ASPEN, Colo. -- The Telecom Act is a failed document in the broadband age and VoIP will be the “stalking horse” that forces change in Congress and at the FCC, Chmn. Powell said here. VoIP is “the killer app not only for the broadband economy but for legal policy change,” Powell said Mon., referring to how it rocks regulatory structures spelled out in the 1934 Act and the 1996 rewrite: “It’s going to shoot right into the core of the past.” Powell also vowed to press for final UNE-P rules by year-end. Asked by reporters after his speech whether he planned to be at the Commission when they were completed, whenever that might be, he replied: “You betcha.”
The FCC’s new Wireline Bureau Chief Jeffrey Carlisle said the agency ought to deal with state vs. federal jurisdiction over VoIP before tackling other issues in the FCC’s broad IP Enabled Services proceeding. “I don’t know if we can get a comprehensive order done by the end of the year because the record’s so huge and there are so many issues,” Carlisle said in an interview with Communications Daily. “I do believe we should try to decide the jurisdiction issue by the end of the year.”
Senate Judiciary leaders disagreed with an MPAA characterization of their work on broadcast flag, they told the FCC. In a Aug. 3 letter to FCC Chmn. Powell, Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Chmn. DeWine (R-O.) and ranking Democrat Kohl (D-Wis.) said the subcommittee didn’t “decline to act,” but instead determined the FCC had its review of broadcast flag well in hand. Writing on behalf of MPAA, attorney Bruce Boyden said the FCC shouldn’t delay or deny approvals of broadcast flag technologies based on “claimed anticompetitive effects of non-assert provisions.” The letter was written for 3 open proceedings the FCC has on broadcast flag. “We believe that when licenses grant any ‘necessary’ or ‘essential’ rights to licensees to practice the technology’s specification, it is reasonable and hardly anticompetitive to seek to reduce transaction costs, clear blocking positions, and avoid costly infringement litigation by having adopters agree not to assert any ‘necessary’ claims they hold within the scope of the specification against any other participants in the system,” the letter said. The letter then said the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee examined the issues and “declined to act.” But DeWine and Kohl said that shouldn’t be interpreted as a formal position by the subcommittee. “Rather the Subcommittee, while considering the positions of all sides, explored this issue with the staff of the Federal Communications Commission and determined that the FCC staff had a solid grasp of the competitive implications raised by the proposed licenses,” the DeWine and Kohl letter said.
NARUC officials, concerned about possible reduction in state authority, are scheduled to get briefed today (Wed.) on an industry proposal to reform intercarrier compensation (CD Aug 17 p1). The plan announced Mon. by the Intercarrier Compensation Forum (ICF) would unify the disparate intercarrier payment systems used by the telecom industry -- applying not only to interstate but also intrastate communications that tend to be state regulators’ bailiwick.
Content is king, at least when it comes to political donations. The content industry -- broadcasting, cable, satellite, movies and music -- is the leading communications sector in campaign donations in the 2004 election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission records. The computer and Internet sector is closing fast, however, trailed by the separate sectors of telecom utilities and manufacturers. Together these 4 sectors comprise most of the $53.4 million the communications industry has given this election cycle through July 5, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Donations to political candidates by the communications industry are on pace this election cycle to total only 1/2 the amount given in 2000, according to Federal Election Commission figures. This Presidential race, like 2000, is extremely close, and margins in the House and Senate remain narrow. The key difference from 2000, according to numbers compiled by the Center for Public Integrity, is that in this election soft money to candidates and party committees is banned under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA).
Cable overbuilder RCN, struggling to emerge from bankruptcy, told the FCC that it should implement a la carte pricing for cable networks, on a “voluntary, market-supported basis,” saying doing so would satisfy consumer demand for competition, choice and control. RCN’s comments were among many replies in the FCC’s proceeding on a la carte pricing for cable and satellite. The FCC is examining the issue at the behest of several members of Congress, including Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.)
Fifty executives from telecom, mass media and high-tech companies were among the 200 executives that publicly endorsed Sen. Kerry (D-Mass.) for president Wed. Kerry made the announcement in Davenport, Ia., a state then-Vice President Gore won by 4,144 votes (0.3%) in 2000; as it happens, President Bush was holding a rally mere blocks away. Kerry spoke with several executives in attendance, including News Corp. COO Peter Chernin and Oracle Pres. Charles Phillips. Most of the 50 executives have a long history of support for Democrats, although 6 have given to Bush, during the 2000 Presidential campaign or more recently. Many supported other Democratic candidates in the primaries.
One of the few surprises at Wed.’s FCC mostly well scripted meeting was a strong statement from Comr. Copps warning that the FCC is still falling short on homeland security. Shortly after the session’s start, Copps -- responding to an FCC report on post-Sept. 11 communications changes that led off a meeting largely focused on homeland security -- addressed at length Commission shortcomings. Sources involved with emergency communications said Thurs. that issues remain, echoing in part Copps’ statements. Copps, sources said, delivered what he viewed as a moderate speech.
The FCC tentatively concluded Wed. that CALEA applies to facilities-based providers of “any type of broadband Internet access service -- including wireline, cable modem, wireless and powerline -- and to managed or mediated [VoIP] services.” This was the wording of a rulemaking launched to determine the appropriate legal and policy framework for implementing CALEA, particularly regarding broadband access and services. The agency said the tentative conclusions were based on its proposal that such services fall under CALEA as “a replacement for a substantial portion of the local telephone exchange service.” But FCC officials said CALEA wouldn’t apply to “non-managed” P2P VoIP services such as those provided by Pulver.com or Skype. FCC Comrs. Copps and Adelstein concurred.