All eyes are on Chairman Julius Genachowski on one of the first controversial orders before the FCC since he became chairman: A proposal to reclassify broadband under Title II of the Communications Act in the aftermath of the Comcast v. FCC decision. He faced repeated questions Wednesday, at a Senate Commerce hearing on the National Broadband Plan, about his position on whether the commission needs to reclassify broadband Wednesday. But he offered little beyond what he has said since the decision came down last week. (See related report in this issue).

The FBI’s use of “exigent letters” to get phone records from telecommunications companies without first going through a legal process may lead to revision of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and possibly the firing of the FBI’s top lawyer, officials indicated. The House Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee grilled FBI General Counsel Valerie Caproni at a hearing Wednesday about her office’s role in the controversy, the subject of a 300-page report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine. His office previously released reports on abuses of National Security Letters, which the FBI issued to organizations demanding phone, e-mail and other business records. Their gag-order requirement doomed the Patriot Act provision in court (CD Sept 7/07 p8).

All eyes are on Julius Genachowski on one of the first controversial orders before the FCC since he became chairman: A proposal to reclassify broadband under Title II of the Communications Act in the aftermath of the Comcast v. FCC decision. He faced repeated questions Wednesday, at a Senate Commerce hearing on the National Broadband Plan, about his position on whether the commission needs to reclassify broadband Wednesday. But he offered little beyond what he has said since the decision came down last week. (See related report in this issue).

The FBI’s use of “exigent letters” to get phone records from telecommunications companies without first going through a legal process may lead to revision of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and possibly the firing of the FBI’s top lawyer, officials indicated. The House Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee grilled FBI General Counsel Valerie Caproni at a hearing Wednesday about her office’s role in the controversy, the subject of a 300-page report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine. His office previously released reports on abuses of National Security Letters, which the FBI issued to organizations demanding phone, e-mail and other business records. Their gag-order requirement doomed the Patriot Act provision in court (WID Sept 7/07 p1).

The FCC has plenty of authority under the Communications Act to provide Universal Service Fund support for broadband deployment and move forward with other proceedings prompted by the National Broadband Plan, regardless of the decision last week in the Comcast v. FCC case by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, AT&T said in a filing Tuesday at the commission. The carrier asked the FCC to proceed with caution and reject advice that the decision means the commission must reregulate broadband as a Title II service.

The FCC has plenty of authority under the Communications Act to provide Universal Service Fund support for broadband deployment and move forward with other proceedings prompted by the National Broadband Plan, regardless of the decision last week in the Comcast v. FCC case by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, AT&T said in a filing Tuesday at the commission. The carrier asked the FCC to proceed with caution and reject advice that the decision means the commission must reregulate broadband as a Title II service.

The FCC’s proposed network neutrality rules could have a negative effect on journalists, musicians, actors and others in creative industries, some attorneys said during a panel at an American Bar Association event. “The non-discrimination rules the FCC has proposed by their terms and on their face only apply to lawful content or lawfully distributed content,” said Markham Erickson of Holch and Erickson. If the content is unlawful, then the rules wouldn’t apply in the first place, he said. His clients think it potentially means “to either allow or mandate an ISP to block lawful content as long as it’s reasonable,” he said.

The FCC’s proposed network neutrality rules could have a negative effect on journalists, musicians, actors and others in creative industries, entertainment lawyers told the American Bar Association’s annual intellectual property conference. “The non-discrimination rules the FCC has proposed by their terms and on their face only apply to lawful content or lawfully distributed content,” said Markham Erickson, executive director of the Open Internet Coalition. If the content is unlawful, then the rules wouldn’t apply in the first place, he said. His clients think it potentially means “to either allow or mandate an ISP to block lawful content as long as it’s reasonable,” he said.

Deputy Chief Technology Officer Andrew McLaughlin may have evaded transparency laws by using his Gmail account to e-mail former employer Google, said House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Darrell Issa, R-Calif. In a letter Thursday, Issa asked McLaughlin to explain what steps are being taken to ensure he’s archiving Gmail contacts according to the Presidential Records Act. “The use of personal e-mail accounts, such as Gmail, to conduct official business raises the prospect that presidential records will not be captured by the White House e-mail archiving system,” wrote Issa. “Unless White House officials forward copies of their e-mails to their government e-mail account or maintain printed copies of the e-mail, there is a risk records subject to the PRA will not be retained as required by law.” The McLaughlin e-mails are also the subject of a FOIA request by Consumer Watchdog (WID April 2 p4). The White House didn’t immediately comment.

The FCC Thursday put forward a list of 64 items for FCC action, along with time lines. The list includes most of what was recommended by the National Broadband Plan, released last month. The FCC had a similar list of items to work from when it implemented the 1996 Telecom Act, said a former FCC official. Eighth floor advisers were briefed on the plan Wednesday.