The FCC effort to interpret Communications Decency Act Section 230 isn’t comparable to the heavy-handed regulations repealed during the net neutrality debate in the late 2000s, Commissioner Brendan Carr said Tuesday during a Federalist Society event. Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld questioned how Carr could be against Communications Act Title II regulation of internet service providers but also support Section 230 regulatory changes envisioned by the Trump administration (see 2011060053).
The National Lifeline Association and Assist Wireless filed an emergency stay petition Monday asking the FCC to freeze the Lifeline minimum service standard at 3 GB within seven days. “It is a precursor to going to a federal court for such relief, if necessary,” emailed John Heitmann of Kelley Drye, who represents NaLA. Without the stay or the waiver NaLA previously sought, the MSS will automatically rise to 11.75 GB Dec. 1, triggering a “one-year death spiral” for the entire lifeline industry, the stay petition said. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai withdrew a proposal weeks ago (see 2011020065) that would have made the 2020 MSS 4.5 GB because it wouldn't receive sufficient votes.
NARUC’s Telecom Committee supported lowering phone rates for the incarcerated and asking the FCC to share network outage reporting system (NORS) information with states. At the NARUC virtual annual conference Tuesday, the panel also created a subcommittee on states' eligible telecom carrier authority, as expected (see 2011050051). The committee tweaked the inmate calling service resolution to appease some members’ concerns about lobbying legislatures. A day earlier, ICS providers differed on whether and how the California Public Utilities Commission should regulate intrastate rates.
The Senate Appropriations Committee proposed increases in the FY 2021 budgets for the FCC, NTIA, Patent and Trademark Office and National Institute of Standards and Technology but would leave funding for the FTC and CPB level with FY 2020. The committee’s proposed funding for the FCC to implement the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act, a broadband mapping law (S-1822), fell short of what the commission and others sought. Senate Appropriations released draft versions of its 12 appropriations bills Tuesday, before conference negotiations with House leaders on compromise FY 21 funding measures. Congress must either pass appropriations measures or another continuing resolution to extend government funding before the existing CR expires Dec. 11 (see 2010010041).
USF contribution reform could still be a long way off, said FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly and former Chair Mignon Clyburn at NARUC’s virtual annual conference Tuesday. O’Rielly, co-chair of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, slammed that body as dysfunctional. Earlier in the day, state officials cited the COVID-19 pandemic as they urged national broadband action.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., threatened Tuesday to place a hold on FCC nominee Nathan Simington amid dissatisfaction with his refusal to commit during a Commerce Committee hearing to recuse himself from participating in the rulemaking on its interpretation of Communications Decency Act Section 230 and his answers on other matters. Senate Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker of Mississippi and other Republicans were supportive of Simington. The nominee's confirmation prospects were expected before the presidential election to be jeopardized if Democrat Joe Biden won (see 2011020001).
Democratic leaders of the House Commerce Committee asked FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and FTC Chairman Joseph Simons Tuesday to stop working on major items in light of Joe Biden's election as president (see 2011100066), which President Donald Trump continues to fight through legal challenges. Trump’s legal fight could slow the overall transition, stakeholders say. The House letters (see here and here) were expected (see here). Such requests are known colloquially as "pencils-down" requests.
Zoom deceived users about encryption services, circumvented browser security features and exposed consumers to third-party surveillance, the FTC alleged Monday in a nonmonetary settlement with the company. The commission voted 3-2 with Democrats Rohit Chopra and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter dissenting.
Both political parties increasingly see more broadband as critical as the presidency changes hands, said panelists at the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) conference Monday. Although President Donald Trump hasn't conceded, officials highlighted some ways Democratic President-elect Joe Biden could take advantage of political consensus to push the issue forward.
CTA President Gary Shapiro and Jason Oxman, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council, expressed hope Monday that President-elect Joe Biden’s bipartisan skills would bring progress on high-skilled immigration and infrastructure initiatives in Congress. President Donald Trump hasn't conceded.