Costs of developing industry standards, like those on wireless emergency alerts, vary widely, Patricia Higginbotham, Telecommunications Industry Association general counsel, told the FCC. TIA reported on a call between Higginbotham and James Wiley, a Public Safety Bureau staffer. Wiley asked about "the time, resources, number of volunteers, engineering committee meeting frequency, and other factors that drive overall costs associated with the development and modification of standards,” TIA said. “Higginbotham responded that, due to wide variance in the complexity of the subject matters, nature of the issues to be addressed, frequency of engineering committee meetings, scope of interested company and agency participants, and other factors, it is difficult to estimate the potential costs.” The filing was posted Thursday in docket 15-91.
If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, Tom Wheeler could remain FCC chairman into the summer of 2017, judging from the limited history of similar transitions, and on recent speculation about his plans. Former Chairman Reed Hundt is among those who said they see a prolonged Wheeler chairmanship as likely. Industry lawyers and former FCC officials, Democratic and Republican, said the outlook has evolved in recent weeks. Just a month ago, many said they expected Wheeler to leave in January, but they say it now looks likely he will keep his job well into 2017 should Clinton win to finish work left undone after she is sworn in Jan. 20. Clinton is ahead in most polls.
The FCC has come under fire for rulemaking policies and practices by everyone from lawmakers to its minority-party commissioners, though its openness and transparency -- especially in comparison with some other regulatory agencies -- could be worse, said several commission watchers and regulatory agency experts. Considering the amount of rulemaking the FCC engages in, "it works pretty well," Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood told us.
NTIA “intends to allow” its current contract with ICANN to administer the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions to expire just before midnight Sept. 30 and therefore allow the IANA transition to occur Oct. 1 as planned, NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling said Tuesday. NTIA believes a Friday report from ICANN on its progress with pre-transition implementation work shows the transition can occur “barring any significant impediment,” Strickling said in a letter to ICANN CEO Göran Marby. ICANN told NTIA it believes it will be able to complete all necessary governance changes before the IANA transition, including all but three of the recommendations NTIA made in its June assessment of transition-related plans. The three remaining recommendations require ICANN’s Public Technical Identifiers (PTI) subsidiary, which will be in charge of administering the IANA functions post-transition, to be engaged in post-transition operations (see 1608150056).
Wiley Rein's McBee Strategic Consulting hires Robert Marcus, ex-special assistant for legislative affairs to President Barack Obama, as executive vice president, working on lobbying and communications teams, effective Sept. 6 ... New ICANN ombudsman is Herb Waye; he was previously adjunct ombudsman and recently retired from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ... Washington, D.C.-based Tech incubator 1776 hires Peter Cherukuri, leaving Politico, as chief innovation officer and president-insights and intelligence, effective in fall ... Cision hires Kevin Akeroyd, ex-Oracle, as CEO; Peter Granat moves to chairman ... Viacom promotes Dion Vlachos to executive vice president-retail sales, marketing and publishing, Nickelodeon ... Cromwell Group hires Tom English as chief revenue officer ... GuidepostSolutions promotes John Torres to chief operating officer, Security and Technology Consulting group, new position, and hires Ed Batchelor, ex-Jensen Hughes, to lead its Chicago office ... Okta, identity and device management provider, adds Mark Settle, ex-IHS, as chief information officer, new position ... Small Cell Forum names David Orloff, AT&T, chairman, succeeding Alan Law.
Two ex-Senate Commerce Committee staffers pressed for a Telecom Act overhaul. “The need is pressing,” said Sam Whitehorn and Rob Chamberlin, both now lobbyists for Wiley Rein's McBee Strategic, writing in a joint post on the firm’s website. “The idea of technological privacy was unheard of in 1934 and was not thoroughly considered in the 1996 reform of telecommunication laws. Today, privacy is one of a series of concerns for consumers and the assorted industries now participating in the communications revolution. And the most modern-day effort, a 2006 rewrite attempted by the Senate Commerce Committee was derailed over a range of issues unimaginable during the 1930s, including net neutrality and broadband speeds.” Whitehorn said the 2006 efforts came close to the finish line (see 1402110041). They cited the stalled efforts in the House and Senate from this Congress and said they “show there is a bipartisan desire and a persistent awareness to address reform.” There should be “a clean-slate approach that will allow federal policymakers the flexibility to craft legislation that will not only address current technologies but will look ahead and provide a flexible framework for companies and innovators to follow,” they said. Both counted Microsoft, CompTIA and Time Warner Cable, now owned by Charter Communications, as lobbying clients this year. Whitehorn’s include Intel while Chamberlin’s include Facebook and Oracle.
FCC General Counsel Jon Sallet, widely seen as a key deputy to Chairman Tom Wheeler, is leaving the agency for DOJ, to be replaced by Howard Symons, Incentive Auction Task Force vice chairman. Sallet had a hand in most major policy calls under Wheeler, starting with last year’s net neutrality rules, recently upheld the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, industry observers said. A former FCC legal adviser said Sallet was “instrumental in every key decision the chairman made.”
NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling worked Thursday to “correct the record” on claims made by Internet governance stakeholders who are skeptical of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) transition. He again pushed back against calls for NTIA to delay the transition by extending the agency's existing contract with ICANN to administer the IANA functions. Strickling told Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and four other GOP senators in late June that NTIA sees “no tangible benefit” to seeking a transition delay (see 1606280062). Extending the IANA contract “will not be effective” in protecting internet freedom despite what some transition skeptics claim, Strickling said during an Internet Governance Forum USA conference.
FCC hires Michael Scurato, leaving National Hispanic Media Coalition, as legal adviser, Enforcement Bureau Office of the Bureau Chief, effective July 11 ... Hawaii Public Utilities Commission's Thomas Gorak, who has been chief counsel, sworn in as a commissioner, succeeding, with term expired June 30, Michael Champley ... Michigan Public Service Commission names Kavita Kale, ex-Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, executive secretary and Freedom of Information Act coordinator ... Univision Communications promotes Isaac Lee to chief news, entertainment and digital officer, and he continues to oversee Fusion Media Group and is leading the search for Univision's new president-entertainment, a position that will report to him.
Congress should pass legislation to help law enforcement gain access to locked devices and encrypted data during investigations without endangering other people's privacy and security, several panelists said at an FCBA event Thursday evening. They were mixed on whether lawmakers would be able to do that. "The really hard meta question is: Are we more comfortable with the problem being resolved on a case-by-case ad hoc by magistrate judges or by Congress?" asked University of Texas School of Law professor Stephen Vladeck, who was skeptical about Capitol Hill's efficacy.