GOP House Commerce Committee staffers outlined many potential problems with the FCC ISP privacy NPRM, in a staff memo for a Tuesday Communications Subcommittee hearing: “Concerns with the FCC’s approach to privacy vary, from legal experts that question the FCC’s rationale for the rules and raise concerns that the FCC’s rules are a violation of the First Amendment guarantee of free speech, to those in the business community concerned with the economic and social consequences of the FCC’s regulatory approach.” The six-page memo elaborated on the concerns and cited arguments favoring an FTC-centric approach.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler laid out another defense for his set-top box rulemaking before lawmakers, this time in response to critics. The letter’s Friday release follows a Thursday news conference of Capitol Hill Democratic defenders (see 1606090066). Some saw it as inappropriately attacking NPRM critic Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., who has led Democrats in opposition.
The FCC rejected an NCTA request to extend comment deadlines in the rulemaking aimed at overhauling its telco-oriented special access regime for business data services (BDS) (see 1604280057). That leaves initial comments due June 28, replies July 26. "Further delay now is unnecessary," said the order in Thursday's Daily Digest and in docket 16-143 that was signed by Wireline Bureau Chief Matt DelNero. "The Commission has set similar comment deadlines in comparably complex proceedings, and we see no need to deviate from that precedent in this instance."
A group of Capitol Hill Democrats defended the FCC set-top box rulemaking Thursday during a news conference featuring multiple officials affiliated with the Consumer Video Choice Coalition. Opponents of the NPRM, including the Future of TV Coalition, have been outspoken in recent weeks, with Democrats and Republicans outlining concerns and calling for pause.
DALLAS -- With several areas of contention between spectrum users over using or sharing bands, FCC intervention may be needed, said panelists at a Telecommunications Industry Association conference. Examples include whether Ligado's building a terrestrial LTE network will interfere with GPS devices and whether those devices are themselves operating as intended (see 1605230031), the pending FCC draft order that would let Globalstar in phases build out its terrestrial broadband product (see 1606030041), and contested claims over whether carriers using LTE-unlicensed will interfere with cable operators and others' Wi-Fi services (see 1605060033). To incentivize parties at odds over contested spectrum to come to a solution, the FCC could try to convince opponents that reaching a deal will be better for them than not, said spectrum specialists and an industry lawyer at TIA 2016 Tuesday.
The FCC's rulemaking on whether to classify some types of over-the-top (OTT) providers as multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) in large part went dormant because it got far less OTT industry support than the agency anticipated, said municipality lawyer Tim Lay of Spiegel & McDiarmid Monday during a NATOA online seminar on the OTT market and emerging regulatory issues. Numerous OTT video service providers saw the disadvantages of taking on MVPD obligations as outweighing the benefits, such as the right to negotiate access to broadcast signals, and now the rulemaking in docket 14-261 is on hold, and it's unclear when -- or if -- the FCC will pick it back up, Lay said. The FCC didn't comment.
USTelecom backed NCTA's request for an FCC extension of comment deadlines in a business data service (BDS) rulemaking, and agreed with the cable group's questioning of commission motives (see 1605130039). "Similar to our own requests for additional time to address the complex and important issues in this proceeding, NCTA’s Motion reflects valid concerns with compressed pleading cycles that seem designed primarily to meet an arbitrary deadline for completing the next phase by the end of the year," said USTelecom's filing Thursday in docket 05-25. "We agree with NCTA that this lends credence to the suggestion that the outcome of this proceeding is predetermined." USTelecom said it and others also need more time to do an independent review of a consultant's white paper that was commissioned by the FCC and attached to a Further NPRM. "Although we are grateful for the FCC’s prompt response to USTelecom’s request for access to additional information used for the analyses in the White Paper, we have since learned that not all of the requested information was provided," the group said. "Our consultants have explained that without the same access to the underlying raw data, they will not be able to replicate the results in the White Paper. Specifically, due to the FCC’s masking of bandwidth for connections of over 1 Gbps, they lack the bandwidth information used in some of the White Paper’s regression specifications. These specifications cannot be replicated. Additionally, they lack the 'proprietary Tom-Tom' data relied upon for certain controls at the ZIP Code level. They do not have adequate information to identify what Tom-Tom data were used or whether these data can be obtained at a reasonable cost." USTelecom also said a comment extension is justified by recent cable company modifications to data they previously submitted. Sprint and other ILEC critics oppose NCTA's request for extending the initial June 28 comment deadline by at least 45 days and a July 26 reply comment deadline by at least 30 days (see 1605180028 and 1605200061).
The FCC unanimously approved launching a rulemaking on proposals to eliminate rules requiring broadcasters to keep physical copies of customer correspondence on hand to be examined by the public and a requirement that cable operators allow public inspection of the location of their control centers. The proposal received no pushback from industry or FCC commissioners, as expected (see 1605060064). “The proposed elimination of these rules will reduce regulatory burdens on commercial broadcasters and cable operators without adversely affecting the general public,” the Media Bureau said in a news release. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler credited Commissioner Mike O’Rielly with suggesting the rule changes and leading on the issue. “Given the very few requests for onsite inspection of broadcasters’ correspondence files or cable companies’ headend information, along with modern options, like email and other social media, these rules look outdated and unnecessary,” O’Rielly said.
The divide over FCC-proposed set-top rule changes remains wide, based on filings in docket 16-42 Monday, the deadline for replies, several of which were posted Tuesday. Early-filed comments likewise showed a divide (see 1605230058). Pay-TV industry-side commenters such as Comcast and NCTA cited a record filled with filings against the plan. Proponents of the set-top NPRM dismissed those comments as anti-competitive obstructionism. Opponents “espouse bogus arguments to obfuscate the debate,” said the Computer & Communications Industry Association. “The NPRM drew far more opposition, from a much wider variety of parties, than it did support,” said NCTA.
The FCC set-top box proposal is a threat to consumer cybersecurity, goes far beyond the will of Congress and can't accomplish what the agency says it can, said recent filings from legislators, trade groups and companies in docket 16-42. Monday was the deadline for reply comments, and a rule is expected to be issued this summer, industry officials have told us. Only some replies were available Monday. The decision essentially has been written already, disregarding all the industry objections to the proposal, said downloadable security company Beyond Broadband Technology. “Efforts to explain and navigate through the difficult issues raised by the 'proposed' rules are a waste of time and effort.”