FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker starts “with the assumption that markets work better than government intervention and that competition regulates market behavior more efficiently than regulators can,” she told a Free State Foundation conference in her first speech since joining the commission. “Fundamentally I believe that consumers will benefit most from continued investment, innovation and competition.” Earlier, FCC Broadband Plan Coordinator Blair Levin responded to criticisms by Foundation President Randolph May that FCC workshops haven’t focused enough on what regulatory philosophies work best.

There have been some changes in China’s media and information control system, but access is still difficult and more changes are needed, witnesses said during a hearing by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on Thursday. The Chinese government is worried about the increasing use of online tools like Twitter and is expected to monitor content even more closely, they said. Established in 2000, the commission has twelve members appointed by Congressional leaders from both parties.

Interconnected VoIP providers should be required to pay state universal service fees, said states and rural wireline carriers in comments filed at the FCC Wednesday on a petition by the Nebraska Public Service Commission and Kansas Corporation Commission (WID Sept 4 p7). But Verizon and Google fought the concept of VoIP having an intrastate component subject to state jurisdiction. Vonage and some other VoIP providers didn’t object to paying state USF, but said the FCC must open a separate rulemaking first.

NTIA and RUS unveiled a new searchable database late Wednesday that provides public information on broadband grant applications. The database is intended to provide “a useful tool for the public that will provide transparency” while highlighting the benefits of projects, applicants were told in a recent e-mail. The database is searchable by organization, keywords, project type, program and state. Search results additionally list applicant contact information, project title, grant money requested and a project description. Those who want to protect proprietary information have until Monday to provide a redacted copy of their executive summary.

Satellite broadband companies are combining efforts to convince the FCC and Congress to define “broadband” within a range that satellite technology could handle. Failure to do so could be a major blow to the industry, giving competitive advantage to other technologies, industry officials said.

A successful national broadband policy needs to address affordability, access, funding, demand and supply issues in rural areas, speakers said during a Pike & Fischer webinar Wednesday. They warned that definitions and application process issues in the broadband stimulus program and some Universal Service Fund rules could hurt the outcome of these programs.

The FCC should approve eligible telecommunications carrier status for prepaid wireless carriers Conexions and Consumer Cellular only if they meet the same 911/E911 provisions imposed on TracFone and Virgin Mobile, the National Emergency Number Association said in separate filings. Both seek to offer Lifeline service though the Universal Service Fund program. They should be required to certify “full compliance with any applicable [state] 911/E911 obligations, including obligations relating to the provision, and support, of 911 and E911 service,” NENA said. That requirement was not mentioned by the FCC when it sought comment on petitions from Conexions and Consumer Cellular, NENA said.

What’s been called the last library for some difficult- to-find books could snoop on visitors’ reading habits, civil liberties groups representing a handful of controversial authors told U.S. District Judge Denny Chin in New York. A friend-of-the-court brief filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation asked Chin to hold off on approving the Google Book Search settlement until it includes specified privacy protections. The Open Book Alliance, which includes Yahoo, Microsoft and Amazon.com, also filed to halt the settlement. It proposed that Google be required to license its book database to competitors. Over the weekend, Google made its first major concession to publishers, promising it wouldn’t display to U.S. users some European books whose rights owners hadn’t given permission.

Oversight hearings on the broadband stimulus program and the Genachowski FCC are the first order of business in the House Communications Subcommittee as Congress returns. Other matters will have a tough time getting on the agenda as lawmakers resume work on health care and climate change legislation. Few expect major telecom enactments this year, other than must-pass satellite reauthorization legislation and possibly a cybersecurity bill, according to lobbyists, trade associations and Hill sources.

USTelecom CEO Walter McCormick urged the FCC to review the “financial fundamentals of the industry” as the agency develops a national broadband plan. In a meeting last week with Commissioner Meredith Baker, McCormick called for overhauls of the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation, an ex parte said.