Six state attorneys general said they oppose proposed changes to Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) rules on calls to cellphones sought by the American Bankers Association (ABA) (see 1410140162)` and the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) (see 1411180026). The groups are seeking TCPA exemptions from the FCC that would allow automated calls to alert consumers to fraudulent activity on their accounts and would limit liability for automated calls directed at cellphones unless the company intended to call a consumer who hadn’t given prior consent. The attorneys general, led by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, a Democrat, and Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller, a Republican, told the FCC in a letter posted Friday that they’re concerned the proposed exemptions could make prosecuting violations of the law more difficult because proving intent creates a new hurdle in proving liability. A state attorney general is empowered under TCPA to enforce violations against a state’s consumers, they said. The other attorneys general were Illinois Democrat Lisa Madigan, New York Democrat Eric Schneiderman, Tennessee Republican Herbert Slatery and Utah Republican Sean Reyes. “We are concerned with the slippery-slope that will inevitably occur if one trade association is permitted to start chipping away at the TCPA's protections,” the attorneys general said. CBA’s proposal to limit liability for automated calls to cellphones is a “much more serious attack on consumers’ rights” that would expand the definition of a called party to include any “intended recipient of the call,” the attorneys general said. That “opens the door to abuse by debt collectors and other callers,” the attorneys general said. The proposed change also would allow telemarketers to attempt to avoid prosecution by “claiming that the calls were to the wrong numbers,” the attorneys general said. The proposed changes to TCPA are “not acceptable to Missouri,” Koster said Monday in a news release. “Raising the threshold to prove intent makes it even harder for states to protect their consumers from unwanted telemarketing.”
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn backed moving ahead with policies against incumbents imposing terms and conditions that pose obstacles to competitive carriers' ability to access the last mile to customers, as the agency sorts through special access data it's collected. Speaking at Comptel’s Policy and Innovation Policy Summit Tuesday, Clyburn said that receiving the special access data was significant for an agency that has wanted it for “many years.” The commission shouldn't “sit idly and wait” until the data analysis is completed later this year to act, she said. An NPRM tentatively concluded that terms and conditions that deter wholesale business competition shouldn't be allowed (see 1411210037).
A backer of allowing states access to the FCC network outage reporting system said she's hopeful it will be approved by the commission, while an agency official said commissioners haven't focused on whether to approve the draft NORS order. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said at a NARUC conference last week that he and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn voted for the order since he circulated it Dec. 10 (see 1502170051). Commissioners Mike O’Rielly, Ajit Pai and Rosenworcel hadn't voted, said Wheeler. FCC officials didn’t express any concerns during meetings on allowing states access to NORS, said the backer to such access, California Public Utilities Commissioner Catherine Sandoval. Rather, the agency likely hasn’t acted on the order because “of a combination of other business and priorities,” she said in an interview. That gibed with what a commission official told us. Sandoval is hopeful the order will eventually be approved, she said after meeting with FCC officials including Wheeler’s Chief of Staff Ruth Milkman and aide Gigi Sohn, and Clyburn and Rosenworcel (see 1502200026). “I didn’t hear any issues raised against it,” she said. “I think there’s an increasing cognizance of the roles states play” in emergencies after Superstorm Sandy and April's multistate 911 outage, Sandoval told us. The database includes detailed real-time information about outages, which will let states deal with emergencies, and later do assessments to deal with future emergencies, she said. NARUC passed a resolution Feb. 17 urging the agency to give states access to the database (see 1502180058). An FCC spokesman didn't comment.
The FCC should further loosen its cellular service rules only if it acts to protect public safety channels from interference, APCO said in reply comments in docket 12-40, which were due at the FCC Friday. The reply comments were in response to a November further NPRM released by the FCC, attached to an order that made what the agency said were “fundamental, sweeping reforms” to the rules (see 1411120015). Industry commenters backed further changes consistent with proposals in the notice.
Capitol Hill Republicans keep raising the heat on FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler ahead of his net neutrality vote Thursday, with multiple investigations afoot as others highlight what they consider flaws in Wheeler’s net neutrality approach. House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, still wants (see 1502200049) Wheeler to testify Wednesday on possible White House influence over his rulemaking. Several witnesses for a House Communications Subcommittee hearing, meanwhile, are likely to slam Wheeler’s net neutrality order for relying on Communications Act Title II authority.
Capitol Hill Republicans keep raising the heat on FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler ahead of his net neutrality vote Thursday, with multiple investigations afoot as others highlight what they consider flaws in Wheeler’s net neutrality approach. House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, still wants (see 1502200049) Wheeler to testify Wednesday on possible White House influence over his rulemaking. Several witnesses for a House Communications Subcommittee hearing, meanwhile, are likely to slam Wheeler’s net neutrality order for relying on Communications Act Title II authority.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler plans to press ahead with Thursday’s scheduled vote on his draft net neutrality order, an agency spokeswoman said, despite growing pressure from Republicans to delay the vote. Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Ajit Pai urged Chairman Tom Wheeler Monday to make his draft net neutrality order public and “allow the American people a reasonable period of not less than 30 days to carefully study it.” House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, also called for the draft to be made public in a letter to Wheeler (see 1502230064).
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler plans to press ahead with Thursday’s scheduled vote on his draft net neutrality order, an agency spokeswoman said, despite growing pressure from Republicans to delay the vote. Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Ajit Pai urged Chairman Tom Wheeler Monday to make his draft net neutrality order public and “allow the American people a reasonable period of not less than 30 days to carefully study it.” House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, also called for the draft to be made public in a letter to Wheeler (see 1502230064).
House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, has summoned FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to Capitol Hill Wednesday, hours after the House Communications Subcommittee kicks off a hearing on net neutrality and the day before the FCC votes on Wheeler’s net neutrality proposal. Wheeler denied the request to appear. Chaffetz began an investigation into White House influence over net neutrality earlier this month and now hopes to grill Wheeler directly on his concerns.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, has summoned FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to Capitol Hill Wednesday, hours after the House Communications Subcommittee kicks off a hearing on net neutrality and the day before the FCC votes on Wheeler’s net neutrality proposal. Wheeler denied the request to appear. Chaffetz began an investigation into White House influence over net neutrality earlier this month and now hopes to grill Wheeler directly on his concerns.