The FCC voted 3-2 along party lines Wednesday to approve a kidvid order that was little changed from the draft version released last month, as expected (see 1907090069). Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks condemned the order. “There is nothing in this item that would prevent a broadcaster from reducing the amount of regularly scheduled, 30-minute core programming aired on its primary stream to zero,” Starks said.
Requiring Lifeline providers to use a federal database to check if consumers are eligible for government-subsidized, carrier-provided phone and broadband services is causing more concerns from states, as they lose the ability to run their own checks. NARUC members will vote at their July 21- 24 meeting on asking the FCC to halt activation of the national verifier (NV) in any more states this year, and separately on recommending the agency not cap the overall USF. NV rollout prompted concerns subscribers are being dropped from carriers' customer rolls over difficultly verifying eligibility even though they may indeed be eligible (see 1907080009).
The FCC approved revised rules for the 2.5 GHz educational broadband service band over partial dissents at the commissioners' meeting Wednesday by Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks. The biggest change from the draft order was that instead of single 100 and 16 MHz licenses, the FCC will offer two 50 MHz licenses. The order also contains language (see 1907030043) sought by Commissioner Brendan Carr addressing licenses held by national nonprofits. Rosenworcel and Starks dissented to all of the order except provisions preserving a filing window for tribal entities seeking new EBS licenses.
Tech companies should be required to follow industry-written best business practices for protecting children’s online safety to “earn” Section 230 liability protections, said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. That portion of the Communications Decency Act gives websites immunity from liability for the third-party content they host. Congress has chipped away at that immunity, including with anti-sex trafficking legislation passed in 2018 (see 1806290044).
A $100 million Connected Care telehealth pilot is expected to get the go-ahead with bipartisan support Wednesday when FCC commissioners vote at their Wednesday meeting, said agency officials. It also received broad support from patient advocates and telehealth interests, as announced Monday by Commissioner Brendan Carr, who's spearheading the pilot. A draft NPRM released last month asks for stakeholder feedback on how to structure the plan to provide broadband support to homes in a pilot that would test the efficacy of telehealth services and remote patient monitoring (see 1906190013).
Licensing a small satellite could get cheaper and faster through a streamlined process to be on the FCC's Aug. 1 agenda, Chairman Ajit Pai told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce smallsat conference Tuesday. FCC officials told us the agenda could include a local franchise authority order stemming from last year's Further NPRM that would treat cable operators' in-kind contributions required by LFAs as franchise fees and subject to a cap (see 1809250017).
The draft kidvid order is expected to be approved on a 3-2 party line split at Wednesday’s commissioners’ meeting, and will be little changed from the draft version released last month, FCC and broadcast industry officials said in interviews Tuesday. No substantive edits had been made to the item Tuesday afternoon, FCC officials told us. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly published an opinion column in The Hill Tuesday touting the order as “a reasoned and balanced compromise,” adding to the perception that last minute changes to most aspects of the order are unlikely. “It appears that the decision is a fait accompli,” said Parents Television Council President Tim Winter in an interview Tuesday. PTC has opposed the FCC’s kidvid proposals.
The FCC is expected to take up a C-band order in coming months, but several industry officials predict a vote is unlikely before the Nov. 19 commissioners' meeting. Chairman Ajit Pai’s office recently told several parties if they have additional proposals for the band, get them in as quickly possible. Agency officials said Pai is getting close to making decisions, though the commission is waiting for reply comments on the most recent C-band proceeding on a clearing plan. Initial comments came last week (see 1907050035).
In a case that could affect global personal data transfers, Europe's high court will consider a challenge Tuesday by privacy lawyer Max Schrems to Facebook's use of standard contractual clauses (SCCs) to shift personal data to the U.S. Schrems filed the case, Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook Ireland and Maximilian Schrems, in the Irish High Court. That court referred it to the European Court of Justice for a ruling on whether SCCs are valid under EU law (see 1710030011). ECJ's decision could reach as far as trans-Atlantic data transfer agreement Privacy Shield, lawyers told us.
FCC preliminary numbers show about 12 percent of Lifeline subscribers de-enrolled in states where the national verifier is reaching final steps in the reverification process. Lifeline providers saw many Lifeline de-enrollments in recent weeks in some of the first states where the NV launched, but carrier application program interface remains unavailable and Universal Service Administrative Co. still lacks access to many state databases or the national Medicaid database, said John Heitmann of Kelley Drye, counsel to the National Lifeline Association. At least 2 million could be de-enrolled due to difficulties verifying, he said.