Bills asking state utility commissions to oversee net neutrality are raising disagreement among state officials. Some say state commissions can and should handle the responsibility, but others said such oversight is impractical or better handled at the federal level. At a Wednesday hearing in Massachusetts, a state senator driving net neutrality legislation asked if industry opponents would at least consider signing a memorandum of understanding.
A source at Facebook said Tuesday the company is in touch with lawmakers but wouldn't confirm that CEO Mark Zuckerberg agreed to testify before Congress, as reported by multiple outlets after the Cambridge Analytica controversy.
The FCC’s advisory committee on diversity unanimously approved a broadcast incubator proposal Tuesday based on congressionally authorized tax credits, immediately after Commissioner Mike O’Rielly urged them not to. The Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment also unanimously approved plans for a diversity in procurement workshop with the Office of Communications Business Opportunities, and a series of meetings with tech companies to create diversity best practices for the industry. The committee’s incubator proposal will be filed as comments in docket 17-289, the agency’s incubator proceeding.
Dish Network claims about the must-have nature of Turner content (see 1803260047) were criticized in an occasionally contentious cross-examination of Sling TV President Warren Schlichting Tuesday in the U.S. v. AT&T and Time Warner trial in U.S. District Court in Washington. Referring to Schlichting's comments about blackouts being like a heart attack and costing lasting damage to an MVPD, defendants' outside counsel Dan Petrocelli of O'Melveny said Dish "had had a lot of heart attacks. You take down programmers left and right." Retorted Schlichting, noting programmers' roles in blackouts, "it takes two to tango." Asked whether blackouts are part of Dish's strategy, Schlichting wouldn't answer.
Cable and telco executives said Congress should resolve the net neutrality dispute and end policy flip-flops that, one suggested, threaten broadband investment more than heavy regulation. "It's time to put the rules in place and move on," said Comcast Senior Executive Vice President David Cohen at a Free State Foundation conference Tuesday. But the executives expressed more hope than optimism, with some pessimistic about the near-term prospects. Recent revelations and concerns about the use of Facebook data could drive privacy legislation discussions, some said. Others focused on 5G wireless and fiber deployment efforts.
The circulation of draft orders three weeks before meetings has apparently led to a big falloff in the number of ex parte visits to the FCC, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said at a Free State Foundation conference Tuesday. O’Rielly spoke on a panel with fellow Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr. Both also said more than three months after the 3-2 FCC vote to overturn the 2015 net neutrality rules (see 1712140039) they remain convinced the FCC made the right move. Earlier, Chairman Ajit Pai and NTIA Administrator David Redl outlined various initiatives, including to promote 5G.
President Donald Trump’s intended nomination of Rebecca Slaughter, chief counsel to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to the vacant Democratic FTC seat likely ensures she and the other four commission nominees awaiting Senate confirmation will be moved together, several officials and lobbyists told us. The White House said Monday Trump plans to nominate Slaughter, as expected, after Schumer recommended her for the job earlier this year (see 1802060039 and 1803260049). Few communications and tech sector stakeholders commented publicly about Slaughter’s nomination by our deadline Tuesday, with some telling us they view her as essentially a blank slate on a range of tech policy issues before the FTC.
USTelecom will “aggressively challenge” state and municipal net neutrality efforts that are inconsistent with the FCC’s December order, USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter said Monday. Many expect industry lawsuits challenging state actions including a Washington state law and five gubernatorial executive orders (see 1803230041). Acknowledging litigation is likely, a Massachusetts Senate special committee said Monday “there are strong arguments to support state action in this area and the uncertainty of the Federal legal landscape should not prevent states from acting.” Democratic lawmakers in Colorado and Baltimore also unveiled proposals.
The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal is further evidence that Congress needs to tighten scrutiny surrounding online political ads, Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Mark Warner, D-Va., argued last week (see 1803220052).
Negotiating for Turner content with New AT&T would put Dish Network between a rock and a hard place -- either accept onerous programming terms and rates or lose must-have programming, meaning subscribers likely would will defect to AT&T's DirecTV. So testified Sling TV President Warren Schlichting Monday in U.S. v. AT&T and Time Warner. Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon of Washington raised the specter of contempt of court charges after admonishing counsel on both sides to ensure witnesses who aren't experts aren't made privy to testimony of other witnesses.