CTIA representatives questioned proposals in a June NPRM that address FCC rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (see 2306080043). “Instead of directing its limited resources toward attempts to amend the decades-old and demonstrably pro-consumer Exception, the Commission should continue to focus on bad actors who use robocalls and robotexts to spam and scam consumers,” CTIA said: “The market for wireless services is highly competitive, and service providers are highly incentivized to send the appropriate number and type of messages that consumers want and expect.” Representatives of CTIA and the major carriers met with staff from the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, according to a filing posted Friday in docket 02-278.

The FCC’s controversial data breach notification rules included several changes from the draft. The rules were adopted at the December open meeting over Commissioners Brendan Carr's and Nathan Simington's dissents (see 2312130019). Republican lawmakers are weighing a response to the rules, which they see as sidestepping a 2017 Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval that rescinded similar regulations as part of the commission's 2016 ISP privacy order (see 2312200001). The order was posted in Friday’s Daily Digest.

U.S. Steel Corp. and Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp., which recently agreed to a merger, plan to ask the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to review their proposed deal, U.S. Steel said on Dec. 21.

The government's claim that a group of Canadian softwood lumber exporters shouldn't be able to intervene in an antidumping duty case is based on "an unreasonably narrow, absurd, and constitutionally problematic reading of" the statute on parties entitled to participate in civil actions, the exporters argued (Government of Canada v. United States, CIT Consol. # 23-00187).

Lead Republican lawmakers’ recent charge that the FCC was “deeply misleading” about the affordable connectivity program’s efficacy (see 2312150068) has solidified perceptions on and off Capitol Hill that it will be extremely difficult to reach a deal allocating additional money before the initiative's funding runs out next year, lobbyists and observers told us. Estimates peg ACP as likely to exhaust its initial $14.2 billion tranche from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act during the first half of 2024 (see 2309210060). The White House is pushing for Congress to appropriate an additional $6 billion to fully fund the program through the end of 2024 (see 2310250075).

At least seven Democratic and Republican lawmakers are urging the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to oppose or scrutinize the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel Corp by Japan-based Nippon Steel Corp., saying the $14.9 billion deal raises serious economic and national security concerns.

Republican lawmakers are eyeing further action in opposition to FCC data breach notification rules (see 2312130019), but what form this will take is unclear, Capitol Hill aides and lobbyists told us. GOP leaders say the rules sidestep a 2017 Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval that rescinded similar regulations as part of the commission's 2016 ISP privacy order (see 1704030054). Republican FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington raised the CRA in their dissents as the commission approved the rules last week 3-2.

CTIA appeared to get some of what it sought on a robotexting order that FCC commissioners approved last week, which was posted in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. Opponents of tough new rules closing the lead generator loophole appeared to strike out. That decision led Commissioner Nathan Simington to a partial dissent. The Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy had asked the FCC to seek further comment (see 2312040028), an approach Simington endorsed (see 2312130019).

The FTC will “closely monitor” generative AI for enforcement opportunities to protect competition and consumers, agency staff said in a report issued Monday. Staff offered takeaways from an October roundtable where creative professionals discussed AI's benefits and risks. Their concerns touched on data collection without consent, undisclosed use of work, competition from AI-generated creators, AI-driven mimicry and false endorsements. “Although many of the concerns raised at the event lay beyond the scope of the Commission’s jurisdiction, targeted enforcement under the FTC’s existing authority in AI-related markets can help protect fair competition and prevent unfair or deceptive acts or practices,” the agency said.

Expect state legislative focus on children’s online safety to continue in 2024, the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) said Friday. State legislators introduced about 150 bills in more than 35 states dealing with children’s online safety in 2023, a CCIA report said. Prohibiting addictive algorithms and requiring age-appropriate design, age verification or parental consent were some of the items covered, the report said. The internet industry group raised concerns that states’ proposed laws conflict with the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires users to verify their own age and doesn’t hold websites liable if the user gives incorrect information. Bills requiring age verification and parental consent for accessing certain websites also could create privacy and security concerns because companies would have to collect government IDs, credit cards or other personal information to comply, said CCIA State Policy Director Khara Boender. “And younger users could be barred from accessing information and communities of support.”