Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, and Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., urge President Donald Trump to appoint a national cyber director. Monday, they said COVID-19 has highlighted the federal government’s lack of cyber structure (see 2003110076). They co-chair the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, which recommended creating a national cyber director with oversight from new congressional cybersecurity committees. The position would be president-appointed and Senate-confirmed.
Unmanned aerial systems are seeing a push due to COVID-19, speakers said on an FCBA webinar Monday. During a second panel, speakers said spectrum issues remain, with the FCC looking at the best airwaves for drones.
Microsoft, public interest groups and some broadcasters disagree with NAB, America’s Public Television Stations, larger broadcasters such as Meredith and Tegna, and both the BitPath (formerly SpectrumCo) and PearlTV ATSC 3.0 consortiums on whether proposed changes to the rules on TV distributed transmission systems would lead to stations with vastly expanded reach. “The intent of the proposed rule change is not to have broadcasters reach viewers beyond their authorized service area,” said Pearl TV in comments filed by Friday’s deadline in docket 20-74, urging the FCC to “stay focused.” The FCC shouldn’t be “spawning monstrous megastations that are largely divorced from any real connection to the ‘communities’ that they are licensed to serve,” said TV broadcaster PMCM.
The FCC should seek public comment on any NTIA petition about Communications Decency Act Section 230 (see 2006040056), said Commissioner Mike O'Rielly. "From there, we can see if there’s something that we should do or should not do" about President Donald Trump’s executive order on 230 and how it applies to social media platforms, said O'Rielly. Also last week, Commissioner Geoffrey Starks asked where's the petition.
National 911 groups will explore how operators could field calls from home, heads of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) and National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA) said in interviews last week. Operators began working remotely in Alexandria, Virginia, when the coronavirus struck the U.S. Most public safety answering points (PSAPs) don’t allow that, despite widespread safety concerns of having call takers working near each other indoors (see 2003180033).
The FCC -- perhaps as soon as summer's end -- is expected to act on petitions to reconsider its Ligado order (see 2005210043), instead of letting the petitions sit in limbo, participants and watchers said in interviews last week. Three House Armed Services Committee leaders are pressing the commission about a potential “conflict of interest” involving Technological Advisory Council Chairman Dennis Roberson “that may cast doubt” on the commission’s Ligado approval. The Senate Armed Services Committee advanced a version of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act last week that would bar “use of DOD funds to comply” with the Ligado order pending further review (see 2006110026).
Industry views the wireless infrastructure NPRM OK'd by FCC commissioners 3-2 Tuesday (see 2006090060) as potentially having bigger implications than the accompanying declaratory ruling. The NPRM seeks comment on a Wireless Infrastructure Association request for amended rules saying a modification doesn’t cause a “substantial change” if it entails excavation or deployments at up to 30 feet outside macro tower compound boundaries. State and local government groups are lining up against the NPRM.
The FCC wireless infrastructure declaratory ruling and NPRM had numerous changes between when it was circulated and Tuesday when commissioners OK'd it 3-2 (see 2006090060), based on our side-by-side analysis. As indicated by Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, the biggest changes were on the NPRM seeking comment on a Wireless Infrastructure Association request for amended rules that a modification doesn’t cause a “substantial change” if it entails excavation or deployments at up to 30 feet in any direction outside the boundaries of a macro tower compound. The item was in Thursday’s Daily Digest.
It’s unlikely the FTC has motivation or authority to police social media companies for conduct President Donald Trump cited in his executive order (see 2005290058), compliance attorneys said in interviews this week. Some noted that comments from Commissioners Christine Wilson and Rohit Chopra suggest bipartisan interest in examining social media algorithms.
The FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council approved a report Wednesday that warned vulnerabilities in 4G networks could carry over into a 5G world. The report was developed by the Managing Security Risk in the Transition to 5G Working Group and is expected to be posted by the FCC Thursday, officials said. CSRIC also got an additional charge from the FCC to look at duplicative weather alerts. The group met virtually for the second time because of COVID-19.