' locations, demographics and viewing habits. Vizio will now have to pay a $2.2 million settlement to the FTC and New Jersey Attorney General's office.  Hayley Tsukayama covers this in the Washington Post.

--

The Department of Homeland Security is considering requiring refugees and other immigrants from the 7 Muslim Ban countries to turn over their social media usernames and passwords before entering the United States. DHS Secretary John Kelly made the announcement last week before the House Committee on Homeland Security. But of course a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling last week which blocked the President's ban on refugees entering the country. Next steps include possible appeals to the full 9th Circuit, or to the U.S. Supreme Court. David Kravets has the story in Ars Technica.

--

The White House mysteriously let go its Chief Information Security Officer, Cory Louie, last week. Louie, who is Asian, had been appointed to the position by former President Obama and was one of the few minorities on Trump's staff. Check out Zack Whittaker's coverage in ZD Net.

--

A federal grand jury has indicted the National Security Agency contractor accused of stealing highly sensitive materials from the United States government, which he then collected at his Maryland home. Harold Thomas Martin faces up to 200 years in prison if convicted of all 20 criminal counts he has been charged with. Dustin Volz covers this for Reuters.

--

The House passed last week the Email Privacy Act, which would update existing law to require law enforcement to get a search warrant before asking technology companies for their users' emails. The bill is expected to get some resistance in the Senate. Dustin Volz has this story as well, in Reuters.

--

Benjamin Herold reports for Ed Week that the Ajit Pai FCC has rescinded a report the previous administration put out illustrating the success of the E-rate program. The E-rate program is a multi-billion dollar initiative designed to help schools and libraries access high speed internet service. Democratic leaders as well as consumer and tech advocates took Pai to task accusing Pai of paying lip service to the digital divide, while pursuing contradictory policies.

--

Finally, Amazon expressed serious concerns Friday about President Trump's "America First" agenda. The company said this more protectionist attitude has the potential to harm its business. Jeffrey Dastin has the story in Reuters.

John Breyault (@JammingEcono) is Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud at the National Consumers League (NCL). John's focus at NCL is on advocating for stronger consumer protections before Congress and federal agencies on issues related to telecommunications, fraud, technology, and other consumer concerns. In addition, John manages NCL's Fraud Center and coordinates the Alliance Against Fraud coalition. John is also Research Director for the Telecommunications Research and Action Center (TRAC), a project of NCL. In his role with TRAC, John advocates on behalf of residential consumers of wireline, wireless, VoIP, and other IP-enabled communications services. John was a member of the FCC's Consumer Advisory Committee from 2005 to 2007 and served on the Board of the Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless. He is a graduate of George Mason University, where he received a bachelor's degree in International Relations.

In this episode, we discussed:

• top issues facing consumer advocates in the new administration.
• the risk of scaling back the FCC's privacy rules.

Resources:

National Consumers League (NCL)

NEWS ROUNDUP

The tech sector is hitting hard against the Trump administration's ostensibly temporary travel ban against 7 predominantly Muslim countries including Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen . Ninety-seven companies including, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and even Levi Strauss filed an amicus brief on behalf of the State of Washington in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals late Sunday. The State of Washington is appealing to a 3 judge panel of the court to uphold the District Court's decision to halt the travel ban. Oral arguments in this case will take place Tuesday at 6PM.

The brief is a culmination of a number of developments last week in the the growing resistance against the Trump administration's travel ban by the tech sector. Among them was Uber CEO Travis Kalanick's departure from Trump's economic advisory council. The move follows major protests by tech employees, including Uber's employees, against Trump's Muslim travel ban, which the district court in San Francisco has temporarily suspended. Uber employees were wondering why Kalanick was still on Trump's advisory board. Two hundred thousand Uber users wondered the same thing, and deleted Uber's app from their phones. Kalanick sent a letter to Uber employees on Thursday announcing that he had quit Trump's advisory council. Mike Isaac reports in The New York Times.

Meanwhile, Tony Romm reports that Silicon Valley leaders are organizing against Trump. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Zynga founder Mark Pincus are among those leading the effort. They have set up organizations like Win the Future which will seek out progressive candidates for future elections. Sam Altman from Y Combinator also set up a new site called Track Trump -- a running dashboard of the Trump administration's policy changes.

--

So on the one hand, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is claiming he's going to be all about closing the so-called digital divide. He's announced small, closed-door meetings with organizations like the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and HTTP, he's created a broadband adoption advisory board ... but on the other, his policies, thus far, can't be much more against closing the digital divide. In fact, the moves he's been making suggest he's going in the complete opposite direction. Take for example his decision last week telling 9 companies that they can't offer broadband pricing subsidies of $9.95 per month to the poor--a program otherwise known as the Lifeline program. The decision states that the Wheeler FCC allowed these 9 companies to provide Lifeline subsidies at the last minute and that the new FCC needs more time to consider the waste, fraud and abuse concerns the Republican commissioners have about the program.

--

A U.S. magistrate judge in Philadelphia has held that Google must comply with an FBI search warrant seeking access to emails stored on Google servers abroad. This departs from a decision in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals last year holding that Microsoft did not have to comply with such a warrant. A Google spokesperson says the company will appeal. Jonathan Stempel has the story in Reuters.

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FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has closed the set-top box proceeding. The proceeding, introduced under former Chairman Tom Wheeler, was intended to promote competition in the set-top box market by allowing consumers to choose to receive the programming they had already subscribed to on a set-top box of their choice, rather than being stuck with the one from their cable provider. Republican leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee had asked Pai to close the proceeding on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Pai also explicitly stated at a press conference that he "favors an open Internet but opposes Title II." The Chairman, however, would not answer as to whether the Commission would be enforcing the FCC's net neutrality rules, which were upheld in the DC Circuit last year.

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Finally, The commission also closed the zero-rating proceeding. The Wheeler FCC had begun an inquiry into carriers' zero-rating practices towards the end of its term. Zero rating, or so-called "sponsored data", plans are ones in which carriers offer access to their own preferred content without it counting against subscribers' data caps. But net neutrality advocates argue zero-rating is a back-door to violate the FCC's net neutrality rules. For example, Sprint has announced it will be acquiring a 33% stake in Jay-Z's streaming music service, Tidal. Net neutrality advocates are worried about what this might mean for companies like Pandora, Spotify and Apple Music if Sprint turns Tidal into a zero-rated service--offering their customers music streaming without it counting against their data caps. Chris Brantner has the story in Motherboard and David Shepardson reports on this in Reuters.

John Breyault (@JammingEcono) is Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud at the National Consumers League (NCL). John’s focus at NCL is on advocating for stronger consumer protections before Congress and federal agencies on issues related to telecommunications, fraud, technology, and other consumer concerns. In addition, John manages NCL’s Fraud Center and coordinates the Alliance Against Fraud coalition. John is also Research Director for the Telecommunications Research and Action Center (TRAC), a project of NCL. In his role with TRAC, John advocates on behalf of residential consumers of wireline, wireless, VoIP, and other IP-enabled communications services. John was a member of the FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee from 2005 to 2007 and served on the Board of the Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless. He is a graduate of George Mason University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in International Relations.

In this episode, we discussed:

• top issues facing consumer advocates in the new administration.
• the risk of scaling back the FCC's privacy rules.

Resources:

National Consumers League (NCL)

NEWS ROUNDUP

The tech sector is hitting hard against the Trump administration's ostensibly temporary travel ban against 7 predominantly Muslim countries including Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen . Ninety-seven companies including, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and even Levi Strauss filed an amicus brief on behalf of the State of Washington in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals late Sunday. The State of Washington is appealing to a 3 judge panel of the court to uphold the District Court's decision to halt the travel ban. Oral arguments in this case will take place Tuesday at 6PM.

The brief is a culmination of a number of developments last week in the the growing resistance against the Trump administration's travel ban by the tech sector. Among them was Uber CEO Travis Kalanick's departure from Trump's economic advisory council.  The move follows major protests by tech employees, including Uber's employees, against Trump's Muslim travel ban, which the district court in San Francisco has temporarily suspended. Uber employees were wondering why Kalanick was still on Trump's advisory board. Two hundred thousand Uber users wondered the same thing, and deleted Uber's app from their phones. Kalanick sent a letter to Uber employees on Thursday announcing that he had quit Trump's advisory council.  Mike Isaac reports in The New York Times.

Meanwhile, Tony Romm reports that Silicon Valley leaders are organizing against Trump. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Zynga founder Mark Pincus are among those leading the effort. They have set up organizations like Win the Future which will seek out progressive candidates for future elections.  Sam Altman from Y Combinator also set up a new site called Track Trump -- a running dashboard of the Trump administration's policy changes.

--

So on the one hand, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is claiming he's going to be all about closing the so-called digital divide. He's announced small, closed-door meetings with organizations like the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and HTTP, he's created a broadband adoption advisory board ... but on the other, his policies, thus far, can't be much more against closing the digital divide.  In fact, the moves he's been making suggest he's going in the complete opposite direction. Take for example his decision last week telling 9 companies that they can't offer broadband pricing subsidies of $9.95 per month to the poor--a program otherwise known as the Lifeline program.  The decision states that the Wheeler FCC allowed these 9 companies to provide Lifeline subsidies at the last minute and that the new FCC needs more time to consider the waste, fraud and abuse concerns the Republican commissioners have about the program.

--

A U.S. magistrate judge in Philadelphia has held that Google must comply with an FBI search warrant seeking access to emails stored on Google servers abroad. This departs from a decision in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals last year holding that Microsoft did not have to comply with such a warrant. A Google spokesperson says the company will appeal. Jonathan Stempel has the story in Reuters. 

--

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has closed the set-top box proceeding. The proceeding, introduced under former Chairman Tom Wheeler, was intended to promote competition in the set-top box market by allowing consumers to choose to receive the programming they had already subscribed to on a set-top box of their choice, rather than being stuck with the one from their cable provider. Republican leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee had asked Pai to close the proceeding on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Pai also explicitly stated at a press conference that he "favors an open Internet but opposes Title II."  The Chairman, however, would not answer as to whether the Commission would be enforcing the FCC's net neutrality rules, which were upheld in the DC Circuit last year.

--

Finally, The commission also closed the zero-rating proceeding. The Wheeler FCC had begun an inquiry into carriers' zero-rating practices towards the end of its term. Zero rating, or so-called "sponsored data", plans are ones in which carriers offer access to their own preferred content without it counting against subscribers' data caps. But net neutrality advocates argue zero-rating is a back-door to violate the FCC's net neutrality rules.  For example, Sprint has announced it will be acquiring a 33% stake in Jay-Z's streaming music service, Tidal. Net neutrality advocates are worried about what this might mean for companies like Pandora, Spotify and Apple Music if Sprint turns Tidal into a zero-rated service--offering their customers music streaming without it counting against their data caps. Chris Brantner has the story in Motherboard and David Shepardson reports on this in Reuters.

Alexandria McBride is Director of Environment and Sustainability at ITI. Alexandria develops and advocates positions on domestic and international policies related to energy efficiency and environmental priorities. She currently serves on the Board for the Center of Diversity and the Environment and is the Chair of the NAACP-DC Climate and Environmental Justice Committee.

Prior to ITI, Alexandria coordinated the re-launch of the Tishman Environment and Design Center, an academic hub based at The New School that utilizes design, policy and social justice approaches to solve pressing environmental issues. She was also a manager at The Engine Room, an international NGO using technology and data to support social and environmental causes.

Alexandria was formerly the Chief Financial Officer at Groundswell, a D.C.-based nonprofit aimed at unlocking communities' economic power to grow sustainability on the local level. As the CFO and Executive Management Team member, Alexandria oversaw the organization's financial and operational functions and worked closely with program directors to identify and implement systems that improve the efficiency and quality of Groundswell's impact.

Prior to joining Groundswell, Alexandria served in multiple project and operational management roles at the ExxonMobil Environmental Services Company, where she helped steward environmental cleanup projects across the Mid-Atlantic. She also managed the transfer of environmental responsibility during ExxonMobil's multimillion dollar divestment of properties in New York and New Jersey. In addition to this work, Alexandria was nominated to support ExxonMobil's STEM education and diversity efforts.

Alexandria holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Environment from Howard University and a M.S. in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management from the Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy.

In this episode, we discussed

• the top 3 environmental tech policy issues policymakers should be focusing on.
• a review of environmental legislation ITI is advocating for.
• how advocates can work most effectively with a potential Scott Pruitt Environmental Protection Agency.

Resources

ITI

Year of Yes: How to Dance it Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes

News Roundup

Tech sector leaders reacted in strong opposition to Trump's immigration ban on immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries. The leaders of major tech companies cited not just the effect the ban would have on their bottom lines, but on what they personally felt. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said it is time for the nation to link arms and that the ban is un-American. Lyft CEO Logan Green said the ban runs counter to Lyft's inclusive culture and said the ban conflicts with both Lyft and the nation's core values. Google's Sergey Brin, whose family fled Russia in 1979, participated in the protest at San Fracisco International Airport saying that he too is a refugee. The company also released statement. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg released a statement opposing the measure, as did Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who is an India-native. But President Trump has not budged, although Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham -- both Republicans -- publically opposed the executive order on Monday.

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Journalists covering violent protests during Trump's inauguration parade were arrested and charged with felony rioting. Journalism advocates have been denouncing the charges. Jonah Engles Bromwich has the story in The New York Times.

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As late as Wednesday, Trump Senior Advisors Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, Sean Spicer and Steve Bannon had active private email address on the Republican National Committee domain. While there is nothing illegal about using an RNC domain to keep political and state business separate--the George W. Bush administration was accused of using RNC domains to quote-unquote "lose" 22 million emails. And the Trump campaign of course accused Hillary Clinton of breaking the law when she used her own private email domain for official State Department Business. The RNC was also hacked into last summer, raising questions about the security of the RNC's email server. Nina Burleigh covers this for Newsweek.

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FBI Director James Comey will be staying on under Trump. Comey is 4 years into his 10-year term. Matt Zaptosky and Ellen Nakashima at the Washington Post note that it would be extremely unusual for a president to remove an FBI director, even though Comey is see by many in Washington to have interfered with the U.S. election by making public specious claims about Hillary Clinton's emails just 11 days before the election.

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The White House ordered the Environmental Protection Agency and Departments of the Interior, Agriculture and Health and Human Services to stop making social media posts, blogging, and updating official content until getting approval from White House officials, according to a report by the New York Times' Coral Davenport. So-called black ops websites of the White House and the National Park Service, which claim to be operated by actual federal employees posting to Twitter anonymously, emerged following the order. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denies the White House gave any such directive. The black ops Twitter handles include @RoguePOTUSStaff and @AltUSNatParkService.

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Russian officials have arrested on suspicion of treason a Russian cyberintelligence official whom Americans said oversaw hacks that interfered with the U.S. presidential election. It's not clear what Sergei Mikhailov, a senior officer of the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B.,--basically the new KGB--actually did, but Andrew Kramer has the story in the New York Times.

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Verizon is reportedly making a bid for Charter Communications. Charter is valued at around $80 billion. Charter acquired Time Warner Cable last year. Shalani Ramchandran, Ryan Knutson and Dana Mattioli have the story in the Wall Street Journal.

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Finally, Brian Fung reports for the Washington Post that Trump has named Maureen Olhausen acting Federal Trade Commission Chair. Olhausen, a free-market Republican, has been with the agency since 201. Her term expires in 2018.

Alexandria McBride is Director of Environment and Sustainability at ITI. Alexandria develops and advocates positions on domestic and international policies related to energy efficiency and environmental priorities. She currently serves on the Board for the Center of Diversity and the Environment and is the Chair of the NAACP-DC Climate and Environmental Justice Committee.

Prior to ITI, Alexandria coordinated the re-launch of the Tishman Environment and Design Center, an academic hub based at The New School that utilizes design, policy and social justice approaches to solve pressing environmental issues. She was also a manager at The Engine Room, an international NGO using technology and data to support social and environmental causes.

Alexandria was formerly the Chief Financial Officer at Groundswell, a D.C.-based nonprofit aimed at unlocking communities’ economic power to grow sustainability on the local level. As the CFO and Executive Management Team member, Alexandria oversaw the organization’s financial and operational functions and worked closely with program directors to identify and implement systems that improve the efficiency and quality of Groundswell’s impact.

Prior to joining Groundswell, Alexandria served in multiple project and operational management roles at the ExxonMobil Environmental Services Company, where she helped steward environmental cleanup projects across the Mid-Atlantic. She also managed the transfer of environmental responsibility during ExxonMobil’s multimillion dollar divestment of properties in New York and New Jersey. In addition to this work, Alexandria was nominated to support ExxonMobil’s STEM education and diversity efforts.

Alexandria holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Environment from Howard University and a M.S. in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management from the Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy.

In this episode, we discussed

• the top 3 environmental tech policy issues policymakers should be focusing on.
• a review of environmental legislation ITI is advocating for.
• how advocates can work most effectively with a potential Scott Pruitt Environmental Protection Agency.

Resources

ITI

Year of Yes: How to Dance it Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes

News Roundup

Tech sector leaders reacted in strong opposition to Trump’s immigration ban on immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries. The leaders of major tech companies cited not just the effect the ban would have on their bottom lines, but on what they personally felt. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said it is time for the nation to link arms and that the ban is un-American. Lyft CEO Logan Green said the ban runs counter to Lyft’s inclusive culture and said the ban conflicts with both Lyft and the nation’s core values. Google’s Sergey Brin, whose family fled Russia in 1979, participated in the protest at San Fracisco International Airport saying that he too is a refugee. The company also released statement. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg released a statement opposing the measure, as did Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who is an India-native. But President Trump has not budged, although Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham  -- both Republicans -- publically opposed the executive order on Monday.

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Journalists covering violent protests during Trump's inauguration parade were arrested and charged with felony rioting. Journalism advocates have been denouncing the charges. Jonah Engles Bromwich has the story in The New York Times.

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As late as Wednesday, Trump Senior Advisors Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, Sean Spicer and Steve Bannon had active private email address on the Republican National Committee domain. While there is nothing illegal about using an RNC domain to keep political and state business separate--the George W. Bush administration was accused of using RNC domains to quote-unquote "lose" 22 million emails. And the Trump campaign of course accused Hillary Clinton of breaking the law when she used her own private email domain for official State Department Business. The RNC was also hacked into last summer, raising questions about the security of the RNC's email server. Nina Burleigh covers this for Newsweek.

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FBI Director James Comey will be staying on under Trump. Comey is 4 years into his 10-year term. Matt Zaptosky and Ellen Nakashima at the Washington Post note that it would be extremely unusual for a president to remove an FBI director, even though Comey is see by many in Washington to have interfered with the U.S. election by making public specious claims about Hillary Clinton's emails just 11 days before the election.

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The White House ordered the Environmental Protection Agency and Departments of the Interior, Agriculture and Health and Human Services to stop making social media posts, blogging, and updating official content until getting approval from White House officials, according to a report by the New York Times' Coral Davenport. So-called black ops websites of the White House and the National Park Service, which claim to be operated by actual federal employees posting to Twitter anonymously, emerged following the order. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denies the White House gave any such directive.  The black ops Twitter handles include @RoguePOTUSStaff and @AltUSNatParkService.

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Russian officials have arrested on suspicion of treason a Russian cyberintelligence official whom Americans said oversaw hacks that interfered with the U.S. presidential election. It's not clear what Sergei Mikhailov, a senior officer of the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B.,--basically the new KGB--actually did, but Andrew Kramer has the story in the New York Times.

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Verizon is reportedly making a bid for Charter Communications. Charter is valued at around $80 billion. Charter acquired Time Warner Cable last year. Shalani Ramchandran, Ryan Knutson and Dana Mattioli have the story in the Wall Street Journal.

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Finally, Brian Fung reports for the Washington Post that Trump has named Maureen Olhausen acting Federal Trade Commission Chair. Olhausen, a free-market Republican, has been with the agency since 201. Her term expires in 2018.

Carmen Scurato (@CarmenScurato) is Director of Policy and Legal Affairs at the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC). As a native of Puerto Rico, Carmen is a passionate advocate for policies that address the needs of the Latino community. Prior to joining NHMC, Carmen worked as a contractor for the Department of Justice and assisted in investigations alleging financial fraud against federal agencies and federal healthcare programs. Most notably, Carmen helped recoup millions of dollars in a national False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit alleging Medicare fraud. She also worked at the DOJ Office of Legislative Affairs on large document requests received from Congressional oversight committees. Carmen earned her J.D. from Villanova University School of Law where she was an Associate Editor for the Villanova Law Review and a Co-Chair of the Honor Board. She also participated in Lawyering Together, a pro bono program that pairs student with attorneys to assist low income clients with their legal needs. She worked closely with an attorney to foster open communication with the client by acting as a Spanish-to-English translator. Carmen received her B.A. cum laude from New York University where she majored in both History and Political Science. Her History Honor thesis was entitled Preserving the Puerto Rican Culture after 1898: The Realization of a National Culture in the Face of Americanization.

In this episode, we discussed:

• the history and policy objectives of the Lifeline program and its prospects under the Trump administration.

Resources:

National Hispanic Media Coalition

Microsoft OneNote

Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead by Laszlo Bock

The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis

NEWS ROUNDUP

President Trump has officially named Ajit Pai as the 34th Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Pai has served as an FCC Commissioner since 2012, following stints as a Partner at Jenner & Block, and various roles at the FCC, Department of Justice, Senate Judiciary Committee and as an Associate General Counsel at Verizon. He clerked for Judge Martin Feldman in the Eastern District of Louisiana and is a graduate of Harvard and the University of Chicago Law School. Pai, a Republican from Kansas, has also endorsed Jeff Sessions for Attorney General.

--

The Trump administration is planning to cut $741 million in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Endowment of the Arts, according to a report by Christina Marcos (@cimarcos) in The Hill. The plan would be to abolish the NEH and NEA and privatize CPB. Conservatives have long opposed funding these programs because they have considered them to be too controversial and examples of unnecessary government spending. Donald Trump, however, has expressed support for arts education, and Vice President Pence received a Champion of Public Broadcasting award in 2014.

--

Jon Brodkin at Ars Technica and John Eggerton at Multichannel News reported last week that the Trump transition team is considering an overhaul of the FCC which would remove "duplicative" functions within the agency, such as consumer protection, to other agencies, such as the FTC. Eggerton reports that the transition team has signed off on the approach. However, Jon Brodkin notes that any overhaul to the FCC would require Congressional approval.

--

The Trump administration will be keeping U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Michelle Lee on board following speculation as to whether Director Lee would step down. The Obama appointee's views align with companies like Google which have been pushing for stronger policies to thwart patent trolls. Lee attended Stanford Law School at the same time as Trump supporter Peter Thiel. Ali Breland has the story in the Hill.

--

Andrew Chung in Reuters reports that the Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal by women who sued BackPage.com for child sexual abuse trafficking. The lower court had held that BackPage.com, which accepts classified ads from third parties, was shielded from liability under the Communications Decency Act of 1996 which offers free speech protection for websites when others post unlawful content. The women allege that, starting at age 15, Backpage.com facilitated their engagement in forced, illegal sex transactions with pimps who advertised on Backpage.com. Backpage shut down its adult classifieds section two weeks ago following a Senate report showing evidence that supports the women's allegations.

--

Before leaving office, former President Obama commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning. Manning is a transgendered woman and former Army Soldier named Bradley Manning who has been serving a 35 year sentence in a male security prison for disclosing 750,000 pages in secret government documents to WikiLeaks. Manning also released a video showing a U.S. helicopter attacking civilians and journalists in Iraq in 2007. Manning's sentence will expire on May 17th. Unlike Edward Snowden who is living at a secret location in Moscow, the information Manning released was not considered Top Secret. Laura Jarrett has the story for CNN.

--

A coalition of 77 social justice groups--including the Center for Media Justice, Color of Change and DailyKos--sent a letter to Facebook Director of Global Policy Joel Kaplan last week asking the company stop discriminating against posts made by Movement for Black Lives activists. The coalition wrote "Activists in the Movement for Black Lives have routinely reported the takedown of images discussing racism and during protests, with the justification that it violates Facebook's Community Standards. At the same time, harassment and threats directed at activists based on their race, religion, and sexual orientation is thriving on Facebook. Many of these activists have reported such harassment and threats by users and pages on Facebook only to be told that they don't violate Facebook's Community Standards."

--

The FCC concluded its auction of TV airwaves last week, securing just $18.2 billion in bids from wireless companies--far short of $66 billion the Commission had hoped to raise.

--

Before leaving the FCC Chairmanship to join the Aspen Institute, Tom Wheeler accused AT&T and Verizon of violating the net neutrality rules with their so-called "zero-rating" programs which allow customers to access preferred content without affecting their data caps. But FCC Chair Ajit Pai issued a release calling the FCC's report a "regulatory spasm" and saying the issue will be dropped under Trump. --

Finally, Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez has announced her resignation. She will leave the agency effective February 10th. Ramirez has served at the agency since 2010 and became Chairwoman in 2013.

Carmen Scurato (@CarmenScurato) is Director of Policy and Legal Affairs at the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC). As a native of Puerto Rico, Carmen is a passionate advocate for policies that address the needs of the Latino community. Prior to joining NHMC, Carmen worked as a contractor for the Department of Justice and assisted in investigations alleging financial fraud against federal agencies and federal healthcare programs. Most notably, Carmen helped recoup millions of dollars in a national False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit alleging Medicare fraud. She also worked at the DOJ Office of Legislative Affairs on large document requests received from Congressional oversight committees. Carmen earned her J.D. from Villanova University School of Law where she was an Associate Editor for the Villanova Law Review and a Co-Chair of the Honor Board. She also participated in Lawyering Together, a pro bono program that pairs student with attorneys to assist low income clients with their legal needs. She worked closely with an attorney to foster open communication with the client by acting as a Spanish-to-English translator. Carmen received her B.A. cum laude from New York University where she majored in both History and Political Science. Her History Honor thesis was entitled Preserving the Puerto Rican Culture after 1898: The Realization of a National Culture in the Face of Americanization.

In this episode, we discussed:

• the history and policy objectives of the Lifeline program and its prospects under the Trump administration.

Resources:

National Hispanic Media Coalition

Microsoft OneNote

Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead by Laszlo Bock

The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis

NEWS ROUNDUP

President Trump has officially named Ajit Pai as the 34th Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Pai has served as an FCC Commissioner since 2012, following stints as a Partner at Jenner & Block, and various roles at the FCC, Department of Justice, Senate Judiciary Committee and as an Associate General Counsel at Verizon. He clerked for Judge Martin Feldman in the Eastern District of Louisiana and is a graduate of Harvard and the University of Chicago Law School. Pai, a Republican from Kansas, has also endorsed Jeff Sessions for Attorney General.

--

The Trump administration is planning to cut $741 million in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Endowment of the Arts, according to a report by Christina Marcos (@cimarcos) in The Hill. The plan would be to abolish the NEH and NEA and privatize CPB. Conservatives have long opposed funding these programs because they have considered them to be too controversial and examples of unnecessary government spending. Donald Trump, however, has expressed support for arts education, and Vice President Pence received a Champion of Public Broadcasting award in 2014.

--

Jon Brodkin at Ars Technica and John Eggerton at Multichannel News reported last week that the Trump transition team is considering an overhaul of the FCC which would remove "duplicative" functions within the agency, such as consumer protection, to other agencies, such as the FTC. Eggerton reports that the transition team has signed off on the approach. However, Jon Brodkin notes that any overhaul to the FCC would require Congressional approval.

--

The Trump administration will be keeping U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Michelle Lee on board following speculation as to whether Director Lee would step down. The Obama appointee's views align with companies like Google which have been pushing for stronger policies to thwart patent trolls. Lee attended Stanford Law School at the same time as Trump supporter Peter Thiel. Ali Breland has the story in the Hill.

--

Andrew Chung in Reuters reports that the Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal by women who sued BackPage.com for child sexual abuse trafficking. The lower court had held that BackPage.com, which accepts classified ads from third parties, was shielded from liability under the Communications Decency Act  of 1996 which offers free speech protection for websites when others post unlawful content. The women allege that, starting at age 15, Backpage.com facilitated their engagement in forced, illegal sex transactions with pimps who advertised on Backpage.com. Backpage shut down its adult classifieds section two weeks ago following a Senate report showing evidence that supports the women's allegations.

--

Before leaving office, former President Obama commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning. Manning is a transgendered woman and former Army Soldier named Bradley Manning who has been serving a 35 year sentence in a male security prison for disclosing 750,000 pages in secret government documents to WikiLeaks. Manning also released a video showing a U.S. helicopter attacking civilians and journalists in Iraq in 2007. Manning's sentence will expire on May 17th. Unlike Edward Snowden who is living at a secret location in Moscow, the information Manning released was not considered Top Secret. Laura Jarrett has the story for CNN.

--

A coalition of 77 social justice groups--including the Center for Media Justice, Color of Change and DailyKos--sent a letter to Facebook Director of Global Policy Joel Kaplan last week asking the company stop discriminating against posts made by Movement for Black Lives activists. The coalition wrote "Activists in the Movement for Black Lives have routinely reported the takedown of images discussing racism and during protests, with the justification that it violates Facebook’s Community Standards. At the same time, harassment and threats directed at activists based on their race, religion, and sexual orientation is thriving on Facebook. Many of these activists have reported such harassment and threats by users and pages on Facebook only to be told that they don’t violate Facebook’s Community Standards."

--

The FCC concluded its auction of TV airwaves last week, securing just $18.2 billion in bids from wireless companies--far short of $66 billion the Commission had hoped to raise.

--

Before leaving the FCC Chairmanship to join the Aspen Institute, Tom Wheeler accused AT&T and Verizon of violating the net neutrality rules with their so-called "zero-rating" programs which allow customers to access preferred content without affecting their data caps. But FCC Chair Ajit Pai issued a release calling the FCC's report a "regulatory spasm" and saying the issue will be dropped under Trump. --

Finally, Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez has announced her resignation. She will leave the agency effective February 10th. Ramirez has served at the agency since 2010 and became Chairwoman in 2013.