The FTC again met criticism last week from Senate Democrats and Republicans after reports of an estimated $5 billion privacy settlement with Facebook. A former commissioner defended the agency's reported 3-2 decision, saying a more-stringent penalty was never guaranteed in court.
Parties in proposed reallocation of some C band for 5G said each of their plans is the only one that makes sense, in docket 18-122 comments posted Friday. The Wireless and International bureaus and offices of Engineering and Technology and of Economics and Analytics said in a public notice Friday they were seeking comment on the band-clearing plans put forward by AT&T; America's Communications Association, the CCA and Charter Communications; and the Wireless ISP Association, Google and Microsoft. Comments are due Aug. 7 and replies Aug. 14.
Competitive LECs want more time to move away from regulated resale of voice-grade copper TDM phone services bought from incumbents if commissioners vote soon to proceed with a forbearance order as expected (see 1907020058). The draft addresses remaining aspects of a larger petition for regulatory relief USTelecom filed in May 2018 (see 1805040016). The draft proposes a three-year transition for CLECs or their customers to find new voice service arrangements or for CLECs to negotiate new contracts. CLEC allies are optimistic the agency will extend the time as they seek.
Netflix subscriber growth began to recover “in the first couple of weeks of Q3," said Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann after the company missed its Q2 sub targets with results Wednesday (see 1907170070). The slowdown in subscriber growth was across all of our regions,” said the CFO that evening. “We think the primary story was around seasonality and timing and nature of our content slate, but pricing played a factor.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced to the floor legislation that would establish a voluntary small claims board within the Copyright Office (see 1907110060). Groups including Public Knowledge and Center for Democracy & Technology remain opposed. They said it would subject internet users, who unknowingly violate copyright, to unfair fines up to $30,000.
The big decision on T-Mobile/Sprint could be fast approaching. DOJ is expected to announce a deal with the companies soon or sue to block the transaction, industry officials said. The biggest questions appear to be whether Dish Network will follow through on a proposal to launch a fourth national network and whether there will be restrictions on other companies, especially cable operators, buying Dish for its spectrum.
Three telecom-focused GOP leaders believe more than the departure of any particular official within President Donald Trump's administration will be needed to solve the FCC-Commerce Department quarrel over U.S. spectrum strategy. Those comments came before and after reports surfaced about the potential pending departure of Commerce Deputy Chief of Staff and Policy Director Earl Comstock. He's seen as a central player in this infighting (see 1905090051). Discussion about the fracas became the dominant topic at a Tuesday House Communications Subcommittee on spectrum policy (see 1907160067).
It should be “no surprise” that people “have different views about repair restrictions,” said Lois Greisman, associate director of the FTC’s Division of Marketing Practices, in closing remarks Tuesday at the commission’s Nixing the Fix workshop (see 1907160058). The agency organized the event to examine whether manufacturer repair restrictions undercut the consumer protections in the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.
Analysts warned against “overhyping” of 5G, during a teleconference Wednesday by Recon Analytics. They predicted the first such handsets that operate across multiple bands won’t be available for about a year.
A dearth of good radar data about debris in low earth orbit and a lack of congressional action on establishing a civil space situational awareness (SSA) operation were among concerns of space experts at an International Astronautical Congress briefing Wednesday about monitoring the growing orbital debris problem. “This is problem ripe for disruption,” said Commerce Department Office of Space Commerce-Director Kevin O’Connell.