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  2. January 2017

January 2017

Data-Sharing With EU Could Change Under New Commerce Secretary

The Secretary of Commerce in the next administration will be responsible for a data-sharing agreement with the European Union that is worth billions to the US tech industry. President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for that post, Wilbur Ross, said he would uphold the deal, but he hinted that it might change in the future. There should be a “balance” between data protectionism and privacy, he said.

His comments at his confirmation hearing came the same day that an electronic privacy group requested that the next administration strengthen the privacy protections in the deal, fearing that US intelligence activities will hinder the free flow of data between the two continents. The United States currently has an agreement with the EU, dubbed “Privacy Shield,” that allows US-based businesses to send data to Europe without fear of running afoul of stronger European privacy laws. Privacy concerns continue to loom over it, however. At his hearing before that committee, Ross said he would commit to keeping Privacy Shield intact because it already exists and then added a cryptic comment about the future of balancing privacy and data localization laws.

Facebook dismissive of censorship, abuse concerns, rights groups allege

Nearly 80 rights groups accused Facebook of "racially biased censorship" and failing to be more transparent about its removal policies and cooperation with law enforcement, adding to criticism the company has faced in recent months over its management of content on its network of 1.8 billion users. The sharp rebuke, sent in response to a December letter from Facebook Senior Vice President Joel Kaplan, reflected increasing impatience among advocacy groups that say Facebook has inadequately addressed their concerns despite repeated promises of action from senior executives.

Instead, the groups wrote, Kaplan's response "merely explains current, publicly available Facebook policies and fails to address the modest solutions to racially biased censorship we presented in earlier letters and meetings." SumOfUs, Center for Media Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union were among the signatories. In his letter, Kaplan acknowledged Facebook's community operations team "sometimes get things wrong" but said the company was committed to correcting mistakes and working with outside partners.

Full Agenda for Senate Commerce Committee Markup Jan 24

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold an executive session on Tuesday, January 24th at 10:00 am to formally adopt the rules and budget resolution for the 115th Congress and consider legislative measures including the following telecommunications-related bills.
S. 19, MOBILE Now Act, Sponsors: Sens. John Thune (R-SD), Bill Nelson (D-FL)
S. 81, Senior Fraud Prevention Act of 2017, Sponsors: Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Susan Collins (R-Maine)
S. 88, Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things (DIGIT) Act, Sponsors: Sens. Deb Fischer (R-NE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)
S. 96, Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act, Sponsors: Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Thune (R-SD), Jon Tester (D-MT)
S. 102, Securing Access to Networks in Disasters (SANDY) Act, Sponsors: Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bill Nelson (D-FL)
S. 123, Kari’s Law Act, Sponsors: Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), John Cornyn (R-TX), John Thune (R-SD), Ted Cruz (R-TX)
S. 134, Spoofing Prevention Act, Sponsors: Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Roy Blunt (R-MO)
S.174, Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act, Sponsors: Sens. Dean Heller (R-NV), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)

FCC's Incentive Auction to End After Stage 4

The Federal Communications Commission will be able to close the spectrum auction and at an 84 MHz spectrum total some had suggested was the last clearing target for a successful auction. The second round of stage four of the forward portion of the FCC incentive auction ended Jan 18 with bidders raising their ante to $18 billion but more importantly $1.2570 per POP.

The spectrum auction isn't over until it's over, but the final stage rule has now been met, with forward auction bidders having bid enough to both cover the broadcasters' ask (the second component necessary to close the auction) and the $1.25 per MHz POP price. The auction will continue until there is no more bidding in any market. Now that the final stage rule has been met, the FCC's spectrum reserves kick in, where up to 30 MHz has been reserved in each market for auction-eligible bidders--small businesses, women, minority-owned. The FCC set aside some spectrum so the larger players could not simply buy it all up.

Chairman Wheeler: Successful Spectrum Auction is Assured

The successful completion of the final stage rule was a going-away present of sorts for Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, who exits Jan 20. Chairman Wheeler took a bow for the entire FCC team, past and present, in a statement following the announcement that the auction would close after the current stage. “The word’s first spectrum incentive auction has delivered on its ambitious promise. Reaching the Final Stage Rule means the benefits of the auction are indisputable. We will repurpose 70 MHz of high-value, completely clear low-band spectrum for mobile broadband on a nationwide basis," Chairman Wheeler said. "On top of that, 14 MHz of new unlicensed spectrum – the test bed for wireless innovation – will be available for consumer devices and new services. The auction will provide $10.05 billion to broadcast television licensees who participated and billions towards deficit reduction."

“There is still a long road ahead to successfully implement the post-auction transition of broadcast stations to their new channels and bring the new wireless and unlicensed spectrum to market. This will be an extremely important task for my successor and the new Commission; I wish them well," he said. The fact that the FCC had to reduce its spectrum clearing target from 126 MHz to 84 Mhz will mean less money for broadcasters and less spectrum for wireless operators, but it will make that repack easier given that there is much more room to repack TV stations in, which means not TV stations will be repacked into the duplex gap (between wireless uplink or downlink spectrum, or in the wireless band at all.

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