Last week’s GAO report on the Lifeline program shouldn't be “fodder for program detractors, who have already been so active in demonizing its recipients,” said National Hispanic Media Coalition General Counsel Jessica Gonzalez in a statement Friday. GAO urged the FCC to better evaluate Lifeline (see 1504230044), prompting statements of concern from Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. “It is silly for program detractors to imply that, in order to evaluate the program, the FCC should put on hold current efforts to evaluate the program through a potential" NPRM process, Gonzalez said. “Thorough program evaluation is baked into that process and, if the Commission is currently considering opening a new proceeding, it should do so without delay. Those who seek to delay the FCC process are spitting in the faces of millions of Americans who today lack broadband access because it is too expensive.” Detractors add to the digital divide, she said.
Bipartisan leaders of the House Oversight Committee want more information from the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security on Stingray devices, which let law enforcement officials mimic a cell tower and capture mobile communications. DOJ component agencies have briefed Oversight Committee staffers but “we remain concerned that DOJ component agencies are not employing uniform legal standards before deploying cell-site simulation technology,” said Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, ranking member Elijah Cummings, D-Md., Information Technology Subcommittee Chairman Will Hurd, R-Texas, and subcommittee ranking member Robin Kelly, D-Ill., in a Friday letter to DOJ, inquiring about use and retention of data received. “We are troubled that DOJ and its component agencies may be using non-disclosure agreements to impede Congressional and Judicial oversight of the use of these devices.” They ask for several DOJ communications on this front by May 8 and a briefing by Friday. They sent a similar letter with the same types of questions to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson.
Democracy for America, a progressive political action committee based in Vermont, circulated an advertisement for self-styled progressive phone company Credo Mobile, attacking AT&T and Verizon for their political donations. Democracy for America Executive Director Charles Chamberlain has “carefully chosen my phone company,” he said in the email sent Monday. “CREDO Mobile is America’s only progressive phone company. A percentage of every phone bill gets donated to progressive causes and organizations like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. … And CREDO Action has been our partner in working to get money out of politics, fight to save Net Neutrality, and defeat the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership in the Senate to name just a few of our joint campaigns.” Credo has helped fund Demand Progress, Fight for the Future and Free Press throughout the past year. The email included an advertisement from Credo that focuses on the politics of telecom companies. It emphasizes the spending plans of the conservative Koch brothers -- high-profile political donors -- and described the blocking of a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court ruling. “Who blocked the amendment? Nearly every Republican senator, including a group of 14 -- ironically just one more than the margin needed for passage -- who were elected with funding by AT&T and Verizon,” Credo said. “AT&T and Verizon fund politicians who support Citizens United. CREDO fights it. Overturn your phone company today.” Credo zeroed in on Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who “led the charge to defeat the amendment” and had “the help of $15,000 in campaign contributions from AT&T and $4,500 from Verizon,” Credo said. The email supplied a special code for Democracy for America members who want to sign up for Credo Mobile. Verizon and AT&T didn’t comment.
Patent and surveillance overhaul may come up in the months ahead for the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters at the National Press Club Monday. Grassley anticipates introducing patent overhaul legislation that’s “more comprehensive than just dealing with demand letters” in two to three weeks if not sooner, he said. “It will not be like the House bill.” The legislation will involve no presumption in fee shifting and will be “probably less strict on pleading and discovery,” he said. “Demand letters, it may be about the same.” But “you ought to know who’s suing you,” he said. Much is “in flux” when it comes to possible legislation to curb government phone surveillance, Grassley said. “I’m still talking to members of the Intelligence Committee.” He decided not to join House lawmakers, who originally planned to introduce a bill limiting surveillance authorities last week but did not. “Maybe they’re having second thoughts,” Grassley said, saying he’s still looking at a possible “compromise between Judiciary and Intelligence.”
Some senators lauded the news that Comcast would no longer be seeking to buy Time Warner Cable. “The collapse of this proposed merger is a major victory for consumers,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said. “This merger would have led to higher prices, fewer choices, and poorer quality services for Americans.” The deal “would have created a corporate colossi,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., also celebrated the news Friday. He was one of the first critics of the deal and led several senators, including Blumenthal and Markey, in a letter to regulators urging opposition to the deal early last week. The FCC and Justice Department appear to have taken “into account Comcast's abysmal record of adhering to the conditions of its acquisition of NBCUniversal -- one of the chief reasons I believe Comcast could not be trusted with so much power,” Franken said, noting the deal “would have given a single company control over 57 percent of high speed Internet and created a telecom giant the size of which we’d never seen before. It’s a good thing the deal is dead.” Comcast spent many millions on lobbying in the last year, in Q1 spending $4.62 million, up from $3.09 million in Q1 of 2014 (see 1504220050). It hired lobbyists with expertise in Hill antitrust policy (see 1412230028) and argued in favor of the deal, suggesting it had merit and wouldn't have reduced competition. Few lawmakers outright opposed the deal despite many questions throughout two long hearings before the Senate and House Judiciary Antitrust subcommittees.
The Senate unanimously signed off on a resolution backing “the goals and ideals” of April as National Safe Digging Month, which urges calling federally mandated 811 before digging to avoid conflict among different utility lines. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., introduced Senate Resolution 151, with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., as his one co-sponsor.
Reps. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., reintroduced the Protecting the Rights of Musicians Act Thursday. The bill would prohibit companies that own both TV and terrestrial radio stations from seeking retransmission payments for their TV stations unless their radio stations pay performance royalties. “Broadcasters have repeatedly told us that retransmission consent payments are fair because cable and satellite stations make millions by retransmitting local broadcast content,” Blackburn said in a news release. “However, when it comes to music, the same broadcasters, many who own both TV and radio stations, sing a completely different tune.” The bill includes a provision that would bar the FCC from imposing tuner mandates. The bill follows the April 13 introduction of the Fair Play Fair Pay Act (HR-1733), which also would require terrestrial radio stations to begin paying performance royalties (see 1504130056). An NAB spokesman said the group opposes the Protecting the Rights of Musicians Act, adding in a statement that the bill “devalues the indispensable role that hometown broadcasters play in communities across America.” The NAB spokesman said 166 members of the House and 13 senators are now co-sponsors of the Local Radio Freedom Act. CEA President Gary Shapiro praised the Protecting the Rights of Musicians Act’s provision barring any FCC tuner mandates in smartphones. The bill “recognizes that consumers and technology innovators -- not the government or analog radio broadcasters -- are best positioned to determine the functions and features of cutting-edge mobile devices,” Shapiro said in a statement. “Importantly, this bill also starts a worthwhile and much needed conversation about digital age music payment systems.” The provision banning FM tuner mandates in smartphones was added because "as more consumers use Internet radio, the bill ensures consumers aren’t locked into outdated technology mandates and can choose how they access local news and music on their mobile device,” Eshoo said in a statement. NAB has denied it’s seeking FCC tuner mandates in smartphones (see 1504150016), but CEA has said it's not buying those denials (see 1503200031).
The GAO is recommending the FCC assess whether the Lifeline program is truly “efficiently and effectively reaching its performance goals,” prompting agreement from the FCC. GAO released a 49-page report Thursday, directed at Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D. The report findings “highlight the need for a comprehensive evaluation of Lifeline’s effectiveness,” Thune said in a statement. “Before the FCC moves forward with fundamental changes or contemplated expansions to Lifeline, I urge the FCC to conduct a full program evaluation in accordance with GAO’s recommendations, including making public the results of the Broadband Adoption Pilot Program that ended last October.” GAO’s audit of Lifeline took place May through March. GAO emphasized the progress the FCC has made in overhauling Lifeline but said it hasn’t evaluated how effective these changes have been. "FCC does not know the extent to which the narrowing of the penetration rate is attributable to the Lifeline program,” GAO said. “FCC officials stated that the structure of the program has made it difficult for the commission to determine causal connections between the program and the penetration rate. In particular, FCC officials noted that because Lifeline has existed since the 1980s, it is difficult to compare results from the program to results in the absence of the program.” The report also discussed data privacy concerns and the FCC’s pilot broadband version of the Lifeline program, which had what it called a “low” enrollment and suffered from marketing concerns: “Without such planning, FCC now faces difficulties in evaluating the program without established benchmarks for success. Further, FCC does not know why large numbers of eligible households did not enroll in the pilot projects.”
The House Appropriations Committee approved by voice vote a measure that could mean less money for the FCC and FTC in FY 2016. The committee signed off on how much money each of the different appropriations titles would receive for the next year. A Democratic lawmaker warned against the cuts in the $20.25 billion in allocations for Financial Services, a small portion of which would encompass the FCC and FTC budgets. “We take a 6 percent reduction,” Financial Services Subcommittee ranking member Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., said Wednesday during a session of the full Appropriations Committee. “We took a 6 percent reduction last year. … Why these cuts?” He questioned whether the reduction was really a cut or whether it was done due to an “agenda somewhere” and emphasized the subcommittee deals with many controversial issues, not specifically naming net neutrality -- a topic that dominated a subcommittee hearing with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in March (see 1503240045). Some Democratic lawmakers expressed frustration at many billions in cuts across the board that the suballocations would show, but Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., shot back that there have been many subcommittee hearings and that lawmakers should have been asking questions of agency heads about what they would do with less money. “We’ve had that chance all spring,” Rogers said. The FCC has repeatedly called for more money this year, citing big-ticket needs such as a headquarters relocation. “Approval of these allocations will allow us to bring all of the bills to the floor,” Rogers remarked, calling the breakdowns of funding “fair and balanced.” The budget asks “everyone to tighten their belts,” Rogers said. The committee hasn't released a budget proposal for the FCC and FTC.
In a partisan 10-7 vote, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade sent forward the Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters Act (TROL Act) Wednesday, a House Commerce Committee news release said. “The TROL Act is a balanced solution to stop the practice of fraudulent and abusive patent demand letters, while preserving the ability of patent holders to legitimately protect their intellectual property,” the release said. “Abusive patent assertion entities (PAEs), or patent trolls, unfairly target small businesses and cost American companies tens of billions of dollars every year by threatening litigation. The TROL act seeks to increase transparency and accountability in patent demand letters and provides the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with the authority to levy fines on bad actors that send deceptive demand letters.” Subcommittee Chairman Michael Burgess, R-Texas, said the committee would continue to work to strengthen the legislation and encouraged stakeholders to participate. Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said he wouldn't support the bill because it “creates a disincentive to enforcement by tying the hands of state attorneys general and by creating barriers to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforcement that are simply too high.” The bill “would completely pre-empt the 20 laws that expressly address abusive patent assertion communications” and “severely constrains states’ ability to take an active role by limiting available remedies and placing an arbitrary cap on civil penalties,” Pallone said at the markup hearing, according to opening remarks emailed to us. “Just like with the data breach bill, if Congress seeks to pre-empt specific state laws -- especially on issues on which the states have been leaders fighting unfair and deceptive acts, such as false and misleading demand letters -- the federal effort should be at least as strong as those state laws,” Pallone said. Four amendments were introduced for the bill. One by Burgess was accepted on a voice vote, another was withdrawn. Amendments proposed by Democrats Jan Schakowsky of Illinois and Joseph Kennedy of Massachusetts, were defeated on a partisan roll call vote.