AT&T asked the FCC to set a deadline to move telecom from circuit-switched to IP-based networks. The request came in comments this week on an FCC National Broadband Plan public notice that proposed the release of a notice of inquiry (NOI) on the transition. Small rural carriers cautioned the commission not to move too fast. Meanwhile, competitive carriers fought with Verizon over whether interconnection and traffic exchange requirements under Sections 251 and 252 of the Communications Act apply to IP networks. Wireless carriers said the rules should ensure regulatory parity.
FCC commissioners agreed an open Internet has been key to promoting free speech but voiced sharp divisions on possible consequences of federal network neutrality rules, in an FCC net neutrality workshop Tuesday. Meanwhile, AT&T sent Chairman Julius Genachowski a letter highlighting areas of consensus it sees between advocates and opponents of new rules. Officials from CTIA and Public Knowledge also cited some conditional agreement.
A fight over call routing services that reduce the cost of prisoner phone calls but are allegedly unsafe flared this week and last in industry communications with the FCC. In meetings last week, VoIP provider Millicorp told the FCC its service ConsCallHome poses no security risk to jails, and prison telcos’ blocking of the service violates federal law. Prison telco Securus disputed the statements in an ex-parte letter to the FCC late Monday. Securus and many prisons back a federal ban (CD Sept 14 p8) of call routing services like ConsCallHome, while Millicorp wants an Enforcement Bureau investigation of ongoing call blocking by Securus and others.
An ISP’s testing of behavioral advertising with now- defunct NebuAd is again the subject of a lawsuit seeking class-action status. A federal judge in San Francisco recently threw out the initial suit against NebuAd and its partners (CD Nov 13/08 p12) for lack of jurisdiction over the six ISPs that tested NebuAd’s targeting system. KamberEdelson re-filed the suit in the U.S. District Court in Chicago with one of the original 15 plaintiffs, Dan Valentine, against the ISP that served him, WideOpenWest, better known as WOW. It seeks to represent all Internet access customers of WOW, which provides service in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. The suit described as spyware the tracking of clickstream data to serve ads, because NebuAd and WOW inserted “undeletable tracking cookies” on users’ computers and forged “return addresses” so users’ privacy and security controls couldn’t detect the insertions. “Owing to WOW’s unique position as an ISP for a large consumer population, it was able to divert Internet traffic on a massive scale,” the suit said, giving a “highly conservative” estimate that WOW diverted over 100 million incoming and outgoing communications over the five months it ran tests with NebuAd. The diverted communications included personally identifiable information as defined by the Federal Trade Commission, contradicting WOW’s assertions to the House Communications Subcommittee, the suit said. Though behavioral advertising by ISPs has been justified as a revenue generator for those that are struggling to stay in business, especially in rural areas, the suit said WOW’s tests with NebuAd couldn’t be considered an activity “in the ordinary course of business” -- an exemption from liability in the Wiretap Act. The suit also faulted WOW for affirmatively notifying customers only two months after NebuAd technology had been fully deployed, and misleading them into thinking they could opt out of tracking, as opposed to simply not receiving targeted ads.
The FCC needs to make solving the digital divide a high priority for its broadband plan, Commissioner Michael Copps said at a Practising Law Institute conference Thursday. People are starting to realize that the broadband plan is not just “technospeak from broadband geeks” but can lead to policies that improve peoples’ lives, said Copps, who was introduced at the conference by Chairman Julius Genachowski. But if policymakers don’t get it right, the result could be “more and even wider divides in this country,” Copps said.
California’s Division of Ratepayer Advocates has no quarrel with projects underwritten by the state using its ratepayer-funded Advanced Services Fund, division officials told us. But the division does find fault with the mechanism by which the state’s Public Utilities Commission processes applications for those funds, they said. The division recently slammed as “another giveaway” a commission decision granting conditional approval of a $19 million grant sought by California Broadband Cooperative. The money would cover 19 percent of the cost of a project to bring broadband to the Eastern Sierra region, which at best has dialup service (CD Dec 7 p8).
The Media Access Project supports a bill to allow private meetings between three or more FCC members (CD Dec 3 p11). The Federal Communications Commission Collaboration Act (HR-4167) would “provide new safeguards which will actually provide greater transparency and disclosure to the public,” President Andrew Schwartzman said Wednesday. Commissioner Michael Copps also welcomed the proposed bill. A longtime advocate of revising meeting rules, Copps said he has seen “first-hand and up close the heavy costs of this prohibition.” The proposed bill from Rep. Bart Stupak, D- Mich., is a “balanced” remedy, Copps said.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski opened the first meeting of the commission’s new Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) Monday, urging the group to take a hard look at communications best practices of networks “of all sizes and shapes.” Looking at ways to encourage better communications interoperability should also be an early goal of the group, Genachowski said.
Comcast’s agreement to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal is bound to raise scrutiny by legislators and regulators on broadcast and cable industry practices, said supporters and opponents we surveyed. The companies expected the deal, announced last week, to draw a year-long regulatory review (CD Dec 7 p2). It may also draw attention to Internet issues including subscription video, and consumer electronics matters such as CableCARDs, executives said.
Health care providers and the telecom industry urged changes to universal service rules, as the FCC collected comment Friday on how broadband helps health care delivery. Some urged more spectrum allocation and renewed calls for a national public safety wireless network. All said broadband is key to providing better health care.