After a data scandal affecting some 87 million platform users, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg blamed himself for not taking a “broad enough view of our responsibility.” The remarks come in testimony prepared for presentation to Congress Wednesday in which he also casts blame on scholar Aleksandr Kogan and Cambridge Analytica.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai added a local official to the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee after two local resignations from the body and continuing criticism of BDAC's composition. Pai appointed David Young, a National League of Cities member and fiber infrastructure and right-of-way manager in Lincoln, Nebraska, the FCC announced Monday. Young replaces Sam Liccardo, mayor of San Jose, California. BDAC Chair Elizabeth Bowles and other BDAC officials said last week they hoped Pai would appoint new local members to the group (see 1804040044).
New local number portability administrator iconectiv said its system was working smoothly Monday after taking over operations from Neustar in the Southeast, the first regional handoff. North American Portability Management (NAPM), charged by the FCC with overseeing the LNPA transition, also said the Southeast cutover was successful Sunday, and it reached a contingency agreement with Neustar, if a rollback to the incumbent becomes necessary. An iconectiv official didn't anticipate that need. Neustar said it wasn't aware of any significant problems.
The Competitive Carriers Association, NTCA and the Rural Wireless Association raised questions about an NPRM set for a vote at the April 17 commissioners’ meeting 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. But that hasn’t translated into ex parte meetings at the FCC. RWA raised concerns Monday in a filing in new docket 18-89. China experts said concerns are legitimate.
LAS VEGAS -- The FCC Media Bureau is “outlining” NPRMs on dispensing the additional repacking reimbursement funds, will soon issue a public notice announcing a secondary reimbursement allocation, and is planning to tackle kids' video rules and retrans reform in 2018, said Media Bureau Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman on a panel at the NAB Show Monday. The commission is also “actively working” on policies to address interference between FM translators and full power stations, Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner said.
Facebook will require identity and location disclosure for political advertisers, it announced Friday, also endorsing a key bill to thwart foreign interference in elections and becoming perhaps the first major tech company to do so. "Election interference is a problem that's bigger than any one platform, and that's why we support" the Honest Ads Act (see 1803260045), CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Friday. "This will help raise the bar for all political advertising online." The bill would pave the way to apply some disclosure rules to online ads that are now required for ads on more traditional media. The Cambridge Analytica intrusion and Facebook's role also came up at length at a panel discussion Friday (see 1804060057)
Expect incoming FTC members to open debate on what constitutes harm to consumer privacy, an issue in the background with only two sitting commissioners, former FTC Consumer Protection Bureau Director David Vladeck said Friday. It’s likely that President Donald Trump’s FTC nominations (see 1803270046) will be confirmed in the next month or so, George Mason University law professor James Cooper said alongside Vladeck at a GMU event. Because the commission has been deadlocked with only two seated commissioners, acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen, a Republican, and Democrat Terrell McSweeny, the administration’s policy changes haven’t been realized, Cooper said.
A court upheld FCC orders requiring ILECs provide some unsubsidized voice service during a USF transition to broadband-oriented high-cost support, dealing a loss to telco interests. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Friday cited deference to regulators in denying incumbent telco challenges that argued the FCC improperly granted them only partial forbearance from the voice duties before new USF mechanisms are in place (see 1607120073). The panel questioned AT&T's attorney more extensively than the government's at oral argument (see 1710260054).
While the federal judge overseeing the AT&T/Time Warner antitrust trial last week signaled interest in the sides setting arbitration terms that differ from what TW’s Turner offered (see 1804040022), experts told us it’s doubtful DOJ will suddenly find itself amenable to a behavioral condition to fix competition is- sues in the deal. Some see the possibility of U.S. District Judge Richard Leon of Washington imposing that remedy. Others question if that’s possible. DOJ, AT&T and TW didn’t comment.
New local number portability administrator iconectiv appeared confident its systems would work as it prepared for its initial regional takeover of operations from Neustar. Many stakeholders were quiet and some parties were wary, particularly given disagreement over a plan for a contingency rollback to the incumbent. If there's a breakdown, Ericsson-owned iconectiv believes the FCC can require Neustar to restart its number-porting operations over its existing systems until there's a fix, something the incumbent disputes. Neustar said it's working for a smooth handoff.