Weakening Silicon Valley’s content liability protections potentially discourages platform moderation and emboldens extremists on unfiltered websites like 8chan, said progressive and libertarian tech observers Monday. Public Knowledge CEO Chris Lewis and TechFreedom President Berin Szoka warned government against intervening in speech moderation, discussing 8chan's role in the weekend’s mass shootings.
One of the bands NTIA seeks more information on from other agencies is a relative mystery band, 7125-8400 MHz, which has gotten little previous attention. It's among those mentioned in the Advancing Innovation and Reinvigorating Widespread Access to Viable Electromagnetic Spectrum (Airwaves) Act, which seeks to identify spectrum for unlicensed use and free up mid-band spectrum for auction (see 1802070054). The band is directly north of spectrum the FCC is already looking at for unlicensed use, the 6 GHz band.
The idea of a 120-day process for modifying an existing local franchise authority agreement gets a softer sell in the LFA final order approved 3-2 last week (see 1907010011) than in the draft released in July, according to our analysis. The draft had the agency preferring a proposal whereby a cable operator can request a modification and the LFA would have 120 days to make a final decision, but the final order released Friday says that procedure would have violated Section 625 of the Cable Act, and instead encourages the two sides to negotiate modifications "within a reasonable time" and that 120 days "in most cases" should fit that bill.
China vowed Friday to retaliate if the Trump administration carries out its threat to impose the 10 percent List 4 Section 301 tariffs on $300 billion in Chinese imports not previously dutied (see 1908010059). If the U.S. “imposes tariff measures and implements them” as threatened Sept. 1, “China will have to take necessary countermeasures to resolutely defend the core interests of the country and the fundamental interests of the people,” said a Commerce Ministry spokesperson. “All the consequences will be borne by the US.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told reporters Thursday she hopes DOJ's serious about its broad review of the tech industry. Antitrust enforcers, however, shouldn’t break up big tech platforms unless investigations support it, she said. The ranking member of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee and its Chairman Mike Lee, R-Utah, were recently briefed by DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim (see 1907250049), the same day DOJ announced its industry review.
Dish Network thinks seamless interoperability between its 5G network and New T-Mobile's LTE network is a big need for its wireless network business plans. And achieving that won't be very difficult, though business competition issues might be heavy lifting, industry experts told us. "It's a tough market," said Boost Mobile founder and current director Peter Adderton said.
Questions abound about President Donald Trump’s decision Thursday to put 10 percent List 4 Section 301 tariffs into effect on Chinese imports Sept. 1. Since Trump can’t legally impose List 4 by tweets, all eyes will await the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative notice soon to be published in the Federal Register detailing which product categories, if any, are spared from the final duties.
Multiple stakeholders are asking the FCC not to phase down Lifeline support for voice services under its USF program. The requests came in comments that were due Wednesday and posted through Thursday. They were in response to a joint petition by CTIA and others and a July 1 public notice in docket 11-42 (see 1907010055).
A DOJ complaint and proposed consent decree on the $6.4 billion Nexstar/Tribune deal (see 1907310077) is seen as flagging an Indianapolis top-four duopoly as a possible issue in the purchase, said industry analysts. The DOJ filing also argues that MVPD and digital advertising aren’t substitutes for broadcast advertising, a view at Justice that some broadcasters had thought might be changing after a May broadcast competition workshop (see 1905020068). “I think they are recognizing the way they view broadcasting belongs in the I Love Lucy era,” said NAB CEO Gordon Smith in an interview on C-Span’s The Communicators, recorded last week.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., hopes to deliver draft privacy bill text by Labor Day, but he and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., remain divided over including a private right of action (see 1907090049). Wicker acknowledged to reporters that Cantwell wants it included, but he told us it’s a “nonstarter.” A private right of action, which is included in the California Consumer Privacy Act for certain data violations, allows consumers individually to sue violators.