Dems defend against October cyber surprise Presented by Ericsson

With help from Nancy Scola and Cory Bennett

DEMOCRATS DEFEND AGAINST AN OCTOBER CYBER SURPRISE — As the saying goes, if you can’t beat them … prove the information they’re sharing is inaccurate. Sure, that’s not quite it, but as the Democratic Party copes with the latest leak of information from the DCCC hack, which exposed the private contact information of many high-ranking House Democrats, party officials are taking this approach in a bid to discredit potential future attacks — like a dreaded late-October document dump. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is among those who’ve said that, based on the guidance of cybersecurity experts, Russian hackers often tamper with documents they release — and, as a result, the veracity of information they share could be questionable. As Pelosi noted in a Saturday evening conference call about the hacks, if the Democrats can preemptively suggest that future disclosures may contain fake information inserted by Russian hackers, the party could minimize the impact of such attacks.


— “It is certainly a valid issue to raise, because clearly the people who are doing these attacks have a political agenda that’s against the Democratic Party,” said Anita Dunn, who was White House communications director in the early part of President Barack Obama’s first term. “I think it's only prudent for people to raise that possibility.” Hackers have been known to manipulate the files they release — and have previously been caught doctoring satellite images and posting fake news reports on Twitter — though evidence of such tampering has not been found in leaked material from the DNC and DCCC hacks. Republicans argue Democrats are merely raising such questions to distract from the actual contents of the hacked documents. Since future releases of hacked Democratic material could come closer to Election Day, experts note that precautionary measures like this make sense: “What Pelosi is doing is making the response now," said Brad Bannon, a longtime Democratic consultant. "Democrats do have their antenna up over this thing. They are anticipating.” More, from Pro Cybersecurity’s Cory Bennett, here: http://politico.pro/2bgdoKX.

STEADY DRIP OF CLINTON EMAIL UPDATES — The FBI on Tuesday gave Congress the classified records from its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she ran the State Department, POLITICO’s Rachel Bade and Josh Gerstein report. The material includes a summary of the 3½-hour interview the FBI conducted with Clinton in July along with a package of documents classified as “SECRET.” Per an FBI spokesperson: “The material contains classified and other sensitive information and is being provided with the expectation it will not be disseminated or disclosed without FBI concurrence.”

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BALTIMORE PD CALLED OUT ON STINGRAY SURVEILLANCE — A trio of public interest groups filed a complaint with the FCC on Tuesday, alleging that the Baltimore Police Department has illegally used Stingray surveillance technology, and disproportionately affected black communities while doing so. The Center of Media Justice, Color of Change and New America’s Open Technology Institute argue BPD is violating the Communications Act by operating Stingrays — devices that track cellphone locations — on spectrum frequencies without a proper license, which is interfering with cellular networks and emergency calling services. Additionally, the complaint says that such interference occurs overwhelmingly in predominantly black neighborhoods, and could even prevent residents from reaching 911 operators. Alex has more for Pros here: http://politico.pro/2bvQzDQ.

— FCC spokesman Neil Grace says the agency is reviewing the accusations. “The commission expects state and local law enforcement to work through the appropriate legal processes to use these devices," Grace said in a statement. The Baltimore Police Department declined to comment, since the issue involves “pending litigation.” This past spring, a Maryland appeals court ruled that Stingray devices could not be used without a warrant, a decision cheered by civil liberties advocates. Compared to other cities, Baltimore appears to have used such tech at a significantly higher rate — approximately four times more than New York City in the past 8 years.

GO WEST, TECH ATTORNEY — Marvin Ammori, well known in the Washington tech policy world for his role in getting the FCC to adopt aggressive net neutrality rules, has been bumped up to general counsel of Hyperloop One, just a month after heading to California to help the firm figure out where to build one of its Elon-Musk-inspired high-speed transport tubes. Asked about the promotion, CEO Rob Lloyd emailed MT that “Marvin's decade of experience advising leading technology firms is an invaluable asset to Hyperloop One and our quest to bring the fifth mode of transportation to the world.”

CTIA HERALDS ZERO RATING — CTIA, an industry trade group that represents telecom companies, is backing free data services that come with customers’ mobile plans. In an op-ed on its blog this morning, the organization said a study that it commissioned with former FCC chief economist Bill Rogerson outlined the benefits offered by free data services — such plans, the group says, provide consumers more choice in their mobile offerings and increase customer access to features like video streaming without making a dent in their allotted data. Other organizations, including ITIF and MMTC, also support zero rating on the grounds that it provides wider options for consumers and helps economize the broader network’s data usage. Those who oppose zero-rating programs have argued that they have the potential to violate the spirit of net neutrality, since they could limit the access users have to programming, based on their provider.

ICYMI: WHITE HOUSE OPENS FUNDING TO ALTERNATIVE CODING PROGRAMS — For the first time, students will be able to use Pell Grants and federal student loans to help cover costs of nontraditional coding boot camps and other programs, according to a White House announcement Tuesday, reports Pro Education’s Michael Stratford. As part of a pilot program, eight traditional colleges and universities, including Northeastern and SUNY Empire State, will partner with newer, alternative education providers — such as Flatiron School, Epicodus, StraighterLine, Study.com, Zip Code Wilmington, MakerSquare, Guild Education and General Electric — to give students the option of pursuing coding boot camps in lieu of a standard four-year program. Expanding federal funding to cover nontraditional education sources has garnered strong support from both sides of the aisle, including from Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). The pilot program is an important testing ground for determining whether more federal funding will flow to coding academies and other, often for-profit providers, in the future. More for Pros here: http://politico.pro/2aSbt37.

NO MUSIC STREAMING WITHOUT TAXATION — Pennsylvania has become the latest state to tax online music streaming and download services like Spotify, instituting a 6 percent online sales tax earlier this month. The state opted to impose the tax to cover budget gaps, following in the footsteps of Connecticut and Washington, which have enacted similar levies. As Billboard highlights, such taxes could prompt legal questions around whether music streaming constitutes a digital good.

DROPBOX JOINS FAIR CHANCE BUSINESS PLEDGE — Dropbox is now on board with other tech giants in signing on Tuesday to the White House’s Fair Chance Business Pledge, becoming part of a new wave of businesses that are committed to offering individuals with a criminal record an equal shot at job opportunities. Google, Facebook, Uber and Xerox took the pledge when it first launched, in April. The pledge aims to promote “ban-the-box” efforts, whereby those with criminal records are not required to disclose that information in the early stages of job applications. The overall effort seeks to improve access to economic opportunities for the 70 million Americans that have a criminal record of some kind.

VIRGINIA LIBRARIES NUDGE GOODLATTE ON COPYRIGHT — Librarians across the country have voiced concerns about a potential rewrite to Section 108 of the Copyright Act, which they fear could restrict fair use laws and affect how materials are reproduced and shared. On Tuesday, library deans and directors of several Virginia institutions, including the University of Virginia and the College of William & Mary, sent a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), urging him to push the Copyright Office to reconsider plans for overhauling the law.

— “While Section 108 may show its age in some ways, it adequately protects core library activities like preservation and inter-library loan, and includes enough flexibility to accommodate digital innovation, especially in combination with Section 107, the fair use doctrine,” they write. “Including Section 108 in any major copyright revision is not worth the substantial uncertainty it would create for libraries.” Proponents of revising Section 108, including the Copyright Office, have said the law, which hit the books in 1976, needs to be updated to address digital methods of reproducing content.

QUICK DOWNLOADS

WikiLeaks says it has access to NSA source code and will be posting it for free, unlike an outfit known as the “Shadow Brokers” that had announced plans to auction off code they allegedly stole.

Univision won the bidding auction for Gawker and will buy all seven of the company’s media properties for $135 million.

Pay TV providers posted their highest subscriber loss ever in this year’s second quarter, with cable, satellite and telecom companies losing at least 665,000 subscribers, reports CNET.

Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey sent a letter to 13 airline heads inquiring about the status of their IT systems, following the high-profile Delta glitch and other tech failures.

Dropbox is reportedly consulting advisers about a potential 2017 IPO.

The RNC is trying to reconnect with Hispanic voters via a new social media strategy launched Tuesday.

Google is pushing information on voting laws in different states, through its search results.

Ford plans to have autonomous vehicles, designed for ride-hailing service, on the road by 2021.

Nokia has hired Alston & Bird LLP to tackle import policies from the International Trade Commission.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler announced his intention to appoint Paul de Sa as chief of the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis, starting later this month. He’ll be returning to a leadership position he held under former FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

While traveling in China, Tim Cook said Apple will be increasing its investment in the country and plans to build its first Asia-Pacific research and development center there.

Google launched a video-chat app called Duo.

Former Congressman and failed NYC mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner reflected on his digital indiscretions in a Q&A with The New York Times. Asked if he was still sexting women that aren’t his wife, he declined to “go down the path of talking about any of that,” but added: “There’s no doubt that the Trump phenomenon has led a lot of people to say to me, ‘Boy, compared to inviting the Russians to come hack someone’s email, your thing seems almost quaint.’”

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