Commissioner Ajit Pai said he hasn't given up on turning back an FCC move to reclassify broadband as a Communications Act Title II service as is expected to be recommended by Chairman Tom Wheeler. The FCC is to vote on the order at its Feb. 26 meeting, approving classification with some form of forbearance from most parts of Title II (see 1501070054). Pai also was candid Wednesday in his comments on how Wheeler runs the commission, alleging the agency has become more political than in the past. The Pai interview is scheduled to appear on C-SPAN’s The Communicators this weekend.

Cable and wireless industry leaders plan to throw their weight behind draft net neutrality legislation circulated Friday by top GOP lawmakers (see 1501160048), according to written testimony for congressional hearings on the topic Wednesday. Public Knowledge will say the draft raises a host of concerns and will untenably reduce FCC authority long-term. A senior House Democrat is expected to make the same point.

Cable and wireless industry leaders plan to throw their weight behind draft net neutrality legislation circulated Friday by top GOP lawmakers (see 1501160048), according to written testimony for congressional hearings on the topic Wednesday. Public Knowledge will say the draft raises a host of concerns and will untenably reduce FCC authority long-term. A senior House Democrat is expected to make the same point.

The FCC should make public draft texts of proposals to be taken up at commission meetings at the same time they're circulated to commissioners, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said in a blog post Friday. O’Rielly called for the change in August (see 1408080031). He said now he understands the texts of items aren’t posted in advance of meetings because “it could be harder to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act,” and that “it could be more difficult to withhold documents under the Freedom of Information Act,” the post said. Neither argument is “persuasive or insurmountable,” O’Rielly wrote. His spokeswoman declined to detail who at the agency made those arguments. The agency didn't comment on O’Rielly’s blog. The concern about the APA, O’Rielly wrote, is that it requires the commission to review all comments and ex partes in a proceeding and respond to any substantive issues. “The concern is that, if we provide a copy of the draft item, we will get more specific comments and ex partes that staff will have to address when finalizing the item," said O'Rielly. "That is, we might actually get constructive feedback based on facts about what is in a draft that require us to roll up our sleeves and explain why we’ve made certain decisions and discarded alternatives.” Calling it a “logistical issue” and not a legal one, O’Rielly said the commission’s “capable and hardworking staff and managers” would be “up to the task” of dealing with it. O’Rielly also disputed a concern that releasing a draft of an agenda item “would make it harder to justify withholding other drafts or even internal emails about various drafts. … I am confident that our talented lawyers at the agency can handle it.” O’Rielly also said he has a sense that there are “some unspoken objections to the proposal” -- that “parties could be in a better position to figure out which edits have been requested by which offices.” He’s not troubled by that prospect, O’Rielly said. “Having worked on the Hill where members put their names on amendments, I am comfortable being associated with my requested edits,” the post said. The current process, O’Rielly said, can lead parties to have “limited or even incorrect knowledge of what is in a draft item, and therefore raise arguments that may be, through no fault of their own, untimely, unnecessary, or misdirected. That, in turn, requires staff to spend time sifting through red herrings rather than considering focused input that could strengthen the reasoning and ultimately the legal sufficiency of the item.”

Three Democratic senators rallied support on Jan. 20 to tack an amendment on the Keystone XL pipeline legislation that would require only U.S.-produced materials are to be used in the project’s construction. The amendment will help to ensure the project creates American jobs and benefits the U.S. economy, said Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Al Franken, D-Minn., and Ed Markey, D-Mass., in a press conference. While vowing to still oppose the legislation as a whole, the lawmakers also touted a measure to mandate petroleum and petroleum goods produced by the pipeline are sold in the U.S.

The FCC should make public draft texts of proposals to be taken up at commission meetings at the same time they're circulated to commissioners, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said in a blog post Friday. O’Rielly called for the change in August (see 1408080031). He said now he understands the texts of items aren’t posted in advance of meetings because “it could be harder to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act,” and that “it could be more difficult to withhold documents under the Freedom of Information Act,” the post said. Neither argument is “persuasive or insurmountable,” O’Rielly wrote. His spokeswoman declined to detail who at the agency made those arguments. The agency didn't comment on O’Rielly’s blog. The concern about the APA, O’Rielly wrote, is that it requires the commission to review all comments and ex partes in a proceeding and respond to any substantive issues. “The concern is that, if we provide a copy of the draft item, we will get more specific comments and ex partes that staff will have to address when finalizing the item," said O'Rielly. "That is, we might actually get constructive feedback based on facts about what is in a draft that require us to roll up our sleeves and explain why we’ve made certain decisions and discarded alternatives.” Calling it a “logistical issue” and not a legal one, O’Rielly said the commission’s “capable and hardworking staff and managers” would be “up to the task” of dealing with it. O’Rielly also disputed a concern that releasing a draft of an agenda item “would make it harder to justify withholding other drafts or even internal emails about various drafts. … I am confident that our talented lawyers at the agency can handle it.” O’Rielly also said he has a sense that there are “some unspoken objections to the proposal” -- that “parties could be in a better position to figure out which edits have been requested by which offices.” He’s not troubled by that prospect, O’Rielly said. “Having worked on the Hill where members put their names on amendments, I am comfortable being associated with my requested edits,” the post said. The current process, O’Rielly said, can lead parties to have “limited or even incorrect knowledge of what is in a draft item, and therefore raise arguments that may be, through no fault of their own, untimely, unnecessary, or misdirected. That, in turn, requires staff to spend time sifting through red herrings rather than considering focused input that could strengthen the reasoning and ultimately the legal sufficiency of the item.”

It’s not clear if the FCC and Department of Justice will approve the Comcast/Time Warner Cable deal, but if they do, the companies could walk away from it if imposed conditions affect broadband pricing, analysts, cable attorneys and industry executives said in interviews last week. While a host of conditions ranging from divestitures to rules requiring greater transparency have been suggested by filers in docket 14-57, most industry observers told us those that could regulate broadband pricing have the highest potential to make the transaction unprofitable in Comcast’s eyes. “Anything that Comcast perceived as indirect price regulation of broadband” could cause it to walk away from the deal, Guggenheim Partners analyst Paul Gallant said.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he's asking the state legislature to pass a bill backed by his office that would significantly strengthen New York’s data breach notification law, vowing it would be “the strongest, most comprehensive in the nation” and would make New York a “national model for data privacy and security.” Schneiderman’s push for a strengthened New York data breach law followed days after the White House proposed a national data breach bill to replace the “patchwork” of existing state laws (see 1501120043) and Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., introduced the Data Security and Breach Notification Act (S-177) (see 1501140046). That bill’s text remained unavailable Friday, but Nelson has said he intended the bill to mirror the White House proposal.

It’s not clear if the FCC and Department of Justice will approve the Comcast/Time Warner Cable deal, but if they do, the companies could walk away from it if imposed conditions affect broadband pricing, analysts, cable attorneys and industry executives said in interviews last week. While a host of conditions ranging from divestitures to rules requiring greater transparency have been suggested by filers in docket 14-57, most industry observers told us those that could regulate broadband pricing have the highest potential to make the transaction unprofitable in Comcast’s eyes. “Anything that Comcast perceived as indirect price regulation of broadband” could cause it to walk away from the deal, Guggenheim Partners analyst Paul Gallant said.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he's asking the state legislature to pass a bill backed by his office that would significantly strengthen New York’s data breach notification law, vowing it would be “the strongest, most comprehensive in the nation” and would make New York a “national model for data privacy and security.” Schneiderman’s push for a strengthened New York data breach law followed days after the White House proposed a national data breach bill to replace the “patchwork” of existing state laws (see 1501120043) and Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., introduced the Data Security and Breach Notification Act (S-177) (see 1501140046). That bill’s text remained unavailable Friday, but Nelson has said he intended the bill to mirror the White House proposal.