The FCC probably will appeal to the Supreme Court its legal defeat over a policy of censuring broadcasters for airing one unintentional curse word during a show (CD July 14 p1), veteran industry lawyers and executives predicted. Many of them, and others we surveyed, also think the commission will at around the same time re-examine through a rulemaking what’s called the fleeting expletives policy. Career staffers continue to sort through filings against stations airing Fox programming over a Jan. 3 episode of American Dad, matching viewers’ complaints with the broadcasters in their markets, commission and industry officials said.
It was “more of the same” in the second Hill talk among House and Senate Commerce Committee staffers and about 30 outside parties interested in updating the Telecom Act, said attendee Andrew Schwartzman, senior vice president of the Media Access Project. The gathering, held behind closed doors Friday morning in the Russell Senate Office Building, was a follow up to a June 25 meeting hosted by the House (CD June 28 p1) OR (WID June 28 p2). All attendees from the previous week except Sprint Nextel and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation returned.
It was “more of the same” in the second Hill talk among House and Senate Commerce Committee staffers and about 30 outside parties interested in updating the Telecom Act, said attendee Andrew Schwartzman, senior vice president of the Media Access Project. The gathering, held behind closed doors Friday morning in the Russell Senate Office Building, was a follow up to a June 25 meeting hosted by the House (CD June 28 p1). All attendees from the previous week except Sprint Nextel and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation returned.
President Barack Obama unveiled $795 million in broadband grants and loans the morning after the House appropriators passed an amendment to take back $602 million in available broadband money. The latest batch of awards was matched by $200 million in outside investment, and will benefit 685,000 businesses, 900 healthcare facilities, 2,400 schools and “tens of millions of Americans,” the White House said.
President Barack Obama unveiled $795 million in broadband grants and loans the morning after the House appropriators passed an amendment to take back $602 million in available broadband money. The latest batch of awards was matched by $200 million in outside investment, and will benefit 685,000 businesses, 900 healthcare facilities, 2,400 schools and “tens of millions of Americans,” the White House said.
Attendees said a closed-door Hill meeting Friday was a productive starting point as Congress pursues an update to the Telecom Act. But it was more a listening session than a negotiation over any specific proposal, they told us afterward. The two-hour session was moderated by Bruce Wolpe, senior adviser on the House Commerce Committee, and included 31 participants representing ISPs, Internet edge companies, think tanks, labor and public interest groups. More meetings are planned next month, with the next set for July 2.
Attendees said a closed-door Hill meeting Friday was a productive starting point as Congress pursues an update to the Telecom Act. It was more a listening session than a negotiation over any specific proposal, they told us afterward. But some cited a preference in the room for narrowly targeted network neutrality legislation. The two-hour session was moderated by Bruce Wolpe, senior adviser on the House Commerce Committee, and included 31 participants representing ISPs, Internet edge companies, think tanks, labor and public interest groups. More meetings are planned next month, with the next set for July 2.
The broadband reclassification proposal that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will circulate Thursday makes clear the agency won’t forebear from its responsibilities under Section 257 of the Telecom Act to file reports on reducing market barriers to small and minority-owned companies, a commission official said. Genachowski’s proposal is for the agency to reclassify broadband transport from a lightly regulated information service to a common carrier service under Title II and forbear from all but six of its 48 sections. Concerns have been raised that the commission would forgo enforcement of the civil rights provision.
The FCC wants to know if consumers are satisfied with media they use, and how to measure that satisfaction. Those are among the more than 100 questions on online, print, radio and TV media asked in a notice of inquiry on the 2010 quadrennial review. It was released Tuesday afternoon, with questions largely along the lines of what had been anticipated (CD May 18 p4). Some questions about measuring the extent to which broadcasters serve their community raised the hackles of Commissioner Robert McDowell, who, like some industry and public interest officials (CD April 2 p1), suggested a rulemaking would have been possible without an inquiry.
The FCC requested extensive information about Comcast’s cable operations in its review of Comcast’s takeover of NBC Universal. In a 63-question information and discovery request, the commission sought details of Comcast cable and programming assets, its switched digital video deployments, its online video assets, its VoD systems, descriptions of its discussion with online video distributors such as Hulu, Boxee, YouTube, Amazon and iTunes. The commission also asked Comcast to describe all its arbitration proceedings for carriage of regional sports networks, its agreements with major sports leagues, the types of set-top boxes it uses and the kinds of devices it would consider using in the future. Comcast declined to comment on the request. Media Access Project said this is exactly the kind of information it has asked the commission to collect in other large transactions. “We're delighted that the FCC is taking this transaction seriously,” said Andrew Schwartzman, MAP senior vice president and policy director. “Today’s action certainly doesn’t mean the FCC is going to disapprove the deal, but it does indicate that the commission is undertaking an in depth review.” A cable industry source said the request comes very early on in the commission’s review process, which could be a sign that it is proceeding quickly.