Government should verify whether platforms are moderating content fairly, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said Thursday in defense of a bill that would dramatically alter the tech industry’s Section 230 immunity (see 1906190047). “Government’s not policing speech [under the new bill],” he told reporters in response to comments from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. “These companies themselves aren’t speaking. They are moderating others’ content, so they are moderating others’ speech.”
The current FCC is unlikely to consider the national TV ownership cap or further relax broadcast ownership rules, said Gray Television Chief Legal and Development Officer Kevin Latek on a panel of broadcasting executives Thursday at S&P Global's Kagan Media Summit. The agency will “accomplish essentially nothing” between now and 2020, Latek said. Things could be different “next time” if the Republicans retain the White House, Latek said in New York, though “we'd probably need a new chairman.” The FCC didn't comment.
The Supreme Court handed down what's essentially a middle of the road decision in a junk fax case, PDR Network v. Carlton & Harris Chiropractic, but its decision has implications for the FCC and the communications bar, lawyers following the case said Thursday. The opinion was expected to answered the question of whether the FCC has the long-assumed power to exclusively implement the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (see 1904250006) but stopped well short of that. The issues raised appear far from settled for the FCC, since four of the justices would have gone further, lawyers said.
States are still deciding if they should join New York and nine other AGs suing to stop T-Mobile from buying Sprint, AG offices told us this week. Completing the deal could depend on the state case, unless a global settlement satisfies everyone involved, said Pennsylvania State University law professor Susan Beth Farmer. A pre-trial status conference scheduled Friday in New York is expected to be for scheduling purposes, and the court probably won't decide then on a preliminary injunction, said a spokesperson for New York AG Letitia James (D). The lawsuit was filed at U.S. District Court for the Southern District (see 1906140041).
AT&T supports a 3-meter standard vertical location (z-axis) accuracy metric for indoor wireless calls to 911 but technological challenges remain. The FCC got varying advice in initial comments (see 1905210061) and replies show little movement toward consensus. Replies were due FCC Tuesday in docket 07-114 and most posted Wednesday.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission should prescribe new rates for pole attachments effective Jan. 1, based on the FCC cable rate formula, said a CLEC lawyer at a PUC rulemaking hearing in docket 2019-00028 livestreamed Wednesday. Consolidated Communications said Maine should keep its current Chapter 880 formula. Unknown RF danger is one reason to treat wireless attachments differently from pole attachments, the ILEC said.
The FCC proposes to provide an 85 percent discount on qualifying connectivity services to support a three-year study on benefits, costs and savings associated with connected care technologies, it said. The agency released a draft NPRM Wednesday to advance the three-year, $100 million USF telehealth pilot called connected care and commissioners vote on it at the July 10 meeting. Commissioner Brendan Carr spoke during a visit to an Appalachian community healthcare clinic in southwestern Virginia Wednesday to demo how remote patient monitoring technologies including mobile apps used with smartphones, tablets and other devices can help track chronic conditions and improve outcomes.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said he's calling companies in to talk next week about insecure equipment in U.S. networks. Starks focused on that during a speech at Wednesday's FCBA lunch. Starks discussed use of equipment by Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE in U.S. networks during his initial news conference as a commissioner in February (see 1902080056).
Senators are aiming to attach amendments this week to the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act targeting Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei, 5G security and changes to the emergency alerts apparatus, among other telecom policy issues, as the chamber begins floor consideration of the measure. The Senate voted 88-11 Wednesday to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S-1790, a precursor to consideration of amendments.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation to remove Section 230 immunity for big tech companies unless they prove to the FTC every two years that content removal decisions are politically neutral. The bill drew concern from House Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., and House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore. They warned against government regulation of speech.