A large and diverse digital TV education group is gaining momentum, adding more than 100 members the past four and a half months and getting the FCC to join, said members. The commission formally joined the Digital Television Transition Coalition several days ago, an agency spokesman said. Formal FCC affiliation makes good on Chairman Kevin Martin’s public promises to collaborate with NTIA, other agencies and private bodies to alert Americans to the Feb. 17, 2009 analog cutoff (CD June 26 p2). On Monday, NTIA Administrator John Kneuer and FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein spoke to about 60 coalition members, according to participants in the meeting at National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) headquarters. Adelstein told the group it has made progress but must do much more because “few Americans really understand” the transition.
Correction: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will hold town hall meetings in the fall on consumer protection issues raised by new technologies. The event is a follow-on to its Techade conference. Addressing the Federal Communications Bar Association, FTC Chairman Deborah Majoras suggested self-regulation as a complement to FTC enforcement of consumer protection laws (CD Jun 28 p2).
Thomas O'Connell, ex-assistant secretary of defense for special operations, named to EMS Technologies board… Ines LeBow, ex-Xspedius Communications, joins Mobile Satellite Ventures as vice president for next-generation services programs… BT Wholesale CEO Paul Reynolds leaves Sept. 14 to become CEO of Telecom New Zealand… Federal Trade Commission shuffle: Bureau of Economics Director Michael Salinger returns to Boston University School of Management as economics professor; Indiana University Business Professor Michael Baye replaces Salinger.
XM and Sirius compete not only with one other but with “terrestrial radio, pre-recorded music devices, mobile phones, and fixed and mobile internet services,” economist and former FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth said. His new report addresses an issue on which the merger’s fate likely hinges: In terms of assessing market power, is satellite radio a unique market or part of a much larger world?
The FCC would be required to draft regulations outlawing caller ID spoofing under a bill (S-704) the Senate Commerce Committee approved by voice vote Wednesday. The bill directs the FCC to write rules within six months of the bill’s enactment; it would impose civil and criminal penalties of $10,000 per violation, with a cap of $1 million. The House passed a similar measure June 12 (HR-251) and it was referred to the Senate Commerce Committee.
The U.S. does not need net neutrality regulation, a Federal Trade Commission report released Wednesday said. Lawmakers should proceed with “caution, caution, caution” before crafting any broadband access laws, FTC Chairman Deborah Majoras told the Federal Communications Bar Association in Washington. “We do not know what the net effects of potential conduct by broadband providers will be on all consumers,” including access prices, quality and other services and choices of content and applications, the report said. In November the FTC will host a series of town hall meetings around the country “to explore technology and concerns about new risks” including net neutrality, online advertising and the Google-DoubleClick merger, she said.
Government-mandated a la carte was panned by a handful of House members who used a hearing by the Telecommunications Subcommittee on child obesity to attack recent proposals by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, the ranking Republican member, said forcing individual channel sales by cable, satellite and other pay-TV providers will not improve children’s programming quality. Reps. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) and Jane Harman (D-Calif.) panned a la carte, which got no support during a three-hour hearing often interrupted as members left to vote.
Arguments against capping universal service subsidies to competitive carriers are based on “short-term self interest rather than long-term public interest,” OPASTCO told the FCC. “Excessive growth in the High-Cost program that is threatening its sustainability is attributable solely to competitive ETCs,” said OPASTCO in reply comments on the cap proposal. On the other hand, extending the interim cap to all rural telecom companies would “seriously threaten” wireline rural carriers, OPASTCO said. “At greatest risk would be continued service to subscribers in the most remote and highest-cost regions that may not have other reliable service options,” said the group, which represents wireline LECs.
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D) signed a bill (SB-894) authorizing the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to alter rules on the state universal service fund to conform them to changes in federal law and policy. The law says the PUC can conform state rules to federal principles to the extent appropriate and consistent with keeping a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory state universal service program. In another move, the legislature referred to a conference committee a bill (HB-2872) barring use of handheld cellphones and other handheld wireless communications devices while driving. The bill went to conference after the House rejected a Senate amendment reducing the maximum fine for cellphone violations to $90 from the House’s $360.
The National Telecom and Information Administration (NTIA) should study use of telecommunications in hate crimes, said a letter to NTIA Director John Kneuer from House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., and Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass. Since NTIA last reported on the topic, in 1993, technology has “changed dramatically,” they said. “The committee does not wish to erode First Amendment protections or to infringe upon the fundamental liberty of any citizen,” the two said: “Rather, we seek information about the current uses of telecommunications media, particularly uses by broadcast facilities licensed on behalf of the public by the Federal Communications Commission, and whether such uses convey messages of bigotry or hatred, creating a climate of fear and inciting individuals to commit hate crimes.”