A 2018 anti-sex-trafficking law violates the First Amendment, so a lawsuit against the statute (see 1806290044) should proceed, advocates argued Friday before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. DOJ countered that plaintiffs don’t have a reasonable fear of prosecution because the speech doesn’t promote illegal sex activity.
A 2018 anti-sex-trafficking law violates the First Amendment, so a lawsuit against the statute (see 1806290044) should proceed, advocates argued Friday before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. DOJ countered that plaintiffs don’t have a reasonable fear of prosecution because the speech doesn’t promote illegal sex activity.
The FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee focused on disaster recovery Thursday, hearing an update by a working group preparing reports. The disaster recovery work is the furthest along of any being done by the newly reconfigured BDAC, officials said. “This is not a game,” said Jonathan Adelstein, president of the Wireless Infrastructure Association and vice chair of BDAC’s Disaster Response and Recovery working group. “This is life and death. I think our working group has stepped up to that level of urgency.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will host a meeting with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Friday, House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., told us Thursday. Zuckerberg had dinner Wednesday with Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and other senators, and Thursday meetings with Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., among other visits. Walden told us he plans to attend the meeting with McCarthy and others, saying he favors Congress taking a hard look at Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Tech platforms are in a difficult position being told not to act as editors and publishers and to moderate content, Walden said.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will host a meeting with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Friday, House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., told us Thursday. Zuckerberg had dinner Wednesday with Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and other senators, and Thursday meetings with Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., among other visits. Walden told us he plans to attend the meeting with McCarthy and others, saying he favors Congress taking a hard look at Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Tech platforms are in a difficult position being told not to act as editors and publishers and to moderate content, Walden said.
House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., said he's among lawmakers raising concerns about language in the Senate-passed FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (S-1790) that would call for DOD to work with the FCC and NTIA to establish a spectrum sharing R&D program aimed at sharing between 5G technologies, federal and nonfederal incumbent systems (see 1906270051). The language says DOD, the FCC and NTIA officials should, by May, propose an “integrated spectrum automation enterprise strategy” that will allow Defense to “address management of [spectrum], including Federal and non-Federal spectrum” shared by DOD “that could be used for national security missions in the future, including on a shared basis.” House Commerce leaders “aren't happy at all” about the Senate NDAA language, Walden told reporters. “We don’t need the Pentagon replacing the NTIA” in making “spectrum allocation decisions for the federal government.” Walden isn't among the Republicans named Tuesday to the House-Senate conference committee that will attempt to reconcile S-1790 and the House-passed NDAA (HR-2500); Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., is the GOP representative from House Commerce. Other policy issues to be debated include differing provisions on national security concerns about Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE (see 1907220053).
House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., said he's among lawmakers raising concerns about language in the Senate-passed FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (S-1790) that would call for DOD to work with the FCC and NTIA to establish a spectrum sharing R&D program aimed at sharing between 5G technologies, federal and nonfederal incumbent systems (see 1906270051). The language says DOD, the FCC and NTIA officials should, by May, propose an “integrated spectrum automation enterprise strategy” that will allow Defense to “address management of [spectrum], including Federal and non-Federal spectrum” shared by DOD “that could be used for national security missions in the future, including on a shared basis.” House Commerce leaders “aren't happy at all” about the Senate NDAA language, Walden told reporters. “We don’t need the Pentagon replacing the NTIA” in making “spectrum allocation decisions for the federal government.” Walden isn't among the Republicans named Tuesday to the House-Senate conference committee that will attempt to reconcile S-1790 and the House-passed NDAA (HR-2500); Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., is the GOP representative from House Commerce. Other policy issues to be debated include differing provisions on national security concerns about Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE (see 1907220053).
Comcast and programmers will win their legal challenge of a Maine law requiring cable provide channels a la carte (see 1909100041), American Enterprise Institute's Daniel Lyons blogged Tuesday. The Communications Act pre-empts that, and the law raises problems such as that cable companies usually buy content in agreements that spell out how it will be marketed and few programmers make channels available individually, he said. It's problematic the law applies to cable TV but not other MVPDs, he said. Section 544(b)(1) of the Communications Act says franchise authorities can't "establish requirements for video programming," and federal courts have used that section to invalidate franchise authorities trying to dictate particular channels or programs be part of a cable company offering, he noted.
Twenty-three trade associations, led by the National Foreign Trade Council, have sent a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate committees with trade jurisdiction, asking them to hold public hearings on tariffs proposed by President Donald Trump, and telling them the Tariff Reform Coalition wants to "work with you to pass appropriate tariff reform legislation as soon as possible."
The report on the Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee-cleared FY 2020 budget bill, which includes funding for the FCC and FTC, has language aimed at pressuring the FCC to hold a public auction of spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band, subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., confirmed to us Tuesday. Some communications lobbyists expected the funding bill to include C-band language (see 1909160062). The subcommittee advanced the measure to the full committee on a voice vote. The full bill text and report isn't publicly available and won't be released until after the full committee marks it up Thursday.