July 2015

Public Knowledge is asking its supporters to make some noise in opposition to Republican-backed legislation that would block the Federal Communications Commission’s implementation of its new Title II-based network neutrality rules, a measure that could be up for vote in the House perhaps as early as the week of July 13.

A rider on a must-pass Financial Services appropriations bill would defund the FCC's enforcement of the new rules, which went into effect June 12. The bill passed the House Appropriations Committee, with rider intact, on June 17. The Washington, DC-based nonprofit public advocacy group said the rider was retaliation for the new rules, which it said the public “clearly demanded.” Public Knowledge said it was hopeful the rider would ultimately be derailed, but it was not relying on hope alone. It called on its supporters to call and tweet their representatives.

COMPTEL and a group of organizations that represent businesses and competitive Internet service providers have sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission asking the regulator to include in their technology transitions an order that will protect and promote competition, universal service and public safety while ensuring business and residential customers can get services as telecommunication companies migrate their networks to all-IP.

While COMPTEL and their constituents are not opposed to the IP transition, a chief concern is that businesses and consumers need to be able to get equivalent services at similar prices from a number of providers. Similar to the telecommunication industry's migration of the voice network from analog to digital switching in the 1970s and 1980s, the group says that the transition to IP should provide similar benefits in terms of services and competitive choice for users. "Prior transitions, such as analog to digital, yielded substantial benefits for residential and business users alike--from a technical standpoint the IP transition should likewise yield substantial benefits," the group wrote in its letter. "But the Commission must take action to ensure that network users are better off as a result of technological advances." One of the key elements that COMPTEL and its competitive local exchange carrier member companies such as Windstream and Granite Telecommunications have continued to fight for in the IP transition has been access to wholesale special access services.

The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau has entered into a $3.5 million settlement with TerraCom, Inc. and YourTel America, Inc., resolving an investigation into whether the companies failed to properly protect the confidentiality of personal information they received from more than 300,000 consumers. This settlement also resolves the FCC's investigation into YourTel's failure to comply with FCC instructions to remove ineligible Lifeline subscribers which resulted in over-billing of the federal program.

A thorough Enforcement Bureau investigation found that the companies' vendor stored consumers personal information on unprotected servers that were accessible over the Internet. The companies' failure to provide reasonable protection for their customers' personal information -- including names, addressees, Social Security numbers, driver's licenses, and other sensitive information -- resulted in a data breach that permitted anyone with a search engine to gain unauthorized access to the information. The settlement also resolves an investigation into YourTel's failure to timely de-enroll Lifeline subscribers. As a condition of settlement, the companies will pay a $3.5 million civil penalty. The companies will also notify all consumers whose information was subject to unauthorized access, provide complimentary credit monitoring services for all affected individuals, and undertake additional measures to mitigate any potential harm to consumers.

When Commissioner Michael O'Rielly of the Federal Communications Commission argued in June that "Internet access is not a necessity or human right," fellow FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn took notice. In a speech at a policy conference, she listed numerous reasons why Internet access really is necessary in the modern age. This could be seen as just a debate over semantics. Commissioner O'Rielly doesn't argue that Internet access is unimportant, rather he says the word "'necessity" should be reserved to those items that humans cannot live without, such as food, shelter, and water.

Commissioner Clyburn pointed out that the FCC is required to make sure everyone in the US has affordable broadband access. "Not only is the Internet a necessity today, but Congress actually directed the FCC to ensure that everyone, regardless of income, has access to advanced communications services," she said. "Congress also directed that such access should be affordable... we are mandated to close the digital divide." "Let me warn you, any proposed transition will not come easy, for there are those who publicly proclaim that Internet access is “not a necessity,” Commissioner Clyburn said. "Those who cannot afford broadband can just go to the library, some often say," she continued. "Now, I am proud of the work the FCC has done through our E-rate program to help ensure that our schools and libraries have robust broadband and Wi-Fi. But we should not be satisfied if the library is the sole means by which an entire community can get broadband, particularly when there are no options for connectivity once the library closes for the day."