The House Judiciary Committee will “certainly” address encryption issues, Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., told us last week. Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans and Democrats recently suggested Congress could be forced to alter encryption standards if the tech industry doesn’t act (see 1912100039). Asked if House counterparts will address the debate between Apple and DOJ, which continues to push for encryption back doors on smartphone devices, Nadler said, “Maybe. We’re certainly going to be looking at the question of encryption generally.”
PASADENA, Calif. -- A federal judge appeared skeptical Monday of an FCC safe harbor threshold that lets communities charge wireless carriers up to only $270 yearly for each small-cell facility. Municipalities and others are challenging FCC wireless infrastructure orders in a consolidated case at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Judges’ decision about whether the commission legally pre-empted local authority in the right of way could have broader impact for local authority in telecom (see 2002060056).
President Donald Trump’s administration again proposes to zero out federal funding for the CPB in his FY 2021 budget proposal, getting familiar opposition from the entity’s supporters. He sought to draw down CPB’s funding in each of his budget proposals since taking office in 2017 (see 1903180063). Trump seeks an increase in appropriations to the FCC and NTIA, but wants to slightly decrease the amount provided to the FTC. Trump signed off in December on FY 2020 appropriations, including $339 million for the FCC, $331 million for the FTC and $40.4 million for NTIA (see 1912190068).
Up against deadline to vote legislation out of committee, Washington state’s House Innovation, Technology and Economic Development Committee cleared a comprehensive privacy bill. It's based on a Senate bill that’s supported by Microsoft and opposed by consumer privacy advocates. The committee wrestled with nearly 30 amendments at Friday’s meeting, adopting some changes to tweak various definitions and rejecting sweeping proposals to add a private right of action and remove a section on private use of facial recognition technology.
The public notice setting up application and bidding procedures for citizens broadband radio service licenses to be voted on at the Feb. 28 meeting (see here) sets up the agency for a long-awaited CBRS auction, but still Ieaves some issues unaddressed, FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly blogged Friday. The agency also released the other draft items. O'Rielly said unresolved are ways to reduce the protection area sizes and increasing power limits in the band.
ISPs that win bids in the FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program won't be prevented from seeking additional support from state broadband programs, but the RDOF Phase I auctions won't be open to census block groups that received state subsidies for 25/3 Mbps. That's according to new language in the final order posted Friday for docket 19-126. Commissioners voted along party lines Jan. 30 (see 2001300001).
The ongoing license hearing for radio broadcaster Entertainment Media Trust -- with Sinclair Broadcast’s hearing designation order (see 2001270054) and the action against prison phone provider Securus (see 1904020076) --- could indicate an FCC crackdown on issues related to misrepresentation or a lack of candor, attorneys told us. The case at hand is expected to be dismissed over EMT’s failure to participate if the company doesn’t make a Monday deadline to demonstrate why that shouldn’t happen (see 2001240052).
The House Commerce Committee’s telecom agenda is set to be dominated in the coming weeks by leaders’ work to reach a deal on legislation on allocating the proceeds of a coming FCC auction of spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band, lawmakers and lobbyists told us. Committee members are being pressed by a planned Feb. 28 FCC vote on Chairman Ajit Pai’s C-band plan, which he unveiled Thursday (see 2002060057) and released Friday. Other items are also percolating, including on public safety communications, network resiliency and broadband.
The up-to $9.7 billion in payments the FCC is proposing be spent on satellite operators seems to be a hard-and-fast figure with little to no commission wiggle room, we are told. Chairman Ajit Pai's office didn't comment. The 185-page C-band draft order released Friday says Intelsat would be eligible for up to half -- $4.85 billion -- of the accelerated relocation payments for making 2021 and 2023 spectrum clearing deadlines. SES would be eligible for $4 billion, Eutelsat for $467 million, Telesat for $374 million and Star One for $13.6 million.
Opponents of an FCC proposal to forbear from imposing unbundling obligations on ILECs said it would harm competition and limit consumer choice. CLECs use ILECs' dark fiber and other unbundled network elements (UNEs) to gain customers before funding fiber deployments, stakeholders commented, posting through Thursday in docket 19-308 (see 1911220052). ILECs backed the NPRM, saying there's enough competition to justify forbearance. California regulators had concerns, as did telcos in areas rebuilding from disasters.