President Donald Trump signed the FY 2021 appropriations and COVID-19 aid omnibus bill (HR-133), which includes broadband funding and other telecom and tech policy provisions (see 2012210055). Trump’s signing Sunday came after he raised objections to parts of the measure last week (see 2012230078). He continued to criticize it in his signing statement, saying he’s “demanding many rescissions.” Congress “has promised” Communications Decency Act Section 230, “which so unfairly benefits Big Tech at the expense of the American people, will be reviewed and either be terminated or substantially reformed,” Trump said. “Big Tech must not get protections of Section 230!” It’s not clear what review Trump was referencing. Both chambers are to vote this week to override Trump’s veto of the conference FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-6395). He disapproved in part because it didn’t include language to repeal Section 230 (see 2012230081). The almost $7 billion in broadband funding included in HR-133 will promote "more ubiquitous deployment of secure high-speed broadband services," Free State Foundation Senior Fellow Andrew Long blogged Saturday.

Given the likely "significant impacts" that SpaceX's pending license modification would have on the orbital environment, the National Environmental Policy Act requires the FCC to do an environmental impact statement as part of its consideration, or at the very least an environmental assessment, Viasat said in an International Bureau petition Tuesday. It said since its initial petition against SpaceX's request to move more than 2,800 planned satellites to a lower orbit (see 2007140001), "numerous studies, articles, and papers" have noted possible environmental harms from mega constellations, including exacerbating global warming, excessive light pollution affecting astronomers and stargazers, higher collision risks from orbital debris, and bigger threats of satellites not fully burning up on reentry. Smaller, more-routine satellite deployments might not raise the same issues, but SpaceX's plans do "given the sheer quantity of satellites at issue here, as well as the unprecedented nature of SpaceX’s treatment of them as effectively expendable," it said. SpaceX didn't comment.

Proposed new EU rules for digital platforms could become a global norm, some stakeholders speculated. The Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Market Act (DMA), unveiled by the European Commission Dec. 15 (see 2012150022), aim to protect fundamental rights online and create a fairer, more open digital market, the EC said. DSA would require very large platforms ("gatekeepers") take risk-based action to prevent abuse of their systems through increased transparency.

Twenty-two trade associations and business groups, including CTA and the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), will testify at Tuesday's virtual Trade Act Section 301 investigative hearing convened by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative into allegations of improper Vietnamese currency manipulation, according to a witness list the agency posted Thursday. USTR's release of the schedule obviously signaled its clear intention to proceed with the hearing, in apparent disregard of the two dozen groups that urged a week earlier for the proceeding to be called off and the comments period reopened (see 2012230008).

Given the likely "significant impacts" that SpaceX's pending license modification would have on the orbital environment, the National Environmental Policy Act requires the FCC to do an environmental impact statement as part of its consideration, or at the very least an environmental assessment, Viasat said in an International Bureau petition Tuesday. It said since its initial petition against SpaceX's request to move more than 2,800 planned satellites to a lower orbit (see 2007140001), "numerous studies, articles, and papers" have noted possible environmental harms from mega constellations, including exacerbating global warming, excessive light pollution affecting astronomers and stargazers, higher collision risks from orbital debris, and bigger threats of satellites not fully burning up on reentry. Smaller, more-routine satellite deployments might not raise the same issues, but SpaceX's plans do "given the sheer quantity of satellites at issue here, as well as the unprecedented nature of SpaceX’s treatment of them as effectively expendable," it said. SpaceX didn't comment.

Proposed new EU rules for digital platforms could become a global norm, some stakeholders speculated. The Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Market Act (DMA), unveiled by the European Commission Dec. 15 (see 2012150022), aim to protect fundamental rights online and create a fairer, more open digital market, the EC said. DSA would require very large platforms ("gatekeepers") take risk-based action to prevent abuse of their systems through increased transparency.

Proposed new EU rules for digital platforms could become a global norm, some stakeholders speculated. The Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Market Act (DMA), unveiled by the European Commission Dec. 15 (see 2012150022), aim to protect fundamental rights online and create a fairer, more open digital market, the EC said. DSA would require very large platforms ("gatekeepers") take risk-based action to prevent abuse of their systems through increased transparency.

Telecom and mental health interests say privacy concerns should be considered as the FCC readies a report to Congress on the feasibility and cost of including an automatic dispatchable location that would be conveyed with calls to the 988 suicide prevention hotline, according to docket 18-336 comments due Monday. The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 requires a report to Congress on geolocation. Enabling such capabilities for 988 calls would be "a significant undertaking," and the FCC needs to ensure resources and attention aren't diverted from the primary task of 988 implementation, USTelecom said. It said a study would be needed of call flows, the existing and to-be-developed technology and a new funding mechanism. Providing automatic location information for 988 calls raises numerous technical, privacy and policy issues that need careful consideration, and the FCC should propose that stakeholders develop recommendations to address those issues that will need to be resolved if Lifeline will be expected to receive and manage location information of mobile wireless 988 callers, CTIA said. "Dispatchable location is the gold standard for public safety" when an emergency dispatch is needed, said APCO, noting it's technically feasible to get such information, as evidenced by the dispatchable information available for some mobile 911 calls. Backing provision of geolocation information to the Lifeline centers it administers, Vibrant Emotional Health said callers get better support when routed to a local community call center, but such routing is challenged because 80% of Lifeline calls come from mobile phones. That creates a challenge of matching a device's number to the caller's location, it said. Citing possible privacy concerns, the American Association of Suicidology said Lifeline should develop better standardized universal training because the current approach to active rescue and imminent risk is insufficient "and rel[ies] on subjective, emotional, and sometimes reactionary responses." Messaging should be clear on what crisis services are and how they differentiate from 911 or emergency services, and crisis centers outside the Lifeline network need to be involved in service provision, it said. The National Alliance on Mental Illness said the 988 system optimally should provide "'someone to call' (988 hotline), 'someone to respond' (mobile crisis teams), and 'somewhere to go' (crisis stabilization programs)," and geolocation is key to mobile crisis teams. It also said the FCC report should include the need for federal guidance and best practices on protecting callers' privacy "while simultaneously ensuring appropriate and timely responses to people in need of in-person assistance."

Both houses of Congress were expected to vote Monday night on the combined FY 2021 appropriations and COVID-19 aid omnibus bill (HR-133), after Hill leaders reached a deal on the measure, which includes $6.82 billion for broadband and a raft of other tech and telecom policy provisions. HR-133 also includes increases in annual funding for the FCC, FTC, NTIA and other agencies compared with FY 2020. The Senate was, meanwhile, set to hold a revote on invoking cloture on FCC inspector general nominee Chase Johnson after failing a first try Saturday.

Both houses of Congress were expected to vote Monday night on the combined FY 2021 appropriations and COVID-19 aid omnibus bill (HR-133), after Hill leaders reached a deal on the measure, which includes $6.82 billion for broadband and a raft of other tech and telecom policy provisions. HR-133 also includes increases in annual funding for the FCC, FTC, NTIA and other agencies compared with FY 2020. The Senate was, meanwhile, set to hold a revote on invoking cloture on FCC inspector general nominee Chase Johnson after failing a first try Saturday.