Congress needs to take the reins from the FCC, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., planned to tell an audience at the Chamber of Commerce Wednesday night. “Congress has deferred to the FCC for too long,” Thune was to say at the Reboot Congress event, according to his prepared remarks. “If we continue to be bystanders while the FCC moves forward, we will be guaranteeing years of legal and regulatory uncertainty that will chill both innovation and investment. Congress must reassert our constitutional prerogative to make policy, because the only way to protect the open Internet while preserving the bipartisan light touch regime is to find a bipartisan legislative solution.” Thune has proposed legislation codifying net neutrality protections that would limit FCC reliance on Communications Act Title II and Telecom Act Section 706. Thune predicted courts would likely strike down FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s net neutrality “overreach,” but said it’s a “fool’s errand” to predict court rulings. He pointed to the court decision that granted the FCC “far more power than anyone ever expected” in the “unbridled authority” of Section 706. He judged Wheeler’s order to be likely weak on legal grounds: “My understanding is that Chairman Wheeler is relying on all sorts of legal contortions and clever lawyer tricks in order to pound the square peg of the Internet into the round hole of Title II. In particular, the apparent legal rationale for applying Title II to wireless data seems quite weak.” The unpredictability of courts is why Congress must act, because “conservatives should know by now that we cannot rely on the courts to rein in this administration,” he said. Several other GOP lawmakers were to speak at the Reboot Congress event Wednesday and Thursday, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., following Thune.
House Commerce Committee Vice Chairwoman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is “disturbed” at the White House influence allegedly hanging over the net neutrality proceeding, she said in prepared remarks for a speech at TechAmerica’s fly-in event Wednesday on Capitol Hill. “What was the point of having an open notice and comment period if the real rules were being written at the White House instead of the FCC? Chairman [Tom] Wheeler needs to delay the net neutrality vote and clear the air, which cannot be accomplished with a simple statement. Until he does so, there will be a cloud hanging over the FCC.” Blackburn expressed concern about hacking and said she's working with Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., on legislation to address it. They are “hopeful of reaching an agreement” on legislation involving data security and breach notification but can't say much yet, she said. The government must be proactive in sharing information to combat such threats, she said. Blackburn also emphasized the challenges of protecting consumer privacy: “Washington’s view of digital privacy is too subjective. It must be industry proactively and credibly ensuring that individuals know more about what data is being collected about them and how it is being used.”
House Republicans received a record number of responses to their sixth Communications Act overhaul white paper -- 220. The white paper that received the next highest number of responses was the very first one a year ago, with 116. The 220 stakeholders weighed in on several video policy overhaul questions in the latest white paper (see 1501230062, 1501260045, 1501270041 and 1502040038). The House Communications Subcommittee had set a January deadline for responses and posted them all Wednesday. They included many community TV stations plus bigger stakeholders such as the American Cable Association, the American Television Alliance, Cox Enterprises, Dish Network, Public Knowledge, TVFreedom and Verizon. The American Television Alliance, which includes many pay-TV industry stakeholders, used its response to press for enactment of Local Choice, a broadcast a la carte proposal: “No price regulation, no blackouts, no threats, and most importantly, no drama for consumers,” the group said. Congress shouldn't have to wait for a comprehensive telecom rewrite to engage in retransmission overhaul, it said. Aereo, which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, urged Congress to consider several changes. “Even though Aereo itself has permanently ceased all business operations and will no longer exist, we believe that the lessons we learned have helped further the conversation around video reform,” leading to a robust future market, Senior Vice President Virginia Lam wrote. Aereo backed “a regulatory framework that is technology-neutral and allows linear online video providers to compete in parity with incumbent providers.” The multichannel video programming distributor definition doesn’t need to apply to online video services offering “an on-demand or nonlinear channel format,” Aereo said.
The You Own Devices Act (YODA) (HR-862) was reintroduced Wednesday by Reps. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, and Jared Polis, D-Colo. The bill would amend Section 109 of the Copyright Act to allow consumers to resell or lease their software, a joint news release said. “As technology advances, more and more of the devices in your home, office, and garage contain essential software that make them run,” Farenthold said in the release. That “opens the door to software licenses that erode how much you own these devices and how you can dispose of them,” he said. “YODA ensures that these devices are yours and you can sell them when you wish.” “For too long our antiquated copyright laws have been stifling innovation and blocking consumers from being able to access more efficient, effective, and affordable products and technology," Polis said. "YODA will bring our copyright laws into the 21st century and recognize that people can own and transfer devices without being strangled by paperwork and empty legal threats." The bill is the same as HR-5586, which Farenthold introduced last year, a spokesman said. Farenthold “understands we expect the devices we buy to belong to us, for us to re-sell or give away as we please,” Mike Godwin, R Street Institute innovation policy director, said in a news release. “This bill says in a very few words what we all believe about what we buy: we own it and we can re-sell it as we see fit.”
Multiple House lawmakers focused on the Do Not Call list this week. House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., wants the FTC to fight violations of the Do Not Call list. “Nearly every day I hear from constituents who are frustrated by the constant interruption of telemarketers,” Eshoo told the FTC in a letter sent Wednesday. “Despite more than 100 enforcement actions taken against companies and telemarketers for ‘Do Not Call’ violations by the FTC’s own admission, the number of consumer complaints for unsolicited telephone calls has doubled since 2010.” The Do Not Call registry “is not working as it was intended,” Eshoo said. She invited FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez to Silicon Valley for a summit on related technologies. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., meanwhile, introduced HR-827 “to revise the regulations regarding the Do-not-call registry to prohibit politically-oriented recorded message telephone calls to telephone numbers listed on that registry,” its title said. Its co-sponsor is Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., and it was referred to the Commerce Committee. Foxx is calling the bill the Robo Calls Off Phones (COP) Act. “Though citizens are able to stop receiving telemarketing calls, politicians made sure to exempt political robocalls from the power of the Do Not Call Registry,” Foxx said in a statement. “Removing that exemption through the Robo COP Act is a matter of fairness.”
Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., published an op-ed in USA Today Wednesday backing their recently reintroduced Internet Tax Freedom Forever Act (see 1502100031). The bill is the Senate version of House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte’s, R-Va., Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act (HR-235) and would ban taxes on Internet access permanently (see 1501090042). “Internet taxes would ... have a harmful effect on commerce, particularly on startups and small businesses, who have to watch their expenses very carefully,” wrote Thune and Wyden. “New Internet access taxes would discourage innovation.” CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom sent a joint letter to House lawmakers Wednesday in support of HR-235.
Legislation directing the FTC and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to establish a federal standard for vehicles that have “fully adopted wireless technologies,” to “secure our cars and protect drivers’ privacy,” was introduced Wednesday by Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the Internet of Things (see 1502110035). Introduction of the legislation came days after Markey released a report (see 1502090026) outlining privacy and security issues for vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The legislation also would require new cars to be evaluated and rated based on how well the drivers’ privacy and security were protected. The information would be displayed in a manner similar to how fuel economy is currently displayed. “We need the electronic equivalent of seat belts and airbags to keep drivers and their information safe in the 21st century,” Markey said. “There are currently no rules of the road for how to protect driver and passenger data, and most customers don’t even know that their information is being collected and sent to third parties.” Connected cars "represent tremendous social and economic promise, but in the rush to roll out the next big thing automakers have left the doors unlocked to would-be cybercriminals,” Blumenthal said. The FTC and NHTSA didn't comment.
One senior House Democrat planned to speak highly of the FCC Consolidated Reporting Act at the full House Commerce Committee markup for HR-734. Lawmakers were scheduled to deliver markup opening statements at 5 p.m. Wednesday and to reconvene to vote at 10 a.m. Thursday in 2123 Rayburn. The House Communications Subcommittee unanimously cleared the bill last week. “As amended during the Subcommittee’s recent markup, H.R. 734 would streamline Congressionally-mandated reporting requirements under a single, industry-wide report while providing two important clarifications,” said Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., according to the written statement. “First, in our effort to consolidate reporting requirements, the legislation clarifies that the FCC’s [Telecommunications Act Section] ‘706’ Report does not in any way impact or alter the explicit grant of broadband authority that the court affirmed in the Verizon case last year. Second, the legislation preserves the FCC’s obligation to examine how retransmission consent fees impact a consumer’s monthly bill.” Eshoo, Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., had introduced the bill together. The bill has passed the House before but never advanced in the Senate.
The FCC should delay its planned Feb. 26 vote on net neutrality, House Commerce Committee Vice Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said in a statement Tuesday. “Allegations that the White House may have pressured Chairman Wheeler to adopt Title II Net Neutrality regulations are troubling,” Blackburn said. “This was supposed to be an open process. We have watched the FCC go through a lengthy notice and comment period only to learn that the rules may have been written behind closed doors at the White House.” Other lawmakers plan to gather for a net neutrality briefing in favor of the FCC action. The National Hispanic Media Coalition is co-hosting that briefing with Presente.org, the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Media Action Grassroots Network, set for noon Thursday in B-338 Rayburn. Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairman Keith Ellison, D-Mich., is expected to attend.
The Internet Tax Freedom Forever Act was reintroduced Tuesday by Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a joint news release said. The bill is the Senate version of House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte’s, R-Va., Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act (HR-235) and would ban taxes on Internet access permanently (see 1501090042). Without the bill, “access to information would no longer be tax-free,” Wyden said in the release. ITFFA would “encourage more American innovators and entrepreneurs to use broadband to develop the next big thing,” Thune said. The Senate bill has 39 co-sponsors; HR-235 has 29 House co-sponsors. CTIA and USTelecom applauded the Senate bill in statements Tuesday.