FCC Chmn. Martin told a NARUC audience an effective federal-state partnership in implementing public policy may mean giving states more decision-making power. “The states have a larger role to play than just being an enforcer,” Martin said Tues. “The FCC could give states more flexibility to implement policy,” as was done successfully in some states with numbering administration.
Whether the DTV transition will produce an upsurge in analog TV dumping was raised Tues. in a Senate hearing and lawmakers seemed open to a fee and tax credit approach to jump-start a national electronics-waste recycling system. There are about 287 million analog TV sets in the country, Ranking Member Barbara Boxer (D-Cal.) said at an e-waste oversight hearing held by the Senate Superfund & Waste Management Subcommittee. About 90% of those devices are likely to be discarded after the digital transition, resulting in 1 billion pounds of lead entering the waste stream, she said.
NARUC was set to open its summer meeting in Austin, Tex., Sun. facing numerous telecom policy resolutions. Committees will review the proposals, which address telecom mergers, federal legislative reform, Lifeline/universal service and cost recovery. Some may fail or see dramatic revision during NARUC’s debate. To become policy, all must be passed by their respective committees, then approved by NARUC’s board.
A plan by FCC Chmn. Martin to reclassify telecom- provided DSL as an information service is circulating among the other commissioners’s offices, seeking approval, sources said. The new classification would lessen regulation of Internet access service provided by incumbent phone companies. The move was expected after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brand X ruling, which upheld similar FCC handling of cable modem service (CD June 28 p1).
The FCC’s effort to improve intercarrier compensation (ICC) among phone companies continued to draw disagreement in the latest round of comments to the Commission. A consultant to rural telephone companies said small carriers would be badly hurt financially if the cross- industry proposal by the Intercarrier Compensation Forum (ICF) was adopted. The ICF said it represented a balance between “extremes” proposed by others. The Wis. PSC said lack of consensus makes NARUC’s efforts to offer an alternative more important than ever. Nearly 100 organizations filed reply comments, which were due late Wed.
Experts on the MGM v. Grokster case differed on whether Congress should try to legislate on the growing copyright infringement problem following the historic Supreme Court decision (WID June 28 p1) during a Capitol Hill lunch Tues. But pundits on both sides of the war between the content and high-tech industries seemed to agree the 108th Congress’s Induce Act fiasco, which imploded during Congressional negotiations, left a bad taste in policymakers’ mouths. The failed measure would have held technology companies liable for creating devices used largely for piracy.
Ire over sex animation hidden in Take-Two Interactive game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (CED July 12 p10, July 11 p6) kept escalating Thurs. as Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.) urged an immediate FTC inquiry into the issue “to determine the source of [the] graphic pornographic and violent content appearing” in the title. The FTC declined comment, saying it had received the letter and was reviewing it.
The FCC approved a package of orders Thurs. aimed at improving communications tools for hearing- and speech- impaired people. At its agenda meeting, the agency: (1) Set standards to make sure Video Relay Service (VRS) functions fully. (2) Decided Spanish translation VRS can be compensated from the interstate Telecom Relay Service (TRS) fund. (3) Clarified that 2-line captioned telephone service also is eligible for interstate TRS fund compensation.
Boeing and ARINC, as well as the usual Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) suspects, weighed in on the FCC’s proposed Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Services (AMSS) licensing rules, providing fodder on which the Commission will eventually base its AMSS licensing regime. The FCC has made clear it wants broadband to take to the skies -- but also seeks to avoid interference from the thousands of flying earth stations that broad AMSS adoption would spawn.
Boeing and ARINC, as well as the usual Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) suspects, weighed in on the FCC’s proposed Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Services (AMSS) licensing rules, providing fodder on which the Commission will eventually base its AMSS licensing regime. The FCC has made clear it wants broadband to take to the skies -- but also seeks to avoid interference from the thousands of flying earth stations that broad AMSS adoption would spawn.