FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks said they have been frozen out of the process on changes to the order approving T-Mobile buying Sprint, circulated by Chairman Ajit Pai in August (see 1908140052). FCC officials told us only Pai and Commissioner Mike O’Rielly have voted to approve. Commissioner Brendan Carr’s office has had a series of meetings on the deal (see 1909240017).
FTC Chairman Joe Simons wants to double the size of his agency’s tech task force (see 1902280077), supplement privacy and enforcement efforts, and hire more technologists and economists, he told the House Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee Wednesday. The House’s FY 2020 budget bill includes $349.7 million for the FTC (see 1906260081 and 1906240061), up about $40 million from what Congress allocated in the FY 2019 spending bill passed in February. More than half of the additional $40 million might be needed to cover mandatory compensation increases and other agency operations, Simons said. The rest could fund the priorities he listed. Simons and Chopra didn't take questions after the hearing.
TAMPA -- Public, educational and governmental access programmers should get creative in how they raise money and in other parts of their operations, amid revenue and other challenges, NATOA was told Wednesday. There's declining cable revenue in many localities, as the number of traditional pay-TV subscribers shrinks and cable ISPs focus more on broadband, plus uncertainty about what regulators including the FCC might do next. To seek alternative ways of getting money means turning to concepts in other sectors: branding, fundraising, working with IRS-deemed 501(c)(3) affiliates, getting corporate and other sponsorships, and asking people to make donations.
The trade group representing big-box retailers used President Donald Trump’s own words about tariffs’ possible harm to holiday shopping to urge his administration not to raise the first three rounds of Section 301 duties on Chinese goods to 30 percent as planned for Oct. 15 (see 1909120002). Trump “acknowledged that tariffs hurt consumers” when he deferred putting the List 4B tariffs into effect until Dec. 15, commented the Retail Industry Leaders Association in docket USTR-2019-0015, citing the president’s Aug. 13 remarks (see 1908130028).
FTC Chairman Joe Simons wants to double the size of his agency’s tech task force (see 1902280077), supplement privacy and enforcement efforts, and hire more technologists and economists, he told the House Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee Wednesday. The House’s FY 2020 budget bill includes $349.7 million for the FTC (see 1906260081 and 1906240061), up about $40 million from what Congress allocated in the FY 2019 spending bill passed in February. More than half of the additional $40 million might be needed to cover mandatory compensation increases and other agency operations, Simons said. The rest could fund the priorities he listed. Simons and Chopra didn't take questions after the hearing.
TAMPA -- Local telecom officials and their legal representatives are wary of future federal moves to encroach on their authority. They identified a wide gulf between their need for oversight of and compensation from providers and FCC actions this year and last, plus expected future agency deregulation. In interviews this week on the sidelines of their annual conference, NATOA board members and others had much criticism for the agency.
"Confronting a rising China" is the "foreign-policy challenge of our time," Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., told the U.S. Institute for Peace Monday. The government of Chinese President Xi Jinping is “making a play for dominance” globally in 5G, artificial intelligence, robotics and biotech, and the Trump administration's China policy is too "shortsighted" to stop it, said the Senate Intelligence Committee’s ranking member.
Re-establishing the Office of Technology Assessment seems to have significant lawmaker support, though questions remain about which agency should house it and the proper funding level, said House Commerce member Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., Friday at the Telecommunications Policy Research Institute. He said there's a need for nonpartisan expertise on issues, calling OTA's disbanding in the 1990s "a tragedy." McNerney said he plans to introduce the Digital Equity Act in the House this week. The bill, which would allocate federal funding for digital inclusion projects, was introduced in the Senate in April (see 1904300194). The WiFi Caucus co-chair said maximizing unlicensed spectrum is a key goal of the caucus since a lot of 5G activity will be on Wi-Fi. He repeated his advocacy for opening up the 5.9 GHz band for unlicensed use. A member of the Artificial Intelligence Caucus, he said AI raises a host of ethical issues the caucus is grappling with, such as the potential for jobs displacement, and whether the caucus should give the National Institute of Standards and Technology a mandate to create standards and tests.
"Confronting a rising China" is the "foreign-policy challenge of our time," Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., told the U.S. Institute for Peace Monday. The government of Chinese President Xi Jinping is “making a play for dominance” globally in 5G, artificial intelligence, robotics and biotech, and the Trump administration's China policy is too "shortsighted" to stop it, said the Senate Intelligence Committee’s ranking member.
Re-establishing the Office of Technology Assessment seems to have significant lawmaker support, though there are questions of under what agency it should be housed and the proper funding level, said House Commerce member Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., Friday at the Telecommunications Policy Research Institute. He said there's a need for nonpartisan expertise on issues and OTA's disbanding in the 1990s was "a tragedy."