State senators cleared a bill to tighten enforcement of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) after fierce debate over possible consequences of adding a private right of action to the 2018 measure. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-2 Tuesday after several members voiced reservations and industry trade groups lined up against the first draft (see 1902250067) of SB-561 by Chair Hannah-Beth Jackson (D) and Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D). "There is grave concern about the condition that it is in," said Sen. Anna Caballero (D), voting yes but warning she will later vote no without changes.
Industries sought clarification or carve-outs to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), in comments last month to Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D). The state Department of Justice released a 1,305-page PDF Tuesday containing March 8 comments from its pre-rulemaking after our Public Records Act request (see 1903120036) and we obtained others (see 1903110042). Technology, finance, medical, insurance, entertainment, advertising and other industries weighed in. Hot topics included implementation date, verifying consumer requests, and definitions of households, personal information and other terms.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission proposed adopting the FCC cable rate formula for pole attachments, while allowing pole owners and attachers to “remain free to negotiate” their own rate agreements. The PUC opened a rulemaking Friday in docket 2019-00028 to modify Chapter 880 pole attachment rules. The Maine agency also proposed retaining a municipal exemption for fees related to make-ready work, but removing the exemption from costs related to replacing poles for a municipal attachment. Comments are due April 19 and the commission plans a workshop May 7 at 11 a.m. at its headquarters. Follow-up comments are due May 24, then the PUC will have a hearing June 19 at 1:30 p.m., and final written comments on the proposed rule are due July 12. The commission earlier this month found that replacement of utility poles is make-ready under Section 7(A) of Chapter 880 (see 1903140054).
New York will apply existing pole attachment requirements to wireless providers while the Public Service Commission considers other ways to streamline wireline and wireless deployment in the state, commissioners unanimously decided Thursday. Commissioners voted 4-0 at their livestreamed meeting to partly grant a nearly 3-year-old CTIA petition in docket 16-M-0330 for relief so wireless providers may quickly deploy small cells and distributed antenna systems needed for 5G services (see 1608020029).
Gear up for nearly a year of privacy debate over possible legislative edits to the 2018 California Consumer Privacy Act, said a top state senator and business and privacy advocates in interviews. The law will be enforced from Jan. 1, though the attorney general has until July 1, 2021, to adopt rules and guidance interpreting CCPA. Final text will be “incredibly important” even for those outside the state because California is the No. 5 economy, said Mintz Levin's Cynthia Larose.
The shutdown is having immediate FCC consequences in the form of delayed filing deadlines and shuttered websites. It could also ripple out to delay expected rule changes for 2019, industry officials told us this week. Since staff isn’t available, expected early-2019 policy decisions on kidvid and rate regulation, court cases and progress of deals such as T-Mobile buying Sprint are considered likely to be delayed.
A story on an FCC cable franchising rulemaking misspelled the name of Best Best's Gerard Lederer (see 1812200042).
The FCC will continue to make key systems available to the public, even as staff are sent home starting mid-day Thursday, said a detailed announcement (see 1901020043). Many, including staff, feared systems would be taken offline as they were in 2013 (see 1812280021). Staff held an all-hands meeting Wednesday afternoon to be briefed on the details before release of the public notice, agency and industry officials said.
Many in the communications policy world have battle scars from the last prolonged federal shutdown, 16 days in 2013 when former Commissioner Mignon Clyburn was acting chairwoman. Then, the FCC, unlike some other federal agencies, largely shuttered its website, leading to widespread complaints. The FCC has been funded for the first days of this closure, but that ends Wednesday. The agency isn’t saying at this point if it will take its electronic comment filing and other licensing systems offline, with a public notice planned for Wednesday. The expectation among industry and FCC officials is that the 28 GHz auction won't reopen Thursday as planned and the website will be largely shuttered.
Despite heightened local opposition (see 1812170043), the FCC likely won't retreat from its plan to make it harder for local franchise authorities to get cable operators to provide extra services and carry public, educational and government programming, predicted those on both sides of the LFA issue. Those obligations have been in addition to fees LFAs collect from cable, with the amount as much as 5 percent of cable-TV providers' video revenue. Stakeholders expect the commission will make it tougher for local governments to get extras from cable providers without having to deduct those perquisites from the federal 5 percent cap. No immediate action is expected and it's thought staff aren't close to any final decisions.