The Consumer Federation of America and other public interest groups urged the FCC to move forward on final privacy rules for ISPs. Speakers on a Wednesday call with reporters said consumers face real, not theoretical, harms if the FCC doesn’t move forward. Speakers also predicted the FCC ultimately will approve rules while Tom Wheeler is still chairman. They said they weren't concerned about FTC comments on the FCC proposal.
One of the “most interesting” applications of SXM17, the interactive platform that SiriusXM is developing with the major carmakers (see 1604280042), will be the platform’s in-car subscriber account management functionality, SiriusXM Chief Financial Officer David Frear told a Bank of America Merrill Lynch investor conference Tuesday.
The FCC's rulemaking on whether to classify some types of over-the-top (OTT) providers as multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) in large part went dormant because it got far less OTT industry support than the agency anticipated, said municipality lawyer Tim Lay of Spiegel & McDiarmid Monday during a NATOA online seminar on the OTT market and emerging regulatory issues. Numerous OTT video service providers saw the disadvantages of taking on MVPD obligations as outweighing the benefits, such as the right to negotiate access to broadcast signals, and now the rulemaking in docket 14-261 is on hold, and it's unclear when -- or if -- the FCC will pick it back up, Lay said. The FCC didn't comment.
The status of federal online sales tax legislation has remained largely unchanged in recent months despite efforts to seek a legislative compromise and a February promise by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to allow Senate consideration of the controversial Marketplace Fairness Act this year, said online sale tax supporters and opponents in interviews Friday. McConnell promised to allow a Senate vote on S-698 as part of a deal to prevent a floor fight over the inclusion of the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act’s language in the now-enacted Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (see 1602100061 and 1602110056). On the House side, Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., has been continuing to work on a draft alternative “origin sourcing” bill that would tax online retailers based on the sales tax in their location but let states redistribute those taxes based on the location of the purchaser, an e-commerce lobbyist told us.
The status of federal online sales tax legislation has remained largely unchanged in recent months despite efforts to seek a legislative compromise and a February promise by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to allow Senate consideration of the controversial Marketplace Fairness Act this year, said online sale tax supporters and opponents in interviews Friday. McConnell promised to allow a Senate vote on S-698 as part of a deal to prevent a floor fight over the inclusion of the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act’s language in the now-enacted Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (see 1602100061 and 1602110056). On the House side, Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., has been continuing to work on a draft alternative “origin sourcing” bill that would tax online retailers based on the sales tax in their location but let states redistribute those taxes based on the location of the purchaser, an e-commerce lobbyist told us.
Some Capitol Hill Democrats may not resist a GOP House appropriations rider that would slow the FCC’s set-top box proceeding. House Republicans hitched the rider to the FY 2017 FCC funding bill unveiled last week. Some Democrats in both chambers oppose the language, but many also question the NPRM. Bipartisan and bicameral backing is widely seen as crucial for ensuring riders’ inclusion in any broader FY 2017 government funding package later this year.
Some Capitol Hill Democrats may not resist a GOP House appropriations rider that would slow the FCC’s set-top box proceeding. House Republicans hitched the rider to the FY 2017 FCC funding bill unveiled last week. Some Democrats in both chambers oppose the language, but many also question the NPRM. Bipartisan and bicameral backing is widely seen as crucial for ensuring riders’ inclusion in any broader FY 2017 government funding package later this year.
Statutory requirements for companies to report safety risks to the U.S. government, and associated civil penalties ordered by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, are subjective and difficult for importers to understand, CPSC Commissioner Ann Marie Buerkle said in a statement May 25 (here). Buerkle said the threshold for when importers must report to CPSC -- when the product “could” present a safety hazard -- is “inherently subjective: There is no standard one can rely on in making that judgment.” While CPSC guidance to companies to report if they are ever in doubt about safety compliance might keep them “out of trouble in many cases, it also serves to highlight the inherent uncertainty of the matter,” Buerkle said.
The FCC Globalstar broadband terrestrial low-power service (TLPS) draft order on circulation (see 1605130059) is facing pushback from critics, with a number of parties in recent days meeting with officials to urge different approaches or particular safeguards. The draft order has been circulating for more than two weeks and has only Chairman Tom Wheeler's vote, with the remaining commissioners having yet to decide, informed sources told us Wednesday. The FCC said it couldn't confirm vote status.
The FCC Globalstar broadband terrestrial low-power service (TLPS) draft order on circulation (see 1605130059) is facing pushback from critics, with a number of parties in recent days meeting with officials to urge different approaches or particular safeguards. The draft order has been circulating for more than two weeks and has only Chairman Tom Wheeler's vote, with the remaining commissioners having yet to decide, informed sources told us Wednesday. The FCC said it couldn't confirm vote status.