Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., is moving ahead with legislation to update the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) and require independent agencies, such as the FCC, to review past regulations, the House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee chairman said after a hearing Thursday. The FCC is one agency that’s not doing enough to reduce regulation, Stearns and other subcommittee Republicans said. FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, testifying alongside commissioners from the FTC and other independent agencies, agreed that the FCC should be more deregulatory.
The potential sale of Hulu to any of the dozen reported would-be buyers of the online video company, a list that includes the likes of Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and AT&T, raises few antitrust concerns, industry executives and lawyers said this week. Though some of the potential buyers already enjoy a large online video market share -- Google’s YouTube is the top online video site according to comScore data -- and their own online video platforms, most industry officials we spoke to welcomed a sale that would dissociate Hulu from its current owners: News Corp., Disney and Comcast’s NBCUniversal.
Internet access subscribers could have their service cut off if they ignore repeated “alerts” that copyright infringement has been detected on their accounts, though ISPs participating in a new “Copyright Alert System” unveiled Thursday emphasized they were unlikely to do that. But measures short of cutoff, such as throttling down to 256 kbps or “restriction” of access for some period, are explicitly laid out in a memorandum of understanding between ISPs and content providers dated July 6 and marked “final,” provided to us by the RIAA. (What appears to be an identical copy is circulating online.) Some digital rights groups gave a cautious nod to the new system while voicing concern that the ambiguity in the agreement could lead to termination or suspension of service without judicial review.
FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell is concerned about part of draft rules on complaints from independent programmers that they were discriminated against on the basis of affiliation by channels owned by cable operators, said agency and industry officials. NCTA stepped up its lobbying against part of the item, after cable operators expressed concerns earlier. McDowell is said to be concerned about the standstill provision of the draft Media Bureau order. It would require cable operators to continue carrying indies while their complaint is pending and after the bureau determined a prima face case was made.
The White House has yet to say who will step in to fill the role formerly played by Phil Weiser, overseeing high-tech and telecom issues for the executive branch, now that he’s returned to the University of Colorado Law School (CD June 1 p22). The White House also recently lost a second official with strong telecom experience, Scott Deutchman, deputy for telecom policy to federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra.
With increasing trouble completing long-distance calls and other connection problems in Oregon, the state’s Public Utility Commission will investigate the issue and expects to move quickly on it, Commissioner Susan Ackerman told us. Major concerns are impacts on businesses and emergency calls, she said. The problem appears to be caused by using the least-expensive routing practices, Ackerman said. The investigation is early on and more work needs to be done, she said. There’s a potentially big business impact because many firms reply on high-quality connections for long-distance calls and faxes, she said.
TIA and Sprint Nextel said the FCC should clarify, as Harris County, Texas, has asked, that the commission does not endorse any procurement model for building an interoperable public safety broadband network using 700 MHz spectrum. The Public Safety Bureau sought comment June 15 on Harris County’s petition seeking further clarity (http://xrl.us/bky799), and comments were due Tuesday.
The FCC would approve FM translators in radio markets with an eye toward how many low-power FM (LPFM) stations could be started in each market, under a draft order (CD July 6 p11) to be voted on Tuesday, commission and industry officials said. They said the rulemaking notice proposes a market-by-market approach to processing the remaining applications from a 2003 application window for FM translators. Such an approach has been backed by LPFM proponents. AM stations would get a boost because the draft rulemaking is said to propose that they can use FM translators awarded in recent years as part of Auction 83. The rulemaking also asks about issuing new LPFM licenses.
More resources for federal agencies could help smooth reallocation of government spectrum, NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling said at a hearing Wednesday afternoon on federal spectrum. While reallocation has been called a win-win, Strickling said not all federal agencies see “what the win is for them.” Subcommittee members of both parties said reassigning government spectrum for commercial use is one key in efforts to prevent a spectrum crunch.
Mobile operators’ failure to end “roaming rip-offs” calls for a “fundamentally new” regulatory approach, said European Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes Wednesday. The European Commission proposed measures to let customers sign roaming agreements separate from their contracts with their national services and keep the same cellphone numbers, and to give alternative providers the right to use others’ networks in other EU countries at regulated wholesale prices. The move brought cautious cheers from the head of the European Parliament’s industry committee. The GSM Association Europe said the changes need “assessing in detail."