The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) draft on Internal Report 8062 negatively affects the private sector, 12 Internet and telecom groups wrote in a joint comment to NIST Thursday. “We appreciate NIST’s recognition of the importance of privacy engineering and the use of technological approaches to minimize privacy risks and to implement a ‘privacy by design’ approach,” wrote the groups, which included CTIA, The Internet Association and USTelecom. But four issues with the draft caught the attention of the groups. “As written, the draft NISTIR extends beyond its intended scope of being limited to federal information systems and its potential applicability to the private sector is concerning,” the groups said. “The catalog of privacy problems set forth in the draft NISTIR includes subjective ‘problems’ that result in premature policy-making on privacy"; “the risk management methodology cannot produce repeatable and measurable results because it relies on subjective determinations"; and “the draft NISTIR omits an integral component of privacy risk assessments, namely a discussion of the benefits of taking a certain data action,” they said.

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn promised she will continue efforts to ensure the USF Lifeline program is expanded to cover broadband. Clyburn spoke Thursday to the National Urban League annual convention and the FCC posted her remarks. Many “people of color” say they're making more money online “than they ever did when they were pounding the pavement and knocking on doors,” Clyburn said. But many can't afford to be connected, she said. “Too many of our schools and libraries have inadequate broadband speeds. Too many children lack broadband at home to complete homework.” The conventional wisdom is that cost alone isn't the biggest factor keeping people from subscribing to broadband, Clyburn said. “But as community leaders, you know firsthand that when you ask that proud senior on a fixed income whether she wants to sign up for broadband, her dignity will never allow her to admit that she cannot afford it,” she said. “She will tell you that she does not need it, but we know that is just not true.” The Pew Research Center recently said African-Americans have adopted broadband faster than any other group the past 15 years, she said. But Pew “also reported that of the majority of those without broadband have household incomes lower than $30,000 a year,” she said. “We are committed to ensuring that cost is no longer a barrier to broadband adoption, but this will only happen through partnerships with industry, the government, and you.” Clyburn cited the FCC approval of AT&T’s buy of DirecTV (see 1507280043). Less well known, Clyburn said, is that her office worked with AT&T to design a program that will offer individuals and families eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program the ability to buy 10 Mbps of broadband for $10 a month. “At that speed, you could download instructional videos, get wellness care through telemedicine, and start and maintain an online business,” she said.

The FCC added a draft broadband deployment notice of inquiry to its Aug. 6 meeting agenda, though it's possible the commission could vote on the item before the meeting, agency officials told us. Under Section 706 of the 1996 Telecom Act, the FCC is required to conduct an inquiry, which must begin by Aug. 7, to look at whether broadband is being deployed to all Americans "in a reasonable and timely fashion," and to take remedial steps to remove barriers if necessary. The FCC will consider whether to include mobile broadband and satellite broadband in its assessment, FCC officials said July 23 (see 1507230054). Also on the Aug. 6 agenda are items on the IP tech transition, broadcast incentive auction, carrier spectrum holdings and wireless mics.

The FCC's net neutrality order should be vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, said a brief filed Thursday by the American Cable Association, AT&T, CenturyLink, CTIA, Daniel Berninger, NCTA, USTelecom and the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association. The petitioners said the FCC's reclassification of broadband Internet access as a Title II service under the Communications Act contravened that law and was arbitrary and capricious. They said the FCC's reclassification of mobile broadband Internet access as a common carrier service was "doubly unlawful." The FCC order also was unlawfully vague and the agency violated administrative procedures, they said. Petitioners Alamo Broadband and Daniel Berninger submitted a separate brief arguing the FCC order violated the First Amendment and was unsustainable under Section 706 of the Telecom Act. They also said the FCC's rule prohibiting broadband access providers from engaging in "paid prioritization" was not allowed under Section 201(b) and not authorized under Section 303(b) of the Communications Act. Full Service Network also was to file a brief, but its text wasn't available at our deadline. FSN argues the FCC went too far in providing broadband providers regulatory forbearance relief.

The FCC's AT&T/DirecTV conditions weren't onerous and signal that Charter's planned takeover of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks won't be blocked just because of the combo's size, said Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analysts Wednesday in a note to investors on the agency's 241-page order (see 1507280043). "The Order imposes very few conditions on AT&T and none that we view as financially material," said Paul de Sa, a former FCC official, and other Bernstein analysts. "We expect the deal as approved to be at most slightly negative for other players in the sector (cable, regional fixed telco, content, Verizon)." They also called the order consistent with their view of the Obama administration's approach to transactions. "The Order disproves the theory that Charter/TWC/Bright House, or other cable/cable deals, will be challenged because regulators are against any merger that increases the size of integrated broadband/payTV providers," they said.

NCTA took issue with Qualcomm’s recent critique of many LTE-unlicensed comments filed at the FCC as being “misleading or outright incorrect statements” (see 1507280013). “In Qualcomm’s through-the-looking-glass world, PowerPoint presentations and unilateral pronouncements amount to collaboration, and sharing mechanisms that can be unilaterally scaled back or turned off constitute a fair and equitable approach,” NCTA said. NCTA said it's willing to work with Qualcomm and other LTE-U advocates on solutions that will allow the technology to make full use of unlicensed spectrum. “But this process will require Qualcomm and others to recognize the shortsightedness of their ongoing efforts to downplay the serious concerns of consumers and the unlicensed community, and to recognize that the so-called ‘sharing solutions’ suggested to date are incomplete and insufficient,” NCTA said. The comments were in docket 15-105.

Bulk collection of telephony metadata began before 9/11, just as drones and cyberwarfare began long before the public knew about them, said former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio Wednesday during a news conference on what he considers the USA Freedom Act's shortcomings. The intelligence community doesn’t advertise what it does and has never liked oversight, Nacchio said. The retroactive immunity granted to telecom companies after 9/11 was the first retroactive immunity ever given to the private sector, he said. There are at least 23 intelligence agencies in the U.S., he said, and USA Freedom is insufficient because it attempts to rein in the NSA’s activities by outsourcing bulk collection to the telecom companies, as well as Internet and social media companies, which have no choice but to cooperate, but doesn’t address activities at any other agency. Telecom or Internet companies that say no to the government will be subject to some sort of sanction such as an antitrust or FCC investigation, he said. Americans should be worried about the defense/intelligence complex and put nothing on the Web, he said. Social networking is a “dangerous trend” that immunizes individuals against the dangers of surveillance, he said. Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s disclosures are just a moment in time that shouldn't be fixated upon, but should be used to look at when developing policies that affect the future, Nacchio said. Nacchio couldn’t say whether the intelligence community will protest any actions to restrict Section 702 surveillance authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act when it sunsets in 2017. But even if intelligence agencies turn their attention to Internet and social media communications, that ISP traffic has to travel through fiber networks controlled by telecom companies, so telecom companies will continue to be affected, he said. The U.S. government has to be on the cutting edge of technology, but Americans don't have to give away their freedoms and liberties in the name of national security, Nacchio said.

The “NSA will destroy the Section 215 bulk telephony metadata upon expiration of its litigation preservation obligations,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement Monday. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved the NSA’s ability to resume the Section 215 bulk telephony metadata program so the government could transition the program to the telephone companies as directed by USA Freedom, it said. “As part of our effort to transition to the new authority, we have evaluated whether NSA should maintain access to the historical metadata after the conclusion of that 180-day period,” the statement said. The NSA will cease collecting bulk telephony metadata on Nov. 29, it said. Technical personnel will be allowed to continue to access historical metadata for an additional three months to verify the records produced under the “new targeted production,” it said. The NSA also will have a legal obligation to preserve metadata until civil litigation on the program is resolved or relevant courts “relieve NSA of such obligations,” it said. The data preserved solely because of preservation obligations “will not be used or accessed for any other purpose,” and will be destroyed as soon as possible, it said.

The Communications Workers of America said 86 percent of the Verizon employees it represents voted to authorize a strike if negotiations between the carrier and both the CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) aren't successful by the time the current contract expires, a CWA news release said. The current contract is to expire at midnight Aug. 1, and covers 39,000 CWA and IBEW Verizon workers from Massachusetts to Virginia, the release said. "Our members are clear and they are determined," Dennis Trainor, CWA vice president-district one, said in a statement. "They reject management's harsh concessionary demands, including the elimination of job security, sharp increases in workers' healthcare costs and slashing retirement security." "Saturday's union vote was predictable and achieved nothing," a Verizon spokesman told us Monday. "As we move closer to this weekend's contract deadline, we hope the unions work with us on ways that will continue to ensure solid, upper middle-class jobs for our employees and exceptional services for our customers."

The Competitive Enterprise Institute intends to argue against the FCC net neutrality order, becoming the latest party seeking to file an amicus brief supporting petitioners challenging the order in court. The brief would focus on the FCC's claim that Section 706 of the Telecom Act gives the agency "affirmative legal authority" for all rules in the order, said CEI's notice to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which is reviewing USTelecom v. FCC, No. 15-1063. The free-market-oriented public interest group said it had sought to consolidate its brief with other potential amici, but none shared its particular Section 706 interest. Initial briefs by petitioners are due Thursday, while amicus briefs from supporters are due Aug. 6.