FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s statements and actions as head of the agency run exactly counter to his prior positions as a commissioner, said the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s Robert Corn-Revere in an article Wednesday in The Dispatch. Corn-Revere served as chief counsel to former FCC Commissioner James Quello.
Deficit reduction is driving spectrum policy and an auction means money for the Treasury, but lawmakers shouldn’t ignore Wi-Fi's growing role, said WifiForward Executive Director Mary Brown during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. Brown said she expects action in the House and Senate on spectrum legislation in the next four to 10 weeks, restoring FCC auction authority and identifying some bands for auction. Still to be determined is how specific Congress will be in picking bands and the timelines it will impose, she said.
The private sector can't take all the responsibility for safeguarding against and responding to major cybersecurity events like the Salt Typhoon data hack of communications networks, House Communications and Technology Subcommittee members heard Wednesday. Putting Salt Typhoon blame solely on industry ignores the government's failure to share information with the private sector, Technology Industry Association CEO David Stehlin said during the roughly 2.5-hour hearing about protecting communications infrastructure. The session also saw communications and national security experts lay out a variety of recommendations for improving U.S. communications network security, from uniform ways to report cyber incidents to actually punishing nations that tamper with U.S. subsea cables.
The House voted 409-2 Monday night to approve the Senate-passed Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act (S-146), which President Donald Trump is likely to sign into law. In addition, the House cleared five other tech and telecom bills Monday night on voice votes: the Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security Act (HR-866), Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act (HR-906), Rural Broadband Protection Act (HR-2399), Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhanced Networks Act (HR-2449) and the Secure Space Act (HR-2458). The chamber earlier Monday passed two other measures (see 2504280055): the Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act (HR-2480) and NTIA Reauthorization Act (HR-2482).
CPB and Democratic board members Laura Ross, Thomas Rothman and Diane Kaplan sued the Trump administration Tuesday, claiming their Monday dismissal was illegal. In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in docket 25-01305, they said Trent Morse, the White House deputy director-presidential personnel, emailed them Monday that President Donald Trump “had purportedly terminated their positions on the Board.” Morse’s email, included in the filing, told the three that they were “terminated effective immediately.” White House action against the board members came as Trump geared up to send Congress a spending rescissions package, which officials have said will call for rolling back $1.1 billion in advance CPB funding (see 2504150052).
Broadcasters doubled down on calls for station ownership deregulation in reply comments filed by this week's deadline in the “Delete” docket (see also 2504290038), while public interest groups pushed back and cautioned the FCC not to skip required procedures in a rush to eliminate rules. Nexstar said that if the current ownership rules are retained, they will “doom television broadcasting.”
Republican FCC nominee Olivia Trusty could get more support Wednesday from Senate Commerce Committee Democrats than NTIA administrator pick Arielle Roth drew earlier this month (see 2504090037), but lobbyists told us the likely tally remained in flux Tuesday afternoon. Panel Democrats gave Trusty a warm reception at her April 9 confirmation hearing (see 2504090060), after only one caucus member, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, joined all 15 Republicans to advance Roth. Senate Commerce's Wednesday markup session will begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell.
A U.S. District Court judge appeared to repeatedly show strong skepticism Monday toward government arguments defending the White House's executive order targeting law firm Jenner & Block. It's among multiple Big Law targets of President Donald Trump's executive orders, though it's uncertain whether those orders affect communications lawyers (see 2504170027). Jenner & Block is challenging the order (see 2504010072), with Monday's session addressing the firm's motion for a permanent injunction and DOJ's rival motion to dismiss. "Give me a break," Judge John Bates scoffed during roughly 100 minutes of oral argument as DOJ lawyer Richard Lawson was arguing that allegations of racial discrimination in Jenner's hiring were the rationale for the order to bar the firm's employees from accessing federal agencies and buildings.
Elizabeth Murphy Burns, 79, chair of Morgan Murphy Media’s board and among the first women elected to NAB’s board, passed away April 24 at her home in Arizona. Cause of death wasn't provided. Murphy Burns was CEO and president of the Madison, Wisconsin-based media firm for 43 years. She fought for small-market broadcasters on Capitol Hill, among many other causes. Her impact on broadcasting is "simply immeasurable," NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt said in a statement. Information about a memorial will be announced at a later date.
The FCC's equipment authorization authority can be used to fight the security vulnerabilities that equipment on the agency's "covered list" can pose, Charter Communications executives told the commission. In a docket 21-232 posting Friday recapping a meeting with FCC Council for National Security Director Adam Chan, Charter advocated that the agency require device manufacturers seeking certification to show that their devices securely authenticate with a network owner or operator before the device can connect. Alternately, they should show that their devices communicate a unique, unchangeable and cryptographically assured device ID number to the network anytime it connects, Charter said. Such a requirement would let connectivity providers identify vulnerabilities in their networks, including the originating devices, and isolate them, it added.