FCC staffers expect to handle more meetings over the phone and fewer in person over the next weeks due to the coronavirus. The FCC hasn't made a decision yet, but industry and agency officials said in interviews this week the March 31 commissioners’ meeting may not be in-person. Chairman Ajit Pai spoke to the Free State Foundation conference Tuesday via video and Commissioner Brendan Carr canceled an appearance. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly spoke. See that news: 2003100047 and 2003100061.
The potential anticompetitive impact of trademarking domain names created by adding a generic top-level domain (gTLD) such as .com to an otherwise generic terms like "booking" is at issue in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Patent and Trademark Office, backed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, seeks a per se rule barring such domain names from being protected. Intellectual property scholars and lawyers and online companies disagree, although some also note anti-competition concerns. Case documents in PTO v. Booking.com (No. 19-46), which is set for argument March 23 (see 2001310027) are here.
Former FCC Chairman Dick Wiley and David Hilliard, both from Wiley, filed an email to an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai on an upcoming meeting on Aviation Spectrum Resources, Inc.’s request for limited waiver FCC rules to allow use of two 25 kHz channels in the 136.000-136.4875 MHz band for data link communications using FCC-licensed aeronautical en route service stations. The waiver request was unopposed when the FCC sought comment, said a filing in docket 19-180, posted Wednesday. “ASRI tells us that both channels are needed this quarter,” the filing said: “Delay will have a negative effect on implementation of the FAA's major initiative to improve the safety and efficiency of air traffic control.”
Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA) implementation is in its early days, with new rules taking effect last week, but it's generally assumed the number of transactions coming under Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) jurisdiction will quadruple, said David Plotinsky, DOJ National Security Division principal deputy chief, at an FCBA CLE event Wednesday. He said the number of telecom deals subject to CFIUS also likely will quadruple, though there's less concern about deals on "the pipes" of telecom than on data. CFIUS experts said prospective deals now have to take CFIUS issues and possible mitigation steps into consideration early in the planning.
Businesses entered the new year with questions about the California Consumer Privacy Act that took effect Wednesday, privacy attorneys told us this week. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) has until July to develop rules and start enforcing them, but CCPA is now law with enforcement to look back to Jan. 1.
The 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference was a mixed success for the U.S., FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said, viewing WRC-19 as falling short. Other WRC watchers echoed O’Rielly’s concerns and said questions about ITU process aren’t going away. The conference ended last month after weeks of negotiations (see 1911220014).
NTIA acting Administrator Diane Rinaldo's exit (see 1912160022) about seven months after former Administrator David Redl’s abrupt departure likely means more turmoil ahead, industry observers said Monday. Rinaldo will apparently be replaced by Treasury Department acting Deputy Assistant Secretary-International Affairs Edward Hearst, lobbyists and observers said. It's unclear whether Hearst would be taking over as acting administrator or would be nominated to the role. The White House, NTIA, the Commerce Department and Treasury didn't comment.
Almost two years after Chairman Ajit Pai announced the media modernization effort, many items taken up under that umbrella have had a small scope, an uncontentious docket, and sometimes don’t even draw formal responses from the opposing party. General agreement and a tight focus aren't bad things, broadcast and MVPD attorneys and FCC officials said of the program. “That the items are often unanimous is a compelling case for getting rid of the rules,” said Matthew Berry, Pai’s chief of staff.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai becomes also Alphabet CEO; Alphabet CEO Larry Page and President Sergey Brin leave their roles, remaining shareholders and board members ... Wiley Rein promotes Henry Gola to partner, and Daniel Brooks and Kathryne Dickerson to of counsel, all telecom, media and technology ... Brendan Parets, ex-office of Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., rejoins Covington & Burling as special counsel-congressional investigations and lobbying, telecom, technology and judiciary ... Cable and communications lawyer Craig Gilley leaves Mintz for Venable.
An FCC appeal of Prometheus IV at the Supreme Court is expected by agency and industry stakeholders. Left unclear is how the rules restored by 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will affect the industry in the meantime, said broadcasters and broadcast attorneys at a Media Bureau event on industry trends Thursday. They said the agency shouldn't wait on the uncertain appeal to deregulate broadcast ownership. Wednesday evening, the 3rd Circuit declined the regulator's request to reconsider the case (see 1911200063)