A revised draft rulemaking on ex parte filings would require a filing any time an FCC member, aide or bureau staffer is lobbied regarding a proceeding, commission officials said. The current rules require documentation when someone from outside the FCC covers ground not included in previous filings, such as comments on proceedings. Ex parte filings are often but not always made in these situations (CD Sept 14 p1), the officials said. The documents sometimes are so brief that they don’t reveal what was discussed.
The first round of hearings on Comcast’s deal to buy control of NBC Universal went better than expected for the companies and may bode well for the ultimate reception for the purchase on the Hill, said a participant and some observers. Back-to-back House Communications Subcommittee and Senate Antitrust Subcommittee hearings Thursday (CD Feb 5 p1)included vigorous questioning but didn’t raise worries for the deal, said some. The sessions may set the tone for further hearings, said a lobbyist and a communications lawyer.
The first round of hearings on Comcast’s deal to buy control of NBC Universal went better than expected for the companies and may bode well for the ultimate reception for the purchase on the Hill, said a participant and some observers. Back-to-back House Communications Subcommittee and Senate Antitrust Subcommittee hearings Thursday (CED Feb 5 p3) included vigorous questioning but didn’t raise worries for the deal, said some. The sessions may set the tone for further hearings, said a lobbyist and a communications lawyer.
The first round of hearings on Comcast’s deal to buy control of NBC Universal went better than expected for the companies and may bode well for the ultimate reception for the purchase on the Hill, said a participant and some observers. Back-to-back House Communications Subcommittee and Senate Antitrust Subcommittee hearings Thursday (WID Feb 5 p5) included vigorous questioning but didn’t raise worries for the deal, said some. The sessions may set the tone for further hearings, said a lobbyist and a communications lawyer.
A union, two media diversity groups and a small cable channel want U.S. regulators to block Comcast’s proposed purchase of control of NBC Universal. Concern over preventing broadcast and cable programming from being more widely distributed online is a key factor in the opposition, representatives told reporters Wednesday as some previewed their testimony on Capitol Hill. Comcast said the “nascent” market for online video is “highly competitive” and FCC officials said the agency is just beginning its review.
A union, two media diversity groups and a small cable channel want U.S. regulators to block Comcast’s proposed purchase of control of NBC Universal. Concern over preventing broadcast and cable programming from being more widely distributed online is a key factor in the opposition, representatives told reporters Wednesday as some previewed their testimony on Capitol Hill. Comcast said the “nascent” market for online video is “highly competitive” and FCC officials said the agency is just beginning its review.
The FCC response to what’s considered an all-but-certain reversal or remand of its order against Comcast’s network management will largely be dictated by whether the appeals court rules on procedural or statutory grounds, government, industry and public interest lawyers said. A procedural ruling throwing out the 2008 order or sending it back for more work likely would have less impact on FCC authority over how all ISPs treat content, agreed eight lawyers, including some participants in the case, responding to our survey. A reversal by the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit of the order against the Comcast treatment of BitTorrent peer-to-peer files could have wider-reaching effects, they said.
The FCC response to what’s considered an all-but-certain reversal or remand of its order against Comcast’s network management will largely be dictated by whether the appeals court rules on procedural or statutory grounds, government, industry and public interest lawyers said. A procedural ruling throwing out the 2008 order or sending it back for more work likely would have less impact on FCC authority over how all ISPs treat content, agreed eight lawyers, including some participants in the case, responding to our survey. A reversal by the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit of the order against the Comcast treatment of BitTorrent peer-to-peer files could have wider-reaching effects, they said.
Thursday afternoon’s Comcast-NBC Universal hearing before the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee includes executives for the companies, consumer groups and small cable operators, the subcommittee said Monday. Invited witnesses are Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker, WOW CEO Colleen Abdoulah, Consumer Federation of America Research Director Mark Cooper and Media Access Project President Andrew Schwartzman. The hearing starts at 2:30 p.m. All except for Schwartzman were also invited (CD Jan 29 p10) to the House Communications Subcommittee’s morning hearing on the merger.
Promoting broadband adoption is critical to promoting equality for groups that have been disfavored, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and FCC Broadband Coordinator Blair Levin said Friday at the Minority Media & Telecom Council’s Broadband and Social Justice Summit. Clyburn also stressed the importance to these groups of maintaining the low barriers to entry that the open Internet offers. Clyburn said the challenge is “last half-mile” -- the distance from those without broadband to the physical infrastructure right outside their doors. The Internet can worsen inequality, Levin said. He said adoption can been spurred by a social infrastructure that “weaves our investments in digital access into the fabric of our communities,” including libraries and community centers; “social innovation” like online credit counseling or grant programs to “micro entrepreneurs;” and “social purpose media” -- high-quality government and private content, Levin said. What has happened with U.S. minority media ownership shouldn’t happen to the Internet, Clyburn said, advocating open Internet rules to empower communities of color. There has been no discussion of the importance for under-represented groups to maintain the low barriers to entry that the Internet has provided, she said. “I believe in smart regulation,” Clyburn said. That’s why the commission has started a process that will account for reasonable network management, she said. Clyburn endorsed imposing strong rules that don’t cede control of the “most significant communications advancement.” With an open Internet, “we have the chance to lower the bar,” she said. CEO Andrew Schwartzman of the Media Access Project said Clyburn understands that transferring old media ownership models to the Internet, and increasing gatekeepers’ control over it, would reduce its benefits in free expression civil rights.