Look for more congressional action on copyright reform, an aide to House IP Subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told an NAB Show panel. Such efforts would come amid House consideration (see 1704240066) of the Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act (HR-1695). "I am optimistic about copyright reform later this year," said Issa aide Tyler Grimm. "There has been a lot" of debate about the appointment process for a register of copyrights, with some uncomfortable about the departure of the last register, he said. Grimm is optimistic HR-1695 will pass the House, he said, noting it then goes to the Senate. "I think you’re going to see more [Copyright] Office modernization bills," he said. "I think that debate is going to take hold." On the potential for an overhaul of the Telecom Act, other congressional aides noted here in Las Vegas widespread agreement that some of the regulatory silos created by the act need to be changed. But prospects for quick work on a comprehensive revamp may not be good, based on their comments. Updating the act "is still something that we think is important," said House Commerce Committee Republican aide Kelsey Guyselman. "Everyone agrees that the law is outdated and needs to be fixed." She, like others, also noted partisan divides aplenty on Capitol Hill: "If that means narrower pieces of legislation, I think that’s something we are open to." House Commerce Democratic aide Jerry Leverich said, "You’re going to be hard-pressed to find anyone who says the silo approach embodied by the Communications Act" is ideal. He said ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., "would be willing to negotiate on some things … making sure that consumers are protected." On FCC issues, Hill aides generally backed process changes by Chairman Ajit Pai and called the incentive auction a success. "We’ve appreciated the efforts that Chairman Pai has undertaken" in terms of processes, said Senate Commerce Committee GOP aide Cort Bush. "There certainly probably is more work that can be done statutorily." Guyselman called the auction an overall success, with "an optimal outcome" where "consumers benefit from both services in robust ways," she said of TV stations and wireless carriers. "The proof of concept played out well." Leverich agreed on the successful proof of concept, noting much work remains with repacking of stations. "We’re not all the way across the finish line yet," he said, with almost 1,000 TV stations needing to change channels and radio stations potentially being affected. "There will be a lot of things we will focus on," Leverich continued, "to make sure this next phase is as successful as the first phase."

Early moves by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai stir optimism for the CEO of the owner of Cablevision, Suddenlink and other operators. Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei, in a rare cable executive keynote speech at the NAB Show, cited the agency under Pai undoing net neutrality ISP privacy rules, while saying he hasn't seen anything public about what the chairman may next do with the net neutrality rules overall and no public disclosure of possible plans there (see 1704250056). "Everyone in our industry where I sit today is cautiously optimistic that we will be able to operate in a fair and efficient way," Goei said in Q&A Tuesday here in Las Vegas. "Chairman Pai has done a terrific job ... clarifying some issues that were an overhang on our industry which potentially misaligned us with some people who were tangential to our industry." Goei cited privacy rules, in which non-ISPs weren't subjected to the same regime as broadband service providers that Goei said generally aren't engaged in commercial activities around data on users' IP addresses. The agency "has moved at a very quick pace in the first few months here, so we remain cautiously optimistic," he said. On Altice's heavy spending on fiber deployments in the U.S. and in Europe, where it got its start before entering America, Goei said he expects those capital expenditures to prove worthwhile. "Fiber today remains the most robust and efficient and reliable technology," he said. Investing in "little steps to eventually get to fiber makes no sense," he added. Such fiber deployments aren't just about future needs, "when one understands this is the present," he said. Altice USA has said it's building a fiber-to-the-home network capable of 10 Gbps across most of its footprint by 2022 (see 1611300029). On the company's initial public offering plans (see 1704110009), Goei said it wants "to be ready to the extent that it makes sense that someone wanted to talk about any type of combination or strategic" issues, but "we are very happy where we are today." Even amid rising programming costs, a trend he said is "going in the wrong direction," Altice USA has "a good relationship with our programming brethren." The executive was the first cable speaker in recent memory to be an NAB Show keynoter, noted his questioner Mark Robichaux, editorial director of publications including Broadcasting & Cable. Said Goei later: "I’m surprised that more of my peers haven’t been able to come to the show previously."

An FCC draft rulemaking notice on the assessment and collection of regulatory fees for fiscal year 2017 is now before commissioners, according to the agency's circulation list, which was updated Friday. A commission spokesman had no comment Monday on the draft NPRM.

The FCC sought comment and data on actions to speed broadband healthcare solutions. The commission "seeks information on how it can help enable the adoption and accessibility of broadband-enabled health care solutions, especially in rural and other underserved areas of the country," said a public notice Monday in docket 16-46. "We expect to use this information to identify actions that the Commission can take to promote this important goal. Ensuring that everyone is connected to the people, services, and information they need to get well and stay healthy is an important challenge facing our nation. Technology innovations in clinical practice and care delivery coupled with burgeoning consumer reliance on mHealth and health information technology (or healthIT) are fundamentally changing the face of health care, and a widespread, accessible broadband infrastructure is critical to this ongoing shift." The PN is "an important step in advancing the mission of the Connect2HealthFCC Task Force," said Commissioner Mignon Clyburn in a statement, thanking Chairman Ajit Pai for his commitment to the task force and Commissioner Michael O'Rielly for his support of the item. “The emerging broadband health ecosystem includes health care providers, public health and social service agencies, innovators and entrepreneurs, academic and research facilities, state and local policymakers, patients and their caregivers, as well as fixed and wireless broadband companies," she said. "I encourage entities from each of these sectors to provide us with detailed comments ... By working together, I know we can narrow the digital and opportunities divide to ensure much needed health and wellness solutions reach all Americans.”

President Donald Trump’s administration is “close” to finalizing its long-anticipated cybersecurity executive order, with an eye toward intertwining it with other plans for the federal government’s IT modernization, said White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Robert Joyce during a Monday event. The White House continued to revise the anticipated order in the months since officials first delayed Trump's planned late January signing of it. Then, the order would have directed the Office of Management and Budget to assess all federal agencies' cybersecurity risks and required agencies to manage their risk using the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Cybersecurity Framework (see 1701310066). Later drafts of the EO included language that would direct the Department of Commerce to explore ways to encourage “core communications infrastructure” companies “to improve the resilience of such infrastructure and to encourage collaboration with the goal of dramatically reducing threats perpetrated by” botnets (see 1702280065). Trump administration staffers are ensuring the text of the executive order is “closely aligned” with Trump son-in-law and White House Office of Innovation Director Jared Kushner’s plans to develop “approaches for the president’s consideration to modernize federal IT systems, retire outdated systems and move to shared services,” Joyce said during the Georgetown University event. “We must make sure that innovation and cybersecurity are intertwined.” The White House wants to ensure that the EO “emerges with the time and attention it needs … and at the same time is sequenced with other things the administration is rolling out so we don’t distract from other important messages that are out there,” Joyce said. The White House’s bid to revamp federal IT systems “offers important opportunities to improve our cybersecurity posture, because it’s no secret that there are outdated and indefensible IT components in the federal government today,” Joyce said.

A U.S. magistrate judge in Los Angeles handed a victory to Adobe Systems in its fight to limit an indefinite gag order that prohibited the company from notifying anyone about a search warrant issued for a customer's account, said the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in a Monday blog post about the recently unsealed case. In amending the gag or "notice preclusion order" (NPO), Judge Frederick Mumm of the District Court for the Central District of California ruled March 31 that Adobe can't notify anyone, including the investigation's target, "of the existence of the Warrant, for 180 days from the date" of the court's decision, said the ruling linked to in the post. The government, however, can extend the NPO, the judge said. Adobe -- which filed an ex parte application in December to include an expiration date in the government's gag order -- said it notifies customers whose information is sought unless the company is legally barred from doing so and until the order expires, said the ruling. EFF staff attorney Andrew Crocker wrote in the post that the court "recognized the serious harm to free speech these gags represent." He said the judge's ruling said such gag orders "are both prior restraints and content-based restrictions on speech subject to strict scrutiny," which is a high standard, and "that the indefinite gag order imposed on Adobe fails strict scrutiny because the government could make 'no showing ... that Adobe’s speech will threaten the investigation in perpetuity.'” Crocker said the government's arguments in the Adobe case "were nearly identical" to EFF's lawsuit (see 1612010071, 1610070058 and 1604210046) against national security letters to companies issued with accompanying gag orders. Microsoft also has a fight against gag orders (see 1609060043). Adobe said in a statement most "delayed notice orders," as it called them, "are reasonably time-limited and typically expire after either 90 or 180 days." But, in this case, the company said the order was "an unconstitutional prior and permanent restraint on its speech. We think the Court's ruling strikes exactly the right balance between the government's interest in protecting its investigation and Adobe's right to keep its customers informed." DOJ declined to comment.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai created a new advisory committee to replace the old Diversity Committee. The new committee is labeled the FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment, said an FCC news release. The launch of the committee is getting mixed reviews. “This Committee will be charged with providing recommendations to the FCC on empowering all Americans,” Pai said. “For example, the Committee could help the FCC promote diversity in the communications industry by assisting in the establishment of an incubator program and could identify ways to combat digital redlining.” The FCC’s original Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age operated 2003-2013 and was hugely successful, said Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council President Kim Keenan. “By chartering a new advisory committee on diversity, and expanding its jurisdiction to encompass closing the digital divide, Chairman Pai has brought the FCC back to its historic and nonpartisan public interest mission,” Keenan emailed. “MMTC is especially pleased that the new committee will be charged with the tasks of developing a media incubator program as well as providing solutions to the vexing moral issue of telecom redlining. This is a defining step toward closing the digital divide for every American.” But former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps slammed the new committee. “It is unnecessary and harmful for Chairman Pai to replace the FCC's Diversity Advisory Committee, which for years drew on the expertise of diversity experts to generate valuable and vetted proposals to advance important diversity initiatives,” Copps said in a statement. “Commission leadership from both parties too-often ignored that committee's proposals. But instead of reconstituting that committee and finally acting on its many extant recommendations, Chairman Pai has chosen to ignore it and create a new committee which will take months or longer to organize, meet, and come up with proposals.” Copps said that based on the Trump administration's record so far, Pai likely will appoint members who have an industry focus. “Shameful,” said Copps, now an adviser at Common Cause. "It is decades beyond time for serious action to help minorities and women in media ownership. Pai's announcement is a serious step backwards.” But Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said she would work with the new committee. “While no single initiative will solve the digital and opportunities divide, I believe that the formation of this Committee is the first of many steps the FCC can take to ensure all Americans have access to robust and affordable communications services," Clyburn said. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., a new member of the Commerce Committee, said a problem exists. “I noted lack of diversity in tech to @AjitPaiFCC," Cortez Masto tweeted. “Glad @FCC is addressing the issue and hope it's not just all talk.”

Some satellite interests and the Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition (FWCC) disagree about recommended changes to the spectrum frontiers order. The satellite interests, in a docket 14-177 filing Friday, rejected some FWCC proposals for spectrum frontiers changes (see 1704170045). They said the FWCC-proposed tiered population limits ignore the size difference between counties in 28 GHz licensing, and partial economic areas in 38 GHz licensing requires two parallel sets of tiers, not the single set as FWCC proposes. They also said they were using Transportation Department road classifications when determining a road is a principal arterial. They said FWCC's proposed definition of an urban mass transit route "is vague and overbroad," and FWCC actions to use a database in earth station/upper microwave flexible use system (UMFUS) facility coordination ignores that earth stations would be eligible for licensing on a protected basis as long as they comply with siting restrictions and coordinate with existing UMFUS facilities. Signatories of the satellite letter were Boeing Senior Director-Frequency Management Services Audrey Allison, EchoStar Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Jennifer Manner, Inmarsat Director-Regulatory Giselle Creeser, Intelsat Associate General Counsel Susan Crandall, O3b Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Suzanne Malloy, SES Senior Legal and Regulatory Counsel Petra Vorwig and OneWeb Director-Spectrum Affairs Marc Dupuis. FWCC didn't comment.

The Connect America Fund Phase II bid weights regime gives so much auction advantage to fiber broadband providers "that it effectively excludes satellite broadband providers from participating and limits competition among platforms," Hughes Network Systems said in a docket 10-90 petition for reconsideration posted Thursday. Hughes said there's no reason for so heavily favoring higher speeds and lower latency when consumer satisfaction data shows satellite broadband being "in the same range" as terrestrial, it said. It recommended a bid weighting matrix with a latency penalty of no more than 10 and a maximum weight of 25 for 10/1 Mbps service, 15 for 25/3 service and 10 for 100/20 service, with gigabit service getting no additional weight. Lower weights are favored in a reverse auction of subsidy support. A satellite operator petition for reconsideration was expected (see 1704170035). Pennsylvania government entities also asked the FCC to reconsider one aspect of the ruling on CAF II support for the state previously declined by Verizon as the incumbent telco. The commission should modify the rules for Pennsylvania bids only to add "a negative weight to the recently-proposed auction formula to reflect additional resources brought to the auction through the state," said a petition from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Granting the relief request "would allow carriers operating in the state to access up to the remaining $139.62 million in total CAF Phase II model-based support funding" ($23.27 million in annual support over the six years) originally offered to Verizon's ILEC areas in the state, their petition said.

The 2016 nationwide emergency alert test showed emergency alert system (EAS) officials should focus on the integrated public alert warning system (IPAWS) as the primary source of alerts, use the older over-the-air system as a redundant backup, improve compliance with its requirements, and do targeted outreach to “Low Power broadcasters and other EAS Participants with poor performance” said the FCC Public Safety Bureau in a report on the test, issued Friday (see 1612280045). Though the test showed the effectiveness of the IPAWS alerts and the “vast majority” of over 20,000 participants received and retransmitted the test alert, there’s still room to improve, the report said. The September test was also a test of Spanish-language alerts. Spanish language alerts were available only on IPAWS, but stations are required to retransmit the first alert they receive, whether from IPAWS or over-the air from another broadcaster upstream in the “daisy chain” of EAS stations, EAS officials told us. Stations that received the alert first from another broadcast station didn't have the option to transmit in Spanish, even if they served a Spanish-language audience. Over half the alerts in the test were triggered through the over-the-air system, rather than IPAWS, the report said. The IPAWS alert also delivers other content, such as text files, that isn't available in the over-the-air alert. “In light of the additional capabilities offered by IP-based alerts, the Commission should facilitate and encourage the use of IPAWS as the primary source of alerts nationwide,” the report said. Many of the stations that didn’t retransmit the test alert did so because of equipment errors or not following EAS requirements, the report said. The FCC should “take measures to improve EAS Participants’ compliance with and understanding” of the rules, the report said.