Broadcasters aren't expected to have to make sweeping changes to how they maintain political files after an FCC order made clearer what information needs to be in them. The clarification could make it easier to get compliance from advertising agencies that sometimes provide incomplete information. That order and a related one were ostensibly released Wednesday afternoon but not available online that night. The agency said at a little past noon Thursday that the links were working.
Lead supporters and opponents of Senate Appropriations Committee-backed pro-public 3.7-4.2 GHz C-band auction language (see 1909190079) in the chamber's version of the FY 2020 FCC-FTC budget bill (S-2524) say they're not budging and expect a long fight. The dispute, which began last month, continued Thursday as Senate Appropriations Financial Services Committee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., and others grilled FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on whether he favors a private auction similar to what the C-Band Alliance proposes. Kennedy and some other lawmakers favor public auction (see 1908230049). Pai is expected to propose a private auction plan for a vote at commissioners' Dec. 12 meeting (see 1910100052).
Co-chairs of the Department of Homeland Security Information and Communications Technology Supply Chain Risk Management Task Force urged House Homeland Security Committee members to consider enacting new liability protections and incentives to encourage companies and foreign governments to share information on threats to the supply chain. Committee leaders appeared interested during a Wednesday hearing in further protections. They invoked perceived supply-chain threats posed by Kaspersky Lab and Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE.
Pearl TV has an ATSC 3.0 “rollout plan for 2020” that includes launching services in 61 markets by the end of next year, and has “shared that” with TV makers LG, Samsung and Sony, Managing Director Anne Schelle told the TV2020 conference at NAB Show New York Wednesday. “We are meeting our mark in terms of enabling these services on a market-to-market basis."
House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., “largely” agrees the tech industry should have to earn its content liability protection. After Wednesday’s hearing on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (see 1910150058), she told reporters it’s important Congress finds the best way to ensure content is “managed appropriately.”
Some see FCC consideration of a declaration of effective competition due to the AT&T TV Now's vMVPD service in the last few spots where there's local cable TV basic rate regulation as potentially resurrecting questions of agency regulation of over-the-top services that were central in the dormant OTT-as-MVPD proceeding. An official said it's not clear whether commissioner will be unanimous on the draft opinion and order on next week's meeting agenda since it raises questions about OTT as effective competition to MVPDs and how that might lead to regulation of OTT. Local governments lawyer Tim Lay of Spiegel & McDiarmid agreed being an MVPD creates obligations, and it's not clear if the draft order would mean AT&T TV Now is an MVPD service that must comply with MVPD rules.
NEW YORK -- The FCC appeal of the media ownership ruling at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the right move, said Nexstar CEO Perry Sook, Gray co-CEO Pat LaPlatney and Meredith Local Media Group President Patrick McCreery on a panel at NAB Show New York Wednesday (see 1909250064). The executives also discussed transaction prospects, ATSC 3.0 and prospects for a recession. There isn't anything the broadcast industry can do that would appease the 3rd Circuit, Sook said. “It's the only choice,” he said. “Two judges in Philadelphia have setting media policy for the whole country for 20 years.”
FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks voted against the T-Mobile/Sprint/Dish Network deal, circulated by Chairman Ajit Pai two months ago (see 1908140052). Officials confirmed Pai and Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Brendan Carr previously voted yes, and Carr in an interview defended the process amid his Democratic colleagues' concerns. Deal opponents told reporters they will consider challenging the order in court but must see it first. State attorneys general are suing the carriers in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (see 1909030060).
Just banning Huawei and other Chinese equipment makers will have limited effect in making 5G networks more secure, said former FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief David Simpson at the Hudson Institute. “China has engaged in some if its most significant and successful attacks not through Chinese infrastructure.” Others warned Tuesday 5G means additional risks.
Even minor changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act could have “outsized consequences” for the tech industry and consumers, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman plans to testify Wednesday. Consumer advocates and academics prepared testimony blaming the industry for not doing enough to combat illegal platform activity. House Commerce Committee lawmakers meet Wednesday to discuss the industry’s content liability shield (see 1910090059).