Tuesday’s court ruling on net neutrality may support state regulation of facilities-based VoIP services, said state officials in interviews Friday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld FCC reclassification of broadband as a telecom service under Title II of the Communications Act (see 1606140023). Since telecom services are subject to more regulation than information services under the statute, the D.C. Circuit ruling could help resolve a question that has been raised in courtrooms, state legislatures and utilities commissions across the country, said state officials: Is VoIP a telecom or information service?

Tuesday’s court ruling on net neutrality may support state regulation of facilities-based VoIP services, said state officials in interviews Friday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld FCC reclassification of broadband as a telecom service under Title II of the Communications Act (see 1606140023). Since telecom services are subject to more regulation than information services under the statute, the D.C. Circuit ruling could help resolve a question that has been raised in courtrooms, state legislatures and utilities commissions across the country, said state officials: Is VoIP a telecom or information service?

With a week to go before a vote, there are broad industry concerns about an FCC proposal to reform Team Telecom, industry officials said in interviews last week. So-called Team Telecom is a working group of representatives from the federal agencies who look at the national security implications of foreign investment in U.S. communications companies. The commission is to take up a rulemaking at the June 24 commission meeting designed to “streamline” and increase the transparency of the Team Telecom process.

The FCC needed to “run the table” and win on all counts in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s net neutrality ruling, and it did so, said Christopher Yoo, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, during a teleconference Wednesday hosted by Recon Analytics.

The FCC needed to “run the table” and win on all counts in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s net neutrality ruling, and it did so, said Christopher Yoo, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, during a teleconference Wednesday hosted by Recon Analytics.

Several House Cybersecurity Subcommittee members raised concerns during a hearing Wednesday about what they view as sluggish private sector participation in the Department of Homeland Security's Automated Indicator Sharing (AIS) program, which DHS set up as part of its implementation of the Cybersecurity Act of 2015. The Cybersecurity Act, which Congress passed in December as part of the FY 2016 omnibus spending bill (see 1512180052), codified the DHS National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center's role as the main civilian hub for cyberthreat information sharing. The bill also enacted strong liability protections for information sharing and required private sector entities to remove personally identifiable information (PII) from data prior to sharing. Industry stakeholders told House Cybersecurity they're optimistic that private sector participation in the AIS program will increase over time and attributed sluggish early uptake of the program to stakeholders' cautiousness about participating in the program's earliest stage and the need for finalized information sharing rules.

Several House Cybersecurity Subcommittee members raised concerns during a hearing Wednesday about what they view as sluggish private sector participation in the Department of Homeland Security's Automated Indicator Sharing (AIS) program, which DHS set up as part of its implementation of the Cybersecurity Act of 2015. The Cybersecurity Act, which Congress passed in December as part of the FY 2016 omnibus spending bill (see 1512180052), codified the DHS National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center's role as the main civilian hub for cyberthreat information sharing. The bill also enacted strong liability protections for information sharing and required private sector entities to remove personally identifiable information (PII) from data prior to sharing. Industry stakeholders told House Cybersecurity they're optimistic that private sector participation in the AIS program will increase over time and attributed sluggish early uptake of the program to stakeholders' cautiousness about participating in the program's earliest stage and the need for finalized information sharing rules.

That commissioners got a chance to vote on the FCC's latest Open-Market Reorganization for the Betterment of International Telecommunications (Orbit) Act report to Congress raises the question of why similar agency reports don't follow the same procedure, Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said. The FCC issued its 17th annual status report on the privatization status of Inmarsat, Intelsat and New Skies Tuesday. It was unanimously approved by commissioners, with O'Rielly and Commissioner Ajit Pai issuing separate statements. The report said the FCC over the past year has taken part in numerous international satellite coordination negotiations with Russia as Intelsat's licensing administration, while the company signed operational arrangements with satellite operators licensed by seven nations, which will in turn lead to coordination agreements between the U.S. and the pertinent foreign administrations. The FCC said during the past year it also granted a number of Inmarsat earth station licenses and approved other earth stations' authority to communicate with satellites from New Skies, an Intelsat spin-off. Several past reports have said Inmarsat and Intelsat have fully transitioned to privatized operations. Pai has said the Orbit Act reports have outlived their usefulness (see 1506100062) and he repeated that Tuesday in a brief statement, saying "There's no need to reinvent the wheel." O'Rielly said he proposed a similar process for all delegated authority matters before the agency: "Alas, this reasonable process reform has been summarily rejected to date."

Zoom Telephonics' petition to have the FCC reconsider its approval of Altice's buy of Cablevision regurgitates the same assertions the Media, International, Wireless and Wireline bureaus rejected in their order and fails to rebut that the order said cable modem maker's allegations aren't relevant because they raise no transaction-specific harms, the cable companies said in a joint opposition filed Monday in docket 15-257. Zoom also petitioned for reconsideration of FCC approval of Charter Communications' buying Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks (see 1606100043). FCC OK last month of Altice/Cablevision (see 1605040010) rejected calls by Zoom for modem-related conditions (see 1602050013) as not being transaction-specific. Altice/Cablevision said the thrust of Zoom's argument that Cablevision's modem and billing practices violate FCC rules and the Communications Act was aired during the agency's consideration of the deal: "Zoom's petition identifies precisely the same facts, and rehashes precisely the same arguments, set forth in its Petition to Deny [and] presents nothing new." Altice/Cablevision said Zoom's arguments about the billing practices being contrary to the public interest "involve precisely the sort of unrelated harms that the Commission routinely has refused to consider in its transaction review context." In its petition, Zoom argued the FCC improperly deferred consideration of its allegations relating to cable modem pricing issues and neglected to assess its arguments that the transaction wasn't consistent with the Communications Act, Telecommunications Act and public interest standard. It said it wanted reconsideration of the lack of any conditions to ensure Altice's cable modem certification practices are consistent with FCC rules, and that Cablevision dissuades purchase of third-party modems through misleading information on its website. Zoom said it repeatedly raised the issue of mandating bill transparency during the FCC's consideration of the transaction, but the commission made "manifest error" by neglecting to even consider whether approving the deal without addressing Cablevision billing practices is contrary to the public interest. Zoom's petition wasn't posted on the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System by our deadline, and the agency said it wasn't an ECFS problem.

Zoom Telephonics' petition to have the FCC reconsider its approval of Altice's buy of Cablevision regurgitates the same assertions the Media, International, Wireless and Wireline bureaus rejected in their order and fails to rebut that the order said cable modem maker's allegations aren't relevant because they raise no transaction-specific harms, the cable companies said in a joint opposition filed Monday in docket 15-257. Zoom also petitioned for reconsideration of FCC approval of Charter Communications' buying Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks (see 1606100043). FCC OK last month of Altice/Cablevision (see 1605040010) rejected calls by Zoom for modem-related conditions (see 1602050013) as not being transaction-specific. Altice/Cablevision said the thrust of Zoom's argument that Cablevision's modem and billing practices violate FCC rules and the Communications Act was aired during the agency's consideration of the deal: "Zoom's petition identifies precisely the same facts, and rehashes precisely the same arguments, set forth in its Petition to Deny [and] presents nothing new." Altice/Cablevision said Zoom's arguments about the billing practices being contrary to the public interest "involve precisely the sort of unrelated harms that the Commission routinely has refused to consider in its transaction review context." In its petition, Zoom argued the FCC improperly deferred consideration of its allegations relating to cable modem pricing issues and neglected to assess its arguments that the transaction wasn't consistent with the Communications Act, Telecommunications Act and public interest standard. It said it wanted reconsideration of the lack of any conditions to ensure Altice's cable modem certification practices are consistent with FCC rules, and that Cablevision dissuades purchase of third-party modems through misleading information on its website. Zoom said it repeatedly raised the issue of mandating bill transparency during the FCC's consideration of the transaction, but the commission made "manifest error" by neglecting to even consider whether approving the deal without addressing Cablevision billing practices is contrary to the public interest. Zoom's petition wasn't posted on the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System by our deadline, and the agency said it wasn't an ECFS problem.