The Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee will explore site blocking as a form of internet piracy prevention, Chairman Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told us Tuesday after a hearing. Ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., said he’s “open to it,” and it needs to be weighed against the speech concerns.
The FCC is going to be sued anyway for February's C-band clearing order (see 2002280044), so why bother offering up to $9.7 billion in incentives to incumbent satellite operators, because they won't prevent lawsuits, argued Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., repeatedly Tuesday. He spoke at a subcommittee hearing ostensibly about the FCC FY 2021 budget request, challenging agency Chairman Ajit Pai to justify the amount. Lawmakers pressed the agency about fixing its broadband mapping and tackling contraband phones. Kennedy said there will be another such hearing on the issues and the agency's budget request.
The Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee will explore site blocking as a form of internet piracy prevention, Chairman Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told us Tuesday after a hearing. Ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., said he’s “open to it,” and it needs to be weighed against the speech concerns.
Negotiations continued Monday between House Communications Subcommittee Democrats and Republicans to see if they can reach a deal to smooth advancement of the Clearing Broad Airwaves for New Deployment (C-Band) Act (HR-4855) and the Reinforcing and Evaluating Service Integrity, Local Infrastructure and Emergency Notification for Today’s (Resilient) Networks Act (HR-5926), communications sector lobbyists told us. The two bills, which got pushback from Republican leaders, are among 11 measures House Communications plans to mark up Tuesday. The session begins at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
The FCC got no pushback to proposed implementation of Section 1003 of the Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019 (TVPA) by amendment of its rules to let small MVPDs designate a buying group to negotiate on their behalf and the proposed definitions of large station groups and qualified buying groups in docket 20-31 comments. Beyond its proposals, NTCA said the agency “must do more” in the form of retransmission consent rules reforms such as bans on forced tying and tiering. ACA Connects agreed with the proposed rules changes. NAB called the proposed rules changes “appropriate to effectuate the TVPA.” The legislation passed in December (see 1912190068).
State Democrats are pressing forward with net neutrality revivals with hope that last year’s Mozilla decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit alleviated lawmaker concerns that killed bills in previous sessions. The D.C. Circuit cleared a “path to be able to set our own net neutrality rules,” said Connecticut Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D). He and other legislators and stakeholders spoke in recent interviews.
Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced long-anticipated legislation Thursday (see 2002070052) that would alter Section 230, exposing online platforms to civil liability for violating child sexual abuse material-related laws. The Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act (Earn It Act) was introduced with Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. Additional sponsors are Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.; Doug Jones, D-Ala.; Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; Bob Casey, D-Pa., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross downplayed any disagreement within the Trump administration on how much it wants to restrict Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei via U.S. trade rules. His Thursday exchange with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., came during a Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the Commerce Department’s FY 2021 budget request. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., questioned the agency's broadband coverage data collection.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross downplayed any disagreement within the Trump administration on how much it wants to restrict Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei via U.S. trade rules. His Thursday exchange with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., came during a Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the Commerce Department’s FY 2021 budget request. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., questioned the agency's broadband coverage data collection.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai could propose an order on the 6 GHz band for the April 23 meeting, industry and FCC officials said. That would move one of his biggest pieces of unfinished business, providing spectrum for unlicensed use comparable to the mid-band allocated for licensed use in the C band. Pai was expected to propose an item in March. Staff needed more time, we were told Thursday.