Senators showed a strong partisan split Wednesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in how they saw net neutrality. It’s the second such hearing that Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has held this year. Democrats urged net neutrality protections, while differing on what underlying authority should be relied on, while Republicans scoffed at the notion that any rules are necessary and pointed to antitrust law.
Center for Democracy & Technology President Nuala O'Connor prefers a more nuanced application of legal authority for net neutrality rules, involving some but not complete Title II grounding, she plans to tell Congress Wednesday. She and Robert McDowell, a former Republican FCC commissioner now at Wiley Rein, will testify on net neutrality Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. O'Connor has defended the need for net neutrality rules, while McDowell has questioned them. “I would like to discuss several proposals that draw upon, or are hybrids of, Title II and Section 706, and several implementation issues applicable to any approach,” O'Connor plans to say, according to written testimony. The real question is whether the “commercially reasonable” standard supports the concept of Internet openness, O'Connor’s testimony says. In it she proposes a potential modification of that standard to allow for rules crafted under Communications Act Section 706. She also discusses a “hybrid” authority that takes “some of the strengths of Title II and Section 706” and considers what it would mean to apply Title II reclassification to edge providers. But the FCC needs “clear rules now,” she argues. Other witnesses are Union Square Ventures Managing Partner Brad Burnham, actress Ruth Livier, and Jeff Eisenach, a visiting scholar with the American Enterprise Institute Center for Internet, Communications and Technology Policy. The hearing will be at 10:30 a.m. in 216 Hart. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., also pressed for broader discussion of net neutrality outside of Washington and stronger rules in an op-ed for The Hill Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1m8GMGM). “To make sure they get this right, the FCC should leave Washington and go on the road to hear firsthand from consumers, small-business owners, entrepreneurs, educators and other citizens who will be directly impacted by the policies put in place for the Internet,” Leahy and Matsui said, emphasizing their work to hold events outside D.C. They had partnered to introduce legislation that would ban paid prioritization deals.
A TV station that won a rare FCC OK to move cross-country after a court ordered it to (CD Dec 17/12 p4) now wants to be what agency and industry officials said in interviews Monday would be a technological first for broadcasting. PMCM’s KVNV Middletown, New Jersey, wants to operate on the same main program and system information protocol (PSIP) channel as Meredith Corp.’s longtime WFSB Hartford, while each would have different virtual PSIP subchannels. Meredith opposed KVNV, which used to be licensed to Ely, Nevada, having the same PSIP as WFSB when the New Jersey station begins broadcasting from the new location. So, PMCM came up with an alternative idea that has never been presented before in the memories of TV station lawyers we spoke to or FCC officials.
Wiley Rein hires Robert McDowell, ex-FCC and more recently Hudson Institute, as partner, Communications Practice, where he will advise on digital media, media, technology and telecom … FCC promotes Nese Guendelsberger to International Bureau deputy chief … Blair Levin, Gig.U, leaves Aspen Institute, where he was a fellow … Bravo Media promotes Shari Levine to executive vice president-current production, Bravo … Smart home technology supplier Webee hires Timothy Sheehy as CEO, replacing company founder Lucas Funes, who shifts to chief innovation officer, new post … Radio Television Digital News Association elections for 2014-15 include: Kathy Walker, KOA(AM) Denver, as chairwoman-elect; Amy Tardif, WGCU(FM) Fort Myers, chairwoman; Chris Carl, WDEL(AM) Wilmington, Delaware, as chairman, Radio Television Digital News Foundation, and past chairman, RTDNA; and Dan Shelley, Interactive One Local & Interactive One Studios, foundation treasurer.
FCC proceedings on petitions to pre-empt North Carolina and Tennessee laws on municipal broadband are likely to become a showdown about the extent of the commission’s authority under Communications Act Section 706 and the applicability of the Supreme Court’s 2004 decision in Nixon v. Missouri Municipal League, industry observers told us. The FCC is reviewing pre-emption petitions from Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Wilson, North Carolina. Matthew Berry, chief of staff to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, said in a speech Wednesday that the FCC’s authority to pre-empt state laws municipal broadband laws under Section 706 was weak and that the precedent the Supreme Court set in Nixon would likely doom pre-emption in court (CD Aug. 21 p10).
Kerbey Harrington hires Brendon Pinkard, ex-Wiley Rein and specialist in broadband, cable-TV, video and telecom issues, as partner; Now called Kerbey Harrington Pinkard, it opens a Washington office where he will work and which includes government affairs consulting affiliate Government Insight Group, which he will advise … Silicon Flatirons adds Kristelia Garcia, ex-George Washington University Law School, as director of its content initiative and she joined the University of Colorado’s law school as associate professor, teaching trademark, property and copyright-related courses.
Uber hires David Plouffe, ex-assistant to President Barack Obama, as senior vice president-policy and strategy, starting late next month … Sinclair promotes Mike Kralec to vice president-data systems and information technology services, new post … Sprint hires Jeff Silva, ex-Medley Global Advisors, as manager-public affairs, succeeding John Taylor, who had left for SpaceX (CD May 9 p23) … Riverbed Technology hires Paul Mountford, ex-Sentillian, as senior vice president and chief sales officer … Imperva, data center security provider, names Anthony Bettencourt, ex-Coverity, as president and CEO and he joins board; ex-CEO Shlomo Kramer remains chairman and also is chief strategy officer.
Obama administration officials dismissed perceived misnomers about NTIA’s transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and argued at an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) conference on Internet governance Tuesday that the transition has made impossible calls for intergovernmental control of those functions. The event was webcast from the think tank’s Washington conference center. Academics and domain experts warned of an increasing climate in favor of government control for Internet governance that could threaten to derail the progress of the multistakeholder model. It’s “possible” that the State Department could become involved in a legal proceeding on the requested aquisition of the country code top-level domains for Iran, North Korea and Syria in lieu of unpaid damages to the victims of terror attacks involving those nations, said Daniel Sepulveda, deputy assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs. Sepulveda said he’s looking into the case.
The Federal Aviation Administration has indicated in recent weeks it expects by September to publish its long-awaiting NPRM on commercial operation of small drones, and that it will be “a multiyear process from beginning to end,” Mike Senkowski, who heads the new unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) practice at the Wiley Rein law firm in Washington, told a Law Seminars International tele-briefing Monday. However, Senkowski personally is “skeptical” that the FAA’s September time frame is “realistic,” he told us in a Tuesday email.
FCC Wireless Bureau promotes Chris Helzer to chief engineer … At FCBA, Executive Director Stan Zenor retiring, effective July 31, and then will be a consultant to it on special events and projects. Elections include: Christopher Wright, Harris Wiltshire, president-elect; Lee Petro, Drinker Biddle, secretary; Julie Kearney, CEA, assistant secretary; Erin Dozier, NAB, assistant secretary; on executive committee: Brendan Carr, FCC; Christine Crowe, Wilkinson Barker; and Angela Kronenberg, Comptel; on nominations committee: Anna Gomez, Wiley Rein; Grace Koh, House Commerce Committee; and Richard Whitt, Motorola Mobility; and foundation trustees: Mia Guizzetti Hayes, Willkie Farr; Russell Hanser, Wilkinson Barker; Jennifer Holtz, NTIA; and Howard Weiss, Fletcher Heald … UTStarcom elevates director Himanshu Shah to chairman, replacing Xiaoping Li, who remains on the board.