Despite consumer groups clamoring for the FTC to conclude its Facebook-Cambridge Analytica probe (see 1808160075), Senators and ex-commission officials told us the agency is taking an acceptable amount of time. “I’d rather them do it sooner rather than later, but I want them to be thorough,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. He acknowledged officials in the EU and globally are waiting to see what kind of authority the agency has for regulating privacy. “That’s probably why it’s taking a while,” Kennedy said, noting that when the agency reaches a conclusion, privacy will remain an issue for social media platforms.
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director nominee Kelvin Droegemeier is likely to face questions during a Thursday Senate Commerce Committee hearing on how he thinks the office can shape tech policymaking in President Donald Trump's administration, lawmakers and tech sector officials said in interviews. Officials are optimistic OSTP can still be influential in policymaking despite misgivings about the amount of time it took Trump to staff it (see 1704210055 and 1801180055). Trump nominated Droegemeier, vice president-research and professor of meteorology at University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma cabinet secretary of science and technology, earlier this month, more than a year and a half after John Holdren stepped down at the end of President Barack Obama's administration.
The FCC is widely expected to try to take on one of the remaining big wireless infrastructure orders at its Sept. 26 meeting. State and local government representatives are bracing for a fight. The order is expected to be based in part on the work of the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee. The wireless industry is focused on above-cost fees and a push for cost-based rate, a revised shot clock for deciding siting issues, and eliminating duplicative reviews. It's difficult to say which will be tackled first, industry officials said. The FCC didn’t comment.
The private sector might benefit from hack-back authority, a controversial concept exempting the private sector from cyber prosecution when it acts in self-defense, said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. Tuesday. His comments came the day after Microsoft announced action taken against Russia-linked hackers attempting to exploit visitors to websites of the Senate and conservative think tanks.
FCC commissioners approved an order extending the Mobility Fund II challenge window by an additional 90 days. All four commissioners voted yes, though Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel partially dissented, saying the agency needs to do more on its own to fix the maps that will be used to identify areas without 4G LTE. The fund will provide up to $4.53 billion to support 4G LTE in unserved areas. Chairman Ajit Pai circulated an order earlier this month extending the challenge deadline (see 1808030042).
The FTC should require edge and core internet providers to offer uniform protections for online consumers, telecom trade groups told the agency Monday. Organizations from across the economy made policy suggestions by the Monday deadline for public comment on upcoming hearings on consumer protection and competition (see 1808200045).
ASPEN, Colo. -- Rollout of next-generation wireless may take longer than some appreciate and customers may not immediately see the need to pay much more for it, some experts said. All on a Technology Policy Institute panel Tuesday agreed 5G will be used for things requiring low latency and high capacity and/or high speeds like telehealth and virtual reality, which some don’t see it as very profitable. They see progress narrowing the digital divide since the TPI panel on that subject a year ago (see 1708220036). Speakers mainly agreed smaller spectrum blocks can help such efforts when carriers expand rural broadband, answering a question from audience member ex-FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.
When BMG's copyright infringement complaint against Cox Communications goes to trial -- again -- in an Alexandria, Virginia, federal courtroom next week (see 1808160006), the jury will see a notably different trial from the first, meaning it's tough to handicap whether BMG will again prevail, experts told us. The Cox internal email -- central in the first trial -- indicating the company's enforcement of its own policy of terminating subscribers for copyright violations was toothless “put [Cox] in a difficult position," said Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Staff Attorney Mitch Stoltz. But the second trial will no longer focus on whether Cox satisfied the narrow statutory standard of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) safe harbor protections but instead on almost a more philosophical question of whether it's responsible for the actions of its subscribers, he said. BMG sued Cox in 2015, alleging the ISP was contributorily liable for infringement of BMG’s copyrights by its subscribers pirating BMG's catalog via Torrents.
ASPEN, Colo. -- Chairman Ajit Pai defended his goals at the FCC, centering on broadband and closing the digital divide, before tech and telecom executives who laughed at his frequent jokes poking fun at himself. On a road trip to see broadband deployment and ATSC 3.0's rollout, he visited the Technology Policy Institute conference Tuesday for a Q&A. He said the Trump administration’s question about FCC review of Sinclair buying Tribune was appropriate, that an inspector general report on filing glitches bore out the agency’s and not critics’ contentions, and that a much-awaited economics office -- focus of a TPI panel last year (see Notebook at end 1708220036) -- still is coming. Ex-Chairman Tom Wheeler disagreed with Pai that the White House query on Sinclair/Tribune paled in comparison with then-President Barack Obama weighing in on an earlier net neutrality proceeding.
A draft NPRM on Class A AM station interference rules circulated by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai last week focuses on protections that prevent local Class B, C and D radio stations from interfering with the distant signals of more powerful Class A stations, FCC officials told us.