Federal judges denied petitions for review of the FCC net neutrality order "in accordance with the opinion of the court," in a per curiam judgment (in Pacer) Tuesday (USTelecom v. FCC, No. 15-1063). The lengthy opinion (in Pacer) of the panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit was also released this morning. This opinion will be the subject of a forthcoming Communications Daily Bulletin this morning. The FCC order had reclassified broadband under Title II of the Communications Act. Officials at the FCC and USTelecom had no immediate comment.
Participants in an NTIA-driven process reached agreement Wednesday on a document aimed at helping provide privacy best practices for commercial and private drone operators, but the process wasn't without some last-minute changes to the document's language and opposition by several prominent privacy groups and others. The voluntary guide is the culmination of work among several representatives from the drone and technology industries, privacy groups and academia since the process was started in August. Several members had expected to reach agreement at the meeting (see 1604280066).
The White House now backs FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in a goal to unlock the cable set-top box market, senior officials said Friday. NCTA CEO Michael Powell expressed disappointment with the message of the administration, which said the look at set-tops is part of a broader initiative looking at competition. Powell slammed "bad government." Supporters of the Wheeler-backed NPRM approved 3-2 by commissioners applauded the White House support. DOJ previously backed the NPRM (see Communications Daily Bulletin Feb. 3).
Chairman Tom Wheeler proposed the FCC replace its special access regime with a new "technology-neutral framework," in a draft Further NPRM and tariff order he circulated Thursday for consideration at the agency's April 28 meeting. That was as first reported by Communications Daily, and a longer article in the regular issue being emailed to subscribers tonight will report on the coming order and FNPRM in more detail. Wheeler disclosed the items in a Friday blog post headlined "Out with the Old, In with the New."