Capitol Hill
Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., of the House Communications Subcommittee is “very close” to completing his Universal Service Fund bill and hopes to take it to markup sometime this month, he told reporters Wednesday. “We are spending many hours every day…
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working to finalize it” and “get the consent of stakeholders,” he said after a House Commerce Committee markup. (See separate report in this issue.) He wouldn’t say whether he will introduce the bill before or after the FCC’s National Broadband Plan is released. Boucher and the FCC share a goal to switch the fund to supporting broadband, but “the methodology may prove to be somewhat different,” he said. “We will review that broadband plan when it comes forward very carefully, and then we'll be making well-informed decisions as we pursue these goals together.” Boucher said he’s also working hard on his privacy bill, but action on that likely will wait until after USF. “We are working simultaneously on both drafts.” Boucher plans to release a discussion draft in the “near term,” but he wouldn’t specify a date. He said he wants privacy legislation to preserve “all the legitimate advertising practices,” adding, “Our goal is not to interfere with legitimate targeted advertising [or] behavioral advertising practices. Our goal is to give Internet users a greater confidence that their experience on the Web is secure.” Boucher declined to give an example of a legitimate practice before he circulates a discussion draft.