NANC Approves Draft Report on Call Authentication Overseers, But No Shaken/Stir Deadline

The draft was crafted by a Call Authentication Trust Anchor (CATA) working group, and approved by NANC members on a conference call Friday by voice vote with no dissents. Columbia University Professor Henning Schulzrinne, a CATA member, wrote a draft minority report, but he wasn't on the call. The NANC-approved draft could still undergo minor proofing corrections while Schulzrinne's minority draft could undergo more substantive changes in reaction to final modifications made to the "consensus" draft, said NANC Chairman Travis Kavulla, vice chairman of the Montana Public Service Commission. The final CATA reports are due to the FCC by May 7. NANC is to consider separate draft reports on nationwide number portability and toll-free number assignment modernization at a May 29 meeting, and submit final versions of those to the FCC by June 7.

Call authentication is a "key pillar" of the FCC strategy for combating illegal robocalls, said Jay Schwarz, Chairman Ajit Pai's wireline adviser, citing the commission's other policy, enforcement and outreach efforts. That's why it's "so important" to get the governance regime and Shaken/Stir standards deployed "as soon as practicable," he said on the call. The Wireline Bureau in December asked the NANC for recommendations on call-authentication governance and timing, and the FCC's role if it's not going to be the governance authority (GA) of the framework.

An industry-developed GA can begin work immediately without a rulemaking, and retain "maximum flexibility" to respond to evolving threats, said CATA co-Chair Beth Choroser, Comcast vice president-regulatory affairs. A presentation she used said the GA, which is to establish Shaken certification policies, must embody an "ability to adapt to change; openness, neutrality and transparency; consideration of costs; accountability and legal protections." The draft report contemplates establishing the GA by Aug. 5. The FCC role is to provide oversight, drive progress, support the industry approach, "act as an escalation point for resolution of grievances" that "remain unsolved" after a GA decision, and establish incentives for provider adoption of Shaken/Stir, the presentation said.

The draft envisions using a request for proposal or other transparent process to select a policy administrator. The PA which would be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the call-authentication system. The RFP would be targeted for Nov. 3, with responses by Feb. 3 and selection of a PA by May 7, 2019. The PA should have "the necessary track record, experience, management, security and operational capabilities" to perform its tasks and have "at a minimum, an appropriate legal or financial separation" from the GA, Choroser's presentation said.

CATA tried to hammer out final differences, but was unable to agree on a deadline for provider Shaken/Stir implementation, Choroser said. Parties were concerned NANC would be setting up "unreasonable expectations," since even some large providers don't have infrastructure needed to implement the standards. The group agreed those who can implement the standards should do so by around next May, she said. "We do have the incentive to do this."

Most interconnected VoIP providers, almost all cable voice providers, advanced wireline systems like AT&T's U-verse and Verizon's FiOS are Shaken/Stir-capable, and many wireless providers should be capable "relatively quickly," said Richard Shockey, chairman of the Session Initiation Protocol Forum. Choroser said some major wireless providers say they lack needed infrastructure. Shockey said wireline providers using legacy "TDM" technology "are going to be left out in the rain on this because there is virtually nothing we can do to help them." He expected the Shaken/Stir-capable providers to able to deploy the standards "perhaps as early as" Q4 or in early 2019.

Robocalling Notebook

An FTC staff robocall opinion didn't constitute final agency action, ruled the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Friday in a 2-1 decision vacating a lower court ruling. Soundboard Association challenged an FTC staff 2016 informal opinion letter that said a telemarketing technology used by SBA members is subject to the commission's regulation of robocalls, and announced rescission of a 2009 FTC staff letter reaching the opposite conclusion, said the majority opinion by Judge Robert Wilkins, joined by Judge Judith Rogers in Soundboard Association v. FTC, No. 17-5093. "Because the 2016 staff opinion letter does not constitute the consummation of the Commission’s decisionmaking process by its own terms and under the FTC’s regulations, it is not final agency action." Dissenting Judge Patricia Millett wrote: "Why let reality get in the way of a good bureaucratic construct? In holding that the 2016 Letter from the [FTC] Division of Marketing Practices is not a judicially reviewable 'final agency action,' the court’s opinion focuses on the Commission’s structuring of its own regulations to preserve its right to disagree (or not) with the Division at some 'later' date. ... The court’s opinion measures finality exclusively from the Commission’s vantage point."