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By Jon Brodkin, Dec 3, 2020 | Original Ars Technical article here.

Inspector general audits purchases of data that would otherwise require warrants.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general is investigating the government’s use of cell phone location data obtained without search warrants.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a division of DHS, "has paid a government contractor named Venntel nearly half a million dollars for access to a commercial database containing location data mined from applications on millions of Americans’ mobile phones," five Democratic US senators said in October.

"CBP is not above the law and it should not be able to buy its way around the Fourth Amendment," the senators told Inspector General Joseph Cuffari while requesting an investigation into "CBP’s warrantless use of commercial databases containing Americans’ information, including but not limited to Venntel’s location database."

Cuffari granted the request for an investigation, telling the senators that his office will "initiate an audit that we believe will address your concerns" in a [letter](https://www.wyden.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/OIG Response Wyden Warren Brown Markey Schatz Letter RE CBP Phone Tracking.pdf) sent November 25 and made public by the Democratic senators yesterday. The senators who requested the investigation are Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).

"The objective of our audit is to determine if the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and it[s] components have developed, updated, and adhered to policies related to cell-phone surveillance devices," Cuffari wrote. The audit will also examine DHS’ use of "open source intelligence," which includes "information provided by the public via cellular devices, such as social media status updates, geo-tagged photos, and specific location check-ins," Cuffari told the senators.

Continue reading “CBP’s Warrantless Use of Cell Phone Location Data is Under Investigation”

By Karl Bode, Dec 2, 2020 | Origina Motherboard article here.

With a new Trump FCC appointment, the GOP hopes to mire the agency in partisan gridlock, preventing it from restoring consumer protections like net neutrality.

The GOP and Telecom industry are setting the stage to block Biden from appointing a new boss to the FCC, gridlocking the agency and preventing it from restoring much of the consumer protection authority stripped away during the Trump era.

By law, the party that controls the White House controls a 3-2 Commissioner majority over the FCC and the top spot at the agency. But some strategic maneuvering by the GOP and Telecom industry could prevent that majority from taking shape for at least another two years. This morning, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is rushing to confirm the FCC appointment of Nathan Simington, ahead of a broader vote in the full Senate before the end of the year. Simington’s a Trump ally who has shown he’s willing to back the President’s heavily-criticized plan to use the agency to dismantle Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, an integral law that protects freedom of expression and innovation on the Internet. It’s a plan experts have repeatedly warned will undermine freedom of speech online.

While Trump has claimed the move is necessary to thwart “censorship” of Conservatives online, evidence of said censorship is nonexistent, and experts say dismantling the law will result in giants like Facebook and Twitter — fearing liability — censoring far more content, not less. Last August, Republican FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly was fired from the FCC for pointing out that the plan was problematic — and the FCC lacked the authority to implement it. Simington, by contrast, wrote the President’s executive order targeting Section 230 and is widely expected to continue to support the proposal if seated at the agency.

But should Simington be appointed, the agency will face partisan paralysis at two Democratic Commissioners and two Republican Commissioners. Activists tell Motherboard the GOP is likely to then block the appointment of a new FCC boss by the Biden administration, preventing the agency from using its election-earned majority to reverse Trump FCC policies. Potentially even until the 2022 midterms.The plan was clearly spelled out this week in a letter by Americans for Taxpayer Reform, a right wing 501(c)(4) organization backed by the Telecom industry that supported the industry’s attack on net neutrality, and routinely targets local, community built broadband networks.

Continue reading “Big Telecom and the GOP Are Trying to Sabotage the Biden FCC”

By Jon Brodkin Dec 2, 2020 |Original Ars Technica article here.

Starlink Teardown: DISHY DESTROYED!

Teardown of “Dishy McFlatface,” the SpaceX Starlink dish-shaped transceiver

"It’s rare to see something of this complexity in a consumer product."

Engineer Ken Keiter recently came into possession of one SpaceX Starlink user terminal, the satellite dish that SpaceX nicknamed "Dishy McFlatface." But instead of plugging it in and getting Internet access from SpaceX’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, Keiter decided to take Dishy apart to see what’s inside.

Keiter, who lives in Portland, Oregon, was impressed by the Starlink team’s work. "It’s rare to see something of this complexity in a consumer product," he said in reference to the device’s printed circuit board (PCB), which he measured at 19.75" by 21.5"
Let’s take a look at what Keiter found inside Dishy.

The First Layer

With the satellite dish face down, Keiter pulled off the back panel and found the motor assembly that Dishy uses to reposition itself to get a direct view of SpaceX satellites:

Keiter was intrigued by the Ethernet cable. "A lot of people have been asking why you can’t replace the cable on your own, ‘why can’t I just have a jack that I plug my own cable into in the back of Dishy?’ Well, there’s a really interesting reason for this and it has to do with power delivery," Keiter said.

Power over Ethernet is usually limited to about 30 watts, but new standards allow for greater power delivery that can meet Dishy’s need for about 100 watts, Keiter said. Dishy uses a thick, "well-shielded" Ethernet cable that can deliver data and the required power without over-heating, he said.

Continue reading “Teardown of SpaceX Starlink Transceiver”

Walter Wong’s Extensive Cooperation Serves Up Embattled PUC Head

​By Joe Eskenazi, Nov 30, 2020 | Original Mission Local article here

Harlan Kelly, right, and Mohammed Nuru in a 2017 tweeted photo by @mrcleansf, Nuru’s account.
​

The clouds swirling around Harlan Kelly finally let loose today as FBI agents raided his home before the U.S. Attorney’s office charged the Public Utilities Commission in an alleged long-running bribery scheme.

Today’s charges stem from a purported illegal arrangement with contractor and permit expediter Walter Wong, the Zelig-like avatar of San Francisco institutional corruption, and the man connecting many of the litany of San Francisco figures charged by the feds following Public Works head Mohammed Nuru’s January arrest.

Kelly has resigned, the Mayor’s Office said Monday afternoon.

Kelly and other SF-PUC figures were hit with a bevy of subpoenas in June. On Monday, he was charged with “honest services wire fraud” in connection to a series of alleged fraudulent actions, bribes and kickbacks from 2014 until 2019. This is described in an affidavit publicized today as a “long-running bribery scheme and corrupt partnership between Kelly and Walter Wong.”

In a straightforward arrangement, Kelly is accused of receiving things of value from Wong in exchange for preferential treatment of Wong and his many business ventures.

Wong pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit money-laundering, and then decided to cooperate with the ongoing investigation. His guilty plea came shortly after Kelly and others were served with subpoenas demanding detailed records for numerous business deals.

Wong clearly provided reams of the evidence recounted today, both in oral interviews with investigators as well as material documents. Today’s affidavit notes that the ties between Kelly and Wong were “extensive and involved coded text messages, multiple international trips paid for or subsidized by Wong, cash exchanges, free meals, and even personal car service provided by Wong (or his employees at Wong’s direction) to Kelly.”

Continue reading “SF-PUC Boss Harlan Kelly Arrested by Feds, Charged in Bribery Scheme, Resigns”

Democrats may gain 2-1 FCC majority Jan. 20, with Rosenworcel as possible chair.

​By Jon Brodkin, Nov 30, 2020 | Original ARS Technica article here.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced today that he will leave the FCC on January 20, 2021, the day the next President will be inaugurated as president. In his four years as FCC Chief, Pai, deregulated the broadband industry, eliminated net neutrality rules, and justified his deregulatory agenda by using faulty data and taking credit for broadband deployments that were planned before he became chairman.

Pai called being chairman "the honor of a lifetime.", in his statement today.

"I am grateful to President Trump for giving me the opportunity to lead the agency in 2017, to President Obama for appointing me as a Commissioner in 2012, and to Senate Majority Leader McConnell and the Senate for twice confirming me. To be the first Asian-American to chair the FCC has been a particular privilege. As I often say: only in America."

Further Reading

• Link to Ajit Pai touted false broadband data despite clear signs it wasn’t accurate

As per tradition in which presidents nominate commissioners from both parties, Obama nominated Pai in 2012 at the request of Senate Republicans. When Democrats were in power, Pai fought against the Obama-era FCC’s decisions to adopt consumer-protection rules such as net neutrality and broadband-privacy regulations. When Trump became president and promoted Pai to the chairmanship, he set out to overturn some of the biggest decisions made by his predecessor, Democrat Tom Wheeler.

Continue reading “Ajit Pai Announces Departure from FCC after a Four-year Deregulatory Blitz”

By Jon Brodkin, Nov 30, 2020 | Original Ars Technica here.

ISP didn’t connect entire city as required but will add 500K households by 2023.

Verizon has agreed to bring FiOS fiber-to-the-home service to another 500,000 households in New York City by July 2023, settling a lawsuit over Verizon’s failure to wire up the entire city as required in a franchise agreement.

Further Reading

1 million NYC homes can’t get Verizon FiOS, so the city just sued Verizon

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office said in an announcement last week

"Today’s settlement will ensure that 500,000 households that previously lacked Verizon broadband access because of a corporate failure to invest in the necessary infrastructure will have the option of fiber broadband and create critical cost competition in areas where today only one provider exists."

The settlement’s full text is available here.

New York City sued Verizon in March 2017, saying the company failed to complete a citywide fiber rollout by 2014 as required in its cable-TV franchise agreement. At the time the lawsuit was filed, Verizon said it had brought its fiber network to 2.2 million of NYC’s 3.1 million households.

The settlement will cover many but not all of the remaining residential housing units where FiOS is currently not available. As of July 2019, Verizon had brought FiOS to 2.7 million households, a number that will rise to 3.2 million households once Verizon complies with the settlement, de Blasio’s office told Ars today. The city estimates there are now 3.45 million households, so about 250,000 will be left without FiOS. With the settlement providing coverage of over 90 percent of households, "this is part of our overall strategy to increase competition in the market," a de Blasio spokesperson told Ars.

Continue reading “Verizon Wiring Up 500K Homes with FiOS to Settle Years-long Fight with NYC”

By Bruce Kushnick, Managing Director, IRREGULATORS, Nov 26, 2020

Was it the IRREGULATORS Letters to Mayor deBlasio?

The Verizon franchise agreement required 100% of the City upgraded to fiber optics for FIOS by 2014. Verizon did not deliver the goods.

In September, 2020 — 3.5 years after NYC sued Verizon over renegging on its franchise agreement — Verizon’s NYC cable FiOS franchise actually expired. So, the IRREGULATORS wrote two letters to the Mayor — to use this as leverage to get ALL of the City wired.

We also pointed out that the distribution of those who had not been upgraded to FiOS were primarily the low income areas — direct ‘redlining’ — and that violated the franchise agreement.

Continue reading “Happy Holidays for NYC — ½ million lines of Fiber Optic, Instead of the Inferior Wireless 4G/5G Substitute”

By PatriotRising, Nov 22, 2020 | Original Patriot Rising article here.

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Supreme Justice Samuel Alito has warned that “the pandemic has resulted in previously unimaginable restrictions on individual liberty” and that freedom of speech is at risk of “becoming a second-tier Constitutional right.”

Speaking to the Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention, which was hosted online this year, Alito said, “it is an indisputable statement of fact: we have never before seen restrictions as severe, extensive and prolonged as those experienced, for most of 2020.”

“Think of all the live events that would otherwise be protected by the right to freedom of speech, live speeches, conferences, lectures, meetings, think of worship services, churches closed on Easter Sunday, synagogues closed for Passover on Yom Kippur War.”

“Think about access to the courts, or the constitutional right to a speedy trial,” said Alito. “Trials in federal courts have virtually disappeared in many places who could have imagined that the COVID crisis has served as a sort of constitutional stress test. And in doing so it has highlighted disturbing trends that were already present before the virus struck.”

Alito shared his concern about the growing “dominance of lawmaking by executive fiat rather than legislation.” Under the umbrella of emergency and disaster declarations, non-elected experts as opposed to elected representatives have pushed for sweeping restrictions which “confer enormous executive discretion” at the expense of fundamental rights.

Continue reading “Justice Alito Unloads on Coronavirus Restrictions”

You can expect most of his more controversial decisions, like the repeal of net neutrality, to be reversed.

By Karl Bode, Nov 11, 2020 | Original Vice.com article here.

His trademark grin. The giant, oversized coffee mug. The time he ignored the public, killed net neutrality at the request of telecom lobbyists, then gleefully danced the harlem shake thinking it made him look good.

But with a Joe Biden win, Pai’s controversial tenure as head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will soon be coming to an end. Traditionally, the party in control of the Presidency enjoys a 3-2 majority over the FCC and the top chairman spot. With a Biden win, the FCC majority reverts to Democratic control next January. As such, Pai will lose his top spot at the FCC, and experts say he’s likely to leave the agency altogether.

Pai’s tenure was a minefield of controversy. In no small part due to Pai’s repeal of net neutrality, which not only eliminated rules preventing ISPs from behaving anti-competitively, but much of the FCC’s authority to police widely-disliked telecom monopolies at all.Instead, that responsibility fell to the FTC, an agency experts say lacks the authority or resources to hold telecom giants accountable (the entire point of the telecom industry gambit).

Pai repeatedly and falsely claimed that net neutrality had stifled sector innovation, job growth, and U.S. broadband investment. He then repeatedly claimed that repealing the rules would drive a massive investment in new broadband networks. But earnings reports, independent research and CEO statements alike made it clear that never actually happened.

Continue reading “Bye-Bye, Ajit Pai: FCC Boss Will Soon Lose Top Spot”

By Karl Bode, Nov 20, 2020 | Original Techdirt article here.

from the someday-we-might-learn-something dept . . .

   

Since the very beginning of the net neutrality debate, ISPs have repeatedly proclaimed that net neutrality rules (read: stopgap rules crafted in the absence of competition to stop giant monopolies from abusing their power) utterly demolished broadband sector investment. It was a primary talking point during the battle over the 2010 rules, and was foundational in the Ajit Pai FCC’s arguments justifying their hugely unpopular and fraud-filled repeal.

Time after time after time, big ISPs and the politicians paid to love them insisted that the rules had crushed sector investment, and repealing them would result in a massive spike in broadband investment. It was a line repeated again by Pai during an FCC oversight hearing in 2018 (for those interested he wasn’t under oath, which applies only to Judiciary hearings):

Ajit Pai:

"Under the heavy-handed regulations adopted by the prior Commission in 2015, network investment declined for two straight years, the first time that had happened outside of a recession in the broadband era…we now have a regulatory framework in place that is encouraging the private sector to make the investments necessary to bring better, faster, and cheaper broadband to more Americans."

Continue reading “FCC Claims That Killing Net Neutrality Would Boost Broadband Investment Were BS”