"Small businesses have much at stake” in the way network neutrality plays out at the FCC, said Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., of the House Small Business Committee. But at a hearing Wednesday, small-business executives touched only lightly on the matter. Most instead emphasized the need for continued government support for broadband deployment and adoption efforts.
Adam Bender
Adam Bender, Senior Editor, is the state and local telecommunications reporter for Communications Daily, where he also has covered Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. He has won awards for his Warren Communications News reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, Specialized Information Publishers Association and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Bender studied print journalism at American University and is the author of dystopian science-fiction novels. You can follow Bender at WatchAdam.blog and @WatchAdam on Twitter.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn rallied supporters of Title II reclassification of broadband Internet services Tuesday at the Free Press Summit. It’s a “big lie” that the government wants to take over the Internet, Dorgan said. Clyburn urged the audience to dispel that and other myths she said lobbyists for big businesses in the industry are spreading. She also said the FCC needs to involve consumers outside Washington more in the Comcast-NBC Universal deal and other matters.
As the FCC considers the future of media, it may need to “modify” the public-interest standard, how the commission enforces it or “how stations fulfill it,” said FCC Media Bureau Associate Chief William Freedman in a panel at the Free Press Summit on Tuesday. “As long as stations are being allowed to use the people’s airwaves, I continue to believe that there should be some quid pro quo, and that’s public service.” It’s easy to “get lulled into a false sense of security” because there are so many stations, TV channels and websites, he said. But just having a large number of sources doesn’t guarantee diverse, “antagonistic” and “vital” news and information, he said. Freedman encouraged interested parties to file comments. Currently “everything is on the table” in the FCC’s proceeding and there are “no preconceived notions about the outcome,” he said. One of the biggest problems keeping public broadcasters from taking chances and reaching new audiences is a fear of upsetting major donors, said Maxie Jackson, president of the national Federation of Community Broadcasters. He cited a “strong need” for regulation to promote diversity.
Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., plans to offer a net neutrality bill “this week,” he told us in a written statement Monday. A draft of the House Communications Subcommittee ranking member’s bill, circulated among industry lobbyists Monday, would bar the FCC from regulating “information services or Internet access services absent a market failure.” That’s slightly different from a previous draft (CD Feb 25 p11), which would only have prevented the commission from regulating information services. FCC Chairman Genachowski last week proposed reclassifying Internet access services under Title II of the Communications Act. As in the previous draft, before regulating, the FCC would have to send Congress a report showing evidence of a market failure causing “specific, identified harm to consumers by preventing a substantial number of consumers nationwide from accessing a substantial amount of lawful Internet content, applications, and services of their choice on a continuing basis.”
The FCC will have to be lithe as a circus performer to pull off Chairman Julius Genachowski’s so-called “third way” for regulating broadband, said officials from industry and a free-market think tank at a Progress & Freedom Foundation event Friday morning. And the approach would create significant market uncertainty if applied, they said. Genachowski revealed his plan to seal the commission’s broadband Internet authority on Thursday (CD May 7 p1).
Democrats and Republicans in Congress divided sharply on FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s plan to cement the commission’s broadband authority. (See separate story in this issue.) Democrats stood by the FCC chairman, while Republicans accused him of partisanship. The GOP called reclassification -- even lightly applied -- a mistake. House and Senate Commerce Committee Chairmen Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., urged Genachowski on Wednesday to pursue “all viable options,” including reclassification (CD May 6 p1).
The House Small Business Committee plans a broadband hearing Wednesday at 1 p.m., a committee spokesman confirmed Thursday. Small businesses are expected to testify on how broadband creates jobs and helps the economy.
The House failed to pass a bill to expand telework opportunities for federal workers. The bill (HR-1722), sponsored by Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md., didn’t pass by voice vote Wednesday, forcing a roll-call vote the next day. On Thursday, The House voted 268-147 in favor, but the bill still didn’t pass because it had been raised under suspension of the rules and therefore required approval by a two-thirds majority. All the no votes came from Republicans, but 24 members of that party voted for the bill. Ten Democrats and six Republicans didn’t vote. “I'm pleased we received bipartisan support for the bill but I hope more of my Republican colleagues who claim to be concerned about federal deficits will take the time to understand this issue,” said Sarbanes. “I look forward to working with House leadership to bring the bill back to the floor so those who opposed it have the opportunity to reconsider.” Voting on suspension is an expedited approach to passing bills. The telework bill can be brought back to the floor for a simple majority vote, said a spokeswoman for Sarbanes. Before this week’s vote, the bill received “a few technical and drafting corrections,” made jointly by majority and minority committee staff, the spokeswoman said. The legislation is similar to a bipartisan bill pending before the full Senate by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski knows how to cement the commission’s authority over broadband without reclassifying it under Title II of the Communications Act, a senior commission official said late Wednesday in an e-mail sent to reporters by an agency spokeswoman. He won’t say what it is until Thursday, the spokeswoman told us. The e-mail came a few hours after Democratic Commerce Committee leaders urged the FCC to consider “all viable options,” including reclassifying broadband, in the wake of the Comcast decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The House Commerce Committee approved a prepaid calling card bill by voice vote at a Wednesday markup. HR-3993, sponsored by Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., would require disclosure of provider information, the card’s number of minutes or dollar value, per-minute rates, fees and charges, time period limits and expiration dates, and refund and recharge policies. It would also require the FTC to prosecute violations. A manager’s amendment passed by voice vote Wednesday makes a technical edit to give the FTC “flexibility to limit the required disclosures on advertising and promotional material,” said House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif. “Many calling cards today have numerous hidden costs and fail to deliver the full number of advertised minutes.” The bill is the result of bipartisan work and would “prevent fraud and abuse in the prepaid calling card industry” and “provide consumers with accurate and understandable information about rates, fees, terms, and conditions,” he said. Ranking Member Joe Barton, R-Texas, backed the bill: “Consumers should not have to draw a flow chart to know how many minutes they'll actually get on a prepaid calling card.”