The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) formally requested the FCC’s opinion Tuesday on telcos’ legal ability to implement call-blocking technology. Thirty-nine AGs asked the FCC in the NAAG letter whether legal prohibitions against software like Call Control, NoMoRobo and Telemarketing Guard are “subject to change” if customers specifically request the use of the software. USTelecom had said last year that legal restrictions against those technologies prevented telcos from implementing them, NAAG said. The group asked the FCC if carriers can legally block a call if technology identifies a call as coming from a telemarketer, provided the telco wants to block at a customer’s request. NAAG also asked the FCC to clarify the accuracy of USTelecom’s description of the FCC’s position as a “strict oversight” of the delivery of telecom traffic and that call blocking is an “unjust and unreasonable practice” under Communications Act Section 201(b). The telcos’ resistance to implementing call-blocking technology “raises important questions. If a solution to the nation’s illegal telemarketing problem is possible, it will require the private sector -- including telephone carriers -- to get involved,” NAAG said in the letter (http://bit.ly/Zg5uKS).

The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) formally requested the FCC’s opinion Tuesday on telcos’ legal ability to implement call-blocking technology. Thirty-nine AGs asked the FCC in the NAAG letter whether legal prohibitions against software like Call Control, NoMoRobo and Telemarketing Guard are “subject to change” if customers specifically request the use of the software. USTelecom had said last year that legal restrictions against those technologies prevented telcos from implementing the technologies, NAAG said. The group asked the FCC if carriers can legally block a call if technology identifies a call as coming from a telemarketer, provided the telco wants to block at a customer’s request. NAAG also asked the FCC to clarify the accuracy of USTelecom’s description of the FCC’s position as a “strict oversight” of the delivery of telecom traffic and that call blocking is an “unjust and unreasonable practice” under Communications Act Section 201(b). The telcos’ resistance to implementing call-blocking technology “raises important questions. If a solution to the nation’s illegal telemarketing problem is possible, it will require the private sector -- including telephone carriers -- to get involved,” NAAG said in the letter (http://bit.ly/Zg5uKS). USTelecom is “reviewing the letter” and continues “to work on this issue,” a spokeswoman said.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., defended the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (S-2588), in a letter to the editor published Sunday that responded to a Los Angeles Times editorial criticizing the bill (http://lat.ms/1urOGv2). The Times’ editorial board had said last week that S-2588, commonly referred to as CISA, would give federal agencies too much access to personally identifiable information when the agencies “that could use it for too many purposes beyond cybersecurity” (http://lat.ms/1wdFWsQ). Many civil liberties groups have been raising similar concerns about privacy aspects of S-2588 for months (CD June 26 p8). Feinstein, who authored S-2588 with committee Vice Chairman Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said S-2588 has “numerous privacy protections” and is “just the first step toward stronger cybersecurity.” Previous legislation “did not strike the balance between information sharing and privacy and therefore failed to win both Republican and Democratic support,” considered essential to Senate passage of a bill, Feinstein said.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., defended the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (S-2588), in a letter to the editor publisheed Sunday that responded to a Los Angeles Times editorial criticizing the bill (http://lat.ms/1urOGv2). The Times’ editorial board had said last week that S-2588, commonly referred to as CISA, would give federal agencies too much access to personally identifiable information when the agencies “that could use it for too many purposes beyond cybersecurity” (http://lat.ms/1wdFWsQ). Many civil liberties groups have been raising similar concerns about privacy aspects of S-2588 for months (WID June 26 p7). Feinstein, who authored S-2588 with committee Vice Chairman Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said S-2588 has “numerous privacy protections” and is “just the first step toward stronger cybersecurity.” Previous legislation “did not strike the balance between information sharing and privacy and therefore failed to win both Republican and Democratic support,” considered essential to Senate passage of a bill, Feinstein said.

Local Choice received more heat after the Senate Commerce Committee leadership’s decision to include it in their Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization bill (CD Sept 8 p1). Economists Kevin Caves and Hal Singer wrote a letter Monday (http://bit.ly/1weizzd) to committee leaders saying Local Choice, which would overhaul retransmission consent rules to end TV blackouts, “would likely harm cable customers by raising the price of their cable bills.” The letterhead is marked Economists Inc., a company with clients including ABC, CBS, Comcast and many others. NAB asked Singer to write the letter, he told us. Local Choice “singles out the content creators that appeal to the broadest swath of American households for discriminatory treatment,” Caves and Singer said of the broadcast a la carte proposal. “If broadcasters are forced to accept narrower distribution on the cable lineup, the odds are that the license fees for broadcast networks would increase, perversely leading to higher cable bills for the majority of Americans.” A footnote to the letter mentioned that NAB had commissioned the economists to conduct a study recently on sharing agreements and advertising but that “opinions expressed here are our own.” Ad groups also blasted Local Choice on substance and process. “We are in strong opposition to the proposal,” Association of National Advertisers Executive Vice President-Government Relations Dan Jaffe told us, saying his group and the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the American Advertising Federation were sending a joint letter to the committee (http://bit.ly/1ArNF70). Local Choice is “clearly premature” and “not an insignificant step,” likely to hurt advertisers, broadcasters and consumers, Jaffe said. “[Committee staff] have not reached out to us at all.” But Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said the Senate Commerce Committee legislation “marks an important step forward in advancing this must-pass legislation that will ensure uninterrupted access to broadcast television programming for more than one million satellite television subscribers.” Communications Subcommittee Vice Chairman Latta praised the Satellite Television Access and Viewer Rights Act for including “a provision to eliminate the [set-top box] integration ban, similar to the one I sponsored in the House, and I look forward to a conference committee to work out the differences between the House and Senate bills,” he said in a statement Monday (http://1.usa.gov/1s5klm0).

RESTON, Va. -- Candidates for Virginia’s U.S. Senate seat outlined some similar fundamental priorities of technology policy, despite vastly different tones, in a campaign town hall session. Both Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and former telecom lobbyist Ed Gillespie, his Republican challenger who has also operated as a party strategist, would create a privacy advocate challenge process within the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, permanently extend the research and development tax credit, and seek to avoid the effects of sequestration, they said.

RESTON, Va. -- Candidates for Virginia’s U.S. Senate seat outlined some similar fundamental priorities of technology policy, despite vastly different tones, in a campaign town hall session. Both Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and former telecom lobbyist Ed Gillespie, his Republican challenger who has also operated as a party strategist, would create a privacy advocate challenge process within the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, permanently extend the research and development tax credit, and seek to avoid the effects of sequestration, they said.

Industry groups and telcos argued against raising the bar for judging whether the availability of broadband is adequate nationwide. AT&T called the higher speed threshold the FCC is considering “a casual, back-of-the-envelope calculation” based on the “bandwidth requirements of the highest-volume households.”

Industry groups and telcos argued against raising the bar for judging whether the availability of broadband is adequate nationwide. AT&T called the higher speed threshold the FCC is considering “a casual, back-of-the-envelope calculation” based on the “bandwidth requirements of the highest-volume households.”

Google has received over 100,000 right to be forgotten requests since it put up a Web form following the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) May ruling, said Google Director-Public Policy Adam Kovacevich. “We have a backlog of requests,” he said at an Internet Association event Friday live-streamed from Harvard University. “This is not going to go away.” The EU’s data protection directive proposal (http://bit.ly/1oN3uPa) will, in the coming months, further define the rights of individuals over their own information, Kovacevich said. The discussion might then move to regulators in Latin America and Asia, who are asking, “Is this something we should consider?” Kovacevich said.