During the first weeks of Ajit Pai’s tenure as FCC chairman he was particularly active in meeting with the media and with lawmakers, according to a Special Report analysis of his appointment calendar obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Pai, like predecessor Tom Wheeler, also had many meetings in those early weeks with telco and media interests, with Pai early on more active gathering with public interest groups.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai hires from Gibson Dunn Ashley Boizelle as deputy general counsel, with responsibility for administrative law ... FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel taps Umair Javed, ex-Wiley Rein, as legal adviser on wireless and international matters ... Bert Gomez, who recently left Univision (see 1709290028), joins Becker & Poliakoff as senior corporate and government relations director.
At updated IoT standards draft for federal agencies is expected in early 2018 and could impact the tech sector, in ongoing work at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, blogged Wiley Rein attorney Kathleen Scott. NIST launched its IoT cybersecurity program in November 2016. While the work is focused on federal agencies, the tech sector is providing input in developing standards that could ultimately affect the industry, NIST said. NIST held a meeting earlier this month on security approaches for IoT devices to ensure suppliers and vendors are aligned in their security approaches. It's "clear that the debate regarding IoT cyber standards is still nascent and that NIST is still working to define the scope of IoT," Scott said. On Thursday, NIST said its current IoT guidelines draft is 200 pages and could be released for public comment early next year, Scott said.
The coming boom in connected IoT devices brings increased cybersecurity concerns, but no consensus about or current push for a regulatory framework to address it, said IoT, cybersecurity and connected medical device experts at an FCBA CLE Wednesday evening. "Hard and fast rules aren't going to work," said NTIA Deputy Associate Administrator Evelyn Remaley.
Nearly 100 million iPhones are in the market with a deactivated FM chip, NAB responded Friday to claims attributed to Apple in some publications that iPhone 7s and iPhone 8s don’t contain FM chips and can’t be enabled to receive FM signals. That was a day after FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called on Apple to activate the FM chips in its iPhones to promote public safety (see 1709280060), NAB has commissioned quarterly “tear down” reports on smartphones since 2012, and says iPhones “built during that time, including the iPhone 7,” have “a chipset that includes support for FM radio,” said the trade group. Apple also sells the iPhone 6S, which has a deactivated FM chip, NAB said. "We encourage Apple to activate this feature on their future handsets so Americans can have access to lifesaving information during emergency situations.” Pai’s urging Apple to activate FM chips “could foreshadow further use" by the FCC chairman of his "bully pulpit to correct what he views as market inefficiencies without imposing additional regulation,” blogged Wiley Rein broadcast attorney Ari Meltzer, though Meltzer said he didn’t feel Pai departed from his previous stance that such decisions should be left to the market. NextRadio “thoroughly supports” Pai’s call for “more manufacturers, including Apple, to activate the FM chip” in their smartphones to promote public safety, said the Emmis Communications subsidiary and originator of the FM reception smartphone app in a statement: “The utility and urgency of having access to FM broadcasts has never been more apparent given recent weather emergencies.” Apple didn’t comment.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a report Tuesday on “The IoT Revolution and Our Digital Security,” counseling against regulation. “When it comes to security, attempts to regulate today will become outdated tomorrow,” said the first of 10 principles. “Flexible approaches to collaboration and cooperation to combat shared threats have significant advantages over national regulation which serves to fragment the global economy and lags behind technological innovation.” The Chamber said the issues raised will only grow in importance. “Recent high-profile cyberattacks underscore the importance for public-private collaboration to create policies that enhance privacy, security, and trust in the IoT,” said Ann Beauchesne, senior vice president-national security and emergency preparedness. The best approach to IoT security is “data-driven, based on empirical evidence of a specific harm, and [will] be adaptable both over time and cross-border,” the Chamber said. “Security demands should never be used as industrial policy to advance protectionism or favor national economic interests.” The report was written in partnership with Wiley Rein.
David Redl’s stalled nomination to be NTIA administrator is continuing to get communications and tech sector officials’ attention during Congress’ August recess, with some industry officials noting possible objections from Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Mike Lee, R-Utah. Cruz, Heller and Lee are members of the Senate Commerce Committee, which twice delayed a vote because of Cruz’s continued concerns about the U.S.’s October transfer of oversight of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (see 1610030042, 1706280027 and 1708020052). Redl’s troubles must be seen within the bigger picture in Washington, officials and lobbyists said. Votes on other nominees in President Donald Trump’s administration are also on hold, including FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s renomination to another term and Makan Delrahim’s nomination to lead DOJ’s Antitrust Division (see 1708030060 and 1708030063).
Cox Communications' "sham" Digital Millennium Copyright Act defense and its attempt to obfuscate through discovery abuses drove up the cost of litigation, so it can't complain about having to bear those costs, said BMG Rights Management and Round Hill Music in a supplemental principal and response brief (in Pacer) filed Friday with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Cox, fighting BMG's motion for $10.48 million in attorney's fees and $2.92 million in expenses (see 1610030005), never addresses those behaviors that caused the lower court to award fees, they said. They said Cox argued the torrent piracy lawsuit raised novel issues, but the 4th Circuit and the Supreme Court in its 2016 Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons decision rejected "novelty" as protection from avoiding fees. Counsel for Cox didn't comment Monday.
Internet Association hires Mèlika Carroll, ex-aide to Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, as senior vice president-global government affairs ... Amazon hires as public policy managers: Liz Garner, ex-Merchant Advisory Group; Dan O'Connor, ex-Computer and Communications Industry Association; John Drake, ex-American Trucking Association; Chris Wilson, ex-21st Century Fox; and Matthew McCardle, ex-Boeing ... Wiley Rein adds Rick Engelman, ex-Sprint, to Telecom, Media & Technology practice, as consultant ... Niskanen Center names Mike Godwin, ex-Center for Democracy and Technology, senior fellow.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai promotes Tom Sullivan to chief of the International Bureau, where he was acting chief ... Michael Platt, chief of staff to Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., nominated to be an assistant secretary of commerce ... Tribune Media's Matt Cherniss, president-general manager, WGN America and Tribune Studios, steps down effective at month's end; TV industry veteran Gavin Harvey named interim president, WGN America ... AT&T Global Public Sector moves Rob Dapkiewicz to vice president-federal civilian, succeeding Mike Leff, named vice president-strategy and operations.