Fallout from the DNC's hacked emails Presented by Ericsson

With help from Tony Romm, Kate Tummarello, Alex Byers, Nancy Scola, Eric Geller and Margaret Harding McGill

EMAILS, EMAILS, EMAILS — They’re fast becoming the Achilles’ Heel of the Democratic Party’s effort to hold the White House. In a painful show of party disunity on the eve of Monday’s opening of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz was forced out as party leader Sunday because of controversy over thousands of hacked DNC emails. The messages were published by Wikileaks on Friday and revealed DNC officials were working to undermine the campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders — as the Vermont Democrat had previously charged. (For the politics at play here, POLITICO's got a detail-rich breakdown that's well worth your time.)

— But it's way more than party officials badmouthing Bernie: Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook echoed cybersecurity experts' speculation Sunday when he argued that timing of the hacked emails' publication could be a ploy by the Russian government to shift support to Donald Trump, reports POLITICO’s Jeremy Herb. “What’s disturbing to us is that experts are telling us that Russian state actors broke into the DNC, stole these emails, and other experts are now saying that the Russians are releasing these emails for the purpose of actually of helping Donald Trump,” Mook said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

— There are two “firsts” here. Regardless of who perpetrated the hack, the cyber-breach itself is arguably directly responsible for toppling the head of a major U.S. political party, a new type of downfall in American politics. And, second, if the suspected Russian ties are true, this would be the first known case of Russia trying to influence an election via a cyber-intrusion, according to Pro Cybersecurity's Eric Geller. It would be a major development in cyber as a means of unconventional warfare.

— Clinton addressed her ongoing email issues — yes, those emails — on “60 Minutes” Sunday night, when she again admitted she made a mistake in using private email servers while Secretary of State. She also took a shot at the government’s digital security capabilities when Scott Pelley asked if she’d use a separate email server if she were to win the presidency. “I'll tell ya one thing,” she responded, “that is one lesson I have learned the hard way, and there will not be any such thing in the White House. Although, I am quick to add, there's no evidence that it was ever hacked, and unfortunately, you can't say that for a lot of the government.”

To refresh: FBI Director James Comey has said the agency found no direct evidence Clinton’s private account was hacked. But, he added, it was certainly possible given her security configuration and the number of people aware of her server setup. Experts have suggested it’s even likely.

GOOD MONDAY MORNING! Welcome to Morning Tech, where we’re one down, one to go on the convention circuit. Send your favorite tech tips and comments to [email protected]. Catch the rest of the team’s contact info after Speed Read.

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THIS MORNING: VERIZON, YAHOO MAKE IT OFFICIAL — After days of buzz, Verizon announced a deal to acquire Yahoo's online business for about $4.8 billion. The telecom giant, which purchased AOL for $4.4 billion last May, would gain online properties such as Yahoo Finance, Tumblr and Flickr. "Just over a year ago we acquired AOL to enhance our strategy of providing a cross-screen connection for consumers, creators and advertisers," Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said in a statement this morning. "The acquisition of Yahoo will put Verizon in a highly competitive position as a top global mobile media company, and help accelerate our revenue stream in digital advertising." Not included in the sale: Yahoo's shares in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan and its "non-core patents." Yahoo will continue to hold those assets and become a publicly traded investment company with a new name after the deal closes, according to the news release. And Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer? "For me personally, I’m planning to stay," she wrote on Yahoo's Tumblr page. Regulators will have to sign off on the Verizon-Yahoo deal. We're tracking.

TIM KAINE’S QUIET SUPPORT OF TECH — In keeping with his broader “ vanilla nice,” low-key image, Kaine’s commitment to tech issues, while steady, has been under the radar, reports Tony. Since arriving in the U.S. Senate in 2013, Kaine has built a consistent record supporting much of the tech industry’s agenda, even if he doesn’t sit on the congressional committees that deal with those issues — or have the eye-popping fundraising numbers from Silicon Valley to show for it. As Congress sought to restrict the NSA’s surveillance powers in the aftermath of Edward Snowden’s leaks, for example, Kaine voted to pass the USA Freedom Act, which ultimately became law. This year, as courts and Congress have grappled over law enforcement access to encrypted communications, the Virginia Democrat has called on Congress to study encryption through the formation of a special commission — a position shared by tech giants like Apple. He’s publicly rejected efforts to force companies to unlock their devices, as the FBI tried to do with Apple.

— While governor of Virginia, “Kaine wanted to apply technology to solve public policy problems,” recalled Aneesh Chopra, who served as secretary of technology for the governor from 2006 to 2009. For the Clinton ticket, Kaine’s value is that he “not only shares [Clinton’s] policy positions, but has operational experience implementing portions of them during his tenure as governor," Chopra said. More for Pros here: http://politico.pro/2a7S5KT.

HERE COME THOSE DNC LIVESTREAMS — In round two of convention season, viewers can expect some key differences in how the Democratic National Convention plans to use tech to share its message, compared to how the GOP went about things in Cleveland. A DNC spokeswoman told MT the team’s social media efforts will focus on retweeting and promoting the stories of regular people who watch or attend the convention and highlight user-generated content. This approach differs from the GOP strategy, which focused more on the straightforward broadcasting of convention speeches and limited most tweets and instagrams to the perspectives of party leadership. “The added level of access, voices and stories thanks to technology is incredible,” said Kelli Klein, Democratic National Convention digital director.

— Following a successful first pass, livestreams will be available across myriad platforms once again. And in addition to the tech companies that partnered with the RNC, there are new players, like online marketing firm, Curalate, which will be involved exclusively with the DNC in Philly. As Tony previously reported, another such deal is the convention’s transportation partnership with Uber, which plans to dedicate specific vehicles for the event. Several tech groups, including the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation and Mobile Future, are migrating back east for the week, and will be holding discussions on STEM education, the Internet of Things and the U.S. approach to innovation.

— The Hillary for America campaign has released its virtual campaign app, timed with the start of the convention, reports POLITICO’s Rebecca Morin. The app, built around a virtual campaign office, allows users to complete challenges — including checking in to an event or a televised speech, sharing videos on Facebook, or taking a policy quiz. The more challenges completed, the more opportunities the user has to personalize their field and win awards, like signed merchandise.

— DNC speakers to look out for on the tech front: Previous VP short-listers Sens. Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown; along with former San Francisco Mayor and current California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom; Rep. Ted Lieu; Rep. Joe Kennedy; and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.

THE DNC PLATFORM AND ENCRYPTION — While no mention of the term was made in the original draft released a few weeks back, the latest version of the DNC platform tackles encryption head-on, reports Tony. The new document pledges to support a “national commission” to study whether and when law enforcement should have access to secure communications and devices. This is a key priority for Silicon Valley giants like Apple. Democrats promise to “bring together technology and public safety communities to address the needs of law enforcement, protect the privacy of Americans, assess how innovation might point to new policy approaches, and advance our larger national security and global competitiveness interests.” The language mirrors the position of Hillary Clinton, who has called for a “Manhattan-like Project” to study encryption. More for Pros here: http://politico.pro/2a6ppEH.

RNC DIGITAL, BY THE NUMBERS — According to Facebook, nearly 28 million people posted or engaged with content about the political candidates or the convention on its site during the RNC last week. And on Google, search queries for the term “LGBTQ” spiked 15,000 percent on Thursday evening following Trump’s usage of the acronym during his acceptance speech, while searches for “third-party candidate” shot up 1,150 percent throughout the week.

MICROSOFT ON PRIVACY — Brad Smith, the president of Microsoft, sat down with The Washington Post on Friday to talk about how the company’s been steadily addressing the issue of user data privacy, including its recent legal victory, which concluded that U.S. law enforcement can’t access email data stored overseas under current warrants. Smith noted that such policies need to be modernized, and expressed his support for the International Communications Privacy Act, a bipartisan bill currently in Congress that provides a new framework for law enforcement to access data globally.

— Smith says that building agreements across country borders will be important for ensuring data can be shared around the world. “We're not fans of data localization — the last thing the world needs is 193 members of the United Nations demanding that data only be stored within their own borders,” he said. “This is really a set of issues where the tech sector tends to be pretty united.”

— Last week, the company encountered critiques on this very topic in France, where the privacy of its Microsoft 10 program was called into question for tracking “excessive data” from users. Microsoft responded to the National Data Protection Commission’s allegations by agreeing to collaborate with the investigation and taking issue with concerns that it’s been conducting data transfers under the outdated Safe Harbor agreement. In the U.S., the DOJ also filed a motion late Friday to dismiss one of the company’s pending lawsuits, arguing Microsoft hasn’t provided sufficient evidence that the gag orders it received on more than 2,000 search warrants violated First and Fourth Amendment rights.

REPORT: FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LAGGING ON IoT — A study, out this morning from tech policy think tank ITIF, has found that the federal government, outside of the defense department, has done little to adopt the internet of things into its tech infrastructure. The report, based on interviews with 22 government employees and private-sector leaders, supports the development of an IoT task force to determine the funding and data skills needed to leverage such tech effectively across agencies. It also recommends the hiring of chief data officers in various departments to help facilitate progress, and notes there are several preventing such innovation from taking hold. “These include a lack of leadership, skills, and funding, as well as cumbersome procurement policies and a risk-averse culture,” the report reads.

COMMUNITY-INITIATED SAFETY CHECK IN KABUL — While Facebook has designated certain countries as ongoing conflict zones where the company will not initiate Safety Check ( as MT previously reported), the social network has enabled community-initiated Safety Checks in some of these locations over the past month. This feature was used in Kabul on Saturday, after the terrorist attack that killed at least 80 people during a peaceful demonstration, according to a Facebook spokeswoman. The tool tracks discussion about events on the social network and looks for confirmation of incidents from a reliable third party, like a publication or nonprofit, before asking users in the region if they would like to initiate Safety Check. It was also previously used after the Baghdad bombings in early July.

QUICK DOWNLOADS

Edward Snowden made a surprise appearance at a Friday Comic-Con screening of the upcoming Oliver Stone film about his exposure of the NSA’s surveillance programs. “I think there's kind of a magic" to it, he said about the movie.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul tweeted about the alleged Russian hack of the DNC: “As U.S. voter, I'm appalled by Russian meddling, want it investigated & stopped. As long-time analyst of Russia, Im [sic] impressed; they're good.”

SPEED READ

FACEBOOK, TWITTER AID IN BRAZILIAN INVESTIGATION. The social media companies helped Brazilian authorities with an investigation into suspected Islamic militants who used the platforms to communicate, Reuters reports: http://reut.rs/2aaJlXc

TECH INDUSTRY'S FIGHT OVER MUSIC STREAMING. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the music streaming market and the big tech companies that back streaming services as a side project. Read it here: http://on.wsj.com/2a75WUc

SMALL POKEMON GO IMPACT HITS NINTENDO STOCKS. Nintendo's stock fell Friday after the company said it will get a limited financial boost from the popularity of the Pokemon Go app, per Bloomberg: http://bloom.bg/29YeXvM

GOOGLE'S CLOUD CATCH UP. Google will have to hustle to catch up to competitors Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud computing game, according to The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/2abUx6C

Tips, comments, suggestions? Send them along via email to our team: Alex Byers ([email protected], @byersalex), Eric Engleman ([email protected], @ericengleman), Tony Romm ([email protected], @tonyromm), Kate Tummarello ([email protected], @ktummarello), Nancy Scola ([email protected], @nancyscola), Margaret Harding McGill ([email protected], @margarethmcgill) and Li Zhou ([email protected], @liszhou)

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