Online video distributors don’t fit the statutory definition of an MVPD, and it would require changes to the Communications Act and copyright policies to change that, said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a letter posted Friday replying to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. Grassley wrote Rosenworcel in February, amplifying calls from broadcasters for the FCC to refresh the record on a 2014 proceeding on classifying streaming services as virtual MVPDs (see 2301260057). As subscribers increasingly move from regular MVPDs to streaming, broadcaster retransmission consent revenue is falling, and under the current system streaming services such as Hulu negotiate compensation for programming with networks rather than individual broadcasters, said Grassley. In the 2014 proceeding, “the record revealed significant concerns with the agency asserting jurisdiction over MVPDs,” Rosenworcel responded. The FCC “lacks the power to change these unambiguous provisions on its own but can do so if Congress changes the underlying law,” she said. If the FCC proceeded anyway, it’s not clear if the U.S. Copyright Office would allow the current statutory programming license used by current MVPDs to apply to virtual MVPDs, she said. The license allows MVPDs to negotiate for broadcast programming without having to negotiate with every entity that holds rights to each program. Without the license, “those distributors would be obligated to black out programming for which they are not able to negotiate copyright licenses, she said. The FCC is monitoring the matter of networks negotiating streaming contracts for broadcasters and the FCC Media Bureau “is carefully reviewing the record as it assesses appropriate next steps,” the letter said. “In light of the decades-old legal framework governing these matters, please know I would be happy to work with you to update underlying law to better reflect the current marketplace,” Rosenworcel said.

The FCC is taking next steps on receivers, proposing a policy statement with "high-level principles" rather than rules or standards, which some industry observers had expected (see 2301180046), at commissioners' April 20 open meeting, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Wednesday. The meeting is another busy one for the agency. The agenda includes a draft order on spectrum sharing rules among non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service (FSS) systems, which has gotten little consensus among satellite operators (see 2204270015). Commissioners will also take on additional rules to get tough on Chinese carriers still operating in the U.S.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., and 31 other caucus members urged President Joe Biden Wednesday to nominate “a qualified Latino” to the vacant fifth FCC seat after Gigi Sohn’s recent withdrawal from consideration as nominee (see 2303070082). CHC members didn’t mention any preferred candidates, despite communications sector lobbyists’ chatter that former acting NTIA Administrator Anna Gomez, ex-Wiley, and National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts President Felix Sanchez were under consideration for an endorsement (see 2303130001). CHC member and Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-Calif., told us he plans to recommend some potential contenders to the White House amid thus-far unfulfilled hopes the Biden administration will pivot quickly to name a candidate to replace Sohn.

Officials from the Open Technology Institute at New America and Public Knowledge asked about the status of two unlicensed bands, in calls with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-295. On 5.9 GHz, “we encouraged the Commission to move rapidly to authorize outdoor use at full Part 15 power levels just as soon as NTIA reports that it has resolved any remaining federal agency coordination issues,” the groups said: On 6 GHz “we encouraged rapid resolution of the critical issues in the [Further] NPRM, of which the authorization of Very Low Power devices and higher power for indoor-only use are particularly crucial for consumers and U.S. leadership in innovative next generation Wi-Fi.”

The FCC clamped down, for the first time, on robotexts and closed what it called a loophole in Stir/Shaken rules. Both items were approved, as expected (see 2303130049 and 2303140062), by unanimous votes Thursday with minor tweaks. Neither item has been posted.

FCC commissioners are expected to approve a robotexting order and Further NPRM, scheduled for a vote Thursday, though with a few tweaks addressing issues raised by CTIA and others, FCC and industry officials said. Commissioners OK'd a second wireless item, incorporating into agency rules four new and updated standards for equipment testing. That item, which was deleted from the agenda for the meeting, hasn’t been controversial.

The FCC released the drafts of items scheduled for votes at the commissioners' March 16 open meeting, headlined by new rules for robotexts and a draft NPRM that would create a supplemental coverage from space (SCS) FCC authorization that would let satellite operators use flexible-use spectrum allocated to terrestrial services. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel also proposed rules designed to strengthen Stir/Shaken aimed at blocking more robocalls. The agenda is the biggest for an FCC meeting in many months (see 2302060035).

Noting the rocketing interest in satellite direct-to-handset mobile service tied to terrestrial mobile networks, the FCC will vote at its March meeting on a framework for collaboration between terrestrial and satellite service providers, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wrote Wednesday, announcing the March meeting agenda. That meeting also will have votes on rules requiring mobile wireless carriers to block robotext messages considered “highly likely to be illegal," and an inmate calling NPRM and order, she said. The agency will also seek comment on expanding audio description requirements “to all remaining broadcast markets” and on “whether the costs of further expansion would be reasonable,” wrote Rosenworcel.

The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council raised concerns after FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sent letters to the nation’s nine largest providers of wireless emergency alerts last week seeking information on how alerts can start to support languages beyond English and Spanish (see 2302140059). MMTC reminded the FCC it sought changes to the emergency alert system in 2005, in a petition never addressed by regulators. Reports are that the commission’s focus on the issue of multilingual emergency alerts has shifted from the emergency alert “Designated Hitter” system proposed by MMTC to a model based on WEA, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 06-119. “If true, this shift represents an unfortunate step backward from the Commission’s goal of ensuring that people from a variety of language backgrounds are armed with critical information during and in the immediate wake of a life-threatening emergency,” MMTC said: “Although wireless providers generally do a good job of relaying multilingual emergency information in advance of anticipated disasters, cell towers and other systems making up wireless infrastructure are often compromised or taken entirely offline when disaster actually strikes, leaving radio stations with back-up generators among the few sources of mass communications still operating during such events.” The group asked the FCC to focus instead on its designated hitter proposal.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sent letters to the nation’s nine largest providers of wireless emergency alerts seeking information on how alerts can start to support languages beyond English and Spanish, said an agency news release. “Today, Wireless Emergency Alerts supports messages only in English and Spanish,” said Rosenworcel, posted in Tuesday’s Daily Digest: That means “many non-English speakers in the United States continue to lack crucial information about imminent dangers and other emergencies. I believe that language should not be a barrier to getting critical information that could save lives.” Rosenworcel also sent a letter to New York State Attorney General Letitia James (D), who raised the issue. The letters to providers ask what their practices are to ensure WEAs are accessible to as many subscribers as possible. “Can machine translation technologies that are available today be used in emergency communications for translating alert messages into the most commonly spoken languages in the U.S.?” the letters ask: “If not, what steps remain to make this a reality? Are there other ways to enhance WEA’s accessibility for those who are not proficient in either English or Spanish?” The letters went to AT&T, Cellcom, C-Spire, Dish Network, Google Fi, Lively, T-Mobile, UScellular and Verizon.