The FCC released drafts Tuesday of proposed items for the March 31 commissioners’ meeting, including details of proposals to deregulate voice incumbent pricing and require authentication of caller ID information, plus Media Bureau proposals on ATSC 3.0 and program carriage. Chairman Ajit Pai outlined the agenda Monday (see 2003090050).
Broadcasters and device manufacturers widely support an FCC proposal to allow AM radio stations to voluntarily go all-digital, in comments posted in docket 19-311 by Monday night’s deadline. New rules should involve “a straightforward procedure for stations to notify the Commission of a change to all-digital operations and, likewise, a notification of reversion to analog or hybrid operations,” said Bryan Broadcasting, the originator of the petition that spawned the NPRM. Hubbard and others praised all-digital AM. The company operates such a station under experimental license (see 1911200056).
Section 230 of the Communications and Decency Act may need to be revisited, suggested Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen. A quarter century after enactment, 230 immunity "has not always been a force for good, particularly in light of some of the extraordinarily broad interpretation given to it by some courts," DAG Rosen told a Free State Foundation conference Tuesday. He listed some criteria to consider in such revamp efforts.
The Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee will explore site blocking as a form of internet piracy prevention, Chairman Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told us Tuesday after a hearing. Ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., said he’s “open to it,” and it needs to be weighed against the speech concerns.
The FCC is going to be sued anyway for February's C-band clearing order (see 2002280044), so why bother offering up to $9.7 billion in incentives to incumbent satellite operators, because they won't prevent lawsuits, argued Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., repeatedly Tuesday. He spoke at a subcommittee hearing ostensibly about the FCC FY 2021 budget request, challenging agency Chairman Ajit Pai to justify the amount. Lawmakers pressed the agency about fixing its broadband mapping and tackling contraband phones. Kennedy said there will be another such hearing on the issues and the agency's budget request.
FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly hopes for a decision on the reallocation of the 5.9 GHz band this summer, he told us at the Free State Foundation conference Tuesday. Chairman Ajit Pai didn’t speak live but sent a recorded address (see 2003100027). Commissioner Brendan Carr canceled an appearance.
The House Communications Subcommittee advanced the Clearing Broad Airwaves for New Deployment (C-Band) Act (HR-4855) and 10 other measures Tuesday on voice votes, as expected (see 2003090070). The timeline for the House Commerce Committee to mark up any of those measures remains uncertain, because of negotiations aimed at reaching a bipartisan deal on HR-4855 and other measures that have gotten GOP pushback and broader questions about Congress’ schedule given the spread of coronavirus.
FCC staffers expect to handle more meetings over the phone and fewer in person over the next weeks due to the coronavirus. The FCC hasn't made a decision yet, but industry and agency officials said in interviews this week the March 31 commissioners’ meeting may not be in-person. Chairman Ajit Pai spoke to the Free State Foundation conference Tuesday via video and Commissioner Brendan Carr canceled an appearance. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly spoke. See that news: 2003100047 and 2003100061.
Questions about ICANN's role in vetting the Public Interest Registry's sale to private equity firm Ethos Capital and how public interest commitments for .org should be enforced predominated Monday at ICANN's first entirely virtual public forum. ICANN board members were in listening-mode only as they try to decide whether to approve PIR's sale by the Internet Society. They were pressed for more detail about how they plan to settle the controversial issue. The March 7-12 meeting was scheduled to be in Cancun, Mexico, but is taking place remotely due to the coronavirus (See 2002270028).
"As of now," NAB Show organizers "are moving forward" with the April 18-22 event at the Las Vegas Convention Center, "while continuing to evaluate the national and international situation carefully," they said late Monday. It was somewhat less aggressive than the messaging they used for days, that the event was "“proceeding as planned."