An FCC draft NPRM seeking comment on using scripted templates to facilitate multilingual emergency alert system messages is expected to change little from the original draft and be approved unanimously, agency officials told us. By eliminating the difficulty of translating the messages, “this model potentially should make issuing multilingual EAS alerts simpler and more accessible for alert originators,” the draft said. Many proposals in the draft item could severely burden MVPDs and broadcasters, according to NCTA and alerting industry officials. The item is on the agenda for the commissioners' open meeting on Thursday.
Industry is calling on the FCC to revise a robocall item, set for a commissioner vote Thursday, which codifies some robocall and robotexting rules while asking about applying protections in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to communications from wireless carriers to their own subscribers (see 2401250068). Industry officials told us they’re not certain the FCC will make the changes they seek, though they expect tweaks.
The in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing NPRM on the FCC's February agenda (see 2401250068) gives the agency far too broad authority, SpaceX said Monday in docket 22-271. Recapping meetings held with all five commissioners' offices and the FCC Space Bureau, SpaceX said the draft NPRM provides no limiting principle for agency authority over orbital debris mitigation or the cost, reliability and safety of ISAM craft. The draft also proposes assessing planetary protection plans of all spacecraft, including non-ISAM vehicles, it said. "Such broad interpretations of the Commission’s statutory authority ... would needlessly test the bounds of the Commission’s jurisdiction," it said.
CTA representatives met with FCC Public Safety Bureau staff about the proposed launch of a voluntary cyber-trust mark for consumer devices. CTA discussed “outstanding questions” and its draft approach that would enable evaluation of “a third-party Cybersecurity Label Scheme or manufacturer’s self-attestation process” in keeping with NISTIR 8425, the National Institute for Standards and Technology’s IoT core baseline. “The Draft Framework defines assessment outcomes, scheme requirements for assessment and manufacturer evidence, and component model implications for each of the technical requirements as well as manufacturer evidence needed for each of the non-technical requirements in NISTIR 8425,” said a filing last week in docket 23-239.
The FCC's space regulatory regime is arguably due for a massive overhaul, space policy experts said Monday at a pair of Tech Policy Institute space events. SpaceX Vice President-Satellite Policy David Goldman said a coming wave of state-backed mega-constellation competitors will have resources that U.S. operators lack, and the U.S. must consider redoing its rules in response to that environment. FCC Space Bureau Chief Technologist Whitney Lohmeyer didn't address the idea directly. Christopher Yoo, University of Pennsylvania Chestnut Professor of Law, Communication, and Computer & Information Science, said the Space Bureau might lack the technical expertise to tackle issues like orbital debris.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau Friday reminded carriers and interconnected VoIP providers of their obligation to file an annual certification documenting compliance with the customer proprietary network information rules by March 1. “Failure to file a timely and complete certification calls into question whether a company has complied with the rules requiring it to protect the privacy and security of its customers’ sensitive Information,” the bureau said:
Echodyne asked the FCC for a five-year extension of its waiver of rules allowing ground-based use of its EchoGuard radar. The radar detects objects on the ground and in the air. The Wireless Bureau approved a waiver in 2019, which expires June 12 (see 1906130051). Since the waiver was granted, the radar “has been successfully deployed by many Federal and non-Federal users without any complaints of interference,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 12-352: “With the product still in high demand, Echodyne seeks a 5-year extension under the same terms and conditions as the original grant.” The radar operates in the 24 GHz band.
The in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing draft NPRM on the FCC's February agenda would set an overall ISAM licensing framework, but just as important is the NPRM's very existence, space experts tell us. “It's the arrival of ISAM as a serious part of the space economy," said Stephen Ganote, head of the space team at management consultancy Oliver Wyman. A 5-0 approval is likely, space experts say.
The FCC Media Bureau proposed a $720,000 fine against Nexstar for violating retransmission consent negotiation rules. In a notice of apparent liability in Thursday's Daily Digest, the bureau sided with Hawaiian Telecom in concluding that Nexstar breached its good-faith negotiation duties when it proposed renewal terms that would have barred HT from filing complaints with the FCC. The bureau said HT didn't meet its burden of proof on its assertion that Nexstar also violated the good-faith rules when it did not extend their retrans consent agreement until the parties reached a new agreement or an impasse. The proposed fine totals the $120,000 levied for each of the six Nexstar-licensed stations involved. Nextar emailed that it “believes the proposed forfeiture is unwarranted, excessive, and in violation of the law and we will challenge the FCC’s action.” HT and Nexstar reached a deal in July after a more than three-week blackout (see 2307210045).
The FTC won’t postpone its informal hearing on an NPRM on online consumer reviews and testimonials, despite a request from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the agency said Wednesday. The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. IAB requested a 30-day extension, also asking the agency to reconsider its conclusion that “there are no disputed issues of material fact necessary to be resolved at the informal hearing." Agencies generally must provide 15 days’ notice in advance of such a hearing, the FTC said, and it published notice of this informal hearing on Jan. 16, 28 days in advance. In the agency’s NPRM, announced in June 2023, the agency concluded there are no "disputed issues of material fact that need to be resolved at an informal hearing.” The FTC has been “very clear” it wants to avoid exposing issues with the new rules that would block “honest opinion and violate the First Amendment,” said IAB Executive Vice President Lartease Tiffith in a statement Thursday. Just as in an informal hearing on the agency’s negative option rule, an administration judge will decide if the agency has met its burden in this case, said Tiffith: The agency is “underestimating the effects of changes to consumer reviews, and the public should have an opportunity to question its assumptions in front of an administrative judge with decision-making power.”