Benton Institute for Broadband & Society - New York Times

Senate Passes $1 Trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

Grace Tepper — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 17:03:45 +0000

The Senate gave overwhelming bipartisan approval to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill to rebuild the nation’s deteriorating roads and bridges and fund new climate resilience and broadband initiatives, delivering a key component of President Biden’s agenda. The legislation would be the largest infusion of federal investment into infrastructure projects in more than a decade, touching nearly every facet of the American economy and fortifying the nation’s response to the warming of the planet. The bill allocates $65 billion for broadband infrastructure in these areas:

$42.5 billion for broadband deployment grants to states, DC, Puerto Rico, and US territories
$14.2 billion for permanent broadband affordability through the Affordable Connectivity Program
$2.8 billion for the Digital Equity Act to promote digital inclusion and digital literacy
$2 billion for the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program to meet the broadband needs of Tribal communities
$2 billion for the ReConnect Loan and Grant Program to deploy broadband to rural areas
$1 billion for building out middle mile infrastructure to reach last-mile households
$600 million for private activity bonds to finance broadband projects in partnership with the private sector

Benton Content:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/10/us/politics/infrastructure-bill-passes.html

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/10/1026081880/senate-passes-bipartisan-infrastructur…

https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-set-to-pass-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-t…

Teaser:

The Senate gives overwhelming bipartisan approval to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, the largest infusion of federal infrastructure investment in more than a decade.

Source:

New York Times

Author:

Emily Cochrane

Send date:

Wed, 08/11/2021

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Daily Digest 8/10/2021

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Tue, 08/10/2021

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John Lewis, Towering Figure of Civil Rights Era

benton — Sun, 19 Jul 2020 15:14:04 +0000

Representative John Lewis (D-GA), a son of sharecroppers and an apostle of nonviolence who was bloodied at Selma and across the Jim Crow South in the historic struggle for racial equality, and who then carried a mantle of moral authority into Congress, died on July 17. He was 80. On the front lines of the bloody campaign to end Jim Crow laws, with blows to his body and a fractured skull to prove it, Lewis was a valiant stalwart of the civil rights movement and the last surviving speaker from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.

Lewis’s personal history paralleled that of the civil rights movement. He was among the original 13 Freedom Riders, the Black and white activists who challenged segregated interstate travel in the South in 1961. He was a founder and early leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which coordinated lunch-counter sit-ins. He helped organize the March on Washington, where Dr. King was the main speaker, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Lewis led demonstrations against racially segregated restrooms, hotels, restaurants, public parks and swimming pools, and he rose up against other indignities of second-class citizenship. At nearly every turn he was beaten, spat upon or burned with cigarettes. He was tormented by white mobs and absorbed body blows from law enforcement. On March 7, 1965, he led one of the most famous marches in American history. In the vanguard of 600 people demanding the voting rights they had been denied, Mr. Lewis marched partway across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma (AL) into a waiting phalanx of state troopers in riot gear. In the melee, which came to be known as Bloody Sunday, a trooper cracked Lewis’s skull with a billy club, knocking him to the ground, then hit him again when he tried to get up. More than a half-century later, after the killing in May of George Floyd, a Black man in police custody in Minneapolis, Lewis welcomed the resulting global demonstrations against police killings of Black people and, more broadly, against systemic racism in many corners of society. He saw those protests as a continuation of his life’s work, though his illness had left him to watch from the sidelines.

While Lewis represented Atlanta, his natural constituency was disadvantaged people everywhere. Known less for sponsoring major legislation than for his relentless pursuit of justice, he was called “the conscience of the Congress” by his colleagues.

Benton Content:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/us/john-lewis-dead.html

Teaser:

Lewis’s personal history paralleled that of the civil rights movement

Source:

New York Times

Author:

Katharine Seelye

Send date:

Mon, 07/20/2020

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 7/17/2020

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Sun, 07/19/2020

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Reporting

Policymakers

Judge Approves T-Mobile-Sprint Deal Affecting 100 Million Customers

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 16:45:48 +0000

Private sector development:

Sprint|T-Mobile

Judge Victor Marrero of the United States District Court in Manhattan ruled in favor of T-Mobile’s takeover of Sprint in a deal that would further concentrate corporate ownership of technology, combining the nation’s third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers and creating a new telecommunications giant to take on AT&T and Verizon. The decision concluded an unusual suit filed in June by attorneys general from 13 states and the District of Columbia. The challenge was brought after regulators at the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission approved the deal. The states argued that the combination of T-Mobile and Sprint would reduce competition in the telecommunications industry, lead to higher cellphone bills and place a financial burden on lower-income customers. Once the merger is complete, the great majority of the nation’s wireless users would become customers of one of three major providers. T-Mobile and Sprint have said they do not plan to raise prices.

In his ruling, Judge Marrero praised T-Mobile, calling it “a maverick that has spurred the two largest players in its industry to make numerous pro-consumer changes.” He added: “The Proposed Merger would allow the merged companies to continue T-Mobile’s undeniably successful business strategy for the foreseeable future.” Judge Marrero wrote, “The court concludes that the proposed merger is not reasonably likely to substantially lessen competition in the” mobile service market, and would likely “enhance competition in the relevant markets to the benefit of all consumers.” The deal will create a new carrier with more than 100 million users. After the merger is final, the majority of Sprint customers will eventually end up having T-Mobile plans. Customers of Sprint’s prepaid brands, including Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Sprint prepaid, will become Dish Network customers. The original merger terms called for T-Mobile, the larger of the two companies, to effectively buy Sprint in an all-stock transaction that was earlier valued at $26.5 billion. Because of the lawsuit, the original deadline to complete the deal has passed, and T-Mobile has pushed to renegotiate the terms. The companies expect to close the transaction by April 1. The states could still appeal the ruling, and another US district judge in Washington reportedly must approve an existing Department of Justice plan for the merger partners. An approval from the California Public Utilities Commission also remains pending.

Benton Content:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/business/media/t-mobile-sprint-merger.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/02/11/sprint-t-mobile-deal-wins-jud…

https://www.telecompetitor.com/t-mobile-sprint-win-court-case-merger-could-close…

https://www.multichannel.com/news/t-mobile-sprint-merger-gains-approval

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/02/11/sprint-t-mobile-merger-prices-go-…

https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/11/21132924/tmobile-sprint-merger-approved-feder…

Teaser:

The deal would combine the nation’s third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers and create a telecommunications giant to take on AT&T and Verizon.

Source:

New York Times

Author:

Edmund Lee

Send date:

Wed, 02/12/2020

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 2/11/2020

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Publish Date:

Tue, 02/11/2020

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Wireless Telecommunications

Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They’re Not Keeping It Secret

benton — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 12:23:45 +0000

At least 75 companies receive anonymous, precise location data from apps whose users enable location services to get local news and weather or other information. Several of those businesses claim to track up to 200 million mobile devices in the United States. The database reveals people’s travels in startling detail, accurate to within a few yards and in some cases updated more than 14,000 times a day. These companies sell, use or analyze the data to cater to advertisers, retail outlets and even hedge funds seeking insights into consumer behavior. It’s a hot market, with sales of location-targeted advertising reaching an estimated $21 billion. Businesses say their interest is in the patterns, not the identities, that the data reveals about consumers. They note that the information apps collect is tied not to someone’s name or phone number but to a unique ID. But those with access to the raw data — including employees or clients — could still identify a person without consent. They could follow someone they knew, by pinpointing a phone that regularly spent time at that person’s home address. Or, working in reverse, they could attach a name to an anonymous dot, by seeing where the device spent nights and using public records to figure out who lived there.

Benton Content:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/12/10/business/location-data-privacy-ap…

Teaser:

Dozens of companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds. They say it’s anonymous, but the data shows how personal it is.

Source:

New York Times

Author:

Jennifer Valentino-Devries

Natasha Singer

Michael Keller

Aaron Krolik

Send date:

Mon, 12/10/2018

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 12/7/2018

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Mon, 12/10/2018

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Reporting

Advertising

Online privacy

Comcast, in 2nd Try, Offers $65 Billion Cash for 21st Century Fox

Robbie McBeath — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 21:27:56 +0000

Comcast announced an offer worth $65 billion for the bulk of 21st Century Fox’s businesses, setting up a showdown with the Walt Disney Company for Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. The all-cash bid by Comcast, the largest cable company in the United States, came a day after a federal judge approved a merger between AT&T and Time Warner. Comcast executives had awaited the decision in that case before mounting their bid for 21st Century Fox.

In December, Disney struck a $52.4 billion, all-stock deal for Fox’s assets. Comcast, whose roughly $60 billion offer for the Fox assets was rebuffed in 2017, is now including contractual assurances such as a reverse breakup fee — worth about $2.5 billion — in the event a transaction is blocked by the government. Comcast’s new offer is about 19 percent higher than Disney’s proposal, according to its statement. Murdoch and his company’s board had rejected Comcast’s earlier offer partly on concerns the government would block the deal. But the AT&T-Time Warner decision also allayed many concerns that a Comcast takeover of 21st Century Fox’s businesses would be denied by regulators.

Benton Content:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/business/media/comcast-fox-disney-bidding-war…

https://www.recode.net/2018/6/13/17460848/comcast-fox-disney-new-bid-rupert-murd…

http://thehill.com/policy/technology/392137-comcast-offers-65-billion-bid-for-fo…

https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/comcast-tops-disney-with-35-per-share-cas…

Teaser:

Comcast announced an offer worth $65 billion for the bulk of 21st Century Fox’s businesses, setting up a showdown with the Walt Disney Company for Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.

Source:

New York Times

Author:

Edmund Lee

Brooks Barnes

Priority:

High

Send date:

Thu, 06/14/2018

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 6/13/2018

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Publish Date:

Wed, 06/13/2018

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Reporting

Ownership

AT&T’s Time Warner Takeover Wins Judge’s Approval in Defeat for Justice Dept

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 12 Jun 2018 21:29:05 +0000

Private sector development:

AT&T | Time Warner

On October 22, 2016, AT&T and Time Warner announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which AT&T will acquire Time Warner in a stock-and-cash transaction valued at $107.50 per share.

A federal judge approved the blockbuster merger between AT&T and Time Warner, rebuffing the government’s effort to block the $85.4 billion deal, in a decision that is expected to unleash a wave of takeovers in corporate America. Judge Richard J. Leon of the United States District Court in Washington said the Justice Department had not proved that the telecommunication company’s acquisition of Time Warner would lead to fewer choices for consumers and higher prices for television and internet services.

Judge Leon took the unusual step of warning the government not to try to seek a stay, saying it would hurt the defendants, which had already gone through an 18-month regulatory and legal battle for their review. The companies face a June 21 deadline to close their deal.

The ruling is a major setback for the Justice Department and its antitrust chief, Makan Delrahim, whose decision to sue to block the deal broke with convention. Deals such as this one, in which the two companies are in related industries but do not produce competing products, are usually approved by federal regulators. Delrahim had insisted that the two companies sell some major parts before getting government approval, a demand that the executives rejected. That led to the Justice Department’s lawsuit, filed in November. Judge Leon’s opinion may also increase the chances that other deals already reached, like CVS’s bid for Aetna and T-Mobile’s proposed merger with Sprint, will survive regulatory scrutiny.

Benton Content:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/business/dealbook/att-time-warner-ruling-anti…

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-att-time-warner-ruling-20180612-story.h…

https://www.npr.org/2018/06/12/614092532/u-s-judge-approves-at-ts-85-billion-mer…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/06/12/att-time-warner-dec…

https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/att-time-warner-cleared-to-m

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/06/att-can-buy-time-warner-inc-judge-ru…

Teaser:

Source:

New York Times

Author:

Cecilia Kang

Priority:

High

Send date:

Wed, 06/13/2018

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 6/12/2018

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Not Available

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Publish Date:

Tue, 06/12/2018

Coverage Type:

Reporting

Court case

Ownership

AT&T Chief Says Hiring Michael Cohen as Consultant a ‘Big Mistake’

benton — Fri, 11 May 2018 16:22:18 +0000

Randall L. Stephenson, AT&T’s chief executive, said in a staffwide memo that the company had made a “big mistake” by hiring President Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.

“Our company has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons these last few days and our reputation has been damaged,” Stephenson wrote. “There is no other way to say it – AT&T hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant was a big mistake.” Stephenson insisted in the memo that “everything we did was done according to the law and entirely legitimate.” Nonetheless, he added, retaining Cohen “was a serious misjudgment.” “In this instance,” he continued, “our Washington DC team’s vetting process clearly failed, and I take responsibility for that.”

Stephenson also said the company’s top lobbyist, Bob Quinn, was retiring. The Wall Street Journal reported that Quinn is being forced to leave. Quinn joined AT&T in 1993 and took over the Washington office in October 2016. The DC office will now be run by the company’s general counsel, David McAtee. “David’s number one priority is to ensure every one of the individuals and firms we use in the political arena are people who share our high standards and who we would be proud to have associated with AT&T, “ Stephenson wrote.

The Dallas Morning News is updating this story

Benton Content:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/11/technology/att-cohen-trump-time-warner.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/at-t-exec-who-oversaw-michael-cohens-contract-force…

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-att-michael-cohen-20180511-story.html

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/11/610419846/at-t-admits-mistake-in-hiring-trump-law…

http://thehill.com/policy/technology/387242-att-hiring-cohen-was-big-mistake

https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/11/17344040/at-t-michael-cohen-lawyer-lobbyist-b…

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/at-t-admits-to-big-mistake-hiring-michae…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/05/11/att-ceo-hiring-trum…

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/05/att-says-hiring-trump-lawyer-was-big…

https://www.fastcompany.com/40571384/big-mistake-read-att-ceos-letter-of-regret-…

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/att/2018/05/11/att-ceo-hiring-trump-attorney…

Teaser:

Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s chief executive, said that the company had made a “big mistake” by hiring President Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen

Source:

New York Times

Wall Street Journal

Author:

Drew FitzGerald

Send date:

Mon, 05/14/2018

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 5/11/2018

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Publish Date:

Fri, 05/11/2018

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13 Russians Indicted by Special Counsel in First Charges on 2016 Election Interference

benton — Fri, 16 Feb 2018 19:17:21 +0000

The special counsel investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election charged 13 Russian nationals and three Russian organizations owith illegally using social media platforms to sow political discord, including actions that supported the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump and disparaged his opponent, Hillary Clinton. In a 37-page indictment filed in United States District Court, Mueller said that the 13 individuals have conspired since 2014 to violate laws that prohibit foreigners from spending money to influence federal elections in the United States. The indictment charges that the foreigners falsely posed as American citizens, stole identities and otherwise engaged in fraud and deceit in an effort to influence the U.S. political process, including the 2016 presidential race. Though the Russians are unlikely to be immediately arrested, they are now wanted by the United States government, which will make it hard for them to travel or do business internationally. All were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States. Three defendants were also charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and five defendants with aggravated identity theft.

Benton Content:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/us/politics/russians-indicted-mueller-electio…

Teaser:

Source:

New York Times

Author:

Sharon LaFraniere

Priority:

High

Send date:

Mon, 02/19/2018

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 2/16/2018

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Publish Date:

Fri, 02/16/2018

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FCC's Inspector General Looks Into Changes That Benefited Sinclair

benton — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 12:18:06 +0000

In April 2017, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, led the charge for his agency to approve rules allowing television broadcasters to greatly increase the number of stations they own. A few weeks later, Sinclair Broadcasting announced a blockbuster $3.9 billion deal to buy Tribune Media — a deal those new rules made possible. By the end of the year, in a previously undisclosed move, the top internal watchdog for the FCC opened an investigation into whether Chairman Pai and his aides had improperly pushed for the rule changes and whether they had timed them to benefit Sinclair, according to Rep Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and two congressional aides. “For months I have been trying to get to the bottom of the allegations about Chairman Pai’s relationship with Sinclair Broadcasting,” said Rep Pallone, the top Democrat on the committee that oversees the FCC. “I am grateful to the FCC's inspector general that he has decided to take up this important investigation.” It was unclear the extent of the inspector general’s investigation or when it might conclude, but the inquiry puts a spotlight on Mr. Pai’s decisions and whether there had been coordination with the company. It may also force him to answer questions that he has so far avoided addressing in public. The inquiry could also add ammunition to arguments against the Sinclair-Tribune deal.

Benton Content:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/technology/fcc-sinclair-ajit-pai.html

Teaser:

Source:

New York Times

Author:

Cecilia Kang

Send date:

Thu, 02/15/2018

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 2/14/2018

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Not Available

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Publish Date:

Thu, 02/15/2018

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Donald Trump Jr. Communicated With WikiLeaks During Campaign

benton — Tue, 14 Nov 2017 14:21:14 +0000

Donald Trump Jr. had multiple online conversations during the 2016 presidential campaign with WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy group that released a hacked trove of Democrats’ emails, according to four congressional officials. Trump, the president’s son, in recent weeks handed over Twitter messages he exchanged with WikiLeaks to several congressional committees investigating Russia’s attempts to disrupt the election, according to the officials. In September, Trump acknowledged in a closed-door interview with the Senate Judiciary Committee that he had corresponded with the group during the campaign, the officials said. The correspondence, which began weeks before the Nov. 8, 2016, election and continued through much of 2017, is the second time it has been publicly revealed that Trump communicated with people and organizations with ties to the Russian government who were trying to undermine the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.

Benton Content:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/us/politics/donald-trump-jr-wikileaks-emails-…

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/the-secret-correspondence-b…

Teaser:

Donald Trump Jr. had multiple online conversations during the 2016 presidential campaign with WikiLeaks.

Source:

Author:

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