The Department of Homeland Security will do a “thorough review” of its cybersecurity detection programs as a result of the Russia-linked SolarWinds attack, President-elect Joe Biden’s DHS secretary nominee, Alejandro Mayorkas, told the Senate Homeland Security Committee Tuesday. Mayorkas said the department will review its Einstein program and the continuing diagnostics and mitigation program to ensure they’re “appropriately designed and effectively executed.”
Ajit Pai, who leaves the FCC Wednesday, had one of the busiest conclusions to a chairmanship in recent history as he closed out many items. That was deliberate, Pai said in an interview. We’re “sprinting to the finish," he said Friday evening. Pai said all the big things he wanted to do he started in his first three years. “We didn’t want to leave significant items lingering out there for the last year,” he said: “Things can fall through the cracks before you know it.”
The Supreme Court narrowly focused on questions of administrative law rather than diversity, judicial deference or legal jurisdiction during Tuesday’s oral argument for FCC and NAB appeals of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ Prometheus IV decision. Broadcast and public interest attorneys were split about what that might portend.
Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts is in contention to get the Communications Subcommittee gavel as soon as this week after Democrats take control of the chamber, lobbyists and officials told us. Plans to swap out Communications' current lead Democrat, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, haven’t been finalized. Senate GOP Whip John Thune of South Dakota is expected to remain his party’s lead subcommittee member (see 2011020048).
President Donald Trump’s administration released its final 5G security strategy implementation plan Friday, which observers believe may have some influence despite Trump’s imminent exit. The U.S., “along with like-minded countries will lead global development, deployment, and management of secure and reliable 5G infrastructure,” the plan said. NTIA, which published the strategy, released a much shorter version in March for feedback (see 2003250047).
Law firms, broadcasters and advocacy groups were beneficiaries of 2020’s federal Paycheck Protection Program. More than five dozen law firms and other organizations in communications and media got a total of more than $142 million to forestall job losses due to the pandemic. That's per our analysis of PPP data using the Accountable.US and ProPublica databases. The figure excludes forgivable loans of less than $1 million.
DOJ won’t terminate the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees, Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim said Friday (see 2101070048). He recommended the department continue reviewing the music licensing decrees every five years.
The Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee unanimously approved, with no debate, a proposed memorandum of understanding Thursday between NTIA and the FCC (see 2101130054) on how they cooperate on spectrum. The current CSMAC is scheduled to meet one more time, during the new Joe Biden administration, to vote on a report on spectrum for drones.
The FCC cleared Frontier Communications’ bankruptcy reorganization Thursday with conditions. Frontier Communications promised fiber to states that waited to clear the bankrupt carrier's reorganization. Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) proposed conditional OK Tuesday. Frontier offered voluntary commitments to Pennsylvania commissioners last week and reached settlements last month in California and West Virginia. Decisions are expected in the coming weeks before April.
The Ajit Pai FCC had success in opening spectrum bands for 5G because it was willing to take on other agencies, Commissioner Brendan Carr told an American Enterprise Institute webinar Thursday, less than a week before Pai leaves and a new administration begins. There was a lot of noise about fights with DOD over Ligado and with other agencies, he said. “These disputes have always been there, but prior [FCCs] kept it below the headline level because they didn’t want to take on the fight,” he said.