Industry will likely turn to the FCC to address a 6th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court decision on Wednesday upholding the agency’s 2023 data breach notification rules (see 2508130068). When the rules were approved, now Chairman Brendan Carr and former Republican Commissioner Nathan Simington dissented (see 2312220054).
A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the FCC’s data breach notification rules in an opinion Wednesday (see 2412120056). The rules were approved 3-2 in 2023 by the previous FCC, with then-Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington dissenting. The Ohio Telecom Association, the Texas Association of Business, CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom filed petitions for review against the rules, arguing that they were outside the FCC’s authority and violated the Congressional Review Act because Congress vetoed similar requirements included with other privacy rules in 2017. But the court said the Congressional Review Act doesn’t prevent agencies from issuing new rules that are similar to parts of rules nullified by CRA resolutions. If Congress had wanted the CRA to do that, “it could have said so,” said the opinion from Judge Jane Stranch. “That is not the language it chose.” The 2017 rules and the 2024 FCC data breach order also aren’t “substantively identical,” the opinion said.
The Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force launched a new crackdown Thursday. Made up of 51 state attorneys general, it sent warning letters to 37 providers calling on them to stop letting such calls be routed through their networks. Operation Robocall Roundup told the providers that they either failed to respond to numerous traceback notices from USTelecom's Industry Traceback Group or transmitted suspicious robocall campaigns regarding tax debt, loan approval and, in one instance, ISP impersonation. "We are giving these companies three weeks to start following the rules so we can shield people from these annoying and illegal robocalls," said North Carolina AG Jeff Jackson (D). The task force also sent letters to 99 downstream providers that accept traffic from the 37 companies. Seven of the 37 providers targeted by the task force were among those removed from the FCC's Robocall Mitigation Database this week (see 2508060041).
Most commenters emphasized the importance of flexibility and developing rules that will accommodate change in comments on a next-generation 911 Further NPRM that commissioners approved 4-0 in March (see 2503270042). Initial comments were due Monday in docket 21-479. The FNPRM proposes updates to the agency’s 911 reliability rules, extending those that cover legacy 911 networks to service providers that control or operate critical pathways and components in NG911 networks.
USTelecom wants the FCC to address burdensome state and local permitting rules that it said are slowing broadband expansion. In a letter filed Thursday in docket 17-84, the group said many of its members face major delays, unpredictable approval timelines and excessive fees when trying to build networks. The letter aimed to show how these barriers are preventing providers from meeting federal broadband goals and deadlines, including projects funded by programs like the American Rescue Plan.
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chair Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., on Thursday filed the Modernization, Accountability and Planning for Broadband Funding Act in a bid to increase oversight of the FCC's broadband funding map. The bill would direct the FCC to conduct a notice of inquiry on the map’s function and the data it displays for maximum usability. The notice would assess whether there need to be updates to the map based on user feedback. The measure would also direct the Government Accountability Office to evaluate whether federal agencies are providing data for the map in compliance with current law and would identify any reporting gaps.
Trade groups are urging federal agencies to treat deliberate damage to communications networks, such as fiber-optic cable cuts, as domestic terrorism in some instances and increase investigative and enforcement resources in regions with more incidents. Widespread, organized attacks on communications networks represent "a significant and rapidly growing threat demanding urgent, coordinated federal, state, and local action," the groups said in a letter Wednesday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel.
The Trump administration has so far raised many questions about its approach to tackling cybersecurity, former acting NTIA Administrator Evelyn Remaley said during a USTelecom webinar Tuesday. Other experts said the administration is mostly on the right track, though they conceded its policies remain a work in progress.
Major trade associations met with staff from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s office and the Office of General Counsel on a January declaratory ruling and NPRM addressing the Salt Typhoon cyberattacks (see 2501160041). The item was released during the final days of the last administration over the protest of then-commissioner Carr. CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom raised concerns during the meetings.
The Senate confirmed Republican Arielle Roth as NTIA administrator Wednesday on a largely party-line 52-42 vote, as expected (see 2507160076). Senate Commerce Committee member John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat who joined Republicans in backing Roth, as he was when the panel advanced her in April (see 2504090037). The chamber invoked cloture on Roth last week 50-34 (see 2507170065). President Donald Trump nominated Roth, who was Senate Commerce Republicans’ telecom policy director, to the NTIA role in February (see 2502040056).