Inmate calling service providers could be required to provide telecom relay services for deaf, hard of hearing and blind incarcerated people, ICS rates will be cut for interstate and international calls, and providers will have one less year to comply with caller ID authentication requirements if all draft items are approved during the FCC's May 20 meeting (see 2104280084).
California rates are too high for inmate calling services, which are a lifeline for incarcerated people and their families, the California Public Utilities Commission was told at a Wednesday hearing. Those incarcerated and their loved ones dialed in to share how ICS pricing disconnected families. Some suggested charging monthly rates for unlimited usage, while others want the calls free.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., will reintroduce legislation banning large online platforms from using deceptive designs “to trick consumers” into offering personal data, they told an FTC virtual workshop on dark patterns Thursday (see 2104090042).
Vice President Kamala Harris’ new role shepherding the $100 billion broadband spending component of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposal (see 2104280088) shows that part of the plan is a priority for the administration and will help smooth talks on the path forward, lawmakers and observers told us Thursday. Democrats are preparing to advance an infrastructure package via a budget reconciliation process if talks on Senate Republicans’ counterproposal, which includes $65 billion for broadband (see 2104220067), don’t progress in coming weeks.
Florida could soon join 22 other states and Washington, D.C., in regulating pole attachments. The legislature passed a bill Wednesday to give the state authority to reverse preempt the FCC. A separate bill to regulate social media neared the finish line after the House passed an amended Senate bill. The Senate stripped language allowing private lawsuits from a House-passed comprehensive privacy bill. The legislature wraps work Friday.
The Senate Commerce Committee advanced four tech and telecom bills (see 2104230076) and NASA administrator nominee Bill Nelson Wednesday on voice votes. The committee also advanced deputy commerce secretary nominee Don Graves on a 25-3 vote. Senate Commerce earlier pulled from consideration the Endless Frontier Act (S-1260) after lawmakers filed more than 230 amendments to the measure (see 2104270045).
Inmate calling services rates would be cut, video relay service compensation rates extended through the end of 2021, extensions for providers to implement caller ID authentication requirements could be shortened, and smaller providers would receive regulatory relief if all items on the tentative agenda for the FCC's May 20 meeting are approved (see 2104280073). Drafts are expected to be released Thursday, said a spokesperson.
Some Congressional Black Caucus leaders urged President Joe Biden to nominate DLA Piper’s Smitty Smith as FCC chairman, amid lawmakers' amplified calls for the administration to name people of color as commissioners. Lawmakers and others told us there’s uncertainty about Biden’s timeline for selecting a nominee to cement a Democratic FCC majority, seen as necessary to make changes to net neutrality rules and other potentially controversial matters, given the current 2-2 split (see 2101060055).
Open radio access networks will mean lower prices, more efficient networks and better security, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told an ORAN Policy Coalition virtual conference Tuesday. Avoid “putting a thumb on the scale” and determining winners and losers, he said.
Representatives from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube denied their business models are based on maximizing user engagement, during a hearing Tuesday in which members of both parties raised concerns. The power of social media companies over people’s lives is “of great concern” to a wide number of legislators, Senate Privacy Subcommittee Chairman Chris Coons, D-Del., told us. “Exactly what statutory, regulatory or voluntary measures can best address it, I think it would be premature after the first hour of our first hearing to say I have an endgame in mind.”