Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and John Kennedy, R-La., introduced legislation Tuesday that would require generative AI developers to disclose when their content is AI-generated. Schatz and several senators told us in interviews they believe AI can be regulated with or without the passage of a federal privacy law.
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Aiming to resolve claims about poor service in Pennsylvania, Frontier Communications plans to file a proposed settlement with state consumer and small-business advocates Wednesday, the parties said at a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission hearing here Tuesday. If that schedule holds, comments would be due Dec. 11, with responses from parties due Dec. 26, said PUC Administrative Law Judge John Coogan.
Verizon officials emphasized improvements in the company’s overall financial performance Tuesday, as the carrier reported Q3 earnings. Verizon lost 51,000 postpaid residential phone customers but picked up a net 151,000 business subscribers, for 100,000 total postpaid phone net adds in the quarter, above consensus estimates of 63,600. Verizon’s stock price increased sharply, closing up 9.17% for the day at $34.30.
NEW YORK, NY -- The streaming industry is headed for consolidation, but executives disagree over whether it should embrace cable-style bundling, according to panelists at the NAB Show New York’s Streaming Summit Tuesday. “Cable was a great product, people just didn’t want to pay for it anymore,” said Greg Barnhard, Vizio director-content acquisitions and strategy. After a streaming service has spent “an insane” amount of time and effort to create premium content, it shouldn’t “devalue” that content by sticking it in a bundle, said Archana Anand, chief business officer for South Asian content streaming service Zee5 Global.
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and subpanel members from both parties voiced growing frustration during a Tuesday hearing with DOJ’s perceived reticence in enforcing existing anti-robocall statutes and eyed the FCC’s Further NPRM giving consumers more choice on the robocalls and robotexts they will receive (see 2306080043). There was more uneven interest among Senate Communications members and witnesses at the hearing in pursuing additional legislation to address ongoing robocall problems amid those enforcement shortcomings.
The FCC will take additional steps during its Nov. 15 open meeting to provide survivors of domestic violence with safe and affordable access to communications services, wrote Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a Tuesday note. Other items on the agenda include the adoption of digital discrimination rules (see 2310240008), the use of AI in fighting robocalls, SIM swap and port-out fraud, and amateur radio.
Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T told the FCC it should move with care on a 5G fund, especially given the perilous state of the USF. Groups representing small carriers said the fund is critical to connecting millions of Americans on the wrong side of the digital divide. Comments were posted Tuesday in docket 20-32 in response to a Further NPRM approved by commissioners 4-0 in September (see 2309210035).
Industry welcomed the FCC's efforts to establish a sustainability framework as part of its review of the future of its USF high-cost programs. Comments posted Tuesday in docket 10-90 showed widespread support for a contribution revamp and ensuring ongoing support for operational expenses remains available.
Draft digital discrimination rules to be voted on at the FCC's November meeting address both intentionally discriminatory conduct and conduct that produces discriminatory effects, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Tuesday at the annual United Church of Christ (UCC) Parker Lecture in Washington. The agency has seen disagreements among interested parties about using discriminatory intent vs. discriminatory impact when defining digital discrimination (see 2302220045). Rosenworcel said Tuesday the draft rules create a specific path for lodging digital discrimination complaints. She said the item also seeks comment on reporting requirements regarding new deployments, upgrades and maintenance projects, with the aim being the removal of what could lead to impediments to equal broadband access.
The FCC will consider an order next month that would implement requirements set by the Safe Connections Act, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Sunday at the National Conference on Domestic Violence. The item for the agency's Nov. 15 open meeting would also build on previous efforts to expand access to communications services for survivors of domestic violence (see 2207140055).