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November 2015

Free Press to FCC: Comcast Must Answer for Unnecessary Data Caps

Cable Internet provider Comcast continues to dramatically expand its practice of imposing broadband-usage caps and overage fees on Comcast users in cities across the nation. The Federal Communications Commission has yet to investigate whether the use of data caps unfairly and unreasonably penalizes customers -- though advocacy groups like Free Press and Public Knowledge have called for such investigations for the past four years.

Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood made the following statement, “Data caps have a very real impact on Internet users’ wallets and online behavior. These kinds of limits dampen the use of broadband by discouraging use of the applications that drive economic growth and innovation from Internet content creators. Access providers including Comcast try to justify caps by suggesting that they mitigate broadband-traffic congestion. Yet there’s absolutely no real-world evidence of congestion on wired networks across the board. Internet access providers that also provide multichannel video services love using these arbitrary caps and limits. Monopoly-minded providers like Comcast have a built-in incentive to protect their legacy businesses. And they’ve captured market share to such an outrageous extent that they can harm their customers at will. It’s long past time for lawmakers and public interest regulators to get answers about Comcast’s justification for its data caps, and the impact these caps have on the affordability and openness of high-speed networks.”

Chairman Thune: Network Neutrality budget riders unlikely

A network neutrality policy rider to limit the new regulations is unlikely to make it into a omnibus spending bill to fund the government, according to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD). When asked if the likelihood was slim, Chairman Thune said, "I would think so, just because it would be so controversial." Chairman Thune said, "We have a lot of our members that would love to do that. I would certainly number myself among those. But, you know, there will be I think in terms of the big bill, some policy riders."

Chairman Thune's comments come after House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) suggested a number of riders could make it into the funding bill that must pass by Dec 11. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also said policy riders will be included. "I can think of a handful of them that have a higher likelihood of actually emerging from and surviving the process that our members care deeply about as well that would be ahead of that," Chairman Thune said of any net neutrality provisions. "But there is a lot of emotion, a lot of interest, a lot of intensity about that issue among our members."

Digital Transformation Going Mainstream in 2016, IDC Predicts

It is the time of year when the big technology research shops gaze into the near future to identify trends that will have the most impact on corporate America and the tech industry over the next few years. International Data Corporation's (IDC’s) outlook is being published on Nov 4. It is a 20-page document, chock-full of details, and its authors are not afraid of making numerical guesses about the future. By 2020, for example, IDC says that more than 30 percent of today’s tech suppliers will “not exist as we know them today,” having been acquired or failed. Going beyond the detail in the IDC forecast, and reading reports published in Oct by Gartner and Forrester Research, the overall theme is that the pace of digital innovation is accelerating and broadening.

The digital technologies that are changing the economics and practices of traditional business -- cloud computing, mobile devices, advanced data analysis and artificial intelligence -- are better, cheaper and more widely available. “Mainstream companies in every industry are realizing they’ll be disrupted if they don’t get moving now,” said Frank Gens, IDC’s chief analyst and the report’s principal author. Many of these companies, according to IDC, are not moving fast enough. It predicts that a third of the top 20 companies in every industry will be “disrupted” over the next three years, meaning their revenue, profits and market position will deteriorate -- not that they will go out of business.

Notice Concerning Ex Parte Status of Information Submitted To Or By The Consumer Advisory Committee

Presentations to the Federal Communications Commission's Consumer Advisory Committee, including presentations to its task force, subcommittees or working groups, and presentations between CAC members and FCC staff, will be treated as exempt presentations for ex parte purposes. This includes presentations to events hosted or coordinated by the CAC in which CAC members participate, such as forums and roundtable discussions on topics under consideration by the CAC.

This treatment is appropriate because presentations to the CAC, like comments on a Notice of Inquiry, will not directly result in the promulgation of new rules. We recognize, however, that issues addressed by the CAC may be the subject of a number of pending FCC proceedings. The FCC will not rely in these proceedings on any information submitted to the CAC, or to any of its task forces, subcommittees, working groups, or information conveyed by CAC members to FCC staff unless that information is first placed in the record of the relevant proceeding.

Donald Trump is going on SNL. Will his rivals demand ‘equal time’?

When Donald Trump takes the stage on "Saturday Night Live" Nov 7, federal regulators may be watching closely, too. A little-known TV rule at the Federal Communications Commission could be used to guarantee "equal time" on TV for Trump's rivals in the Republican presidential primary, due to a clause that aims to ensure "equal opportunities" for qualified candidates seeking the same office.

Although candidates can't take advantage of the equal time regulation when their competitors are mentioned on news segments or appear in news interviews, they can use it when it comes to other broadcast shows, which SNL happens to be. Politicians haven't made a habit of invoking the rule, but the issue has come up in this campaign season. After Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton appeared on SNL last month, NBC -- which broadcasts the show -- sent a memo to its network affiliates warning them that they could be asked to provide equal time.

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