FCC commissioners approved an order extending the Mobility Fund II challenge window by an additional 90 days. All four commissioners voted yes, though Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel partially dissented, saying the agency needs to do more on its own to fix the maps that will be used to identify areas without 4G LTE. The fund will provide up to $4.53 billion to support 4G LTE in unserved areas. Chairman Ajit Pai circulated an order earlier this month extending the challenge deadline (see 1808030042).
The FTC should require edge and core internet providers to offer uniform protections for online consumers, telecom trade groups told the agency Monday. Organizations from across the economy made policy suggestions by the Monday deadline for public comment on upcoming hearings on consumer protection and competition (see 1808200045).
ASPEN, Colo. -- Rollout of next-generation wireless may take longer than some appreciate and customers may not immediately see the need to pay much more for it, some experts said. All on a Technology Policy Institute panel Tuesday agreed 5G will be used for things requiring low latency and high capacity and/or high speeds like telehealth and virtual reality, which some don’t see it as very profitable. They see progress narrowing the digital divide since the TPI panel on that subject a year ago (see 1708220036). Speakers mainly agreed smaller spectrum blocks can help such efforts when carriers expand rural broadband, answering a question from audience member ex-FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.
When BMG's copyright infringement complaint against Cox Communications goes to trial -- again -- in an Alexandria, Virginia, federal courtroom next week (see 1808160006), the jury will see a notably different trial from the first, meaning it's tough to handicap whether BMG will again prevail, experts told us. The Cox internal email -- central in the first trial -- indicating the company's enforcement of its own policy of terminating subscribers for copyright violations was toothless “put [Cox] in a difficult position," said Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Staff Attorney Mitch Stoltz. But the second trial will no longer focus on whether Cox satisfied the narrow statutory standard of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) safe harbor protections but instead on almost a more philosophical question of whether it's responsible for the actions of its subscribers, he said. BMG sued Cox in 2015, alleging the ISP was contributorily liable for infringement of BMG’s copyrights by its subscribers pirating BMG's catalog via Torrents.
ASPEN, Colo. -- Chairman Ajit Pai defended his goals at the FCC, centering on broadband and closing the digital divide, before tech and telecom executives who laughed at his frequent jokes poking fun at himself. On a road trip to see broadband deployment and ATSC 3.0's rollout, he visited the Technology Policy Institute conference Tuesday for a Q&A. He said the Trump administration’s question about FCC review of Sinclair buying Tribune was appropriate, that an inspector general report on filing glitches bore out the agency’s and not critics’ contentions, and that a much-awaited economics office -- focus of a TPI panel last year (see Notebook at end 1708220036) -- still is coming. Ex-Chairman Tom Wheeler disagreed with Pai that the White House query on Sinclair/Tribune paled in comparison with then-President Barack Obama weighing in on an earlier net neutrality proceeding.
A draft NPRM on Class A AM station interference rules circulated by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai last week focuses on protections that prevent local Class B, C and D radio stations from interfering with the distant signals of more powerful Class A stations, FCC officials told us.
State and local governments and a broad coalition of pro-net neutrality groups and companies said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit should overturn the FCC's "internet freedom" order, approved 3-2 last year, which itself overrode net neutrality rules approved just two years earlier. In the opening volley of a major test of Chairman Ajit Pai’s commission decisions, government petitioners said (in Pacer) the D.C. Circuit should find the FCC had no authority to pre-empt state and local police powers and reject the FCC order as an “arbitrary and capricious” departure from 15 years of FCC policy.
ASPEN, Colo. -- Updating privacy frameworks for consumer preferences, technology developments and regulatory actions in other countries and some U.S. states remains very much a work in progress, said speakers at a Technology Policy Institute conference. Microsoft Deputy General Counsel Julie Brill said Monday the U.S. may need to step up work to show the rest of the world this country takes privacy seriously. The ex-FTC member has shined a spotlight on privacy (see 1603220021) as have other Microsoft officials (see 1807130035) at past TPI and other events (see 1708210030).
The divide over the state of fixed broadband competition and deployment deepened in comments posted Monday for an FCC communications marketplace report due by year-end under the Ray Baum's Act. Several industry commenters cited robust market rivalry and activity benefiting consumers, but consumer advocates generally noted shortcomings in competition, deployment and the data used to measure progress. Parties also disagreed on policy proposals. NCTA and USTelecom painted a positive picture and Incompas offered a circumspect view, in comments posted Friday in docket 18-231 (see 1808170049).
ASPEN, Colo. -- Seeking a national conversation on resolving what some feel are tech's harms, the head of MPAA said that without compromise from internet companies, another option is tweaking laws that let them avoid liability in some situations for what's on their platforms. He said such a change could require additional "proactive steps" for such liability protections. "One of the most vibrant and interconnected human ecosystems in history" is "in serious jeopardy," CEO Charlie Rivkin said of the internet. At a Technology Policy Institute event Monday, he sought "a declaration of accountability for cyberspace." Speaking on the following panel, a representative from Google pushed back on such criticism while saying his company is taking privacy seriously and is eyeing further privacy safeguards.