EU lawmakers Wednesday adopted their negotiating position on copyright modification, paving the way for "trialogue" talks with the European Commission and Council. The 438-226 vote came after what Member of the European Parliament Virginie Roziere, of the Socialists and Democrats and France, called "virulent" lobbying and misinformation, much of it from the U.S. Lawmakers got more messages from the U.S. than from the whole of the EU on the proposal for a directive, she said at a news briefing. The amended text made key "tweaks" to the original report by the lead Legal Affairs Committee, Parliament said. The most contentious proposals -- for platforms to monitor user uploads for copyright infringements (Article 13), and for news publishers to be given a new right to remuneration (Article 11) -- are still in play.
The U.S. will have more than 50 5G cities at this time next year but to get there will require speeding up siting and help from the FCC, CTIA President Meredith Baker said Wednesday at the Mobile World Congress event in Los Angeles. The agency needs to reallocate more spectrum for broadband, she said. Commissioners are set to take up the next big wireless infrastructure order at their Sept. 26 meeting (see 1809050029). It's raising local concerns (see 1809110030).
Growing data privacy concerns and FTC Chairman Joe Simons’ decision to model hearings after pivotal events in 1995 suggest the agency is on the verge of a turning point, former officials and industry attorneys told us. It kicks off a series of public hearings on antitrust and consumer protection policy Thursday (see 1808240027).
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said Congress, not states, must tackle privacy and net neutrality laws. State privacy laws are a problem for everyone, including AT&T, Facebook and Google, he told a Goldman Sachs conference Wednesday. “I don’t even know how we operate” under different laws, he said. “It needs to happen at the federal level,” he said. “Congress needs to step up.”
With Phase 1 of the incentive auction TV channel repacking beginning Friday (see 1809100033) and many TV channel changes imminent, the FCC, NAB and broadcasters are working on strategies to get the word to viewers. Efforts range from TV spots starring Dr. Phil to interactive websites to physical handouts at electronics stores. Congress included $50 million in its latest repacking reimbursement legislation for consumer education. Some broadcasters and industry officials worry nonetheless about whether the message will get out in time.
Proposed rate ceilings for small-cells application fees set for an FCC vote Sept. 26 may undercut caps set by one-quarter of the 20 states that made small-cells laws in the past two years. Proposed FCC ceilings for recurring access and attachment fees appeared to equal or exceed the state laws that specified limits on such fees. Commissioner Brendan Carr said last week the draft wouldn’t “disturb nearly any” of the provisions of small-cell bills that state legislatures enacted (see 1809040056 and 1809050029).
Stakeholders backed possible FCC creation of a "connected care everywhere" pilot program, diverging on some details such as the proposed focus on facilities-based projects and rural areas. Some telecom entities urged the agency to include resellers; some healthcare parties sought inclusion of projects in urban areas; and other pushed for consideration of their particular industry or patient interests. About 70 substantive comments were posted through Tuesday in docket 18-213 in response to a notice of inquiry adopted Aug. 2 (see Notebook at end of 1808020034).
The FCC made preparations for Hurricane Florence and has staff “in the field” in anticipation of the East Coast landfall, public notices and officials' tweets said Tuesday. “Staff are now in the field preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Florence, and here in DC we are working closely with our federal partners to get ready for response and recovery efforts,” tweeted Matthew Berry, chief of staff to Chairman Ajit Pai.
Though repurposing some of the 3.7-4.2 GHz band for 5G seems inevitable, the path via the Intelsat/Intel/SES band clearing plan remains littered with unanswered questions, an FCBA event heard Tuesday. Promised reimbursement of the cost of migrating incumbent users of the C-band to a different part would be useful but doesn't solve the problem of potentially higher operating costs year after year, said Michael Beach, NPR vice president-distribution. SES Senior Vice President-Global Regulatory and Governmental Strategy Gerry Oberst said the consortium is hammering out fine details, such as reimbursement.
Three Republican state attorney general offices -- in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas -- told us they are poised to collaborate with U.S. AG Jeff Sessions on tech industry antitrust concerns and claims of conservative bias (see 1809070042). Democrats from New York and Massachusetts and a North Dakota Republican office said they won't be attending DOJ's Sept. 25 meeting, with the latter citing a scheduling conflict. Of all 50 state AG offices queried, 17 of the 21 that responded said they haven't received an invitation. Justice didn’t comment.