1. Monthly archive
  2. July 2017

July 2017

Rep Pallone Proposes $1B Boost to Auction Repack Fund

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ)—who has long pushed Congress to hold viewers harmless in the post-incentive auction repack—has introduced a bill to make sure the moving expenses of TV stations (and affected FM stations and pay-TV providers) are covered, given the initial broadcaster estimates of $2.1 billion in expenses and Congress' set-aside of only $1.75 billion.

The Viewer Protection Act would establish a $1 billion "emergency fund" if needed and fund a $90 million viewer outreach effort, given that most of a thousand stations are moving channels—some likely twice—in a 10-phase transition. Any money left over could be used to help low-power stations (including translators), who are not protected in the repack. The bill would also give the FCC's Media Bureau the flexibility to modify the transition periods for the phased transition so stations would not go dark to viewers for reasons outside their control.

Bipartisan Bill Seeks Royalties for Pre-1972 Musical Works

A bipartisan bill has been introduced to establish copyright protections for performances of pre-1972 musical works. Reps Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) are sponsoring the Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, and Important Contributions to Society (CLASSICS) Act (HR 3301).

“This an important and overdue fix to the law that will help settle years of litigation and restore some equity to this inexplicable gap in our copyright system," Issa said. “For years, we have been working to ensure royalty payments for artists who recorded many of our great musical classics before 1972," said Nadler. The new bill is an adjunct to the legislators' Fair Play Fair Pay Act music licensing bill introduced earlier this year and has been introduced in the past.

FCC has no documentation of DDoS attack that hit net neutrality comments

The US Federal Communications Commission says it has no written analysis of DDoS attacks that hit the commission's net neutrality comment system in May. In its response to a Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) request filed by Gizmodo, the FCC said its analysis of DDoS attacks "stemmed from real time observation and feedback by Commission IT staff and did not result in written documentation." Gizmodo had asked for a copy of any records related to the FCC analysis that concluded DDoS attacks had taken place.

Because there was no "written documentation," the FCC provided no documents in response to this portion of the Gizmodo FoIA request. The FCC also declined to release 209 pages of records, citing several exemptions to the FoIA law. For example, publication of documents related to "staffing decisions made by Commission supervisors, draft talking points, staff summaries of congressional letters, and policy suggestions from staff" could "harm the Commission’s deliberative processes," the FCC said. "Release of this information would chill deliberations within the Commission and impede the candid exchange of ideas."

FTC Acting Chairman Ohlhausen Selects D. Bruce Hoffman as Acting Director of the Agency’s Bureau of Competition

Federal Trade Commission Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen announced that she has selected D. Bruce Hoffman, a partner at the law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP, to be the Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, effective August 7, 2017. Hoffman is Global Co-Head of Shearman & Sterling’s Antitrust Group, focusing on antitrust and unfair competition, including merger reviews, government investigations, and private and government antitrust litigation. Previously, he led the global competition practice at Hunton & Williams, representing clients in the supermarket, funeral, and music industries, among others. Hoffman earned a B.A. from Penn State University and a J.D. from the University of Florida, College of Law. He served on the Florida Law Review and was the recipient of the W.D. McDonald Prize for graduating first in his law school class.

GAO Report: FirstNet Has Made Progress Establishing the Network, but Should Address Stakeholder Concerns and Workforce Planning

The US Government Accountability Office was asked to review FirstNet’s progress and efforts to ensure the network is reliable, secure, and interoperable. GAO (1) examined FirstNet’s efforts to establish the network; (2) obtained stakeholder views on network reliability, security, and interoperability challenges FirstNet faces and its efforts to address them; and (3) assessed FirstNet’s plans to oversee its network contractor. GAO reviewed FirstNet documentation, key contract oversight practices identified in federal regulations and other sources, tribal communication practices identified by federal agencies, and assessed FirstNet’s efforts and plans against these practices. GAO also interviewed FirstNet officials and a nongeneralizable selection of publicsafety, tribal, and other stakeholders selected to obtain a variety of viewpoints. GAO recommends that FirstNet fully explore tribal stakeholders’ concerns and assess its long-term staffing needs. FirstNet agreed with GAO’s recommendations.

GAO Report: Telehealth: Use in Medicare and Medicaid

Do Medicare and Medicaid pay when beneficiaries use two-way video visits to get care from their doctors? It depends. Medicare pays for some two-way video visits—referred to as "telehealth"—if the patients connect from rural health facilities. Medicare is testing new ways to provide health care that allow telehealth coverage regardless of location. Under Medicaid, states may cover different types of telehealth services from different types of care providers. In the 6 states we reviewed, officials from states that were generally more rural said they used telehealth more frequently than officials from more urban states.

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