The FCC will likely deny petitions for stay from Securus and Global Tel*Link (GTL), forcing the prison phone service providers to seek legal review in the court of appeals, Lee Petro, a Drinker Biddle lawyer representing the so-called Wright Petitioners, told us Wednesday. The Wright Petitioners filed oppositions to petitions for stay from both Securus and GTL in docket 12-375, alleging those companies ignored the “enormous impact caused by a further delay in providing real relief to ICS [inmate calling service] consumers.” A 2012 petition to reform high inmate calling rates by the late Martha Wright, a Washington, D.C., woman whose grandson was imprisoned (see 1209260042), set into motion interim interstate price caps approved by the commission in 2013 (see 1308120049).
Initial comments are due Jan. 19 and replies Feb. 1 on the FCC's Further NPRM on inmate calling services (ICS), said a Wireline Bureau public notice Tuesday in docket 12-375. The commission is seeking comment "on promoting additional competition in the ICS marketplace, new technologies being used to deliver inmate communications, the collection of additional data, contract filing requirements, third-party transaction fees, and international calling." The PN also noted the effective dates for rules in an ICS order that also was approved in October (see 1510220059): prohibitions against entering into new contracts, or negotiating amendments to existing contracts, prior to the order's effective date, took effect Dec. 18; rate caps and fee restrictions will become effective March 17, other than those for jails, which will become effective on June 20; rules and requirements regarding Paperwork Reduction Act burdens will take effect upon Federal Register publication of an Office of Management and Budget approval notice; and all other requirements of the order take effect Jan. 19. Global Tel*Link Tuesday asked the FCC to stay the effectiveness of the rate caps in the order, pending further judicial review (see 1512220055). "They are just getting their ticket punched so they can seek a judicial stay," Andrew Schwartzman, senior counselor at the Georgetown Institute for Public Representation, told us Wednesday.
The FCC rejected a Global Tel*Link objection to a request by CenturyLink’s outside counsel to view confidential information GTL submitted in response to a commission order in the inmate calling service rulemaking. GTL didn’t raise any objections that were specific to the counsel but instead made arguments that “amounted to a disagreement with the terms” of a protective order in the proceeding, the bureau said in an order in docket 12-375 listed in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. “Because GTL’s arguments all go to the merits of allowing its information to be reviewed pursuant to the Protective Order, we dismiss GTL’s objection as untimely,” the bureau said. The bureau also said it disagreed with GTL’s arguments on the merits. While the information may be confidential and commercially sensitive, GTL’s concerns are “unfounded,” given the safeguards of the protective order, the bureau said. The company information is also relevant to the rulemaking, weighing in favor of making it available under the safeguards, the bureau added.
Global Tel*Link asked the FCC to stay inmate calling service (ICS) rate caps in a commission order, pending further judicial review of those caps and other aspects of the order (see 1510220059). The stay is warranted because Global Tel*Link is likely to succeed in its legal challenge to the order on its merits, the company would otherwise suffer irreparable harm, and the balance of equities favors a stay, GTL said in a petition filed Tuesday at the commission in docket 12-375. "The reviewing court will likely set aside the rate caps, first of all, because -- as the Commission itself acknowledged -- they do not allow ICS providers to recover the legitimate costs of providing service in correctional institutions," GTL said. "To obtain permission to place their equipment inside prisons and jails, ICS providers must pay state and local authorities location rents or site commissions. The Commission recognized that the rate caps it set do not allow ICS providers to recover those location rents," the company said. The caps thus violate (1) Section 276(b)(1)(A) of the Communications Act requiring the FCC to ensure ICS providers are fairly compensated for all calls from their payphones, (2) Section 201 requiring "just and reasonable" rates, and (3) the U.S. Constitution, which bars "confiscatory rates," GTL said. It said the FCC "expressed its distaste" for site-commission payments to correctional authorities but declined to prohibit them. "The Commission cannot endorse site commissions -- however reluctantly -- yet prevent ICS providers from recovering that real cost of providing service," said GTL. The company said it would suffer irreparable harm without a stay because it wouldn't be able to recover the revenue lost due to the "unlawful, confiscatory rates." The FCC had no comment, a spokeswoman said. Securus Technologies, which had also said it would seek a stay, also had no comment.
The FCC Wireline Bureau admonished the Alabama Public Service Commission and a PSC staffer who the bureau said violated a protective order in the inmate calling service proceeding. In an order in docket 12-375 and in Friday's Daily Digest, the bureau said the remedies already undertaken by the PSC (see 1509300023 and 1510080015) were sufficient to preserve the integrity of FCC processes, so it imposed no additional penalties. "We continue to prohibit Darrell A. Baker from reviewing confidential documents submitted in this proceeding, or any other proceeding before the Commission, however, and also exclude him from participating further in this proceeding for at least one year," Bureau Chief Matt DelNero wrote. Global Tel*Link had said the FCC should impose further sanctions on the Alabama PSC and Baker (see 1510050034), who acknowledged he inadvertently submitted a filing with confidential information from Global Tel*Link and other ICS providers (see 1509280034).
Filings by Global Tel*Link and Securus Technologies in the inmate calling service proceeding during a recent “Sunshine Agenda period” were prohibited under ex parte rules, the commission's Office of General Counsel said in a public notice Friday in docket 12-375. The OGC said it wasn't persuaded by GTL and Securus arguments that their filings should be allowed under an exemption for emergencies because they reported death threats to company officials (see 1511060057 and 1511040044). “Contrary to the parties’ arguments, the part of the filings that constituted a presentation on the merits was not the discussion of the menacing comments, but rather the advocacy that followed in those letters,” the OGC said. The GTL and Securus filings thus “will be associated with, but not made part of the record” in the ICS proceeding, the OGC said, saying Securus was able to put the menacing comments into the record in a subsequent filing “without the additional violative material.” Lee Petro -- counsel for the Martha Wright Petitioners group, which had asked the FCC to sanction GTL and Securus for the filings (see 1511030054) -- told us: "We are pleased that the FCC agrees with us that the submissions did not fall within the narrow exceptions to the ex parte rules.” The OGC noted there were various filings by other parties during the Sunshine Agenda period, which some of the parties said were "inadvertent." The OGC also said the Wireline Bureau decided a previous GTL filing violated the rules, but the office said it was taking no further action on that violation. Securus and GTL didn't comment.
Global Tel*Link urged the FCC to reject a motion against its letter that cited threats against company executives arising out of the FCC's inmate calling service actions and statements. In a response posted Friday in docket 12-375, GTL said the motion of the Martha Wright Petitioners to strike its Oct. 27 letter from the record and sanction the company for allegedly violating Sunshine Act rules should be rejected because the letter "is not part of the record for the inmate calling service ('ICS') proceeding" and thus "is not ripe." GTL offered various arguments for why the letter was not an official "presentation" covered by the rules or an attempt to influence the ICS rulemaking. GTL said it simply considered the threats a "safety of life" issue. Referring to both the GTL letter and similar Securus filings, the Martha Wright Petitioners said Friday, “It is our understanding that the FCC has determined that the ex parte notices apparently violated the FCC’s rules. We are confident that the FCC will take the appropriate action to address the matter.”
The FCC released the text of its order restricting inmate calling service (ICS) charges that it called “excessive and unaffordable.” The ICS market “is characterized by increasing rates, with no competitive pressures to reduce rates,” with service providers acting as “unchecked monopolists” in how they treat consumers, said the 210-page item, which included a Further NPRM and was adopted 3-2 Oct. 22 (see 1510220059). The item contains extensive discussion explaining the decisions and economic analysis. ICS providers Global Tel*Link and Securus Technologies have vowed to challenge the decision in court, with Securus saying it would seek a stay. Neither commented Friday.
Securus recently received three positive rulings in patent infringement cases and inter partes reviews (IPRs) between it and Global Tel*Link (GTL), it said in a news release Wednesday. In an IPR proceeding before the Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), Securus retained the validity of a patent challenged by GTL, it said. Securus also said a court denied GTL's request for damages and attorney fees in a separate case in which GTL alleged Securus improperly filed, and found two GTL patents, which the company claimed Securus infringed upon, weren't patentable. “This appears to be a Pyrrhic victory for Securus. Earlier this week, the Patent Board invalidated yet another Securus patent, which means one less tool for them to use in their trolling practices," a GTL spokeswoman told us. "GTL has successfully prevented Securus from suing any other competitors for three years now. That is good for competition and good for the broader market place."
Securus recently received three positive rulings in patent infringement cases and inter partes reviews (IPRs) between it and Global Tel*Link (GTL), it said in a news release Wednesday. In an IPR proceeding before the Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), Securus retained the validity of a patent challenged by GTL, it said. Securus also said a court denied GTL's request for damages and attorney fees in a separate case in which GTL alleged Securus improperly filed, and found two GTL patents, which the company claimed Securus infringed upon, weren't patentable. “This appears to be a Pyrrhic victory for Securus. Earlier this week, the Patent Board invalidated yet another Securus patent, which means one less tool for them to use in their trolling practices," a GTL spokeswoman told us. "GTL has successfully prevented Securus from suing any other competitors for three years now. That is good for competition and good for the broader market place."