The National Emergency Number Association said the FCC should move with care in considering Twilio’s petition for clarification that messaging services should be regulated under Title II of the Communications Act (see 1510130040). Wireless industry commenters opposed the petition outright. Some parties questioned whether changing how text messages are regulated would mean consumers would have to deal with many more spam texts. Reply comments were due Monday in docket 08-7.
The National Emergency Number Association said the FCC should move with care in considering Twilio’s petition for clarification that messaging services should be regulated under Title II of the Communications Act (see 1510130040). Wireless industry commenters opposed the petition outright. Some parties questioned whether changing how text messages are regulated would mean consumers would have to deal with many more spam texts. Reply comments were due Monday in docket 08-7.
FCC approval of Altice buying a majority of Suddenlink in a deal worth about $9 billion without any major conditions was expected, since there were no competitive worries or potential consumer downsides associated with the deal, one communications industry lawyer familiar with the deal told us, saying it would have been surprising if the agency had imposed any conditions. But how the approval granted Friday affects Altice's planned buy of Cablevision remains to be seen, the lawyer said. Altice and Suddenlink filed a joint application seeking regulatory approval in June (see 1506040047) and Altice said it hoped to close on the deal by year's end.
The U.N.’s high-level meeting on its 10-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society outcomes (WSIS+10) concluded with the U.S. and allies praising an outcome document approved Wednesday at the U.N. meeting that reaffirmed international acceptance of the multistakeholder Internet governance model. Rhetoric from China in the midst of the WSIS+10 meeting indicates supporters of the multistakeholder model will continue to face challenges in 2016 in promoting that model to skeptical governments, stakeholders said in interviews. The WSIS+10 review was intended to evaluate progress on the original second-phase 2005 WSIS outcomes adopted in Tunis and decide how to make further progress.
FCC approval of Altice buying a majority of Suddenlink in a deal worth about $9 billion without any major conditions was expected, since there were no competitive worries or potential consumer downsides associated with the deal, one communications industry lawyer familiar with the deal told us, saying it would have been surprising if the agency had imposed any conditions. But how the approval granted Friday affects Altice's planned buy of Cablevision remains to be seen, the lawyer said. Altice and Suddenlink filed a joint application seeking regulatory approval in June (see 1506040047) and Altice said it hoped to close on the deal by year's end.
The U.N.’s high-level meeting on its 10-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society outcomes (WSIS+10) concluded with the U.S. and allies praising an outcome document approved Wednesday at the U.N. meeting that reaffirmed international acceptance of the multistakeholder Internet governance model. Rhetoric from China in the midst of the WSIS+10 meeting indicates supporters of the multistakeholder model will continue to face challenges in 2016 in promoting that model to skeptical governments, stakeholders said in interviews. The WSIS+10 review was intended to evaluate progress on the original second-phase 2005 WSIS outcomes adopted in Tunis and decide how to make further progress.
Provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership that may force the U.S. to make major changes to how it assesses the merchandise processing fee (MPF) is getting attention on Capitol Hill, a Congressional staffer said. Article 2.15 of the recently agreed text, which still requires approval from Congress, provides that "no party shall levy fees and charges on or in connection with importation or exportation on an ad valorem basis." MPF, which is currently charged at an ad valorem rate of 0.3464% on formal entries, with per entry minimums and maximums, would have to be converted into a flat fee in order to comply, said one staffer.
The Consumer Technology Association got a bit of what it had asked for when the Federal Aviation Administration announced Monday it will waive its $5 registration fee on small drones for 30 days when its rules take effect Dec. 21. Waiving the fee through Jan. 20 is “an effort to encourage as many people as possible to register quickly,” the agency said in a statement.
The Consumer Technology Association got a bit of what it had asked for when the Federal Aviation Administration announced Monday it will waive its $5 registration fee on small drones for 30 days when its rules take effect Dec. 21. Waiving the fee through Jan. 20 is “an effort to encourage as many people as possible to register quickly,” the agency said in a statement.
The Consumer Technology Association got a bit of what it had asked for when the Federal Aviation Administration announced Monday it will waive its $5 registration fee on small drones for 30 days when its rules take effect Dec. 21. Waiving the fee through Jan. 20 is “an effort to encourage as many people as possible to register quickly,” the agency said in a statement.