AT&T received more than 137,600 demands for customer information from federal, state and local criminal and civil government agencies in the first half of 2016, nearly 9,500 less than in the first half of 2015, the company said in a transparency report this week. About 103,000 of the 2016 requests were subpoenas, about 16,000 court orders and 18,500 were search warrants or probable cause court orders. AT&T said it rejected or challenged nearly 3,000 demands and provided partial or no information on more than 29,000. The company provided nearly 37,000 "location demands" and almost 61,000 emergency requests. The carrier said it received a range of 500 to 999 requests for national security letters.

The White House released what it termed an impact report on transforming government services through tech and innovation. President Barack Obama “has led a transformational era of change through technology and innovation that is producing a smarter, savvier, and more effective government for the American people,” the administration said Tuesday. “On August 11, 2014, the President directed his Administration to accelerate efforts to improve and simplify the digital experience between individuals, businesses, and the government through the creation of the U.S. Digital Service. … In addition to building these important services, the Administration has created a pipeline for top technology talent from the private sector to participate in tours of duty with the Federal Government and partner with top civil servants to ensure a lasting culture of innovation that will serve the American people for years to come.” It included references to federal IT procurement and the launch of the digital services playbook.

FCC staff issued proposed North American Numbering Plan Administration funding for the fiscal year Oct. 1, 2016, through Sept. 30, 2017. Welch, which is responsible for doing the calculations, proposed a total funding requirement of $6.82 million, with $5.78 million from the U.S., $116,895 from Canada, $24,439 from the Caribbean and the application of $899,849 from an accumulated surplus, said a Wireline Bureau public notice in docket 92-237 listed in Tuesday's Daily Digest. If the FCC takes no action, the estimated fund size and a related industry contribution factor will be considered approved 14 days after the PN's Monday's release.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton again touted her ambition to address broadband deployment in the first 100 days of her administration as part of her infrastructure plan. Her administration is “going to connect all American households to high-speed, affordable broadband,” Clinton said Monday during a Q&A on the social network Quora. “A recent survey showed that 70 percent of teachers assign homework that requires students to use the internet, but 5 million of our children don’t have access to high-speed internet. So, even at their earliest ages, kids are being left out and left behind. We can’t allow that.”

The economic advisers to GOP presidential nominee include one aide with a connection to the content industry. Donald Trump unveiled Friday the names of 13 men comprising his economic advisory council, including Trump campaign finance chairman Steven Mnuchin, CEO of private investment firm Dune Capital Investment. The campaign touts his “extensive management and investment experience especially in” media and technology industries. He was named to his Trump campaign role in May. In 2014, Mnuchin was named co-chairman of the board of Relativity, a media company involved in content and distribution. He lauded its efforts “to build a global media company that is redefining what it means to be a content creator in the 21st century,” a news release then said. Relativity filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year after Mnuchin’s departure. None of the other members of the council, who include a Heritage Foundation economist and Senate Budget Committee staffer, show any apparent ties to telecom or media policy.

The Democratic Party’s prioritization of antitrust enforcement in its 2016 platform (see 1607290051) “was made possible in part by the Bernie Sanders movement, but it's also the product of years of advocacy by scholars and activists who believe that high levels of concentration in banking, retail, agribusiness and other sectors are ravaging our economy and democracy,” said Stacy Mitchell, a senior researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, in a Wednesday opinion piece for Truthout. The platform positions “do say something about the mood of the party and where its future direction might lie,” she said. Mitchell lauded the inclusion and pointed to a recent speech by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who “named names,” including Comcast's. “But the boldest part of her speech, the part that Democrats most need to hear, focused on a new breed of ascendant monopolies: Amazon, Google and Apple,” Mitchell said. “Led by socially liberal executives, these companies donate much more to Democrats than Republicans, but they also oppose the idea of government intervening in the markets they control.” Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton “would have plenty of leeway to act,” Mitchell said of antitrust. “Our powerful antitrust laws were never repealed; [former President Ronald] Reagan simply changed the framework that guides their enforcement. This means Clinton could go after concentrated power without help from Congress.”

The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed to fine two New York men for apparently using false caller ID numbers ("spoofing") to harass the ex-wife of one of the men, said a commission release Tuesday. "We propose penalties of $25,000 each against Steven Blumenstock and Gary Braver for apparently causing the display of misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to cause harm," said a notice of apparent liability. "Over the course of four months, Mr. Blumenstock and Mr. Braver made 31 spoofed telephone calls to Mr. Braver’s ex-wife as part of a campaign of harassment and stalking of Mr. Braver’s ex-wife." Blumenstock and Braver "apparently violated the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, as codified in Section 227(e) of the Communications Act" and corresponding FCC rules, said the NAL.

Amazon efforts to drive sales of the Fire boosted its tablet market share from 0.3 percent in Q2 2015 to 4 percent this year, said a Monday IDC report. That contrasted with the direction market leader Apple and No. 2 Samsung are headed, with drops of 9.2 percent and 24.5 percent from the year-ago quarter, IDC said. Shipments in the overall tablet category sank more than 12 percent in the quarter, it said, to 38.7 million units. Sixty-five percent of tablets shipped were Android-based vs. 26 percent iOS, with Windows picking up remaining share, said the industry researcher. Consumers are looking for “more productive form factors and operating systems,” boosting detachables, said analyst Jitesh Ubrani.

The Consumer Federation of America Wednesday published an online resource guide to help advocates, media, policymakers and others better understand privacy issues. In a news release, the group said the guide offers a sampling of surveys, studies and articles on advertising, attitudes toward privacy, big data, data brokers, data security, facial recognition, healthcare, IoT, and personalized pricing and discrimination. "Consumers should not have to make a choice between energy efficiency and privacy, or worry about their children enjoying Pokémon GO because their personal information is being collected and shared for purposes that have nothing to do with playing the game,” said Susan Grant, the group's consumer protection and privacy director.

Craig Moffett, analyst at MoffettNathanson, said Verizon paid what could be a very steep price for Yahoo, $4.8 billion (see 1607250016), which could be closer to $5.9 billion after accounting for restricted stock units, he said. Meanwhile, Yahoo’s core revenue is declining by an “alarming” 11 percent per year, he said. “Finding synergies in the words behind the combination of Yahoo with AOL and Verizon is easy: Yahoo brings content,” Moffett said in a Tuesday research note. “AOL brings advertising technology (and some additional content). Verizon brings user data. Verizon is hoping that one plus one plus one equals … well, if not four, then at least three and a half. The strategy is to make Yahoo’s advertising inventory worth more -- perhaps dramatically more -- by enhancing it with location-based data about wireless users and selling it more efficiently and effectively using AOL’s ad tech and ad sales force.” The words tell “a good story,” but the numbers behind the deal might not, he said.