The FCC has issued a cease and desist letter and K4 order against Texas-based Lingo Telecom over robocalls to voters before the New Hampshire primary last month. The calls used voice-cloning tech and spoofed phone numbers to seem to be from President Joe Biden, urging recipients not to vote in the primary, said a news release. “What a bunch of malarkey. We know the value of voting Democratic when our votes count,” the calls allegedly said in Biden’s voice, spoofed to appear to come from a number connected with a Democratic super political action committee. “It’s important that you save your vote for the November election,” the deepfaked Biden voice said. Lingo “is alleged to have originated robocall traffic using AI-generated voice cloning to spread misinformation to voters,” said an FCC news release Tuesday. The cease and desist letter orders Lingo to stop supporting illegal robocall traffic on its networks and the K4 public notice “strongly encourages other providers to refrain from carrying suspicious traffic from Lingo,” the release said. The FCC is acting alongside the Office of the New Hampshire State Attorney General, which also sent a cease and desist Tuesday to another company involved with the calls, the Life Corporation. The Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force also sent a cease and desist letter to the Life Corporation. The New Hampshire letter targets Life over violations of voter suppression laws, the FCC release said. “Each of these parties have been warned about apparent illegal robocall violations in the past,” the FCC release said. “Consumers deserve to know that the person on the other end of the line is exactly who they claim to be,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in the release. “That’s why we’re working closely with State Attorneys General across the country to combat the use of voice cloning technology in robocalls being used to misinform voters and target unwitting victims of fraud.” Law enforcement and regulatory agencies “are working closely together to monitor and investigate any signs of AI being used maliciously to threaten our democratic process,” said New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella in the release. The action stems from an investigation launched last month by the New Hampshire AG, the FCC Enforcement Bureau, the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, and USTelecom’s Industry Traceback Group, the release said. Lingo didn’t comment, but the FCC’s letter says the company didn’t dispute the calls' illegality.
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson urged leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees Monday night to “provide additional funding” for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program before its original $14.2 billion allocation runs out in April. Lawmakers are eyeing how to allocate as much as $7 billion in stopgap funding to keep ACP running through the end of this year (see 2401250075). FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel confirmed last week that the Wireline Bureau will freeze new ACP enrollments Thursday as part of winding down the program (see 2402010075). “As more cooperatives, and other internet service providers, work to build broadband networks in hard-to-reach rural and low-income areas, affordability will become increasingly critical to adoption of these essential services,” Matheson said in a letter to Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and their ranking members. “Should programs supporting affordability fail, it could jeopardize access to broadband services for millions of customers.” Ensuring “that there is a consistent, dependable, and effective low-income broadband program, such as the ACP, will allow rural providers to deliver the highest quality broadband service to their communities at an affordable price,” said Matheson, a former House Commerce member who represented Utah as a Democrat. Enacting the ACP Extension Act (HR-6929/S-3565), which would infuse $7 billion into the program for FY24 (see 2401100056), “or similar legislation would provide important short-term clarity and certainty ... while Congress works to address questions around the future of the program and develop a permanent funding solution.”
The New Hampshire House Science, Technology and Energy Committee unanimously rejected an RF safety bill, which would have required warnings on 5G towers. In addition, the lawmakers approved a measure 20-0 that addresses public safety agencies’ access to cell towers, dropping a requirement that would give agencies access to towers in favor of more study.
Existing law needs updating to protect artists and individuals from fake AI-generated content, House Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said Friday during a hearing in Los Angeles.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel confirmed to congressional leaders Thursday that the Wireline Bureau will move forward with freezing new affordable connectivity program enrollments Feb. 8 amid the continued push to provide the program stopgap funding to keep it running once its original $14.2 billion allocation runs out in April (see 2401250075). Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., is beginning to cite a recent FCC Office of Inspector General report on its audit of ACP’s 2022 performance (see 2401300090) as vindicating Republicans’ misgivings about the program, which some lobbyists believe may complicate those funding efforts.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated a draft order and further notice that would allow FM broadcasters to air geotargeted radio “for a limited period of time during the broadcast hour,” according to a joint statement from Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks endorsing the item. “If radio entrepreneurs want to test new business models and deploy new technologies, the FCC’s rules shouldn’t stand in the way,” said the statement, which thanks Rosenworcel for moving the proceeding to an order. The item stems from a 2020 NPRM that followed a petition from geotargeted radio company GeoBroadcast Solutions. The company’s ZoneCasting tech uses multiple synchronized FM boosters to transmit targeted signals that FM receivers pick up as being a single signal. The tech also requires a change to FCC rules barring boosters from originating content to operate. It's expected stations using the technology would mainly broadcast a single stream of content but briefly shift certain zones to geotargeted, specialized content multiple times daily: usually for localized commercials. GBS has said it could be used for localized weather and emergency alerts as well. NAB and large broadcasters such as iHeart have vigorously opposed the technology, saying it will reduce ad rates, interfere with other stations and affect the FM noise floor. In 2022, NAB filed ex parte letters (see 2209230070) with the FCC accusing GBS founder Chris Devine of “fraudulent and deceitful conduct.” NAB declined to comment Wednesday. Smaller broadcasters and groups such as the Multicultural Media Telecom and the Internet Association have largely supported the proposal, although the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters in 2022 voted to discontinue its support. Last year, NABOB was acquired by the U.S. Black Chambers, which has since endorsed the GBS proposal (see 2311030068."Geotargeting technology is not just about modernization; it's about survival and growth," said NABOB President Jim Winston in a UBC release Wednesday. "It's a tool that can rejuvenate a declining sector while also propelling forward the FCC’s vision of promoting minority broadcasting." “Small and independent broadcasters have repeatedly told us that geo-targeting could be a gamechanger,” said Starks and Carr in the joint statement. "It is a great day for radio innovators and a possible salvation for so many facing new levels of competition, said MMTC President Robert Branson in an email. "Importantly, the new service is another way for radio broadcasters to truly serve their local market."
The Indiana Senate sent the House a 911 bill Wednesday after approving it unanimously Monday. SB-232 would require originating service providers to connect to state 911 using an industry standard or functional equivalent and “establish and maintain the connection in accordance with all applicable regulatory requirements requiring service continuity and ensure access to public safety assistance,” said a Monday fiscal impact statement. Also, the bill would update certain 911 terminology, increase penalties for giving false information and exempt information about 911 system security from public disclosure. In addition, it would allow a budget committee to decide whether to continue assessing a state 911 fee after June 30, 2031.
The FCC’s Nov. 20 order, published Jan. 22 in the Federal Register, purports to implement congressional “instruction” to facilitate equal broadband access under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, but it gives the commission “unprecedented authority to regulate the broadband internet economy,” said the Ohio Telecom Association’s (OTA) petition for review Tuesday (docket 24-3072) in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The FTC is extended the deadline to decide on the video game industry’s request about using face-scanning technology to determine user ages, the agency announced Monday. The Entertainment Software Rating Board, Yoti and SuperAwesome filed an application in June seeking FTC approval for the age-estimation technology, which uses facial geometry to determine whether a user is an adult. In September, the agency extended the original October deadline to January and now is extending it to March 29. The agency solicited public comment on the application in July, as required under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
PTC-220 sought special temporary authority for 180 days from the FCC to begin deploying recently acquired automated maritime telecommunications system spectrum licenses for positive train control in 53 East Coast counties. “PTC-220 has previously alerted the Commission that it would need additional spectrum in the future to deploy PTC and non-PTC rail safety applications,” said a filing posted Tuesday. “Originally, the freight railroads designed their PTC networks to operate on a single nationwide ‘Common Channel’ that controlled all locomotive radios,” PTC-220 said: “Real-world operation, however, revealed that the single Common Channel did not adequately handle congestion.”