January 2009

FCC Commissioner Tate Departing in January

Federal Communications Commission member Deborah Taylor Tate will be leaving the agency when her term expires in January. Commissioner Tate, a former telecommunications and public utilities regulator from Tennessee, joined the FCC in January 2006. During her time on the FCC, Commissioner Tate served as chair of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, which includes federal and state regulators and a consumer advocate. She also took on the issue of childhood obesity, leading a charge to force television programmers, broadcasters and advertisers to limit the marketing of unhealthy foods targeted at children.

Preview Martin's Exit Interview

A Q&A with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin on the digital television transition, cable access rules, a free broadband proposal, and more.

FCC's Consumer Advisory Committee Rechartered and Re-appointed

The Federal Communications Commission has announced the re-chartering and re-appointment of members and Chairperson to its Consumer Advisory Committee, a federal advisory committee that addresses consumer issues within the jurisdiction of the Commission. The Commission established the Committee in November 2000 for the purpose of making recommendations regarding consumer issues within the jurisdiction of the Commission and to facilitate the participation of consumers (including people with disabilities and underserved populations, such as American Indians and persons living in rural areas) in proceedings before the Commission. The Committee was renewed for a 5th two-year term on November 17, 2008. The digital television transition will remain the principal focus of the Committee as the Commission continues its efforts to assist consumers in understanding and preparing for the transition. In addition, the CAC will focus on three areas:

1) Consumer protection and education (e.g., cramming, slamming, consumer friendly billing, detariffing, bundling of services, Lifeline/Linkup programs, customer service, privacy, telemarketing abuses, and outreach to underserved populations, such as Native Americans and persons living in rural areas).

2) Access by people with disabilities (e.g., telecommunications relay services, video description, closed captioning, accessible billing and access to telecommunications products and services).

3) Impact upon consumers of new and emerging technologies (e.g., availability of broadband, digital television, cable, satellite, low power FM, and the convergence of these and emerging technologies).

Debra Berlyn, representing the Digital Television Transition Coalition, continues her role as chairperson of the Committee.

CAC members:

AARP - Marti T. Doneghy
Alaska State Department of Law - Lew Craig
Alliance for Community Media - Gloria Tristani
American Council of the Blind - Eric Bridges
Appalachian Regional Commission - Harry L. Roesch
Benton Foundation - Charles Benton
Cablevision - Dodie Tschirch
Call For Action - Shirley Rooker
Communication Service for the Deaf - Karen Peltz Strauss
Communications Workers of America - Jeffrey Rechenbach
Consumer Action - Ken McEldowney
Consumer Electronics Association - Jamie Hedlund
Consumer Federation of America - Irene E. Leech
Consumers Union - Gene Kimmelman
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network - Claude Stout
Digital Television Transition Coalition -Debra Berlyn, Chairperson
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians - Brandon Stephens
EchoStar Communications Corporation - Lori Kalani
Hawaii State Public Utilities Commission - John Cole
Hearing Loss Association of America - Lise Hamlin
League of United Latin American Citizens - Eduardo Pena, Jr.
National Alssociation of Broadcasters - John L. Sander
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners - Nixyvette Santini
National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates - Brenda Pennington
Northern VA Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons -Cheryl Heppner
Parents Television Council - Dan Isett
Southern Growth Policies Board - Scott Doron
Verizon Communications, Inc. - Richard T. Ellis

Vicki Iseman, Lobbyist Linked to John McCain, Finally Sues 'NYT'

A Washington lobbyist is suing The New York Times over an article that she says gave the false impression she had an affair with Sen. John McCain in 1999. Vicki L. Iseman filed the $27 million defamation suit in U.S. District Court in Richmond on Tuesday. It also names as defendants the Times' executive editor, its Washington bureau chief and four reporters. Iseman represented telecommunications companies before the Senate Commerce Committee, which McCain chaired. In February, as McCain was seeking the Republican presidential nomination, the Times reported that McCain aides once worried the relationship between Iseman and McCain had turned romantic. At the time, Sen McCain denounced the story as false. Iseman also denied it later.

Web sites could get cinema-style ratings: U.K. minister

The kind of ratings used for films could be applied to Web sites in a bid to better police the Internet and protect children from harmful and offensive material, Britain's minister for culture has said. Andy Burnham told The Daily Telegraph newspaper, published on Saturday, that the government was planning to negotiate with the administration of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to draw up new international rules for English language Web sites.

Text messaging: Annoyingly expensive and insanely popular

It's no secret that text messaging here in the US is pretty darn expensive—more so than in the past and in other countries. The four major carriers in the US—T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T—have all raised their per-message SMS rates in recent years. This annoying trend now has the attention of Congress, with Sen Herb Kohl (D-WI) trying this autumn to open a dialogue with the carriers in order to find out what's up with the rates. But even though the American public is well aware that it's being raked us over the coals for fun and profit (although it may be a little more justified than we realize), we continue to use SMS in mass numbers, despite the proliferation of more sophisticated phones and communication technologies.

AT&T seeks telecom rule change

AT&T wants to change a rule in North Carolina that prevents the company from using its new TV offering - or any of its other services - to try to keep customers when they call to switch to new providers. A little-known state rule prohibits AT&T from trying to win back customers for a week after losing them. The win-back moratoriums remain in only a handful of states in AT&T's footprint. And in North Carolina, the restriction applies only to AT&T. AT&T says the rule is outdated. The company wants the North Carolina Utilities Commission either to apply the rule to all carriers or to get rid of it altogether.
http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2008/12/29/story5.html?b=123...^1753493

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has announced that as part of the tentative agenda for the next FCC open agenda meeting scheduled for Thursday, January 15, 2009 the FCC will consider one item related to the Digital Television Transition (DTV).

DTV "Analog Nightlight Act"

Rules to implement The Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act ("Analog Nightlight Act" or "Act") to "encourage and permit" continued analog TV service after the February 17, 2009 DTV transition date.

The Meeting also will include presentations by senior agency officials regarding implementations of the agency's strategic plan and a comprehensive review of FCC policies and procedures.

Topics selected for open meeting agendas are made public and posted on the Commission's website approximately three weeks prior to the Commission's next monthly meeting. The Commission will continue to issue a public notice of the "Commission Meeting Agenda" one week before the meeting and announce at that time the items that are scheduled for the agenda.

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-287676A1.doc

Read more about FCC Open Meeting (Jan 2009)

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