Benton Foundation

[Commentary] Our privacy framework no longer works. It must be changed. Now. Let’s begin by requiring “opt-in.” Before any business shares our personal data, we should have to grant it permission to do so, up-front and right at the outset. Then let’s simplify those ridiculous “terms of service agreements” that require our acceptance before we can even open up an app. Going a step further, let’s require any site that wishes to change its terms of service to notify us that it is doing so AND tell us what those changes will be, BEFORE they are implemented. Getting changes like these implemente

After the announcement T-Mobile would swallow Sprint, here's the reaction.

[Commentary] More than four months after the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal its network neutrality rules, the rules adopted in 2015 are technically still on the books. And we still do not know when the repeal will take effect. The situation is “highly unusual” according to telecommunications policy expert Harold Feld. The question is, why is FCC Chairman Ajit Pai dragging his feet now when he’s so close to his goal?

[Commentary] A few years ago, Yale Law School Professor Jack Balkin explained that “a system of free speech depends not only on the mere absence of state censorship, but also on an infrastructure of free expression.”  He wisely observed that policies that facilitate open innovation “better serve the interests of speech in the long run.” To innovate, to speak, to learn, to trust – these are outcomes squarely within the power of the Federal Communications Commission to advance.

If there’s anything that coming to a gathering like Net Inclusion really brings home, it is that addressing inequity is the responsibility of everyone in the community. None of us can solve a problem like digital inclusion working on our own. It takes collaboration; a web of dedicated advocates from all over the country working on all aspects of the issue. So, I am thrilled that the third annual Charles Benton Digital Equity Champion Award honors one of our field’s great collaborators, Deb Socia. Deb is the Founding Executive Director of Next Century Cities.

After some 10 hours of testimony and questions from almost 100 politicians, we finally learned some things from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg this week. Just some things. But are we any closer to a regulatory solution? Probably not so much. Still, this week marked an important moment in the on-going debate about privacy in the Digital Age. 

[Analysis] Is it time to recognize that Facebook, and ‘Big Tech’ at large, may be a bug in our democracy? The Cambridge Analytica story reveals the harmful effects of business models that rely on massive data collection. What is lost is our privacy, contributing to the declining health of our democratic discourse. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged the massive data comprise in an apologetic media tour. For many, Zuckerberg's response has been seen as a small concession that does not address the much bigger problem.

On March 23, 2018, President Donald Trump signed H.R. 1625, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018. H.R. 1625's 2,232 pages make for a great read, but if you're looking for just the telecommunications policy highlights, let's thumb through straight to Division P, the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act of 2018 or the RAY BAUM’S Act of 2018 which reauthorizes the Federal Communications Commission and does a whole bunch more. The bill completes a process began three years ago.

[Commentary] The Senate Commerce Committee held three hearings this week on infrastructure.

One of the most important antitrust cases in recent decades, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) move to block AT&T from acquiring Time Warner, goes to trial in Washington, DC, on March 19. The significance of the case goes well beyond its impact on this huge transaction and on future media mergers.