Privacy legislation proposed by Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has "no chance of passing," ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told us last week. Cantwell said she supports the bill as written and is encouraged to see the House Commerce Committee moving toward a markup on the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA).

Possibly facing the end of the federal affordable connectivity program (ACP), the California Public Utilities Commission should quickly modify grant rules to ensure service stays affordable, said The Utility Reform Network in petitions Friday and Monday. “We don’t have the luxury of time here,” said TURN Telecom Policy Analyst Leo Fitzpatrick in an interview Monday. The state cable association slammed TURN’s proposals. But the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), a group that has led efforts to sign up low-income Californians for ACP, supports having “another opportunity to discuss the imperative for California to have a back-up plan to replace the” federal program, said CEO Sunne Wright McPeak in an email Monday.

The satellite industry is divided over an FCC proposal to assess FY 2024 regulatory fees on authorized but not-yet operational satellites and to put a bigger portion of the satellite regulatory fee burden on the shoulders of non-geostationary orbit operators. Comments filed in dockets 24-85 and 24-86 also show pushback regarding regulatory fees specifically for in-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing (ISAM) operations. Comments were due Friday on an NPRM adopted in March regarding regulatory fee changes for satellite and earth stations due to the agency reorganization that replaced the International Bureau with the Space Bureau and the Office of International Affairs (see 2403140060).

LAS VEGAS -- ATSC 3.0 is finally in a position to generate cash for TV stations and remains the industry’s hope, according to interviews with broadcasters and several 3.0 product announcements at NAB Show 2024. However, not everyone is convinced and even 3.0 supporters concede the transition still faces challenges. “We need a date certain” for the end of the FCC’s substantially similar requirements, said BitPath CEO John Hane. “If we had some relatively minor adjustments in the transition rules, a lot more stations would be converted.” “I’m sure it’s gonna pan out, it just won’t happen as fast as Americans like,” said Byron Allen, Allen Media CEO, in an interview.

LAS VEGAS -- The FCC Media Bureau’s Audio Division has been stretched by a spate of recent licensing windows but has added resources and hopes to catch up with delayed filings, said Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner on a panel with other Media Bureau staff at the NAB Show 2024 here Monday. The panel, which included Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer, also discussed proposals to prioritize some broadcaster filings, the recent approval of geotargeted radio, and pirate radio enforcement. “Delay is not our No. 1 goal,” said Shuldiner.

The House on Friday voted to renew the intelligence community’s foreign surveillance authority for two years (see 2404100069). The vote was 273-147, with 147 Democrats and 126 Republicans in favor. An amendment that would have added a warrant requirement to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act narrowly failed 212-212, with 128 Republicans and 84 Democrats voting in favor.

The Nebraska Legislature approved a comprehensive privacy bill as part of a larger package last week. The unicameral legislature voted 47-0 Thursday to approve a legislative omnibus (LB-1074) including the proposal from LB-1294 by Sen. Eliot Bostar (D). The privacy measure goes too easy on businesses, Consumer Reports (CR) said Friday. However, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) said differences with other state laws will increase businesses’ burden.

Local and regional crisis call centers around the U.S. are bullish on the FCC's move toward requiring georouting of wireless calls made to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline to the call center nearest the caller. The commissioners will vote on a draft NPRM at their April 25 open meeting that proposes requiring 988 calls be routed to a call center nearest to where the caller is (see 2404030051). The FCC, as well as Health and Human Services, have pushed for georouting of mobile 988 calls (see 2309280085).

The net neutrality draft order on the FCC's April 25 open meeting agenda (see 2404030043) will face much the same legal arguments as the 2015 net neutrality order did, with many of the same parties involved, we're told by legal experts and net neutrality watchers.

Use of cyber insurance to protect companies against sometimes unexpected digital risks is growing in popularity, experts said Thursday during an FCBA Cybersecurity Committee online panel. Speakers said companies should view cyber insurance as one way of limiting risk from a cyberattack.