Online service providers and platforms are focuses of proposed rules outlined Wednesday by the European Commission. In reform packages for telecom and copyright, part of the digital single market strategy, the EC said it wants service providers to monitor content uploaded by subscribers to ensure it's not copyright-protected, and proposed extending rules now applied only to traditional operators to internet companies offering equivalent services. The commission wants to grant "neighboring rights" to news publishers to help them monitor the use of and seek remuneration for works posted by aggregators and search engines. The measures aren't aimed solely at American companies, and will offer legal clarity to all internet players, said EC Digital Single Market Vice-President Andrus Ansip in a webcast media briefing.

Online service providers and platforms are focuses of proposed rules outlined Wednesday by the European Commission. In reform packages for telecom and copyright, part of the digital single market strategy, the EC said it wants service providers to monitor content uploaded by subscribers to ensure it's not copyright-protected, and proposed extending rules now applied only to traditional operators to internet companies offering equivalent services. The commission wants to grant "neighboring rights" to news publishers to help them monitor the use of and seek remuneration for works posted by aggregators and search engines. The measures aren't aimed solely at American companies, and will offer legal clarity to all internet players, said EC Digital Single Market Vice-President Andrus Ansip in a webcast media briefing.

Capitol Hill Republicans are finalizing language in the short-term continuing resolution aimed at preventing the planned Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Tuesday. The language would extend a rider in the Department of Commerce's FY 2016 budget that bars NTIA from using federal funds on the transition. The CR may move on the Senate floor this week. A GAO report released earlier in the day found the transition won't result in a transfer of U.S. government property and likely resolves one of the many issues posed by critics. Resolution of the of property issue won't by itself drastically shift the debate on the Hill on delaying the changeover, lobbyists said in interviews.

Judges sparred with both sides at oral argument on Neustar challenges to FCC orders picking Telcordia to become the next local number portability administrator (LNPA). Judges Harry Edwards and David Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit questioned whether the FCC adequately addressed concerns about the impartiality of Telcordia, given its ties to parent Ericsson, a telecom equipment manufacturer. But they also seemed to suggest the FCC could remedy the concerns through its neutrality safeguards, with Edwards questioning Neustar arguments that no safeguards could be sufficient. Judge David Tatel suggested he might not agree with a core Neustar argument about Delaware corporate law.

Capitol Hill Republicans are finalizing language in the short-term continuing resolution aimed at preventing the planned Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Tuesday. The language would extend a rider in the Department of Commerce's FY 2016 budget that bars NTIA from using federal funds on the transition. The CR may move on the Senate floor this week. A GAO report released earlier in the day found the transition won't result in a transfer of U.S. government property and likely resolves one of the many issues posed by critics. Resolution of the of property issue won't by itself drastically shift the debate on the Hill on delaying the changeover, lobbyists said in interviews.

Frontier Communications must publicly file a “root cause analysis” on outages from its April 1 transition of Verizon customers and a separate 911 outage in Riverside County, the California Public Utilities Commission said in a Sept. 8 ruling on rural call completion issues released Monday. The telco must file by Sept. 20, the same day as a hearing about the Frontier transition in Santa Cruz (see 1608170036), it said. Frontier also is facing FCC scrutiny for the Riverside 911 outage (see 1607080045). The telco responded to CPUC requests for information prior to Thursday, including root cause analysis reports, a company spokesman said Monday. “We will continue to respond to questions from all regulators on a timely basis.” Frontier resolved all transition-related customer service tickets by May 31 and systems are operating normally, he said. The company is working on meeting state conditions on the Verizon deal, including enhancing network performance, upgrading the network and expanding 25 Mbps broadband service to about 400,000 households and delivering 10 Mbps broadband service to about 190,000 households, he said. The ruling directed Frontier and other carriers in Humboldt County -- AT&T, Comcast and Suddenlink -- to meet to investigate and act to resolve a recent 211 outage there. The companies should be ready to discuss the matter at an upcoming workshop Sept. 20 in Felton, California, CPUC said. Frontier is looking into the outage reports and will report to the PUC as requested, the spokesman said. Also, the state commission asked for comment on transcripts and issues raised at summer workshops and public hearings on rural call completion.

Multiple supporters of the planned Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition told us they plan to continue urging congressional leaders to allow the transition to proceed despite growing perceptions that Republican lawmakers reached a consensus to further delay the changeover via a planned short-term continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government once FY 2016 expires Sept. 30. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, showed interest last week in a possible short-term CR that includes an extension of a rider in the Department of Commerce's FY 2016 budget that bars NTIA from using federal funds on the transition (see 1609070053). An extension of the funding ban rider would result in NTIA needing to extend its contract with ICANN to administer the IANA functions past its current Sept. 30 end date.

Multiple supporters of the planned Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition told us they plan to continue urging congressional leaders to allow the transition to proceed despite growing perceptions that Republican lawmakers reached a consensus to further delay the changeover via a planned short-term continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government once FY 2016 expires Sept. 30. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, showed interest last week in a possible short-term CR that includes an extension of a rider in the Department of Commerce's FY 2016 budget that bars NTIA from using federal funds on the transition (see 1609070053). An extension of the funding ban rider would result in NTIA needing to extend its contract with ICANN to administer the IANA functions past its current Sept. 30 end date.

The chairmen of the House and Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees jointly urged the departments of Commerce and Justice Thursday to reconsider proceeding with the planned Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition Oct. 1, saying they have serious concerns about ICANN's existing transition-related plans. The letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker follows increased interest from Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and other Senate leaders in including an extension of a rider in the Department of Commerce's FY 2016 budget that bars NTIA from using federal funds on the transition via the planned short-term resolution to fund the government once FY 2016 expires Sept. 30 (see 1609070053). An extension of the transition funding ban rider would delay NTIA's plan to allow its existing contract with ICANN to administer the IANA functions to expire as planned just before midnight Sept. 30.

House Commerce Committee members committed Thursday to advancing the Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act (S-827/HR-2566) with haste. The subcommittee will mark up HR-2566 and the Anti-Spoofing Act (HR-2669) next week in sessions Monday and Tuesday, with voting set for 10 a.m. Tuesday in 2322 Rayburn. The House's substitute amendment for HR-2566 matches the text cleared by the Senate Commerce Committee in June. But some members of the Communications Subcommittee during Thursday’s hearing on the bill questioned whether the proposal should be changed.