The net neutrality proposal from House Commerce Committee ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is “weak," judged Steven Titch, a telecom policy analyst who’s an associate fellow at the R Street Institute and adviser to the Heartland Institute, in an op-ed for the Washington Examiner. Waxman had outlined the proposal in a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler earlier this fall, provoking opposition from broadband providers (see 1410060075). The plan, which would rely on Communications Act Section 706 and Title II authority, “tries to jam new realities -- on-demand Web video, wireless Internet and changing consumer viewing habits -- into regulatory silos that are three decades old,” Titch said in the Friday piece (http://washex.am/1Dj7ZL8). “Rather than trying to redefine FCC scope through a sloppy cut-and-paste of outmoded law, Congress should revisit the Telecom Act in its entirety -- modernizing it to fit the Internet ecosystem of our time.”
The House Commerce Committee touted its productivity with a new Web page devoted to what it calls, with the social media hashtag included, its #RecordofSuccess. “I am proud that every single one of our bills received Democratic votes in the House, and over two-dozen bills now on the Senate’s doorstep cleared the House with a veto-proof margin,” Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said in a statement Friday (http://1.usa.gov/1FdktpF). The committee pressed the Senate, pointing to bills that either await a Senate vote or final passage into law, and flagged several telecom and media bills. The committee cited the FCC Consolidated Reporting Act (HR-2844), the FCC Process Reform Act (HR-3675), the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization Act (HR-4572), the Anti-Spoofing Act (HR-3670) and the E-Label Act (HR-5161), all of which passed in the House by voice vote or by a wide margin.
Google is planning to roll out updated search technology to make infringing sites appear lower in its search results, said a company report released Friday (http://bit.ly/ZycKl2). “Google has a number of new advertising products which further promote authorized sources of content in Search results,” it said. Google said it received more than 224 million Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice and takedown requests for its search results in 2013. “I welcome Google’s announcement that it will improve its efforts to address the problem of rogue websites that are dedicated to profiting from stolen works,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in a statement Friday (http://1.usa.gov/1voF0Do). “All businesses in the Internet ecosystem have an important role to play in minimizing illegal activity,” he said. “I have met with Google on several occasions to encourage them to be more responsive to the role search engines play in directing consumers to these rogue websites,” Leahy said. “I will be tracking the results once they are implemented,” he said.
U.S. Cellular showered praise on a recent congressional letter to the FCC about revamping the Mobility Fund. Reps. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Peter Welch, D-Vt., co-chairmen of the Rural Telecom Working Group, sent the letter earlier this week (see 1410150098). The lawmakers “clearly recognize that high quality mobile service is essential to all Americans,” said Vice President-Federal Affairs and Public Policy Grant Spellmeyer in a statement. “They have highlighted the important decisions facing the Commission as it prepares to act on rules to set the future course of this vital program.”
Colorado’s candidates for U.S. Senate emphasized opposition to government surveillance, in a debate in Denver Wednesday. When President Barack Obama “continues to give the green light to the National Security Agency to spy on Americans, I’ve stood up to President Obama,” said Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., a longtime critic of the NSA policies and member of the Intelligence Committee. His opponent, Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., said he appreciates Udall’s stance and believes they've worked together to combat these policies. Gardner backed the amendment last year of Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., which would have stripped the NSA of funding, and was a co-sponsor of the USA Freedom Act legislation as introduced in the House, he said: “But I voted against it when it was brought to the floor because they watered it down and it didn’t go far enough.” A Communications Subcommittee member who has also been a loud critic of broadband stimulus grant recipient Eagle-Net, Gardner has taken the lead in the Colorado race, though the Rothenberg Political Report judges the race a pure toss-up.
The Competitive Carriers Association lauded Reps. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Peter Welch, D-Vt., for their call for revamped Mobility Fund rules. “I couldn’t agree more that consumers in rural areas deserve the same access to high speed mobile broadband as their urban counterparts,” said President Steve Berry in a statement (http://bit.ly/1nmiYj0) about a letter the lawmakers sent Tuesday to the FCC. “The job of building mobile coverage in rural America is not yet done. I cannot stress enough the importance of Universal Service Fund (USF) support for competitive carriers maintaining and expanding their coverage areas, especially smaller carriers with limited resources in a challenging competitive and economic environment.” As the FCC looks at its Mobility Fund rules, it should "continue to work to fulfill the obligations required in Section 254 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act in order to deliver a 21st century rural wireless infrastructure that allows our communities to take advantage of the endless opportunities within a mobile society," Latta and Welch said in their letter. They cautioned against "scattered or inconsistent" wireless service for rural consumers. The FCC should “recognize the numerous benefits of mobile broadband services” and “ensure that all consumers -- whether urban, suburban or rural -- have the opportunity to access high speed data and voice coverage,” Berry said.
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., asked the Justice Department to continue to prosecute developers of what he called “stalking” applications, back the work of state and local law enforcement, and offer information on victims. “These dangerous applications, which can be secretly installed on your mobile device, allow stalkers and abusers to track the communications and movements of their victims,” said Franken, who chairs the Judiciary Privacy Subcommittee. “This has to be stopped.” Franken has introduced legislation to tackle stalking apps, and in his Monday letter to Justice (http://1.usa.gov/11kaW0r) said, “Congress ultimately must enact such legislation.” The App Developers Alliance “supports enforcement and legislation that targets apps marketed for and intended to facilitate stalking and domestic violence,” President Jon Potter said in a statement.
Consumers Union slammed the Senate Commerce Committee’s legislation to reauthorize the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act. The Satellite Television Access and Viewer Rights Act (S-2799), unanimously approved by Commerce in September, includes “a special-interest cable giveaway,” said Consumers Union on its website Friday (http://bit.ly/1p97xHf), singling out STAVRA’s repeal of the set-top box integration ban. NCTA has lobbied for the provision, which TiVo and some other groups have opposed. “Cable companies might think they can get away with this tactic, but we’re fighting back,” Consumers Union said, saying it's “putting pressure on Congress to stop this industry maneuver, and we’re going to keep shining a spotlight on the issue to help ensure you get a better deal. Stay tuned.” Consumers Union suspects the issue “is likely to come to a head after the November midterm elections, when lawmakers plan to return to Washington for a lame-duck session,” it said. STELA expires Dec. 31. “It's unfortunate that Consumer Reports has been misled about the negative impact that the integration ban has had on millions of cable customers who have been forced to spend over a billion dollars for an unnecessary tech mandate that wastes energy and provides no benefit,” an NCTA spokesman told us in response. “Consumer Reports should overwhelmingly support this measure.”
U.S. leadership is key in the transition of Internet domain name functions to the global multistakeholder community, House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., told President Barack Obama in a letter Friday. “Such a transition can be successful provided that there are built-in mechanisms for transparency and accountability and a commitment by ICANN [Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers] to resist any expansion of the role governments or intergovernmental organizations may play in ICANN’s own deliberations,” Eshoo said (http://1.usa.gov/1vUyN04). “NTIA must work with ICANN to ensure that the transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions to the multistakeholder community will not take place until ICANN has fully embraced the principles of openness, security, stability, and resiliency -- principles that have guided the management of the Internet since its inception.” It’s “prudent” to include “a governance structure within ICANN that separates policy-making from the implementation of policy decisions as well as from the adjudication of disputes,” Eshoo said. IANA is expected to be a topic at ICANN’s conference this week. (See separate report above in this issue.)
The roundtable of technology executives discussing surveillance last week (CD Oct 9 p16) made “loud and clear” calls for action on surveillance overhaul, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in a statement Friday. “When the Senate returns next month, it must swiftly take up and pass the USA FREEDOM Act. There is no excuse for inaction, as the important reforms in this bipartisan bill are strongly supported by the technology industry, the privacy and civil liberties community, and national security professionals in the intelligence community.” Leahy has called repeatedly for Senate action since introducing his modified version of the USA Freedom Act (S-2685) earlier this year, which is different from a version the House passed.