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.
Little would change for Cox in terms of FCC reporting requirements if the company were to go private, officials told us. Cox Enterprises (CEI) announced it was proposing to take the company private by buying out the publicly held minority interest (38%)for $32 per share, or about $7.9 billion. Cox CEO James Robbins and other top industry officials have been saying for some time that cable stocks are trading at depressed levels. CEI said in a statement that it wanted to make additional infrastructure investments as the business grows increasingly competitive, and many on Wall St. would prefer immediate returns to more investment and possibly delayed returns.
The White House said Fri. it was already making changes to improve interoperability suggested in the 9/11 Commission report (www.9-11commission.gov). The report said Congress should adopt legislation that provides for expedited and increased assignment of radio spectrum for public safety purposes. Though the report doesn’t identify the legislation, its description is similar to HR-1425, introduced by Rep. Harman (D-Cal.), which would require that broadcasters vacate the analog spectrum by 2006. The White House said the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Interoperability & Compatibility (OIC), being put together, would balance federal, state and local interoperability issues and would “leverage both ongoing and new efforts to improve the compatibility of equipment, training and procedures.” The OIC will pick up many of the responsibilities of the DHS SAFECOM project, which also coordinated interoperability. During a recent House Govt. Reform National Security Subcommittee hearing, witnesses warned that interoperability would take longer to develop than many lawmakers anticipated (CD July 21 p2). The GAO testified at the hearing that it was difficult to predict whether the OIC would be effective because much of its structure hadn’t been developed. The 9/11 Commission also recommended a “signal corps” for high-risk urban areas, such as N.Y.C. and Washington, D.C. The White House said the RapidCon program was coordinating state and local leadership in N.Y.C., the D.C. region and 8 other major cities to ensure first responder communication. “In addition to these targeted efforts, interoperable communications planning and equipment has been a high priority for Federal homeland security assistance to states and localities, particularly in high-risk urban areas,” the White House said.