News publishers and tech companies disagreed whether online headlines, photos and story snippets need stiffer copyright protection, in a Copyright Office proceeding (docket ID COLC-2021-0006) and roundtable on publisher protections. Publishers choose to have their content included in news aggregators and social media, and benefit from the traffic, said Google Public Policy Manager Kate Sheerin. It’s a “Hobson’s choice” for news organizations, replied News Media Alliance General Counsel Danielle Coffey. “We are forced to waive our ability to enforce our rights because of the dominance of these platforms.” Additional comments on the study are due Jan. 5.
Federal departments are applying lessons learned from NTIA’s broadband technology opportunities program (BTOP) and the Rural Utilities Service’s broadband initiatives program (BIP) to new infrastructure funding, officials said at an FCBA webinar Thursday. Georgia, Virginia and Minnesota broadband officials said they will be ready for NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program.
House Commerce Committee Democrats sent draft privacy bill language to Republicans last week in hopes the two sides can reach agreement in the near future, said Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J. Updates were made on the bipartisan staff discussion draft, which the two sides have been negotiating since last Congress, he said. Democrats are “confident” the two sides can work together and reach agreement, said Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who hosted Thursday’s hearing on Big Tech issues.
Senate Commerce Committee Democratic leaders hope to blunt the impact of delayed consideration of FCC nominee Gigi Sohn by resetting a vote to advance her as early as January. The committee moved Wednesday not to include Sohn on the docket for its Dec. 15 executive session (see 2112080078) amid continued wavering among a handful of panel Democrats. Commerce Republicans are eyeing whether to press the committee to go through the entire confirmations process again on Sohn. The delay could lengthen the amount of additional time the FCC will remain in a 2-2 stalemate; the Senate confirmed Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel this week on a bipartisan 68-31 vote (see 2112070071).
A California fight is heating up over proposed broadband subsidies that the California Public Utilities Commission might award next week to carriers including Frontier Communications and Race Communications. Etheric, GeoLinks, LTD Broadband and others in recent weeks opposed proposed California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) resolutions up for vote at the CPUC’s Dec. 16 meeting because they said the projects overlap with places where they won Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) support. Commissioners may vote at the meeting on a proposed decision that could prevent LTD from qualifying for RDOF support in California.
The tech industry should create a regulatory body to set best practices for protecting children, and Communications Decency Act Section 230 immunity should be earned through adhering to those protections, Instagram Head Adam Mosseri told the Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee at a Wednesday hearing. That regulatory body should gather input from civil society and regulators about universal protections, including age verification, age-appropriate design and parental controls, Mosseri said. TikTok Public Policy Head Michael Beckerman backed standardized age verification in November (see 2111090076).
The Utilities Technology Council and other utility, public safety and infrastructure groups asked the FCC to stop certifying low-power indoor (LPI) devices in the 6 GHz band because of the alleged interference risk, in a petition posted Wednesday in docket 18-295. The groups filed a separate petition seeking a rulemaking to develop revised rules for the band. Industry officials said the FCC is unlikely to retreat from last year’s 5-0 order allocating 1,200 MHz for sharing with Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use in the band (see 2004230059). Another wild card is a challenge to the rules at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, where the FCC faced tough questions in September oral argument (see 2109170057).
The federal government is increasingly rife with spectrum fiefdoms among agencies, contrary to the FCC's core purpose as a centralized point of spectrum policy decision-making, Commissioner Brendan Carr said Wednesday during the Practicing Law Institute's annual telecom policy and regulation seminar. He said updating memorandums of understanding would help, but ultimately there must be deference to the expert agency making a final decision. Such "devolution" of spectrum policy will be a permanent fixture, but that trend needs some reversing, he said.
Amazon artificially inflates consumer prices by charging third-party sellers exorbitant and unavoidable fees, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine (D) said Tuesday during a Senate hearing.
Judges raised many questions about practical effects of the FCC's January changes to over-the-air reception devices (OTARD) rules, at oral argument Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The court heard Children’s Health Defense (CHD) and four individuals’ challenge of FCC amendments that appellants said could lead to large-scale deployment of carrier equipment in residential areas despite alleged local harms (see 2110140031). Since the commission's goal was to reduce deployment barriers, said Judge Patricia Millett, “it seems to me the FCC itself anticipated that this was going to produce substantial proliferation of these antennas.”