Political group spending disclosure would vastly expand, often being posted on radio and TV station websites, under a new proposal from the FCC chairman and the general counsel during the administration of President John F. Kennedy. Targeting FCC and not Federal Election Commission rules, ex-FCC Chairman Newt Minow and then-General Counsel Henry Geller would have U.S. stations make such disclosure, by way of sponsorship identification. The proposal likely will be backed by nonprofit groups supporting such disclosure, and opposed by political advocacy groups and associations that don’t now have to share such information publicly, said those on all sides of the issue in interviews Tuesday.
Wiley Rein said a group within the law firm will provide advice to companies deploying unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, for commercial use. “These systems promise to revolutionize global commerce as diverse businesses and Internet retailers race to launch UAS as a newsgathering tool for media outlets, a high-speed delivery option for consumer products, and a vital device in search and rescue operations, among other uses,” the firm said (http://bit.ly/1lNms9V). “The Wiley Rein Team is identifying, anticipating, and monitoring the full range of legal, regulatory, technological, and legislative issues that will determine how and when UAS -- also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) -- are deployed in the U.S. and around the world.” Mike Senkowski, head of the firm’s telecom practice, is heading the UAS group. CEA and the Aerospace Industries Association last month jointly wrote the Federal Aviation Administration urging “expedited” action on a long-delayed rulemaking regulating safe UAS use in U.S. airspace (CD March 28 p16).
The Telecom Act was largely a success, which spurred competition, said former FCC officials in interviews. They disagreed whether Congress should again take on comprehensive legislation, more than 18 years after the act was passed by a Republican-controlled Congress and signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton.
The FCC new 2014 quadrennial review doesn’t appear likely to lead to much change in broadcast ownership rules, said several broadcast attorneys, public interest officials and a broadcast executive in interviews. Though the actual text of Monday’s further rulemaking notice launching the review hasn’t been released, the information released by the FCC makes it look to many industry observers as though Chairman Tom Wheeler is kicking the can down the road on issues like cross-ownership, several told us. “The FNPRM for the 2014 quadrennial review recommends retaining the FCC’s existing ownership rules virtually intact,” said blog of the Wiley Rein law firm.
The leaders of NTIA and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) told the House Communications Subcommittee Wednesday that the best way to sustain multistakeholder Internet governance is to allow the two entities proceed with transitioning oversight of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). NTIA, which currently oversees ICANN’s administration of IANA and domain name system functions, said last month it plans to transition its current oversight role to a global multistakeholder group once ICANN and others develop an acceptable governance plan. Several House Republicans and FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, also a Republican, have criticized the NTIA plans, with O'Rielly saying Tuesday that it “raises some serious concerns that must be addressed prior to moving forward” (CD April 2 p8).
The FCC should continue to deepen its focus on data privacy, said FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn at a Federal Communications Bar Association event Thursday. “Let’s be a bit more about” the FCC’s consumer protection mandate, she said, “especially when it comes to privacy.” The FCC and the government should work to protect consumers from “abusive and overreaching data brokers” and ensure “companies are protecting the data they lawfully gather,” Clyburn said. While the FTC has served as the lead agency in this area, Clyburn said, the FCC does have a role promoting the “resiliency and security of communications networks."
Increased competition in the video industry may have undermined the basis for must-carry rules, argued Latham Watkins cable attorney Matthew Brill at a Federal Communications Bar Association continuing legal education event Monday evening. Recent federal court opinions in cable program carriage cases Comcast v. FCC (CD May 29 p1) and Time Warner, NCTA v. FCC (CD Sept 5 p4) have said that cable’s decreasing market power is eroding the legal basis for many of the provisions from the 1992 Cable Act designed to protect broadcasters, Brill said. Along with recent program carriage cases, the FCBA event touched on Aereo’s case before the Supreme Court.
Commissioner Ajit Pa highlighting a joint sales agreement’s (JSA) beneficial effect on a noncommercial TV station owned by an historically black college is a message to the commission’s Democratic members, said several broadcast attorneys in interviews Wednesday. Their clients don’t want the FCC to make attributable for ownership quotas JSAs. Chairman Tom Wheeler is said to be likely to seek such attribution in an order that might circulate Monday in time for the March 31 commissioner meeting (CD Feb 25 p1).
Expect plenty of digging in on a Communications Act overhaul this year, House Commerce Committee Majority Chief Counsel David Redl said Thursday at a Minority Media and Telecommunications Council event on the topic hosted by Wiley Rein. House Republicans have said they want to hold hearings and issue white papers in 2014 and embark on legislation in 2015.
Douglas Wiley is now senior public policy adviser at Wiley Rein, where he lobbies on issues including those affecting broadcasting and advertising … Cognitive Networks, automatic content recognition for smart-TV firm, adds to board Jason Fairchild, OpenX … Regional News Network online and broadcast news producer hires Jeffrey Thompson, ex-Shout Factory, as senior vice president-business development … AMC Networks promotes Katie Lanegran to vice president-public relations, SundanceTV … Spanish Broadcasting System promotes Max Ramirez to vice president-digital media sales, SBS Interactive … At cable operator WOW on April 1, Colleen Abdoulah steps down as CEO and remains chairwoman, succeeded by Steven Cochran, promoted, while Cathy Kuo was promoted to COO … CSG adds to board David Barnes, MWH Global … Lobbyist registrations: Wikimedia Foundation, Thompson Coburn, effective Feb. 3 … Yelp, Bloom Strategic Counsel, effective Feb. 3.