June 2015

Reactions to Court Decision Denying Net Neutrality Stay

A Federal appeals court declined to halt implementation of new network neutrality regulations, paving the way for the rules to go into effect on June 12. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied petitions for a temporary stay made by AT&T Inc. and other opponents of the online traffic rules in separate lawsuits.

FCC Commissioner Tom Wheeler: “This is a huge victory for Internet consumers and innovators! Starting Friday, there will be a referee on the field to keep the Internet fast, fair and open. Blocking, throttling, pay-for-priority fast lanes and other efforts to come between consumers and the Internet are now things of the past. The rules also give broadband providers the certainty and economic incentive to build fast and competitive broadband networks.”

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai: "Because President Obama’s plan to regulate the Internet is already harming broadband investment and deployment, I am pleased that the D.C. Circuit will be hearing the appeal of President Obama’s plan on an expedited basis. Although I am disappointed that the court did not stay the rules pending its review, this development was not unexpected. The bar for granting any stay is quite high, and I am pleased that the court did not suggest that the rules are in fact legally valid. I welcome the court’s coming examination of the FCC’s 313-page order, during which it will have an opportunity to address the order’s serious procedural and substantive flaws."

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn: "I am pleased that the FCC's Open Internet Order and strong rules to ensure there are no slow lanes on the Internet become effective tomorrow. A free and open Internet is vital to our democracy and competitive market. I am proud to stand up for the consumer to protect free speech and a free market."

FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly: "I am disappointed by the court’s decision to deny a stay of the Net Neutrality Order. The fight against the Commission’s rules, however, has only just begun, because unless eradicated they will ultimately harm the foundations of the Internet, and limit its possibilities. In the meantime, I will be vigilant in resisting any attempts by the agency to act as a referee enforcing rules known to none of the players and made up along the way."

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel: “The Internet is the most dynamic platform for free speech ever invented and our Internet economy is the envy of the world. Sustaining this platform, which keeps us innovative, fierce, and creative, should not be a choice – it should be an obligation. That’s why I am pleased that the D.C. Circuit declined to stay our Open Internet rules, which will take effect tomorrow.”

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD): “This decision underscores the need for Congress to find a bipartisan legislative solution to protect, preserve, and promote the free and open Internet. I will continue my work with Ranking Member Nelson to achieve that goal. Edge companies, broadband providers, and Internet users alike all need clear rules of the digital road so they can continue to innovate, invest, and use the Internet with confidence. Only Congress, on a bipartisan basis, can provide that legal certainty.”

Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL): “The rules are now poised to go into effect. While the court conducts its review, I remain committed to finding true bipartisan consensus to take the important protections the FCC put into place and provide the certainty that only legislation can provide. That legislation, though, must fully protect consumers, preserve the FCC’s role, and leave the agency with flexible, forward-looking authority.”

Senate Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Brian Schatz (D-HI): “The D.C. Circuit’s decision to allow the FCC’s net neutrality rules to fully go into effect is good news for consumers and competition on the Internet. But this litigation is far from over. As a result, I remain open to trying to reach common ground in Congress on a way to enshrine the critical net neutrality protections adopted by the FCC in statute.”

Senator Ed Markey (D-MA): “The news today from the D.C. Circuit Court is clear: the Internet is open for business for everyone. I applaud the court for its decision to deny industry’s requested stay of the FCC’s Open Internet order. Consumers, innovators, activists and entrepreneurs – anyone who counts on the Internet to connect with the world around them – will fully benefit from these essential net neutrality protections.”

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ): “I am pleased that the court has rejected attempts to delay the strong net neutrality rules put in place by the FCC. The importance of these protections cannot be overstated, and I am glad that consumers across the country will benefit from them as soon as possible.”

House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo (D-CA): “On June 12th millions of Americans will receive what they’ve long asked for: effective, enforceable net neutrality protections to keep the Internet free and open. The Court’s decision today is a critical validation that the new rules to protect an open Internet are grounded in strong legal footing and can endure future challenges by broadband providers. Millions of consumers, entrepreneurs, innovators and others stand by this, and today the Court agreed with them.”

USTelecom: "While we’re disappointed the court declined to grant our stay request, we recognize that the bar for obtaining a stay is exceptionally high," said USTelecom President Walter McCormick. However, the court’s decision to grant expedited briefing shows the gravity of the issues at stake, and will facilitate a quicker path to determining the proper legal treatment for regulating broadband Internet access service."

COMPTEL: “Today’s decision by the court to deny the stay request of the FCC’s open Internet rule sends a message of full steam ahead for consumers, start-ups and new network builders," said COMPTEL President Chip Pickering. “The court's decision reaffirms the Federal Communications Commission and Chairman Tom Wheeler’s light-touch approach to deliver the strongest possible protections. We are already seeing the results in the marketplace, as interconnection agreements move forward, helping to deliver more content at a faster rate....[W]e are encouraged by today’s court decision, and stand ready to oppose those seeking to pull up the tracks on Internet access, innovation, and exploration.”

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation: "The DC Circuit Court of Appeals decision not to stay the FCC’s Open Internet Order is disappointing," said Doug Brake, telecom policy analyst at the ITIF. "The bar to stay an administrative order is quite high; it requires a showing of irreparable harm and a likelihood of success on the merits."

Public Knowledge: "The court has rightly rejected the carriers' arguments. It has seen that their claims that they'd be ‘irreparably harmed’ as a result of having to protect consumers' privacy, and that their businesses depend on restricting consumer choice, are simply not credible. The carriers have also failed to convince the court that they are likely to succeed in their legal case. The FCC's pro-consumer and pro-competition Open Internet rules are going to be in effect as of tomorrow, and that's cause to celebrate. However, the FCC and intervenors like Public Knowledge still have a lot of work to do before the court defending the FCC’s order."

Free Press: “The D.C. Circuit made the right call, thwarting this latest attempt to strip Internet users of the protections they deserve. The Court recognized what we have long known: The FCC’s open Internet framework poses no threat to broadband providers' business interests. Title II doesn't change the reality that broadband is a great business to be in. Big cable, phone and wireless providers can’t seem to get this part of their story straight. While their lawyers sing one tune before the courts, executives from Comcast, AT&T and the other big ISPs deny that Net Neutrality's legal framework harms their deployment plans in any way. And the FCC decision hasn’t stopped Charter from seeking to acquire Time Warner Cable and Bright House in deals valued at almost $90 billion. Yet much is at stake for Internet users. They face the constant threat that cable and phone companies will block, slow or degrade their Internet connections. The broadband providers' filing further reveals their plans to exploit consumers by circumventing privacy, accessibility and interconnection obligations. Restoring Internet users’ legal rights and recourse against any such ISP abuse can't wait any longer. The FCC is using Title II’s solid legal foundation to protect the public, returning to the law that a bipartisan Congress wrote for essential communications platforms like broadband access. The agency carefully examined the evidence in the record when it reclassified under Title II, responding to the millions of people who called for this result. We look forward to defending the FCC’s landmark decision on the merits and will continue to fight for the rights of Internet users everywhere.”

House votes to further rein in NSA, in sign of continued momentum

House lawmakers voted to further rein in the nation’s spies, in a signal that legislators aren’t yet done reforming surveillance law. A bipartisan amendment to add new limits to the National Security Agency (NSA) passed 255-174, slightly more than a week after President Barack Obama signed legislation ending the agency’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone records. While the move appears largely symbolic, given the overwhelming opposition to further spy reforms from leadership in the Senate, it nonetheless makes clear that a significant bloc of lawmakers aren’t settling with that first batch of reforms, called the USA Freedom Act.

The measure, which was attached to the fiscal 2016 defense appropriations bill, tackles two separate “backdoors” into people’s communications about which lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have raised alarms. One provision of the amendment would ban the government from forcing tech companies to build weaknesses into their security systems so that police and federal agents can access people’s data. While the FBI has asserted that it needs that power to go after terrorists and criminals, critics say it would weaken digital security for everybody. The second part of the amendment would ban the NSA and FBI from accessing Americans’ data without a warrant through a “loophole” in federal law, known as Section 702 of a 2008 update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Democratic Senators to Sen McConnelll: Tying Hacking Measure With Defense Bill Is 'Ridiculous'

Senate Democratic leadership wrote to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to urge him to back down from his "ridiculous" plan to attach cybersecurity legislation to an annual defense policy bill. The letter, signed by Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Sens Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Patty Murray (D-WA), asks Majority Leader McConnell to not tack the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act on as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which is generally viewed as "must-pass" legislation.

"Adding CISA to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in a manner that allows neither debate nor amendment is ridiculous," the Democratic Senators wrote. "This is especially true given the President's commitment to veto the NDAA for unrelated reasons. This is a pure political ploy that does nothing to advance America's national security. We urge you to reconsider your efforts to jam through this important legislation in a manner that renders it meaningless." Majority Leader McConnell announced that he would add CISA -- which passed the Senate Intelligence Committee in March on a 14-1 vote -- as an amendment to NDAA, noting the recent hack of the Office of Personnel Management that exposed the personal information of some four million current and former federal employees. But that tactic has put Majority Leader McConnell under siege from Democrats, some of whom are generally supportive of the cybersecurity legislation but question the merits and motives of the majority leader's process.

Remarks of FCC Commissioner O'Rielly at Federal Communications Bar Association

I am before you today to discuss the state of the Federal Communications Commission enforcement. My central premise is that the FCC's overall approach to enforcement has gone astray over the last many months. In fact, let me go a step further to report that it has entered a territory that can only be described as dangerously misguided...The Commission seems more intent on obtaining newspaper headlines trumpeting accusations and eye-popping fines. In other words, self-aggrandizing fanfare is a major objective and often appears to be more important than case foundation, correcting the violation or establishing a reasonable deterrent.

I recently heard from a couple of parties that were potentially subject to enforcement actions. Having the good sense to try to discuss their issues with the Enforcement Bureau, each was told that any potential settlement would generate a penalty in the multiple-hundreds of millions or billions and require an admission of guilt. To make the situation more outrageous, the Bureau indicated that there was little room to negotiate; it was a take it or leave it offer rather than the beginning of a process to come to a settlement position. Suffice it to say, no agreements were reached in these circumstances.

Chairman Wheeler Challenges Wireless Industry to Adopt Theft-Prevention Technologies on Mobile Phones

The Federal Communication Commission’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), acting through its Mobile Device Theft Prevention Working Group, released recommendations regarding on-device theft prevention features. To encourage a quick pivot from recommendations to implementation, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler called on the wireless industry to voluntarily support the Working Group’s “opt-out” recommendation, under which theft-prevention features such as remote-locking and remote-data-wiping would be activated on all mobile phones by default and require consumers to take affirmative steps to disable them. Chairman Wheeler said, “If implemented, these features will result in more consumers using these powerful features which, in turn, will mark a key milestone in combating smart phone theft."

FCC To Hold Open Commission Meeting Thursday, June 18, 2015

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Thursday, June 18, 2015; here's the agenda. The FCC will consider:

A Report and Order that will facilitate innovative technologies and services by establishing a process to authorize interconnected VoIP providers to obtain telephone numbers directly from the Numbering Administrators, rather than through intermediaries.
A Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Order on Reconsideration, Second Report and Order, and Memorandum Opinion and Order in order to comprehensively restructure and modernize the Lifeline program to efficiently and effectively connect low-income Americans to broadband, strengthen program oversight and administration, and take additional measures to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.
A Declaratory Ruling and Order reaffirming the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's protections against unwanted robocalls, encouraging pro-consumer uses of robocall technology, and responding to a number of requests for clarity from businesses and other parties.
A Second Order on Reconsideration that resolves petitions for reconsideration of the Commission’s Order adopting rules to implement the Broadcast Television Spectrum Incentive Auction, providing parties with additional certainty ahead of the auction.

Senate Commerce Takes Up House Version of Dotcom Act

The bipartisan leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee and Communications Subcommittee had introduced a version of the Dotcom Act identical to one approved unanimously out of the House Communications Subcommittee earlier the week of June 8. The bill provides a framework for congressional oversight of the transition of the Internet domain naming function from US oversight to a multistakeholder model.

The House -- and now Senate -- version had drawn criticism from Democratic Senators, but a deal struck earlier paved the way for a mutual admiration society markup of a bill both sides said would help make the transition while making sure Congress had an oversight role. There seemed to be bipartisan agreement on the Senate side as well, with at least one of the Democratic leaders on board -- Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL), was not one of the co-sponsors.

Agencies Get IT Reform Marching Orders, but Don't Expect Congress To Sit Idle

The White House released new rules for pumping up the authority of agency chief information officers in a bid to better manage the $80 billion spent each year on federal IT. The Office of Management and Budget is holding agencies’ feet to the fire to fully implement the new CIO job responsibilities, but the Government Accountability Office is also cautioning Congress not to let oversight of the process languish.

The release of the final guidelines coincided with testimony by U.S. CIO Tony Scott and other federal officials at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing about the implementation of the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act, known as FITARA. The “backbone” of the new rules, Scott testified, is the setting out of a “common baseline” of roles and responsibilities for agency CIOs. FITARA grants CIOs more authority over IT budgets and spending at their agencies, but actually making that edict carry over to agency organization charts consumes much of the new guidance.

The Future of Civic Tech: 8 Localities Showcase Their Initiatives

Gathering at its San Francisco (CA) headquarters June 10, the civic innovation group Code for America (CfA) showcased a lineup of latest apps and efforts for eight localities in 2015. Tagged as its BETA event, the meeting provided a status update on CfA’s popular yearlong Fellowship Program that couples teams of technologists with governments to develop digital tools benefiting citizens. CfA Founder and Executive Director Jennifer Pahlka spearheaded the night with a talk on strategy.

As no mere coincidence, she said the teams took a decidedly targeted approach to their work. Health, economic development, and safety and justice were social impact areas announced at CfA’s Summit last year, and these areas were where most groups dedicated themselves in 2015. “After five years of doing this, we want to go deeper,” Pahlka said. “And what you’ll hear from us over the next couple of years is more and more projects that are pushing that [strategy], trying to generate positive feedback loops and working to prove that a user-centered, data-driven and iterative approach can actually have those outcomes.”

Dish Network in Talks with Banks About Funding T-Mobile Bid

Dish Network is in talks with banks about funding a bid for T-Mobile that would include as much as $15 billion in cash, in the latest sign the takeover effort is progressing. Apparently, Dish is considering borrowing between $10 billion and $15 billion for the cash portion of a bid that would primarily be comprised of its stock. The two sides are discussing a deal that would leave Deutsche Telekom AG , which controls T-Mobile, with a big minority stake in a combined company. However, apparently a deal agreement between Dish and T-Mobile isn't imminent, and it is possible there won’t be one.

It is unclear how much Dish is considering paying for T-Mobile, which has a market value of $31 billion and is the nation’s fourth-largest cellphone carrier. Dish, the country’s second-largest satellite-television provider, has a market value of $34 billion. Still, Dish’s discussions with banks, and the fact that the structure of any bid is coming into focus, are a sign that the company and its unpredictable chief executive, Charlie Ergen, are moving closer to potentially buying T-Mobile after years of aborted attempts to strike a big wireless or satellite deal. Dish has consistently expressed interest in entering the wireless industry and has been amassing licenses to use wireless airwaves that a network like T-Mobile’s would enable it to put to use.

Benton

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