Technology companies and civil liberties and privacy advocates sent yet another letter to Congress, pressing legislators to bring two email privacy bills to the floor (S-607, HR-1852) (http://bit.ly/XprPEe). The letter -- with signers ranging from Adobe to search engine DuckDuckGo to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- is the most recent letter urging congressional leaders to allow a vote on the bills, which would update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to require a warrant for law enforcement to access remotely stored data. “They would pass overwhelmingly, proving to Americans and the rest of the world that the U.S. legal system values privacy in the digital age,” the letter said.
The Internet Association, a tech company lobbying group, released a video Wednesday featuring House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., with whom they've disagreed on net neutrality. “We have a lot to showcase in that the Internet allows access to the market that’s frankly worldwide,” Upton said in the video, which also showed business leaders from a small business walking tour in Michigan (http://bit.ly/1uL6lxY). “These businesses may not be in business without the Internet. You don’t need to regulate the Internet -- it’s not a problem as long as it’s not regulated,” Upton says on the video.
The House Judiciary IP Subcommittee plans a hearing on oversight of the Copyright Office Thursday at 2 p.m. in Rayburn 2141 (http://1.usa.gov/1AHlscs). The subcommittee will “examine the practices and organization of the Copyright Office to ensure it is equipped to keep pace with the digital age and has what it needs to serve the American people in the 21st century,” said a joint statement Wednesday from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and subcommittee Chairman Howard Coble, R-N.C. Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante is to testify at the hearing, it said.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., wants FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to leave Washington to hear other U.S. voices speak about net neutrality. Markey said during a Wednesday news conference at the Capitol the FCC should “reach beyond the D.C. Beltway, and tour the country to hear from consumers and stakeholders about the importance of a free and open Internet,” according to a text of his prepared remarks. “It’s time for the Chairman to hold net neutrality roundtables throughout the nation.” He appeared with Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and several industry representatives, speaking on net neutrality and the need for Title II reclassification.
The Senate Judiciary Committee said it plans a hearing on sports blackouts Tuesday at 10 a.m. in 226 Dirksen. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., will preside, the committee said. The hearing is on the sports blackout legislation called Furthering Access and Networks for Sports Act (S-1721), which Blumenthal introduced last November with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who’s not a Judiciary member. The FCC will vote on the sports blackout rule at the end of the month (CD Sept 11 p2).
The FCC is not relying on secret meetings to make decide on proposed industry acquisitions, Chairman Tom Wheeler told Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., in a letter Wednesday. Heller asked Wheeler about the ex parte exemptions and what those really mean in light of two major deals the agency is considering: Comcast/Time Warner Cable and AT&T/DirecTV. “I fully endorse the core principles you describe,” Wheeler told Heller, referring to Heller’s statement in a letter that any major orders crafted in part on secret information can be undermined due to process concerns. Wheeler cited the court cases that give the agency “flexibility” in how it reviews such transactions. The FCC, “in accord with the Administrative Procedure Act and applicable precedent, uses only information that is placed on the record when it renders a decision on whether to allow a transaction to proceed, with or without conditions,” Wheeler said. While the agency can’t rely on information given in secret, those meetings “could be used, however, to help the Commission formulate appropriate questions to applicants or other parties,” questions that can be placed on the record, he said.
House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo., plans to outline why congressional oversight of the FCC is essential, in his opening statement to a 1 p.m. hearing Wednesday. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is testifying, and Graves will speak of how small businesses drives the U.S. economy. Graves’ goal is that the U.S. develops the right regulatory goals, he will say at the hearing, pointing to the need to ensure a free and open Internet and build out broadband networks to unserved and rural areas as well as get the right spectrum to big and small companies.
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., wants to ensure TV blackouts don’t happen next year. He’s glad Time Warner Cable worked out a deal to telecast the Los Angeles Dodgers on KDOC-TV Anaheim, California, but is concerned about the broader issues, he said in a statement Monday. “We must act now to assure that the Dodgers are not blacked out for the 2015 season,” Sherman said (http://1.usa.gov/1shbcmZ). “I will continue to discuss this matter with [FCC Chairman] Tom Wheeler ... in the hopes that the FCC will use its authority to push all the parties into binding arbitration so that a panel of three neutral arbitrators can determine the price -- and let Dodgers fans see the 2015 season."
Center for Democracy & Technology President Nuala O'Connor prefers a more nuanced application of legal authority for net neutrality rules, involving some but not complete Title II grounding, she plans to tell Congress Wednesday. She and Robert McDowell, a former Republican FCC commissioner now at Wiley Rein, will testify on net neutrality Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. O'Connor has defended the need for net neutrality rules, while McDowell has questioned them. “I would like to discuss several proposals that draw upon, or are hybrids of, Title II and Section 706, and several implementation issues applicable to any approach,” O'Connor plans to say, according to written testimony. The real question is whether the “commercially reasonable” standard supports the concept of Internet openness, O'Connor’s testimony says. In it she proposes a potential modification of that standard to allow for rules crafted under Communications Act Section 706. She also discusses a “hybrid” authority that takes “some of the strengths of Title II and Section 706” and considers what it would mean to apply Title II reclassification to edge providers. But the FCC needs “clear rules now,” she argues. Other witnesses are Union Square Ventures Managing Partner Brad Burnham, actress Ruth Livier, and Jeff Eisenach, a visiting scholar with the American Enterprise Institute Center for Internet, Communications and Technology Policy. The hearing will be at 10:30 a.m. in 216 Hart. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., also pressed for broader discussion of net neutrality outside of Washington and stronger rules in an op-ed for The Hill Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1m8GMGM). “To make sure they get this right, the FCC should leave Washington and go on the road to hear firsthand from consumers, small-business owners, entrepreneurs, educators and other citizens who will be directly impacted by the policies put in place for the Internet,” Leahy and Matsui said, emphasizing their work to hold events outside D.C. They had partnered to introduce legislation that would ban paid prioritization deals.
"Several concerns” worry FCC Inspector General David Hunt, he plans to tell the House Communications Subcommittee Wednesday. “The FCC has refused to allow the IG to hire criminal investigators despite the authority granted to the IG in the IG Act of 1978, as amended,” Hunt said in his pre-filed written testimony (http://1.usa.gov/1s5qnpa). “Criminal investigators are a very much needed resource at this Office, to increase its ability to conduct criminal investigations without consuming the resources of DOJ and the FBI. Further, FCC management retains a right to approve all OIG hires, a requirement which appears to contravene the IG Act and impugn the independence of the OIG.” Hunt will also criticize the FCC Enforcement Bureau’s recently formed USF strike force, referring to concerns “that efforts might be duplicative and resources wasted.” FCC Managing Director Jon Wilkins plans to testify on the agency’s attempts to overhaul its internal processes and other work, despite funding concerns. “Flat funding since 2009, despite the growth in our operational costs, has challenged the FCC’s ability to maintain current service levels,” Wilkins said in his written testimony (http://1.usa.gov/1ydmCAA). “In addition, sequestration created a gap in our budget that not only challenged the FCC’s ability to commit funds to basic programmatic needs, but also introduced budget uncertainties that made it difficult to pursue opportunities to invest in improved efficiency.” The hearing is at 10:15 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.