Lawmakers remained dubious of the proposed Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger Wednesday at the first Capitol Hill hearing on the deal. It needs FCC and Justice Department approval. The full Senate Judiciary Committee held the hearing, which lasted just under three hours, and House Judiciary announced a hearing May 8 at 9:30 a.m. in 2141 Rayburn. Comcast filed its long merger application with the FCC Tuesday.

Clarity on the definition of a multichannel video programming distributor could be addressed on the back of bigger issues like the retransmission consent model and must-carry rules if Congress goes ahead with a Telecom Act rewrite, said attorneys and executives in media, cable and MVPD. An expansion of the definition to include companies using the Internet to deliver video to subscribers was largely opposed by cable operators when the FCC proceeding closed for comment in 2012. The FCC proceeding has been dormant for two years, and it stemmed from a 2010 program access complaint from Sky Angel against Discovery Communications, concerning Sky Angel’s video service FAVE-TV. The complaint raised the Media Bureau proceeding on how to interpret the terms “MVPD” and “channel.” Some TV station owners, DirecTV and some Internet video distributors supported a broader approach to the term to include entities that provide multiple linear networks of video programming.

The Telecom Act was largely a success, which spurred competition, said former FCC officials in interviews. They disagreed whether Congress should again take on comprehensive legislation, more than 18 years after the act was passed by a Republican-controlled Congress and signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Clarity on the definition of a multichannel video programming distributor could be addressed on the back of bigger issues like the retransmission consent model and must-carry rules if Congress goes ahead with a Telecom Act rewrite, said attorneys and executives in media, cable and MVPD. An expansion of the definition to include companies using the Internet to deliver video to subscribers was largely opposed by cable operators when the FCC proceeding closed for comment in 2012. The FCC proceeding has been dormant for two years, and it stemmed from a 2010 program access complaint from Sky Angel against Discovery Communications, concerning Sky Angel’s video service FAVE-TV. The complaint raised the Media Bureau proceeding on how to interpret the terms “MVPD” and “channel.” Some TV station owners, DirecTV and some Internet video distributors supported a broader approach to the term to include entities that provide multiple linear networks of video programming.

With the Internet-enabled ubiquity of high-speed communications, definitions of the FCC’s once sector-specific market have expanded to touch other government agencies, including the FTC. This year’s U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decision striking down some FCC net neutrality rules (WID Jan 15 p1), but empowering the commission to regulate the Internet under Telecom Act Section 706, further overlapped the agencies, said some observers in interviews.

With the Internet-enabled ubiquity of high-speed communications, definitions of the FCC’s once sector-specific market have expanded to touch other government agencies, including the FTC. This year’s U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decision striking down some FCC net neutrality rules (CD Jan 15 p1), but empowering the commission to regulate the Internet under Telecom Act Section 706, further overlapped the agencies, said some observers in interviews.

Two issues being hotly debated in state capitals and the FCC could land in Congress’ lap as part any Telecom Act update, said officials at associations for state and local governments and interest groups in recent interviews. Much will depend on FCC actions, but a commission move to preempt state laws that throw up obstacles to creating municipal broadband networks would run into the objection of state legislatures, particularly from those that have passed laws they see as protecting taxpayers from potential boondoggles, said Utah Senate President Pro-Tem Curt Bramble, a Republican.

Two issues being hotly debated in state capitals and the FCC could land in Congress’ lap as part any Telecom Act update, said officials at associations for state and local governments and interest groups in recent interviews. Much will depend on FCC actions, but a commission move to preempt state laws that throw up obstacles to creating municipal broadband networks would run into the objection of state legislatures, particularly from those that have passed laws they see as protecting taxpayers from potential boondoggles, said Utah Senate President Pro-Tem Curt Bramble, a Republican.

The FTC’s authority to oversee companies’ data security practices remains. The U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., Monday rejected a company’s motion to dismiss an FTC suit over lax data security practices, arguing the commission doesn’t have the authority (http://bit.ly/Oyp7bb). The Wyndham hotel chain had pushed back against FTC authority after the commission filed a complaint alleging poor security measures had resulted in repeated data breaches.

Comcast’s $45 billion buy of Time Warner Cable will benefit consumers and businesses by giving them access to next-generation broadband, video, voice and other services with national and global scale, it claimed in a public interest statement filed with the FCC Tuesday. Comcast ensures benefits like high-speed broadband services available on bundled and standalone bases, a nationally acclaimed and comprehensive low-income broadband adoption program, the most robust and advanced VOD and TV Everywhere experience and a commitment to diversity and inclusion, “and to providing accessible solutions to people with disabilities,” it said (http://bit.ly/1lOr7ei).