May 2012

Broadcasters have gone to court to challenge new rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission last month requiring television stations to post online the rates that political candidates pay for political ads.

The National Association of Broadcasters filed a petition against the FCC's rules making TV stations post information online about political ads, including the rates broadcasters charge political candidates and groups that run issue-related political ads. TV stations are already required to make such information public but currently it is only available at the stations themselves. The NAB has argued that requiring stations to post ad rates online will put them at a competitive disadvantage. They say it's unfair that only broadcasters are required to post such information, while other video providers such as cable operators are exempt. Before the FCC adopted the order, broadcasters offered to post information on who bought the political ads and how much they spent in total, but the FCC rejected the compromise. "The commission's changes to broadcasters' disclosure obligations and other operations as well as other action taken in the FCC order will directly and adversely impact NAB and the broadcasters it represents," NAB said in the petition it filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals. "NAB seeks relief from the commission's actions on the groups that it is arbitrary, capricious, in excess of the commission's statutory authority, inconsistent with the First Amendment and otherwise not in accordance with law."

Free Press Senior Policy Counsel Corie Wright said, “This is nothing more than an attempt by the NAB to stall an important and overdue transparency initiative. The FCC decision to put the political files online will bring broadcasters into the 21st century, and will make already public information more easily accessible to everyone. The FCC made the right decision and is on firm legal ground.”

Facebook has agreed to settle a lawsuit that alleges the social network's so-called Sponsored Stories advertisements benefited from the "Likes" of users without giving them compensation or a chance to opt out. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The settlement was disclosed in a court document filed in federal court in San Jose. The lawsuit, filed last year by five Facebook users, could have resulted in billions of dollars in losses for Facebook.

A leading trade group for the retail industry launched a 60-day ad and grassroots campaign urging Congress to approve an online sales tax. The ad blitz is part of the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) multiyear, $10 million campaign “Retail Means Jobs.” NRF officials said more than $1 million of the funds could eventually be used for the sales tax campaign. The ads target voters, small-business owners and retailers in 17 states, including ones that are represented by members of the House Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the tax issue. The NRF said the print and online ads would run in media both inside and outside the Beltway. The group said the campaign attempts to put a face on the need for an online sales tax and call on Congress to pass the Marketplace Fairness Act.

The Federal Communications Commission initiated a proceeding to create a Do-Not-Call registry for public safety answering points (PSAP) as required by the “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012.” Specifically, section 6507 of the Tax Relief Act requires the FCC, among other things, to establish a registry that allows PSAPs to register telephone numbers on a Do-Not-Call list and prohibit the use of automatic dialing or “robocall” equipment to contact those numbers.

In addition, the Tax Relief Act establishes a range of monetary penalties for entities that disclose the registered numbers or use automatic dialing equipment to contact a number on the PSAP registry. These provisions are designed to address concerns about the use of “automatic dialing equipment,” which can generate large numbers of phone calls in a short period of time, tie up public safety lines, divert critical responder resources away from emergency services and impede access by the public to emergency lines. Because there is a statutory mandate to create such a registry, our focus in this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM or Notice) is to obtain the information necessary to implement this mandate consistent with the requirements set forth in the Tax Relief Act.