John Eggerton

Former Federal Communications Commission Chairmen Tom Wheeler and Michael Powell will be among the high-profile witnesses at the Feb 7 House Communications Subcommittee hearing on network neutrality. Others testifying include:

• Jessica González, deputy director and senior counsel, Free Press & Free Press Action Fund
• Denelle Dixon, COO, Mozilla
• Ruth Livier, actress, writer, and UCLA doctoral student.

At State of the Net, much of Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr's speech focused on 5G and on the "real challenge" from China, which he said has deployed 5G at five times the pace of the US -- a timely comment in the midst of the Huawei controversy. He stopped short of promising special consideration for US 5G projects, but he cautioned against establishing policy barriers. "I want to let the private sector compete" without restraints from local government agencies, on topics such as tower deployment, he said.

House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline (D-RI) opened the State of the Net program with strong words about Google's perceived anti-competitive behavior, both as a gatekeeper and for its buying splurge in which it has gobbled up smaller firms. This "concentration of power" creates "pernicious impacts on a free and diverse press," Chairman Cicilline said, especially "in the absence of a competitive marketplace." He cited reports on Google's ability to manipulate traffic on its ad networks as well as with its readers and users.

The Feb. 1 oral argument in the legal challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's Restoring Internet Freedom order (the case is Mozilla Corp. V. FCC) is going to be an epic event, at least in terms of the time allotted for both sides to make their cases. It is the only case slated for argument that day.

The Federal Communications Commission held its very brief January Open Meeting, but only to thank returning staffers and give a warm welcome its newest member, Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. The meeting was a pro forma affair after the government shutdown forced the FCC to move its agenda to the Feb 14 meeting, after not being sure when the government would reopen.

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) fired off a letter to the Department of Homeland Security seeking to "better understand the shutdown’s toll on our national security," and sought answers on what, if any, cybersecurity risks were posed by the recent, and possibly future, government shutdown(s). "Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) was forced to suspend crucial efforts to protect our cybersecurity and infrastructure," said Sen Warner. "Also hindered was the FBI’s ability to conduct cyber investigations.

At the State of the Net conference, House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH) said that regulators and legislators need to make sure they are not looking in the rearview mirror or putting up roadblocks to innovators who are looking ahead, not backwards. He said that one message he has brought back from his visit to tech startups is they are focused on innovation, so there is not a compliance officer sitting in the corner of the room. Ranking Member Latta also said he thought there was room for consensus on network neutrality.

Department of Justice antitrust chief Makan Delrahim says that the DOJ will be holding a two-day workshop on the impact of online advertising on the local broadcast TV market, and whether it should adjust its merger reviews given the argument that the edge is now competing for the local car dealer ads and should be considered part of the relevant competitive market. Justice has been considering the issue in relation to a couple of recent merger reviews, Delrahim pointed out, specifically the aborted Sinclair-Tribune merger, and the follow-up Nexstar-Tribune merger.

New House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) said that network neutrality will be the subject of the first subcommittee hearing under his chairmanship. In a speech to the State of the Net conference in Washington, Chairman Doyle called network neutrality one of the preeminent digital rights issues and said he plans to continue to fight to restore the rules.

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has released a detailed guide to its network neutrality oral argument scheduled for 9:30am on Feb 1. The Court live streams audio of all oral arguments, except when classified or sealed matters must be discussed. A link will be provided on the court internet site home page. Audio recordings of the oral arguments will be available by 2:00pm on Feb 1.