Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated proposed rules for the $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program, she said Monday (see news bulletin here). EBB is “open to all types of broadband providers, not only those designated as eligible telecommunications carriers," emailed a spokesperson. Whether non-ETCs were allowed was a major point of interest, including in recent comments and replies (see 2102170028). One area generating heat now is that the draft doesn’t include a subsidy for smartphones.
Virginia could soon become the second state with a comprehensive privacy law, after California. The Senate voted 32-7 Friday to send HB-2307 to Gov. Ralph Northam (D), who's expected to sign (see bulletin). Business privacy attorneys are watching New York and Washington as possible next states and monitoring bills in Connecticut, Florida, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Utah, they said in interviews last week. The Virginia and Washington bills are weaker than California’s mandate and would do more harm than good, privacy advocates told us.
Apple threatens online advertising through its anticipated policy requiring developers to gain consent for tracking users across platforms and sites, Facebook Chief Privacy Officer-Policy Erin Egan said Friday. Privacy claims shouldn’t be used to oppose ads, which is the basis for a free internet, she told a Media Institute virtual forum.
More stakeholders want acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to begin moving forward on USF funding revisions (see 2102010059). The current mechanism is unsustainable, experts said in recent interviews. Many disagree on changes.
House Communications Subcommittee Democrats and Republicans cited conflicting priorities for addressing broadband in COVID-19 and infrastructure bills during Wednesday's hearing, as expected (see 2102160067). Democrats focused on their proposed $7.6 billion for remote E-rate as part of a pandemic-focused budget reconciliation package and on plans to seek broadband funding in a coming infrastructure bill. Republicans criticized aspects of those plans, citing alternatives they issued this week focused partly on streamlining regulations to speed up broadband deployment.
In his first speech since joining the FCC, Commissioner Nathan Simingtontold the Free State Foundation via teleconference that he opposes Communications Act Title II net neutrality regulation, indicated he still supports government action to curb non-ISP “gatekeepers,” and seemed optimistic about his ability to influence agency policy while in the minority. "Even commission decisions that don’t command a consensus are formed organically by conversations within the FCC,” Simington said. “The vast majority of decisions are bipartisan.”
Acting FTC Chair Rebecca Kelly Slaughter’s recent direction on privacy and algorithmic bias (see 2102100062) shows she’s going to pursue a vigorous progressive agenda while auditioning for the permanent role, observers told us. She has shown bipartisan agreement on some technical issues, they noted. Since the acting designation, her office has met with consumer advocates about privacy, educational technology, advertising technology and other topics, one advocate said.
The House Commerce Committee voted 31-24 Friday to advance language in its part of the coming COVID-19 budget reconciliation measure that would allocate $7.6 billion for E-rate remote learning funding. (Also see our news bulletin). Committee Republicans ultimately didn't seek votes on most of their proposed amendments dealing with E-rate and other telecom issues. Republicans criticized Democrats for pushing forward with a markup of the overall bill without bipartisan negotiations (see 2102110072).
If congressional inaction continues, Republican FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson said she's open to a Magnuson-Moss privacy rulemaking, an idea her Democratic colleagues proposed. Wilson said Friday she opposes rulemakings or “any attempt to engage in industrial engineering” unless there's a market failure. “Here I believe there is a market failure,” she told a Silicon Flatirons event. “There is such a significant asymmetry between what companies know about how data is collected and used and what consumers know.”
The House Commerce Committee worked Thursday to advance its portion of the coming COVID-19 budget reconciliation measure, without getting by early evening to a section that includes $7.6 billion in E-rate remote learning funding (see 2102100061). President Joe Biden, meanwhile, sought a heavy infrastructure investment amid concerns China will otherwise overtake the U.S. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other administration officials met Thursday with Capitol Hill leaders on infrastructure matters, before an expected formal call later this month for a major infrastructure spending measure (see 2101150001).