Harper Neidig

The Federal Communications Commission moved to end its push to allow people to use cellphones on flights. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called for killing an abandoned 2013 proposal to relax the agency’s rules about the use of cellphones on flights. “I stand with airline pilots, flight attendants, and America’s flying public against the FCC’s ill-conceived 2013 plan to allow people to make cellphone calls on planes,” said Chairman Pai. “I do not believe that moving forward with this plan is in the public interest. Taking it off the table permanently will be a victory for Americans across the country who, like me, value a moment of quiet at 30,000 feet.” The proposal was first circulated in 2013 by former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. It would have relaxed the agency’s rules on using certain frequencies on aircraft, allowing airlines to choose whether to enable mobile calls.

AT&T has reached a deal to buy the telecommunications company Straight Path Communications for about $1.25 billion in stock, the companies announced April 10. The deal is expected to help AT&T better position itself for deploying 5G capabilities, as Spectrum is one of the largest holders of wireless spectrum that has been approved for use in next-generation networks. Straight Path shareholders will get $95.63 per share in the deal, which is worth about $1.6 billion. The merger will be subject to Federal Communications Commission review, and the companies say that they expect the deal to close within a year. In January, the company also bought FiberTower, another large holder of spectrum licenses.

Democratic Sens introduced legislation April 6 that would reinstate internet privacy rules repealed earlier this week. The new legislation, introduced by Sen Ed Markey (D-MA), would undo the repeal and reinstate the regulations, which were set to go into effect later in 2017. “Thanks to Congressional Republicans, corporations, not consumers, are in control of sensitive information about Americans’ health, finances, and children,” Sen Markey said. “The Republican roll-back of strong broadband privacy rules means ISP no longer stands for Internet Service Provider, it stands for ‘Information Sold for Profit.’” The bill is being co-sponsored by Sens Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Tom Udall (D-NM), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Al Franken (D-MN).

A group of Democratic Sens is asking top telecommunication companies to provide details of their privacy policies in the wake of Republicans’ repeal of broadband privacy rules. The Senators, led by Sen Ed Markey (D-MA), sent letters containing a list of questions about privacy to AT&T, Comcast, Charter, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and CenturyLink.

In their list of questions, the senators grill the companies on what their policies are regarding the use of sensitive information for advertising. “Do you obtain affirmative opt-in consent to use, share, or sell any of the following information: web browsing history, app usage history, the content of communications, children’s information, health information, financial information, geo-location, and Social Security numbers?” reads one. The letter was also signed by Sens Al Franken (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).

Network neutrality advocates are feeling emboldened by the outcry over the GOP’s repeal of internet privacy regulations, viewing it as an opportunity to harness grassroots support for their cause. “I think for Republicans and the ISPs who pushed them into this, this is a short-term victory,” said Matt Wood, policy director of the advocacy group Free Press. “But as they won this battle, they might have hurt their chances in the war, because they have reawakened people ... to how it really isn’t a partisan issue.”

“I suspect that net neutrality repeal is right around the corner, and I think that anger is going to continue to spin,” said Gigi Sohn, who was a counselor to former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler and who had a hand in crafting the privacy rules. Sohn said that she sees parallels in the battles over net neutrality and broadband privacy, arguing that they’re both arguments about how much control telecom companies should have over users’ online experiences. She argued that eliminating the rules could lead to a greater public awareness about what Congress and even the FCC are doing about net neutrality. “It’s priming the pump of an enormous wave of grassroots activity on net neutrality,” Sohn said. “We’re not going to start on square one, we’re going to start on square 10.”

The Trump Administration has quietly issued new policy guidance that would make it harder for companies to use the H-1B visa program to bring foreign computer programmers into the US. A policy memo from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services changes the way the agency will process visa applications for computer programming positions, making companies jump through extra hoops to fill those jobs with foreign workers.

"Based on the current version of the Handbook, the fact that a person may be employed as a computer programmer and may use information technology skills and knowledge to help an enterprise achieve its goals in the course of his or her job is not sufficient to establish the position as a specialty occupation," the memo reads.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is calling on a group of leading internet service providers to announce whether they support a GOP bill that would eliminate privacy protections. Minority Leader Pelosi came out against the measure and sent letters to AT&T, Century Link, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Frontier, Optimum, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and Windstream asking for their positions on it. “Americans learned last week that agents of Russian intelligence hacked into e-mail accounts to obtain secrets on American companies, government officials and more,” Pelosi wrote. “This resolution would not only end the requirement you take reasonable measures to protect consumers’ sensitive information, but prevents the FCC from enacting a similar requirement and leaves no other agency capable of protecting consumers.”

Fight for the Future is promising to put up billboards attacking lawmakers who vote in favor of a bill that would dismantle privacy protections for internet users. If the bill is signed into law, as is widely expected, the Fight for the Future campaign will put up billboards in Washington (DC) and select districts that list the lawmakers who voted for the measure.

A draft of the billboard shows a list of the 50 Republicans who voted for the bill on March 23, along with the text, “They betrayed you.” “Congress should know by now that when you come for the Internet, the Internet comes for you, these billboards are just the beginning,” said Evan Greer, the group’s campaign director. “People from across the political spectrum are outraged, and every lawmaker who votes to take away our privacy will regret it come election day.”

The Federal Trade Commission could be facing big changes under President Donald Trump. President Trump must fill three vacant commissioner seats and decide on a chairman — moves that Republicans hope could push the regulatory agency in a business-friendly direction. The agency’s primary role is to police companies for deceptive practices and to review high-profile mergers to determine if they are in consumers’ best interests.

President Trump himself is no stranger to the FTC, having had his own run-ins with its regulators as a businessman. In 1988, he agreed in a settlement with the FTC to pay a $750,000 fine for failing to disclose a stock purchase in a planned merger. And in recent years, students of the now-defunct Trump University filed complaints with the FTC alleging the school misled and overcharged them. In 2016, Trump agreed to a $25 million settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit against the school.

The advertising industry is calling on Congress to eliminate the Federal Communications Commission’s privacy rules on internet providers. Six advertising trade groups on March 13 applauded Sen Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) for introducing bills last week that would roll back the rules approved in October.

“Our digital economy is the global leader, providing billions of dollars in ad-supported content and services to consumers, and the innovation and investment that have driven its success have rested on robust, consistent self-regulatory privacy standards backstopped by the Federal Trade Commission,” the groups said. “Without prompt action in Congress or at the FCC, the FCC's regulations would break with well-accepted and functioning industry practices, chilling innovation and hurting the consumers the regulation was supposed to protect.”