September 2015

Companies Fined $1.4 Million for Failing to Accept 911 Calls for Americans Who are Hard of Hearing

The Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau reached settlements totaling $1.4 million with Hamilton Relay, InnoCaption, and Sprint, resolving investigations into the companies’ inability to handle 911 calls through applications used by callers who are hard of hearing. Over periods varying from 5 weeks to approximately 10 months, the companies were not only unable to relay 911 calls from Americans who are hard of hearing but were unaware of this issue until an FCC investigation revealed the problem. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau and Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau discovered, through test calls made in 2014, that the companies were not able to accept and handle 911 emergency calls made using Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) applications, as required by FCC rules governing Telephone Relay Service (TRS).

Hamilton, InnoCaption, and Sprint also each agree to waive all rights and claims to reimbursements from the TRS Fund associated with IP CTS applications during the time that 911 calls could not be handled. To resolve the investigations, Sprint will pay $1,175,000, Hamilton will pay $235,000, and InnoCaption will pay $25,000, and each company will file detailed compliance reports with the Enforcement Bureau.

UN Report: Urgent action needed to combat online violence against women & girls

A new report released by the United Nations Broadband Commission reveals that almost three quarters of women online have been exposed to some form of cyber violence, and urges governments and industry to work harder and more effectively together to better protect the growing number of women and girls who are victims of online threats and harassment. The report notes that despite the rapidly growing number of women experiencing online violence, only 26 percent of law enforcement agencies in the 86 countries surveyed are taking appropriate action.

Entitled ‘Combatting Online Violence Against Women & Girls: A Worldwide Wake-Up Call’, the report was released at an event at United Nations Headquarters in New York by the Commission’s Working Group on Gender, which is co-Chaired by UNDP Administrator, Helen Clark, and UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. Without concerted global action to curb the various escalating forms of online violence, an unprecedented surge of ‘cyber violence against women and girls (cyber VAWG)’ could run rampant and significantly impede the uptake of broadband by women everywhere, the report contends. It notes that cyber VAWG already exists in many forms, including online harassment, public shaming, the desire to inflict physical harm, sexual assaults, murders and induced suicides.

Stephanie Weiner Named FCC Chairman Wheeler’s New Senior Legal Advisor

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced the appointment of Stephanie Weiner as senior legal advisor with responsibility for wireline issues, and the departure of Daniel Alvarez, who has served as the Chairman’s wireline, public safety, and homeland security legal advisor since 2013.

Weiner joins the Chairman’s staff from her position as FCC Associate General Counsel and Special Advisor to the Chairman on Internet Law and Policy. Prior to joining the FCC in 2013, Weiner served in senior legal positions with Neustar, the US Department of Energy, the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau, and as an associate at Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis, LLP. Weiner graduated magna cum laude from Northwestern University School of Law, where she received the John Paul Stevens Prize for Academic Excellence. She has a Master's Degree in Public Policy from the University of Chicago, and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University.

FCC Commissioner O’Rielly’s Remarks at Spotsylvania Town Hall

There is a special reason why I agreed to appear before you today. Over twenty-two years ago, I started working in Washington (DC) for former Congressman Tom Bliley (R-VA), who at the time represented [Spotsylvania, VA] in Congress. I moved from the Congressman's personal office to his Committee team after one year. And it is there that I started working on communications policy issues on a full time basis and hopefully gained policy expertise that I brought with me to my current role.

We need to remove barriers to [broadband] deployment, including eliminating unnecessary regulations that divert resources away from investment. All too often, the FCC adopts new rules and reporting requirements without considering the costs they impose on providers. Moreover, once rules are adopted, they tend to remain on the books indefinitely -- outliving any value they may have had years ago in a very different regulatory and competitive landscape. So we have work to do on our side to provide greater enticement for broadband providers to take the risk to invest in less populated areas.

This is the First Detailed Public Map of the US Internet Infrastructure

Computer scientists at the University of Wisconsin just released the first public map of the infrastructure that supports the heart of the US Internet. "The map shows the paths taken by the long-distance fiber-optic cables that carry Internet data across the continental US. The exact routes of those cables, which belong to major telecommunications companies such as AT&T and Level 3, have not been previously publicly viewable, despite the fact that they are effectively critical public infrastructure," says computer scientist Paul Barford.

Mapping the Internet’s infrastructure has been thought of as a security risk -- which is why some previous attempts have been illegal. This time, however, the Department of Homeland Security has made the map and the data behind it available to the public through the project called Predict.

China’s President Courts US CEOs

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first state visit to the US set off a tug of war between optimism about commercial relations between the US and China and fear that China isn’t doing enough to open its doors to foreign companies or combat cybercrime. In front of some of the top executives of both countries -- including Apple's Tim Cook and Amazon's Jeff Bezos -- Presdient Xi and other Chinese officials continued their push to highlight the scope of business opportunities in China.

President Xi also pledged to address US concerns that China isn’t moving fast enough to ease restrictions on foreign investment, while playing down tensions in other areas ahead of his summit with President Barack Obama on Sept 25. “China will open up still wider to the outside world. Without reform there will be no driving force,” President Xi said. American business executives and Obama Administration officials expressed doubts about President Xi’s commitment.

Digital equity bill targets ‘homework gap’

New legislation introduced in Congress would support “innovative strategies and methods to increase out-of-school access to digital learning resources” in an effort to boost both student and educator engagement. The Digital Learning Equity Act of 2015, introduced by Rep Peter Welch (D-VT) and co-sponsored by Rep David McKinley (R-WV), would call for a national study on what is known as the “Homework Gap” and would support pilot programs to extend digital learning opportunities for students when they are not in the classroom.

The proposed legislation received support across the ed-tech industry after it was announced. In a joint letter to legislators, the National School Boards Association, along with a number of other education and ed-tech groups, said the bill will “help provide students and their families with equitable access to the Internet at home to support family engagement in their child’s education and will allow students to accomplish essential tasks such as completing their homework, applying for colleges and seeking post-graduation employment.”

France’s Altice Group Has Aggressive Plan for Cablevision

Patrick Drahi, founder of Netherlands-based cable and telecommunication provider Altice Group, surprised the TV business on Sept 17 by unveiling a rich $17.7 billion acquisition agreement with Cablevision. His strategy is to turn his company into an essential household utility by offering consumers a “quad play” of one-stop shopping for video, broadband, wireless telecom and land-line telephone services. Altice’s play, which would turn it into the fourth-largest US cable operator, is a clear signal that Drahi aims to extend his vision across the Atlantic. And that means he’s probably just getting started shopping for US media assets.

Hollywood is paying attention, especially because of Altice’s reputation for driving hard bargains in programming deals. In announcing the Cablevision pact, Altice promised to squeeze $900 million in savings out of the company. “This can only accelerate consolidation among the programmers,” MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett wrote. “It is reasonable to guess that Altice will be a very aggressive negotiator, and will be willing to drop networks if necessary … in order to preserve margins.”

Justice Department: Still no proof Verizon Wireless in NSA surveillance program

The Justice Department is persisting in the implausible claim that there is no reliable proof that Verizon Wireless was part of the National Security Agency's program to sweep up data on US telephone calls, notwithstanding a government document officially released in August that appears to confirm the cellphone carrier's involvement.

In a filing Sept 22 with the 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals, government lawyers argue that because Verizon Wireless's name appears only in the caption of the newly released letter and not in its text, the government has not officially acknowledged Verizon Wireless' participation in the NSA program.

FCC Pricing Rules on Internet Lines Spark Industry Protest

Lobbyists for major phone and Internet providers are telling the Federal Communications Commission that its proposal to curtail the price of high-grade network lines will temper large companies’ willingness to invest. In August, the agency voted 3-2 along party lines for a proposal to regulate telecommunications companies’ transition from old copper lines to higher quality fiber lines. The proposed rules would obligate companies with existing fiber facilities -- generally legacy companies like Verizon or AT&T -- to sell replacement fiber services to their copper-using competitors at regulated rates. The regulations are aimed at keeping prices from going too high. But some argue that they could negatively impact how, or even if, bigger companies invest in their own networks.

“The mere consideration of these and other new regulations has decelerated investment,” said Bruce Mehlman, co-chairman at the Internet Innovation Alliance, an advocacy group for broadband issues. “We’ve seen a deceleration of investments because of regulations.” The FCC’s price restrictions on fiber sales would be temporary, according to the proposed rule. They would only be in effect until the FCC finishes its broader assessment of price regulations on telephone and Internet lines. The FCC has been analyzing the market to see whether regulators need to impose new regulations to allow smaller providers to compete on a level playing field.

Benton

Search