Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Wednesday he plans a series of hearings on Communications Decency Act Section 230 with hopes of writing bipartisan legislation potentially dealing with platform liability on amplifying content.
Maryland’s attorney general found no potential constitutional or preemptive problems with a state bill to require kids’ privacy rules, said its sponsor, Del. Jared Solomon (D), at a livestreamed hearing Wednesday. House Economic Matters Committee members appeared to support requirements for websites at a hearing on a bill (HB-901) based on California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act. The Minnesota House Commerce Committee voted by voice to advance a similar bill (HF-2257) to the Judiciary Committee at a hearing the same day.
Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., labeled FCC nominee Gigi Sohn Wednesday as potentially “the poster child for terrible presidential nominees,” citing what he considers deficiencies in her “character and fitness” for serving on the commission and her record as “a virulent and unapologetic partisan.” Public Knowledge and others sought to tie News Corp. to what they view as a smear campaign against Sohn. They cited News Corp. Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch’s acknowledgment in a recently released court deposition that several Fox News hosts spread disinformation about voter fraud after the 2020 presidential election.
The House Commerce Committee will rework privacy legislation it passed in 2022 in hopes of strengthening the bill and reaching broader consensus on a comprehensive federal privacy law, Democratic and Republican leadership said Wednesday during a House Innovation Subcommittee hearing.
The end seems nigh for affordable connectivity program (ACP) funding, with dicey odds of Congress acting before its money runs out in early 2024, speakers said Wednesday at ACA Connects' 2023 Washington summit. Small cable operator participation in the broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program will depend on the rules governing it, they said.
There's a lot of government interest in fortifying U.S. internet traffic routing security, but it's less clear what it can and should do, said Wilkinson Barker cybersecurity lawyer Clete Johnson Tuesday on an FCBA cybersecurity committee webinar. Noting the FCC's open proceeding on routing security that was launched in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he said routing security doesn't line up well with traditional regulatory tools and their focus on prescriptive compliance. Johnson said the complexity of the issue doesn't necessarily match that approach.
The FCC Media Bureau’s Standard/Tegna hearing designation order is “inappropriate,” based on issues outside the agency’s purview, and Congress should act, said NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt in remarks at NAB’s State Leadership Conference Tuesday (see 2302270066). The HDO sets a precedent expanding the reasons the FCC could refer a deal to an administrative law judge, attorneys and industry officials told us. Congress should act to codify the agency’s 180-day merger shot clock and define what constitutes the public interest in an FCC transaction review, LeGeyt said. The FCC’s current public interest standard has been interpreted to allow the agency “to extract ad hoc concessions whether or not they fall within the FCC's expertise or mandate," LeGeyt said.
A big theme of the Mobile World Congress Tuesday was the potential for what 5G can do, and how new networks are bringing diverse companies together. Industry executives said carriers need to fundamentally change their mindset to refocus on collaboration with other companies and helping customers use all the data 5G makes possible.
Industry groups urged the FCC not to revisit its current rules for the affordable connectivity program's annual data collection, in reply comments posted Tuesday in docket 21-450 (see 2301120056). The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act required the commission to collect data on prices and subscription rates offered by participating providers. Consumer advocacy organizations disagreed and continued to back subscriber-level data collection with additional data points.
An extension of the FCC's auction authority through May 19 isn't yet assured amid hopes for a slightly longer renewal to give lawmakers even more time to negotiate a broader spectrum legislative package, several senators said in interviews Monday and Tuesday. The House passed its bill to temporarily reauthorize the FCC's mandate (HR-1108) Monday on a voice vote. Lawmakers have been wary about the current March 9 expiration of the FCC's remit due to the slow pace of legislative talks since this Congress returned Jan. 3 (see 2302220063).