Customs fraud whistleblowers

Privacy experts disagreed whether the FCC should regulate ISPs in an effort to limit consumer information collected by the providers, and on the level of encryption accessible to Internet users on a regular basis, during a Monday panel at the Internet Society's State of the Net Conference. Nearly 60 public interest groups urged FCC action in a joint letter last week (see 1601200047).

The Supreme Court could eventually review USF False Claim Act (FCA) litigation, a lawyer in one of the cases said at an FCBA seminar Wednesday. Vinson & Elkins attorney Jeremy Marwell said fraud allegations against recipients of USF support don’t qualify under the FCA, but he acknowledged it’s a “close question,” particularly in light of mixed court rulings to date. While Marwell was on the winning side of a July 2014 E-rate decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled the FCA doesn’t apply to USF programs (United States ex rel. Shupe v. Cisco, No. 13-40807), other cases are pending in the 7th Circuit and D.C. Circuit, which could create a circuit split. Marwell said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the cases go to the high court.

Language concerning requirements for accepting and rejecting advice from the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) included by the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) in its draft of proposed changes to ICANN's accountability procedures released last month (see 1512010064) was the subject of much scrutiny in public comments due Monday. The language drew some support from national governments, ICANN's At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) and top-level domain (TLD) associations. ICANN's board submitted comments on the draft proposal last week (see 1512140055) and said it supports CCWG-Accountability's consensus language on handling GAC recommendations, which many saw as the final substantial barrier to approving the draft (see 1511270048). Multiple stakeholders also expressed concerns about language allowing the removal of several ICANN board members at once.

Concerns remain about FCC Enforcement Bureau field office closings, fives months after the agency approved a compromise proposal that avoided some of the closings initially proposed by Chairman Tom Wheeler, who said in July that after five years of flat budgets the agency had little choice.

This Communications Daily Special Report "a Portrait of the FCC in a Partisan Era" shows the impact of recently flat FCC budgets and a long-shrinking overall staff, as well as partisanship, on agency operations and more. Subscribers also can now access these six stories online at www.communicationsdaily.com.

Forty-two California government entities joined a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower against AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. Filed in Sacramento County Superior Court under the California False Claims Act, the case alleges the wireless companies overcharged government customers by more than $100 million, said a news release from Constantine Cannon, which represents the intervenors and whistleblower. The action was unsealed by the court Monday. The case alleges the wireless companies ignored two cost-saving requirements included in the master contracts under which California state and local government customers bought wireless services, the release said. It said the contracts required the carriers to determine and report to the government customers which rate plan selections would result in the lowest cost -- called "rate plan optimization" -- and to provide wireless services at "the lowest available cost."

The Electronic Frontier Foundation will urge an appeals court to reject government attempts to block an appeal (see 1508050058) in Jewel v. NSA, “EFF’s long-running lawsuit battling unconstitutional mass surveillance of Internet and phone communications,” a news release said Monday. “Evidence from whistleblowers and the government itself confirms the Internet backbone spying, yet a district court judge ruled earlier this year that there wasn’t enough publicly available information to rule if the program is constitutional.” EFF appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The government argues the appeal is “premature and entwined with other issues that are still being litigated in the lower court,” but EFF Special Counsel Richard Wiebe will argue Wednesday that the “appeals court should reject the government’s delay tactics, and finally address whether backbone spying is legal and constitutional,” it said. The hearing begins at 2 p.m. PDT in Courtroom 1 at the 9th Circuit in Pasadena, California.

Members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) said they are hopeful that one of their most important recommendations on changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Act (FISA) will have significant implications. The PCLOB members said that more government transparency of data collection practices could have led to more public acceptance.

The FCC reminded all eligible telecommunications carriers receiving support from the USF’s high-cost program they must follow agency rules and face sanctions if they don't. Commissioner Ajit Pai complained that the FCC had “turned a blind eye” to such conduct for too long by Hawaii’s Sandwich Isles Communications, a company whose former owner, Albert Hee, was convicted of tax violations in July. Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Mike O’Rielly said in a joint statement that Monday’s public notice doesn't go far enough.

A decision in the FTC’s case against LabMD is expected within 70 days of closing argument that was held Wednesday (see 1509160051), which would be around Thanksgiving. Attorneys for LabMD said the company’s case against the FTC has “significant legal consequences” and they will continue with the case until a federal court has the final say. They said the FTC colluded with a third-party security company to create a case against LabMD, and the agency changed the legal rules to benefit itself. The FTC didn't comment.