July 2015

In 2014, the Federal Communications Commission adopted an Incentive Auction Report & Order that proposes three channels for unlicensed use nationwide. While some have sought to define “nationwide” as synonymous as “uniform in every market,” that is most likely a physical impossibility that ignores how broadcast participation can vary in every market. I’m circulating two items for consideration, alongside the other Incentive Auction items, at August’s open meeting. The Part 15 Report and Order will assure unlicensed spectrum is available in every market. The Wireless Microphones Comprehensive Report & Order will address the long term needs of wireless microphone users.

Our proposal would benefit consumers in the form of increased investment and innovation in unlicensed products and services. The proposal also helps those who rely on wireless microphones by altering operational parameters and expanding access to spectrum. The technical standards we are proposing for unlicensed operations would create certainty for unlicensed device users and manufacturers while reducing the risk of interference to licensed users. These items are important components of a suite of proposals that establish clear rules and protections for unlicensed devices as well as licensed wireless microphone devices in the Incentive Auction band as well as in other wireless bands where licensed wireless mics will gain additional access. These proposals join two other Incentive Auction-related items slated for consideration at August’s open meeting: a Public Notice establishing the bidding procedures for the Incentive Auction and the Reconsideration of the Mobile Spectrum Holdings Order. These items were originally scheduled for our July meeting, but were rescheduled for August 6.

I will use my time this morning to take stock of the multistakeholder process as a tool for addressing the key issues that exist in the Internet policy space and to reaffirm our strong support for the model in the work we do. In the next several weeks, National Telecommunications and Information Administration will be kicking off two new multistakeholder processes. The first will tackle issues related to privacy, transparency and accountability regarding unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Our first meeting is scheduled for August 3. The second new process will focus on cybersecurity vulnerability disclosures and will get underway in September. We will also be reconvening the facial recognition privacy multistakeholder process on July 28.

In all three instances, we selected the topics after soliciting broad input from the community. I realize these multistakeholder processes collide with the culture of Washington. It is more comfortable for companies to hire a team of lobbyists to work the regulatory agencies, lobby the Hill, and hire litigation specialists to represent their interests. It is how things have been done in this town for decades. But we’re talking about the Internet here. The Internet has disrupted many entrenched industries from newspapers to travel to taxicabs. Perhaps it’s time for some Internet thinking by businesses to disrupt how business is done in Washington. Imagine what could be accomplished with the brightest technologists, policy makers and academics who come together in good faith to debate and reach consensus on the solutions for our most important policy challenges in the Internet age. That’s the promise of the multistakeholder model.

After a series of stinging government hacks, the Department of Homeland Security said scans of incoming Internet traffic from the public would be amped up. It has been unclear how this monitoring might affect the privacy of citizens and employees. Now, a little-noticed National Archives and Records Administration assessment offers some insight: Any surveillance data collected that does not trigger alarms will be erased pronto, according to a pending records disposal plan.

DHS’ National Cybersecurity Protection System, better known as EINSTEIN, collects streams of traffic containing, among other things, e-mails and Web-surfing habits, to flag patterns indicative of known malicious attacks. On June 9, NARA tentatively green-lighted a DHS request to "destroy or delete immediately" information "inadvertently collected or captured by any or all NCPS capabilities that are determined not to be related to known or suspected cyberthreats or vulnerabilities." Such data typically includes anything from authorized online banking sessions to, some federal employees suspect, porn-site visits. "It’s likely they are bulk-collecting data and to avoid any accusations of monitoring things they aren't chartered to monitor, they must purge the data," said Jason Lewis, chief collections and intelligence officer at LookingGlass Cyber Solutions. EINSTEIN "casts a wide collection net, so they have to delete information they didn't intend to capture."

21st Century Fox’s Fox International Channels said it had sold its interest in US Spanish-language broadcast network MundoFox to its joint-venture partner RCN Television Group, ending an ambitious bid by the media company to gain broader entry to the Spanish-language television market, long dominated by Univision and NBCUniversal’s Telemundo.

MundoFox launched in the fall of 2012, burnishing what it touted as “teleseries,” or programming that emulates the action and drama of such well-known US shows as “24” or “Bones.” The idea at the time was to draw more interest from male viewers, who may not have been interested in the soapy telenovelas that are so much a part of the Univision and Telemundo schedules. Early series included “Kadabra,” an action-based serial that had proven popular in Spanish-language broadcasting, and “El Capo,” a drug-cartel drama known as one of Colombia’s most expensive. Many of the series were produced in Colombia, and the network also featured US TV shows with Spanish-language dubbing. The network has over 50 affiliates and serves the major US Hispanic metropolitan markets.