Phone industry trade groups want the FCC to expand call blocking safe harbor protections to allow network level blocking of robocalls deemed illegal or unwanted. Calling originators with ongoing customer relationships urge commissioners to take a more cautious approach when they vote on an order at Thursday’s meeting (see 2006250062), according to interviews and filings in docket 17-59. The rulemaking stems from the Traced Act.
The Supreme Court’s decision last week to hear Facebook v. Duguid is expected to provide long-desired clarity on the definition of an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. And July 6 (see 2007060052), in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC), justices upheld a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that a 2015 government debt collection exemption is unconstitutional and severed the provision from the remainder of the law.
Lawmakers we spoke with are eyeing more communications policy issues they hope to address before the August recess beyond the push to include telecom funding in COVID-19 legislation. Senate Commerce Committee leaders hope to advance the reconfirmation of Mike O’Rielly to an additional five-year FCC term. The House Commerce Committee plans a markup Wednesday, a spokesperson told us Monday evening. It's expected to include telecom bills that have been on hold since the pandemic disrupted Capitol Hill operations in March (see 2003130073)
Political pressure in executive orders won’t sway the FTC, Chairman Joe Simons wrote June 29 to Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. Blumenthal and Schakowsky wrote Simons June 15 with concerns about political influence from President Donald Trump’s EO (see 2005280060) directing the FTC to police unfair and deceptive practices involving online platforms’ content moderation practices, with language targeting Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. We received the correspondence via a Freedom of Information Act request to the trade commission.
CTA got support from CTIA and other tech industry groups on its June petition asking the FCC to allow presale of new RF devices before they're authorized (see 2006030044). Commissioner Mike O’Rielly urged the change before the petition was filed (see 2006020069). CTA said it hopes the next step will be an NPRM in the next few months. Initial comments were posted Friday in RM-11857.
Eligible telecom carrier designation is valuable to state commissioners and mustn't be eliminated, NARUC Telecom Committee members said in interviews last week. The committee plans to vote at the state regulator association’s July 20-22 virtual meeting on a proposed resolution that would reject an idea supported by some industry and FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly that raised state alarm (see 2007070057). State commissioners supporting the draft by Chair Karen Charles Peterson of Massachusetts said they haven’t seen the process discouraging providers from seeking USF funding. Two industry groups disagreed.
The vertical location order is expected to be approved largely as proposed by Chairman Ajit Pai, though some concerns are expected to be raised and a few tweaks are likely, FCC and industry officials said in interviews last week. Aides to commissioners have taken numerous meetings and are wading through the arguments made for and against the draft, officials said. Public safety groups have come in with different views.
The 39-month repacking officially ends July 13 and the vast majority of TV outlets have switched channels. That doesn't mean the job is finished.
Standardizing data shared on software components is vital for identifying cyber vulnerabilities and will have an impact across industries, stakeholders told NTIA Thursday. The agency held a virtual meeting on the multistakeholder process on software component transparency (see 2006180024).
The FAA is embracing the “new reality” that drones are here to stay, said Ali Bahrami, associate administrator-aviation safety, Thursday at the start of day two of a symposium (see 2007080059) co-sponsored by the agency and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. “We are right where we need to be."