The FCC Media Bureau pushed back by 14 days the deadline for comments on a recent public notice seeking input on how it should interpret the terms “multichannel video programming distributor” and “channel” in the context of a program access dispute between Sky Angel and Discovery Communications. The NAB had asked for a 30-day extension from the initial April 30 deadline (CD April 2 p9). In a public notice released Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bm4yw4), the bureau said an extension will help develop a full record, but “due to a desire to conduct a prompt review of the record, we find that the requested 30-day extension is excessive.” The new deadline for comments is May 14, with replies due June 13. Meanwhile, Sky Angel told a federal appeals judge not to wait for the bureau to gather the input it sought before the court rules on a Sky Angel petition for a writ of mandamus. “The Public Notice does not assist with a timely resolution of the dispute,” the company said. “In fact, it will delay a decision indefinitely.” The bureau will probably be inundated with comments on the notice, Sky Angel said. Because the notice came from the bureau, not the full commission, it may take years before the matter is settled at the FCC, it said.
The Office of Management and Budget approved for three years FCC information collection requirements in disabilities accessibility rules, the commission said in a notice to appear in Wednesday’s Federal Register (http://xrl.us/bm4xy5). It said that’s part of an October order requiring advanced communications services and makers of equipment used for ACS to “make their services and equipment accessible to individuals with disabilities, unless doing so is not achievable” and includes a waiver process. The CEA and Entertainment Software Association have sought waivers (CD March 27 p4).
The FCC wants to extend the Disaster Information Reporting System to include interconnected VoIP and broadband ISPs, said a notice published Monday in the Federal Register (http://xrl.us/bm4vg6). The agency is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget for the additional voluntary information collection, which it expects will take around 40 minutes per response. “Increasing numbers of consumers, businesses, and government agencies rely on broadband and interconnected VoIP services for everyday and emergency communications needs, including vital 9-1-1 services,” the FCC wrote, arguing it’s “imperative” DIRS be expanded to include these new technologies. DIRS lets telecom providers electronically inform the commission of damage to communications infrastructure, and request resources for restoration. Comments are due May 23 in OMB control number 3060-1003.
The FCC should deny all requests from other jurisdictions for waivers so they can launch early public safety networks in the 700 MHz band, while converting waiver authorizations already approved into special temporary authorizations (STAs), the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials said in comments filed at the FCC. The 21 current waiver recipients asked for two-year STAs so that their systems could serve as a kind of “testbed” for a national network. The FCC Public Safety Bureau is asking a battery of questions about 700 MHz transition issues in light of the recently enacted Spectrum Act (CD April 9 p9). For 20 of the 21, the waivers are set to expire Sept. 1.
The one-per-household limit, commissioning biennial audits and verifying the residency of customers at temporary addresses were some of the new rules criticized in the eight petitions for reconsideration of the Lifeline order received by the FCC. Oppositions to the petitions are due May 7 in docket 11-42, replies May 15, said a notice in Friday’s Federal Register (http://xrl.us/bm4kwc).
The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a FOIA request for the unredacted version of the FCC’s Google Street View report (http://xrl.us/bm4ho4). The FCC said it will fine Google $25,000 for obstructing an investigation concerning Google Street View and federal wiretap law, EPIC said. A “heavily redacted” report from the commission said Google impeded the investigation by “delaying its search for and production of responsive emails and other communications, by failing to identify employees, and by withholding verification of the completeness and accuracy of its submissions,” the group said. But the redacted report “also raised questions about the scope of the FCC’ Street View investigation,” it said. “Surprisingly, the FCC concluded that Google had not violated the federal wiretap act, even though a federal court recently held otherwise.” EPIC Tuesday sought a Justice Department investigation into Google’s collection of Wi-Fi data” from residential networks by means of “Street View” vehicles.
The FCC rescinded a ban on text-to-speech emergency alert system warnings four days before new EAS rules take effect (CD March 23 p4). A new format of emergency alert system messages that all pay-TV providers and broadcasters must implement by June 30 couldn’t have included text-to-speech warnings, under a January order on equipment certification for the Common Alerting Protocol format. An order approved by commissioners Thursday -- nine days after circulating for a vote (http://xrl.us/bmxdnu) -- reversed that ban and left consideration of part of the issue for another day.
LAS VEGAS -- Two FCC members provided a dose of optimism to broadcasters seeking changes to a draft order that would require TV stations to put their political file information online. During a panel discussion at the NAB Show late Tuesday, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn told broadcasters her office is still taking meetings on the topic. “I can affirm to you that in terms of this process, this office is still open for engagement,” she said.
NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling said reallocating the 1755-1850 MHz band for wireless broadband would cost “too much” and take “too long,” in an episode of C-SPAN’s the Communicators set to be shown this weekend. Meanwhile, NTIA has suspended, at least temporarily, funding for the 700 MHz waiver recipients seeking to build out early public safety networks in the 700 MHz band, government officials confirmed.
The U.S. “very much wants to push back” against efforts by some nations and some organizations such as the ITU to bring the Internet under “top-down government control through treaty organizations and such,” said NTIA Administrator Lawrence Strickling. “We find that quite threatening to the success of the Internet,” he said in an interview for C-SPAN’s Communicators (See related story). This is an issue that has been “emerging for some period of time but is coming to a head here over the next year or two due to some activities of other nations as well as some international conferences,” such as those by the ITU, he said. Strickling was asked about his talks with House Commerce Manufacturing Subcommittee Chairman Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., about the “U.N. and control of the Internet."