The Telecommunications Industry Association, the Information Technology Industry Council and CEA jointly went on the record in favor of expanding in-flight mobile connectivity (IMC), including voice calls on commercial flight, in reply comments filed at the FCC. With the FCC’s comment period wrapped up, FCC officials say it’s hard to predict next steps on what has been one of the most controversial proposals under Chairman Tom Wheeler.
TechNet hires Mike Ward, ex-office of Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind., as vice president-federal policy and government relations … Promotions at Entertainment Software Association: Ali Amirhooshmand, to senior director-federal government affairs, and Tim Johnson, to director-state government affairs … Arianespace hires Isabelle Veillon, formerly of Burson-Marsteller, as vice president-communication … Among those named to Virginia Cyber Security Commission are Karen Jackson, Virginia technology secretary, and Richard Clarke, Good Harbor Security Risk Management, as co-chairs, and as members Rhonda Eldridge, Technica Corp., Paul Tiao, Hunton and Williams, Andrew Turner, Visa, and John Wood, Telos Corp. … Lobbyist registrations: Cox Communications California, Government Solutions, effective May 1 … Rural Media Group, Hogan Lovells, effective April 1.
Industry participation remains critical to the success of the National Institute of Standards and Technology-facilitated (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework, federal officials said Friday during a USTelecom event. The federal government’s focus in the three months since NIST’s February release of the “Version 1.0” framework has shifted toward encouraging critical infrastructure entities to use the framework and tailoring the framework to sector-specific uses, officials said. The FCC is in the process of determining what role it can play in the communications sector’s voluntary use of the framework as a risk management tool, said Public Safety Bureau Chief Counsel Clete Johnson. USTelecom Vice President-Industry and State Affairs Robert Mayer told us he believes the commission will and should continue to allow the private sector to drive the process of determining the FCC’s role in that process.
The FCC approved service rules for the TV incentive auction and provisions that restrict bidding in the auction, over strong objections by FCC Republicans Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly. Both Republicans warned Thursday that the rules as structured could lead to a failed auction next year.
In the continued fallout from Superstorm Sandy (CD Nov 16/12 p1), a bill moving through New Jersey’s Assembly would restrict companies’ ability to retire copper phone lines. The measure represents continued fears that companies, particularly Verizon, plan to do away with copper lines statewide and replace that service with Voice Link, as the company did in the seaside borough of Mantoloking, said Democratic Assemblyman Daniel Benson, sponsor of AB-2459 (http://bit.ly/1oLtQU3). The measure is bringing such strong protests from Verizon that Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula, Democratic chairman of the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee, called a 15-minute speech by a Verizon lobbyist against the proposal among the most impassioned the committee had ever heard.
The American Cable Association opposed Viacom’s cutting off access to its online content for Cable One subscribers after failed carriage negotiations. “Viacom’s actions are a flagrant attack on Internet openness and a textbook replay of the vengeful action CBS took against Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks broadband customers during their well-documented retransmission consent dispute,” ACA said in a news release Tuesday (http://bit.ly/SxrdLr). ACA referred to the CBS and TWC dispute last year (CD Aug 6 p2). Access to Viacom’s online content also was blocked for customers of Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico, ACA said. Viacom’s action is affecting access “to a subset of broadband customers, also known as ‘cord cutters,’ who are not video customers of these companies,” ACA said. Viacom is “violating Internet openness in a way that should be seen as a call to action to policymakers on Capitol Hill and at the Federal Communications Commission,” ACA said. “Cable One and Liberty Cablevision have chosen to no longer carry Viacom programming and, as a result, it is no longer available to their customers in any form,” Viacom said in a statement. Cable One and Liberty Cablevision had no comment.
Seventy-plus civil liberties and privacy advocates and industry representatives wrote President Barack Obama asking him to support an update to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) without a government agency exception (http://bit.ly/1kpgN80). Similar bills in the House and Senate would update ECPA to require a warrant to access remotely stored electronic communications such as email or Google Docs. “Seemingly, the only major impediment to passage is an objection by administrative agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission, which would like to gut the legislation as a way to expand their investigative authorities,” wrote the groups Monday. “Such an agency carve out would be a major blow to reform efforts, allowing increased government access to our communications during the many civil investigations conducted by federal and state agencies.” It’s expected the White House will support an ECPA update in its big data report -- likely due out Thursday -- that includes an exception for some federal agencies (CD April 30 p14). “Support from the Administration for strong ECPA legislation without an administrative loophole would be an important step toward removing this roadblock,” the groups said.
The White House big data report -- expected Wednesday or Thursday -- will suggest updates to decades-old privacy laws and guidelines, highlight the discriminatory potential of big data, and launch a yearlong research initiative backed by the National Science Foundation, according to interviews with stakeholders involved in the 90-day review.
Dish Network promotes Steven Swain to lead programming group and to senior vice president, as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer David Shull will begin six-month leave of absence May 31 to help care for a relative … Sworn in Monday as International Trade Commission member is Rhonda Schmidtlein, ex-World Bank … 21st Century Fox promotes Scott Gregg to executive vice president-sales operations, Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution … Discovery Communications promotes Victoria Lowell to executive vice president-marketing, TLC and Animal Planet … Univision Communications hires Friday Abernethy, ex-TV Guide Network, as senior vice president-content, new position.
The FCC plans to explore “how best to eliminate anti-competitive state bans and other barriers to broadband competition,” and Chairman Tom Wheeler will announce an approach for challenging bans on community broadband by mid-May, an agency spokesman told us. Wheeler “believes that communities should decide for themselves about whether to build community broadband networks for their residents,” the spokesman said Monday. A draft rulemaking on net neutrality rules (see separate report in this issue) doesn’t ask about the FCC preempting state and local laws barring publicly funded broadband network buildouts (CD April 28 p2).