There’s no legal reason that the FCC should wait for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to rule on the UHF discount before deciding on Sinclair/Tribune, said the broadcasters in a joint opposition filing posted Friday in docket 17-179, responding to petitions to deny their proposed deal (see 1806210071). “Petitioners provide no legal support or precedent for this argument -- as there is none,” Sinclair and Tribune said. The broadcasters also countered attacks on their divestiture plans, local news broadcasts and scale. Delaying decisions over pending court rulings would bring the FCC “to a standstill,” Sinclair and Tribune said. “There has hardly been a time over the past twenty years when there was not an FCC rulemaking pending or subject to appeal.” The D.C. Circuit is expected to rule on the matter in August or September, but the Sinclair/Tribune comment period will wrap up this month.
Though NAB made a single proposal on AM/FM subcaps, the industry is seen as divided on the issue, and a great deal of activity on the matter appears likely as the FCC gets closer to launching the 2018 quadrennial review, radio industry officials said in interviews. NAB recommended allowing groups in the top 75 markets to own up to eight FM stations, doing away with the FM cap in the markets outside the top 75, and entirely abandoning the AM subcap (see 1806180056).
With discussions just getting started on the FCC eighth floor, the C-band NPRM and order teed up for a vote Thursday is expected to get a few changes. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is considering relaxing the information collection requirements for smaller satellite players that’s part of the item, FCC and industry officials said Friday. The NPRM may also include a few additional questions, prompted by outreach to the FCC, the officials said. The item is expected to win easy approval by commissioners.
The European Parliament nixed a plan to start immediate talks on a proposed copyright revision measure, seeking instead fuller debate in September. The 318-278 vote Thursday rejected a negotiating position proposed by the Legal Affairs (JURI) Committee, meaning the draft copyright directive won't go to "trilogue" discussions with the Council and European Commission but will be open to full legislative debate and amendment, parliament said. The JURI approach, by Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Axel Voss, of Germany and the European People's Party, supports the EC's controversial calls for a new right (Article 11, the "neighboring" right, also called the "snippet tax") for online news publishers, and for large platforms to filter users' uploads to prevent copyright breaches (Article 13) (see 1806200011).
The Supreme Court’s Carpenter decision is a victory for privacy advocates, said experts and observers in recent interviews, but the court didn't address some emerging police surveillance technologies in its narrow decision (see 1806220052 and 1806290064).
CTIA said the FCC is in no position to determine if any telecom companies are a threat to U.S. security, and it should work with the Department of Homeland Security, which has more expertise in the area. Other commenters also urged caution. The Rural Wireless Association said the FCC has already chilled investment in rural networks. Reply comments were posted this week in docket 18-89 on the NPRM approved 5-0 by commissioners in April (see 1804170038).
California state lawmakers said they restored net neutrality legislation to full strength after the Assembly Communications Committee controversially stripped major provisions including on zero rating and requiring neutrality at the point of interconnection. That committee’s chair, Miguel Santiago (D), joined state Sen. Scott Wiener (D) for a Thursday news conference to announce a deal that Wiener said revived those and other key components. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and other original supporters of SB-822 applauded the agreement.
Supreme Court prospect Brett Kavanaugh has made a mark in communications law in 12 years as a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit judge. In a dissent from a ruling affirming the FCC's 2015 net neutrality order, he argued the regulation lacked clear congressional authorization and violated the First Amendment. The agency shouldn't get Chevron deference on "major" rules and broadband ISP speech rights can't be restricted absent a market power showing, he wrote. He has also found programming rules violate cable operator speech rights, upheld partial telco forbearance relief decisions and ruled on many other FCC orders, giving him far more telecom and media legal experience than any other contender to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy (see 1806280018).
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, see their recently introduced Streamlining the Rapid Evolution and Modernization of Leading-edge Infrastructure Necessary to Enhance (Streamline) Small Cell Deployment Act (S-3157) as a top committee priority for the July work period (see 1806290063). But local and state governments' ongoing opposition to S-3157 remains a significant hurdle to advancing it beyond Senate Commerce, some lobbyists told us. Capitol Hill's dwindling legislative calendar also could stifle the bill's prospects before the next Congress convenes in January, lobbyists said.
T-Mobile's buying Sprint is expected to face an uphill fight winning approval from regulators, despite what's seen as a positive Senate hearing last week with top executives from both companies, and AT&T’s win in federal court on AT&T/Time Warner. T-Mobile and Sprint have hired a small army of lawyers and former government officials to promote the deal.