Press Release

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) was created to equip America’s first responders with state-of-the-art communications tools, enabled by the first nationwide interoperable, wireless broadband network. But FirstNet is doing much more than building a communications network: the organization is also working to drive continuous innovation over the Network – including the development of an open, integrated applications ecosystem tailored for public safety users.

Through FirstNet’s outreach to public safety, first responders have told them about the advantages of data communications in the field and their growing use of mobile broadband tools and technologies to help save lives. They have heard from responders at station visits, city and state meetings, training opportunities and ride-alongs about the promise of using applications over the FirstNet Network. FirstNet is taking first responders’ feedback and using their ideas to cultivate an open, integrated applications ecosystem on the FirstNet Network, so that public safety personnel will have access to more targeted applications and more timely data than ever before possible.

On July 24, Reps Steve Cohen (D-TN), Mark Sanford (R-SC), and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) will host a bipartisan forum on freedom of the press entitled, “The State of Press Freedom in 21st Century America.” The forum will explore, among other topics, the following:

• President Donald Trump’s repeated attempts to seemingly de-legitimize mainstream news outlets by calling them “fake news” and “the enemy of the American people;”
• Threats by President Trump to change libel laws to make it easier to pursue lawsuits against the press;
• Aggressive efforts by the Administrations of Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush to prosecute or pressure journalists;
• The potential epidemic of misinformation being presented to the public as “news” that may threaten to undermine the credibility of legitimate journalism;
• Restrictions on access to press briefings; and
• Physical threats to journalists.

Federal Trade Commission Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen announced that she has selected D. Bruce Hoffman, a partner at the law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP, to be the Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, effective August 7, 2017. Hoffman is Global Co-Head of Shearman & Sterling’s Antitrust Group, focusing on antitrust and unfair competition, including merger reviews, government investigations, and private and government antitrust litigation. Previously, he led the global competition practice at Hunton & Williams, representing clients in the supermarket, funeral, and music industries, among others. Hoffman earned a B.A. from Penn State University and a J.D. from the University of Florida, College of Law. He served on the Florida Law Review and was the recipient of the W.D. McDonald Prize for graduating first in his law school class.

On July 7, 2017, Sens Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to express concern about the FCC facing a similar cyberattack on July 12 as it did during the May 7-8.

On July 11, Chairman Pai responded, writing, "Over the course of the last two months, the Commission has taken a series of steps to mitigate the chances of a disruption similar to the one that took place on May 7-8 from occurring again...In preparation for July 12, the Commission's IT professionals have taken additional measures to safeguard our comment filing system. Moreover, they will be on high alert over the next 48 hours and ready to respond as quick as possible to any attacks. Given the nature of this situation, however, I believe that publicly disclosing the specific steps that we are taking could undermine their efficacy."

[Commentary] The internet plays a critical role in the dissemination of information and services specifically tailored for people of color and other marginalized groups, including LGBT people, because it provides the opportunity for us to tell our own stories and to organize for racial and social justice. That empowerment relies on an open internet and net neutrality...

If you want to weigh in on net neutrality and the Federal Communications Commission’s role in implementing it, you can contribute by submitting a comment no later than August 16th. As the United States transitions towards this internet-based communications network revolution, we must remain focused on the right goals: ensuring that the internet is affordable and accessible for all, not just the privileged. Digital social justice demands no less.

“The pen is mightier than the sword.” It’s true. Every day I watch as journalists’ pens cut down Black lives. Last week in Bridgeport (CT), Aaron Tucker skipped the job interview he was traveling to and instead jumped from a city bus to save a stranger from a burning car — only to be referred to as an “ex-con” in a CBS News headline. Did this headline commit any factual errors? No. What it committed was worse: perpetuation of toxic racial bias.

References like “ex-con” reduce Black folks’ humanity in a way that White subjects rarely experience. Aaron Tucker could have been referred to as “resident,” “young father,” “community hero” or simply “man” to the exact same effect. What will it take for journalists to understand that Black lives are greater than a small portion of their deeds, worthy of the same grace and complexity of perception afforded to those who happen to be White? When will journalists take responsibility for the way they wield their swords?

[Commentary] As Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai moves his agency toward rolling back Obama-era network neutrality rules, more voices are calling for a lasting solution to the debate: a new law. FCC rulings are subject to court challenges and changing political regimes, after all. But Congress is so mired in the Trump agenda, and so distracted by the administration’s daily melodrama, that passing new telecom law any time soon seems practically impossible.

The Open Technology Institute asked the Federal Communications Commission to rescind a dangerous proposal to repeal the agency’s 2015 network neutrality rules. By filing comments in the agency’s public docket, we joined millions of Americans who have asked Chairman Ajit Pai to support internet freedom and keep the current rules intact. In our comments, OTI explains how Chairman Pai’s proposal would damage the open internet and harm the American people. We detail the long history of ISP interference with their customers’ access to a free and open internet. We explain that Title II is the only legal pathway for effective FCC rules, and that the Commission’s authority over mobile broadband and interconnection is legally sound. We argue that Title II has helped the FCC protect consumer privacy and close the digital divide. And we urge Chairman Pai to abandon his poorly conceived and dangerous plan.

Acting Federal Trade Commission Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen has appointed Neil Alan Chilson as the agency’s acting Chief Technologist. Chilson will be primarily responsible for advising Acting Chairman Ohlhausen and the Commission on technology matters, including the FTC’s use of technology, technical aspects of law enforcement actions, and technology policy recommendations. His portfolio will also include managing the FTC’s effort to better understand informational harms.

Chilson was previously an Attorney Advisor in the Acting Chairman’s office, serving as the Chairman’s principal advisor on technology, privacy, and data security matters. Previously, he was an attorney at the law firm of Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP, where he handled a wide variety of telecommunications and privacy matters. He received his law degree from the George Washington University Law School, a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Harding University.

According to Sinclair Broadcasting Group, it's doing a service to its viewers by requiring the many local TV news stations it owns to air unabashedly pro-Trump propaganda on a regular basis. The local TV news giant has been pushing a right-wing slant on local television stations across the country for years. Owned by the Smiths, a family of longtime Republican donors who have all the ambition of News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch but a much lower profile, Sinclair has mostly flown under the radar. But following the election of President Donald Trump, the network has begun adopting the playbook Roger Ailes used to turn Fox News into a conservative media goliath.

Over the last few months, Sinclair has been requiring its stations to run more commentaries from pro-Trump personalities and expanding its reach to greater numbers of unassuming viewers in new local media markets. Now it's defending these clear moves to mimic the aspiring state media over at Fox with warped, brainwash-y logic: The conservative propaganda it pushes on its viewers is necessary because the rest of the media is biased.