Enforcement Bureau Changed Under Pai, Redoubles Efforts on Piracy, FCBA Told
The FCC Enforcement Bureau has “redoubled” its efforts to combat unauthorized broadcasting and is working its way through some of the changes required by the 2015 field modernization order, bureau officials told an FCBA event Tuesday. The bureau is seen as likely to function differently under the current administration than in the past, said a panel of industry officials. The bureau's general policy for enforcement actions is to start with a warning and then proceed in a way that will discourage future violations. “The driving force is what will be needed to encourage the individual to stop,” said Senior Field Counsel Steve Spaeth.
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Bureau actions on unauthorized broadcasting have involved both longtime, repeatedly warned pirates and new offenders, Spaeth said. New pirates have cropped up in New York, Boston and Miami, he said. The bureau typically encounters two classes of pirate, said Field Director Charles Cooper. “Casual” pirates that cease broadcasting after being warned, and more dedicated operations that charge for advertising and in some cases have moveable antennas.
Since the field modernization order, the bureau has turned its efforts toward all kinds of interference, which has made its work more focused, Cooper said. Despite rumors that the reduced staffing levels and closed field office have hurt bureau work, it remains effective, Spaeth said. The travel budget has been fully funded, he said. Cost savings from the changes to the field were slotted to go to new equipment for the bureau, and it's working through a procurement process for buying new frequency detection devices, he said. There's also a procurement process for contractors to handle enforcement efforts in Puerto Rico and Anchorage, Alaska, he said.
The FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai is seen likely to shift away from making rules through enforcement actions, as opposed to the previous FCC, said Wiley Rein attorney Bennett Ross, T-Mobile Vice President Government Affairs Steve Sharkey, and AT&T Assistant Vice President-Federal Regulatory Jeanine Poltronieri. They hope the Pai FCC will continue the previous administration's focus on issues that cause actual harm rather than procedural matters.
Poltronieri said effects of the field modernization order can't be judged until more time has passed. She would like to see the FCC give more attention to the order's online complaint portal, she said. Industry should give the changed bureau “time to run” and then “make decisions about what is or isn't appropriate in terms of field head count,” she said. Fewer field agents inevitably makes the bureau's job harder, Sharkey said: “We were unhappy to see a reduction in this part of the Enforcement Bureau.”
Ross praised Pai and Commissioner Mike O'Rielly's criticisms of the FCC's previous high-dollar enforcement actions over Wi-Fi blocking, which he called “enforcement by press release.” Ross represents some companies targeted in those actions. The FCC needs to clarify its stance on the “deauthentification” tech at the center of those cases, Ross said. “Wi-Fi is not a protected service,” Sharkey said.