Disney, Huawei and ViacomCBS were among telecom and tech entities reporting increased Q1 lobbying spending by Monday afternoon. Microsoft, NAB and the Telecommunications Industry Association showed declines over the same period in 2019.
Jimm Phillips
Jimm Phillips, Associate Editor, covers telecommunications policymaking in Congress for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications News in 2012 after stints at the Washington Post and the American Independent News Network. Phillips is a Maryland native who graduated from American University. You can follow him on Twitter: @JLPhillipsDC
AT&T told members of Congress’ Commerce and Judiciary committees it’s working to address expected customer upheaval once the latest Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization law takes effect, including informing some DirecTV subscribers they will lose access to stations after May 31. STELA set that deadline for satellite providers using the distant-signal license to serve all 210 designated market areas (see 1912190068). Congress “can avoid having customers deal with these issues during” the COVID-19 pandemic “by delaying the new law’s June 1 effective date until January 1, 2021,” AT&T emailed to lawmakers. Public Knowledge and some others interpret the message as a bid to delay STELA’s start.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai encouraged House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., “to speak out publicly in favor of the First Amendment -- and thus in opposition to” Free Press’ “misguided” emergency petition for inquiry into broadcasters airing allegedly false information about COVID-19 (see 2004060026). The agency rejected the petition this month, with Pai and other commission Republicans criticizing it as an attack on free speech (see 2004060073). Pallone and Doyle sought reassurance the agency won’t revoke licenses for airing legally protected speech. They cited letters President Donald Trump’s campaign sent to some broadcasters telling them their licenses could be “in jeopardy” if they continued to air ads from the anti-Trump Priorities USA Action Fund political action committee that say Trump called the epidemic a “hoax” (see 2004020069). “I have always stood firmly in the defense of the First Amendment for all Americans,” Pai said in letters to Pallone and Doyle posted Friday. “This has been my long-standing position, and there should be no question as to my commitment.” Pai cited the FCC’s denial of the Free Press petition. “Standing up for the constitutional rights of broadcast stations means that we must do so in all instances in which their rights appear threatened,” he said. “I hope that you agree.” Pai “is willing to cast aspersions on his opponents without using their names or addressing them directly,” emailed FP Vice President-Policy Matt Wood. He “continues to mischaracterize our petition. We did not 'demand' that the FCC 'take action to curtail the freedom of the press.' We asked the FCC to offer guidance on use of the public airwaves to spread COVID-19 disinformation that is quite literally killing people.” Pai “never said in his response that” the Trump campaign’s threats “were wrong or harmful,” Wood said. “He merely said, haughtily, that ‘there should be no question as to my commitment to these ideals.’ That's a non-answer.” The FCC didn’t comment.
Participants in NTIA’s software transparency initiative multistakeholder group should aim to make “progress” over the next six to eight weeks in its software bill of materials work ahead of the next expected meeting, said Office of Policy Analysis and Development Director-Cybersecurity Initiatives Allan Friedman during a Wednesday conference call. Group members noted continued progress on SBOM issues, including how to create an interoperable format for software companies to use to aid understanding of common data sets used in different software programs. The Framing Working Group released a naming-focused use cases document and noted identification issues as a major factor in their work. The Formats and Tooling WG focused on considering how automation could be helpful in making sense of software company-generated data are generating and finding knowledge gaps in current stakeholder-drafted SBOM documents. The Awareness and Adoption Working Group said its work has shifted away from earlier plans to do outreach to the technical community amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The group is creating an FAQ to answer questions about the SBOM process and encourage stakeholders to adopt NTIA’s coming end product. The group released a draft version of the FAQ ahead of the meeting. The Healthcare Proof of Concept WG said it’s been working on a proof of concept to share information collected from medical devices. The healthcare industry created its own proof of concept document before NTIA released initial SBOM documents last year. The NTIA-developed proof of concept includes input from hospitals’ security providers and software tool providers that collaborate with medical device manufacturers, the subgroup said.
House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, N.J., is circulating discussion language to provide $2 billion in “emergency broadband benefit” funding in the next COVID-19 stimulus bill. Some lobbyists we spoke with see the draft as Democrats’ bid to resurrect plans for emergency broadband funding without providing new ammunition to Lifeline critics. Several Democratic lawmakers want future COVID-19 legislation to fund broadband and other infrastructure (see 2003260063). Some groups are urging Congress to use the coming measure to address other communications policy priorities, including media funding (see 2004090066).
NAB signed on to the push for Congress to include emergency funding for local media and stations in the next stimulus bill addressing COVID-19. Some Democrats and other groups made similar requests in recent days (see 2004080069). Officials from some pro-funding groups are hopeful Congress will provide in the coming measure, perhaps billions of dollars. Lobbyists we spoke with were divided on whether it will be a top priority.
House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., believes Congress should revisit its plans for functioning during COVID-19, hoping the crisis prompts lawmakers to further address broadband access. Congress “really isn’t fully prepared” to function well remotely, and conditions are unlikely to be “fundamentally” safe to return to Capitol Hill until at least May, Walden told a Politico webinar Wednesday. He believes lawmakers should authorize some remote Hill work during emergencies. “It also really gives those of us who've been arguing for the need to get broadband across the country and higher data speeds a new lever or two,” Walden said. Telecom networks need attention and “solid investment” to increase access, especially in rural areas, he said. Democratic lawmakers want future COVID-19 legislation to fund broadband and other infrastructure projects (see 2004030055). Walden praised the FCC response to COVID-19, including threatening to block U.S. phone network traffic of gateway providers facilitating robocalls preying on pandemic fears. He commended ISPs that agreed to Chairman Ajit Pai’s call for them to keep everyone online now (see 2003130066), and many of the actions “are sustainable.” Also, see here.
President Donald Trump’s “Team Telecom” executive order formalizes the executive branch’s process for reviewing foreign takeovers of U.S. communications assets, but some observers questioned the extent to which it will alter the status quo. DOJ, DOD and the Department of Homeland Security do those evaluations. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the Saturday EO means the commission can advance a 2016 NPRM to speed up the review process (see 1606240043).
The COVID-19 epidemic is clouding the timeline for the Senate to act on Commissioner Mike O’Rielly’s renomination to a second full FCC term. He nonetheless stands a good chance of confirmation, communications sector officials and lobbyists told us last week. President Donald Trump renominated O’Rielly in March to a term ending in 2024 (see 2003180070). O’Rielly’s current term ended in June. He would have to leave in January absent a Senate vote.
House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., demanded Thursday the FCC reassure broadcasters the agency won’t revoke licenses for airing legally protected speech amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Commissioner Brendan Carr criticized Free Press’ petition for an investigation into whether broadcasters are airing false and misleading information about COVID-19 and require broadcasters “prominently disclose” when the information they air is “false or scientifically suspect,” including in Trump administration news briefings (see 2003260065). Pallone and Doyle wrote FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The lawmakers responded to letters President Donald Trump’s campaign sent last week to some broadcasters telling them their licenses could be “in jeopardy” if they continued to air ads from the anti-Trump Priorities USA Action Fund political action committee that say Trump called the epidemic a “hoax.” The federal government “must reaffirm -- not undermine -- America’s commitment to a free press” because “autocratic governments around the world are using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to suppress press freedoms,” Pallone and Doyle told Pai. “By remaining silent, the FCC sends a disturbing signal.” The FCC “has a duty to provide clear guidance to broadcasters and the public that threats by politicians about protected speech will not influence the agency or broadcaster licenses,” they said. “To stay silent could undermine the First Amendment and the Communications Act.” The agency didn’t comment. FP’s petition “is a sweeping and dangerous attempt by the left to weaponize the FCC against conservative broadcasters and politicians,” Carr tweeted. “It is a clear signal of the agenda the left will pursue if they regain control of the FCC,” including “censoring speech that does not fit their orthodoxy.” Carr stands “with the First Amendment and strongly oppose[s] this.” He noted FP was among groups that pressed for “greater government control of the Internet” via 2015 net neutrality rules. FP stands by its petition because it believes "it's quite possible that certain broadcasts have amounted to ‘hoaxes’ as defined by the FCC’s own regulations," co-CEO Jessica Gonzalez said in a statement. "We will not stand down in the face of flip comments from a misguided FCC commissioner and his band of seven-cent trolls. We expect an official response from the agency mandated by Congress to protect the public interest on our nation’s airwaves, not a right-wing firing squad lobbing insults over Twitter."