President Donald Trump’s administration again proposes to cut funding to CPB in its FY 2020 budget proposal as part of its “plan to move the Nation towards fiscal responsibility and to redefine the proper role of the Federal Government.” Trump signed off in October on a FY 2019 federal spending law that maintained CPB’s annual funding at $445 million through FY 2021, despite having proposed in that year’s budget request to draw down the program’s funding (see 1809280043). The budget increased proposed money for the FCC and NTIA from what the administration proposed in its FY 2019 request. The FCC’s figure is down from its funding level under the spending bill passed in February (see 1902150055).
Democrat and Republican staffs are in informal discussions about privacy legislation, House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., told us. That signals the committee’s bipartisan legislative discussion isn't as advanced as its Senate counterpart. “We’ve been meeting about it. We fully intend to talk to them in the hopes of getting something bipartisan, but we’re not there yet,” she told us. Schakowsky is the Democratic lead on the committee’s privacy effort.
Despite reports DOJ is nearing the end of reviewing T-Mobile's planned Sprint buy and that antitrust officials are skeptical of some of the companies' claims, outsiders know very little about how DOJ will come down or when it will make an announcement. Lawyers involved expect something from Justice in about a month, near the one-year anniversary of the April 29 announcement.
Spotify “seeks to keep all the benefits of the App Store ecosystem -- including the substantial revenue that they draw from the App Store’s customers -- without making any contributions to that marketplace,” responded Apple Friday about Monday's antitrust complaint to the European Commission (see 1903130064). “They distribute the music you love while making ever-smaller contributions to the artists, musicians and songwriters who create it -- even going so far as to take these creators to court.”
The FCC voted 5-0 to approve a rural call completion order with few changes, as expected (see 1903140051). Democratic commissioners partially concurred, saying stronger actions are needed. The item sets "flexible" service-quality standards that require intermediate providers to take reasonable steps to ensure calls they handle are completed, a release said. "Intermediate providers will now have an obligation to take action and ensure that calls are completed," said Commissioner Brendan Carr at Friday's meeting. The order also eventually sunsets "covered" originating provider recordkeeping duties.
There's still a good chance some House Republicans will support the Save the Internet Act net neutrality bill (HR-1644), said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., on an episode of C-SPAN's The Communicators that was set to have been televised over the weekend. HR-1644 and Senate companion S-682, filed earlier this month, would add a new title to the Communications Act that would overturn the FCC order rescinding its 2015 rules, retroactively restoring reclassification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service (see 1903060077). House Communications Republicans railed against the bill during a legislative hearing last week, leading some lobbyists to predict a party-line vote on the measure at markup later this month (see 1903120078).
The FCC unanimously approved a reimbursement order Friday for low-power TV, TV translator and FM stations. It's little changed from the draft, Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey said. It was uncontroversial at the meeting, as expected (see 1903130076). Most commissioners cut their pre-vote statements short.
The FCC isn't expected to act at least before summer on revamping its cable leased access proceeding despite eighth-floor lobbying by the cable industry in recent days (see 1903120070). A cable official told us nothing is expected for April’s agenda. An FCC official said May also seems unlikely and the Media Bureau still seems to be gathering information. The agency and NCTA didn’t comment.
The FCC approved 5-0 an order allocating the first bands above 95 GHz for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use. Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Jessica Rosenworcel voted for the order but raised questions, as expected (see 1903130057). The "spectrum horizons" order provides unlicensed use of 21.2 GHz of spectrum in four band segments and would permit experimental use on any frequency from 95 GHz to 3 THz.
Comedian John Oliver's critique of the FCC for not doing enough to cut illegal robocalls became the latest partisan commissioner dispute over Telephone Consumer Protection Act enforcement and regulation. After commissioners' Friday meeting, there was a war of words over whether the FCC is doing enough, quickly enough, whether wireless and other telecom service providers can do more, and whether the agency has more authority than it has used under Chairman Ajit Pai. Democrats want more agency and industry action, while Republicans said TCPA enforcement is front and center under Pai, and there may not be authority for the crackdown Oliver sought March 10 on Last Week Tonight.