There's no evidence suggesting U.S. consumers value personal data “at all,” though news like the Cambridge Analytica privacy breach (see 1804110065) could change perceptions rapidly, acting Director of the FTC Bureau of Competition Bruce Hoffman said Thursday. “There is no good reason to think that consumers value data about themselves in the same way that they value money in their bank accounts,” Hoffman said at a Computer and Communications Industry Association event.
While Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told lawmakers Wednesday his personal information was scraped in the Cambridge Analytica privacy breach, he avoided committing to minimizing user data collection yet said regulation of social media companies is “inevitable.” His wide-ranging testimony at the House Commerce Committee was a second consecutive day of congressional testimony (see 1804100054).
LAS VEGAS -- DOJ appears to be taking a close look at whether music licensing consent decrees are still needed, including those requiring ASCAP and BMI to license their entire music catalogs, an NAB Show panel was told Tuesday. Speakers also offered a mixed outlook for copyright revamp legislation that passed a House panel earlier that day (see 1804110060). Speakers allied with broadcast interests noted Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim said those pacts may not be necessary. And the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court overturning DOJ under then-President Barack Obama deciding the music licensing settlements should remain in force without major changes (see 1712190052).
The judge overseeing U.S. v. AT&T and Time Warner questioned DOJ's assertion that New AT&T would run its MVPD and programming arms in concert, coordinating their behavior. Justice's economic expert testified Wednesday that New AT&T could mean consumers paying $571 million more a year by 2021 in video subscription costs than they would otherwise.
The House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed a compromise version of the Music Modernization Act (MMA) (HR-5447) Wednesday without amendments (see 1804100051). Before the 32-0 vote, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., criticized the bill for not permitting legacy artists to renegotiate unfair contracts, an issue Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, also hopes Congress will address.
Senate Commerce Committee members' concerns about Facebook's data privacy policies and the Cambridge Analytica data scraping controversy spilled over into their questioning of FTC nominee Rebecca Slaughter during a Wednesday confirmation hearing, a day after the committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee grilled Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (see 1804100054). President Donald Trump said last month he intended to nominate Slaughter, until recently chief counsel to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., sending her nomination to the Senate Monday (see 1803260049, 1803270046, 1804100049 and 1804100050).
Dissents from the two FCC Democrats appear unlikely when commissioners vote Tuesday on an NPRM proposing to bar use of money in any USF program to buy equipment or services from companies that “pose a national security threat” to U.S. communications networks or the communications supply chain. Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel appear unlikely to dissent, despite concerns raised by small carriers, industry and agency officials said.
LAS VEGAS -- FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's proposal on changing the process for interference complaints between FM translators and full-power stations is expected to be get broad support from industry, broadcasters and their attorneys told us. Though few details were released, industry officials don't expect much push back from the eighth floor.
LAS VEGAS -- Amid "disruption" by technology, owners of radio and TV stations and newspapers are eyeing overcoming challenges with smart speakers and new management strategies, executives told the NAB Show. Cox Media Group and Hubbard Radio are focusing on content for smart speakers, their executives said Monday. That people can listen to radio stations on smart speakers at home is helping the medium's return to households, those executives said. A day later, Edison Research Vice President Megan Lazovick recommended radio be more aggressive in such efforts.
LAS VEGAS -- ATSC 3.0 market tests won’t end with the model market project Pearl TV is running in Phoenix and Sinclair’s single-frequency-network trials in Dallas, Pearl Managing Director Anne Schelle said at a Tuesday NAB Show workshop on maximizing 3.0's future business potential. Phoenix and Dallas “are just the markets today,” she said.