FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told the Senate Broadband Caucus Tuesday his travels across rural America have brought home to him how important broadband is to swaths of the country that haven't been connected. Carr recalled his visit to a Lincoln, Nebraska-based startup called Quantified Ag, which built a “Fitbit” for cattle. Early results show “the technology is helping to improve outcomes for the herd, saving time and money, and reducing the use of antibiotics and other treatments,” he said. Carr promised the FCC would continue its focus on closing the digital divide. “We need to keep cutting the regulatory red tape that needlessly drives up the costs of deploying broadband infrastructure,” he said. “We need to keep freeing up spectrum for next-generation uses. And we need to continue supporting rural broadband providers through programs like our Connect America Fund.” Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., said farmers need to be connected. “I can imagine a time in American agriculture where someone sits in an office … and basically plants a quarter-section of land in a day, operating their tractor from not the tractor but through automation,” she said. “None of that is possible if we don’t have the backbone of connectivity.”

Broadcasters seeking a 50 percent national ownership cap are correct about why relief is needed, but their arguments also demonstrate why the limit should be eliminated entirely, Nexstar wrote the FCC, posted Monday in docket 17-318. Commissioners may soon vote on altering the cap now at 39 percent (see 1806180055). “The 50 Percent Proponents appropriately rest their position on the types of 'tectonic changes' in the communications marketplace” but “ignore the reality that such changes do not justify a national television ownership cap set at 50 percent, but instead a complete repeal of the cap,” Nexstar said. CEO Perry Sook has predicted predicts a raise to 65 percent, saying broadcasters must “ask for a pony to get a puppy” (see 1806140055). The Nexstar letter cited AT&T having bought Time Warner and prospects for Fox's takeover by Disney or Comcast as evidence broadcasters are dwarfed by competition. “These companies are already behemoths when compared to the nation’s largest local broadcasters before any of these market-altering transactions,” Nexstar said. The scale efficiencies created for broadcasters by a 50 percent cap would be increased if the cap were eliminated, Nexstar said. “Plucking a number out of thin air” would be arbitrary and capricious, Nexstar said. Ion said the cap should be removed, in meetings last week with Chairman Ajit Pai, Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Brendan Carr, Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey and an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a filing said. If the FCC doesn’t eliminate the cap, it should adopt permanent grandfathering for “companies like ION that have built new competitive networks based on the traditional discount to the national audience reach of UHF stations,” the company said. Raising or eliminating the cap will lead to higher retransmission consent prices for consumers, said the American Cable Association in a meeting last week with Carey. The FCC should “confirm and quantify this harm through its own econometric analysis” and consider it in any plans to alter the cap, ACA said. The FCC can’t “transmogrify” the UHF discount into one based on ratings, the association said. Using ratings as a basis for calculating reach was suggested by NAB in the form of a discount for all broadcasters and by Covington Burling attorney Mace Rosenstein as a rejiggering of how reach is determined (see 1806050040). The FCC “has always defined ‘reach’ in terms of whether a viewer can physically access broadcast signals,” ACA said. “Ratings have nothing to do with a station’s ‘reach,’ at least as the Commission has always understood that term.”

Verizon will no longer sell mobile customers’ real-time locations to two third-party data brokers “to prevent misuse of that information,” it wrote Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in a response which he released Tuesday. AT&T said it's also ending the practice. Verizon sold the data to LocationSmart and Zumigo, which then resold it to other companies. “We conducted a comprehensive review of our location aggregator program,” wrote Verizon Chief Privacy Officer Karen Zacharia. “We are initiating a process to terminate our existing agreements for the location aggregator program.” She said Verizon won’t sign new agreements “unless and until we are comfortable that we can adequately protect our customers’ location data through technological advancements and/or other practices.” AT&T did the same, a spokesperson said. “Our top priority is to protect our customers’ information, and, to that end, we will be ending our work with aggregators for these services as soon as practical in a way that preserves important, potential lifesaving services like emergency roadside assistance.” “Sounds like word hasn’t gotten to you, @ronwyden,” tweeted T-Mobile CEO John Legere. “I’ve personally evaluated this issue & have pledged that @tmobile will not sell customer location data to shady middlemen.” T-Mobile also responded more formally to Wyden. Sprint said it takes steps to protect customer privacy. Wyden noted the Verizon and AT&T statements in a tweet.

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel voted for a USF rural healthcare cap hike, from $400 million to $573 million, an aide told us Tuesday. Chairman Ajit Pai's proposal to index the program for inflation, including retroactively, already received the votes of his fellow Republican commissioners (see 1806060057 and 1806140017). The draft order wasn't released.

The Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council will get final reports from two of its three working groups at a June 29 meeting, the FCC said Monday. “CSRIC members will consider and vote on a Working Group 1 Report on 911 System Reliability and Resiliency during the NG911 Transition and a Working Group 2 Report on Reimagining Alerting,” a public notice said. “Working Group 3 will provide an update on their progress.” The meeting starts at 1 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room. This is the fifth gathering of the committee under FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear an Apple appeal in a class-action antitrust lawsuit alleging it monopolized distribution of App Store applications in Apple v. Robert Pepper, et al., docket 17-204. Justices granted an Apple cert petition asking them to review a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the suit could proceed, said the high court's order list Monday. A district court dismissed the suit under a 1977 Illinois Brick Co. v. Illinois precedent "holding that consumer plaintiffs alleging monopolization of distribution services Apple provides to app developers were necessarily seeking pass-through damages," said the petition. "The Ninth Circuit reversed, holding -- in an acknowledged split with the Eighth Circuit -- that consumers can sue whoever delivers goods to them, even if they seek pass-through damages. The question presented is: Whether consumers may sue for antitrust damages anyone who delivers goods to them, even where they seek damages based on prices set by third parties who would be the immediate victims of the alleged offense." The solicitor general in May asked the court to grant Apple's petition, arguing the 9th Circuit misapplied the Illinois Brick rule, which prevents indirect purchasers from seeking certain antitrust damages passed on by third parties -- in this case the developers (see 1805090051). Apple argues only the developers, not consumers, can sue in this case. The Supreme Court granted motions of ACT|The App Association and the Washington Legal Foundation to file amicus briefs. The court denied cert to wireless customer petitioners who argued "non-negotiable arbitration" clauses that waive their right to sue providers were "worthy of some constitutional introspection" under the First Amendment, in Marcus A. Roberts, et al. v. AT&T Mobility, docket 17-1287.

President Donald Trump's space policy directive signed Monday has the U.S. "lead[ing] the management of traffic and mitigat[ing] the effects of debris in space." The directive said policy will be to use commercial and government technologies for tracking and monitoring space debris. The U.S. will update orbital debris mitigation standard practices and set new guidelines for satellite design and operation for data sharing. The NASA administrator, coordinating with other agency heads including the FCC chairman, will craft updates to the practices and new guidelines for satellite design and operation. Secretaries of commerce and transportation will consult the FCC chairman to assess incorporating updated standards into licensing processes. Heads of agencies including the FCC will jointly develop space traffic standards. Heads of Commerce, Transportation, State and Defense, the NASA administrator and director of national intelligence, consulting with the FCC chairman, will coordinate to mitigate risks of harmful RF interference. The secretary of state -- in coordination with other agencies and in consultation with the FCC chief -- will lead U.S. efforts on international engagement regarding international transparency and space object registry on space traffic management and space situational awareness issues. Heads of agencies including the FCC will jointly develop space traffic best practices. The country commits to continue to provide "basic space situational awareness data and basic space traffic management services" for free. DOD will keep the authoritative catalog of space objects, and Commerce will make space safety data and services publicly available. Improved space situational awareness data standards and information sharing will use U.S. standards in trying to share international norms and cut regulatory burdens. During a National Space Council meeting Monday, Trump pledged to create a sixth military branch, the Space Force, separate from the Air Force. He made creation the job of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford. Trump signed a directive in May aimed at deregulation to better foster commercial space services (see 1805240031).

T-Mobile/Sprint didn't file by our deadline Monday their application to the FCC to combine (see 1806150040). T-Mobile plans to buy Sprint in a $59 billion deal, unveiled April 29 (see 1804290001). Friday, the Wireless Bureau created a docket on the transaction, 18-197, and issued a protective order for confidential information that will be filed as part of the commission’s review. “While we are mindful of the sensitive nature of some of the information involved, we are also mindful of the general right of the public, and our desire for the public, to participate in this proceeding in a meaningful way,” the protective order said. “Allowing limited access to competitively sensitive materials pursuant to the procedures set forth in this Protective Order allows the public (through appropriate representatives) to do so while also protecting competitively sensitive information from improper disclosure and use.” The agency Monday posted a Thursday letter to the FCC by T-Mobile and Sprint, asking that the docket be opened and the protective order granted. Lawyers on the filing were Nancy Victory of DLA Piper for T-Mobile and Regina Keeney of Lawler Metzger for Sprint.

For broadcasters and media companies, EU's general data protection regulation can apply even if they lack EU presence but provide services to people there or who use website cookies and other online tracking means to monitor people there, Wilkinson Barker lawyers blogged Friday. It's unclear if regulators will enforce GDPR against companies largely not serving EU citizens, they said. Getting consent for processing an individual's personal data is only the first step in compliance, and lack of adherence can lead to sizable fines, wrote Emilie de Lozier and two colleagues.

FTC Consumer Protection Bureau staffers warned the Consumer Product Safety Commission Friday about what they view as widespread cybersecurity flaws in a range of IoT devices. They responded to a March request for comment on potential safety issues and hazards for IoT devices. Comments in docket CPSC-2018-0007 were due Friday evening (see 1803290032). The Cybersecurity Coalition in May urged the CPSC to address IoT cybersecurity issues “in tandem” with its device safety review, which didn't include security issues (see 1805090023). Poor security and privacy protections in IoT devices might create technology-related hazards, FTC staff said. “A car’s braking systems might fail when infected with malware, carbon monoxide detectors or fire alarms might stop working with the loss of connectivity, and corrupted or inaccurate data on a medical device might pose health risks to a user of the device. Consumers’ physical safety could also be at risk if an intruder had access to a connected lock, garage door, or burglar alarm.” Insecure devices “can erode consumer trust,” the FTC staff said. “Companies that manufacture and sell IoT devices must take reasonable steps to secure them from unauthorized access.” Staff recommended the CPSC consider how companies might provide consumers with the opportunity to sign up for communications about safety notifications and recalls for IoT devices. The product agency should take a “technology-neutral” approach to any security regulations it adopts as part of the proceeding and consider requiring IoT device makers publish any security standards, so the trade commission could act under against companies that misrepresent cybersecurity practices in a CPSC certification process, staff said.