John Eggerton

Comcast's Internet Essentials broadband subsidy program was initially targeted to families with children eligible for government assistance, but it has been expanded to include low-income seniors (a pilot program in DC) and military veterans in its service area, the latter which Comcast says totals almost a million vets.  In an extension of that veterans assistance program announced Sept.

The Center for Digital Democracy, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, and the Benton Foundation told the Federal Communications Commission that if the agency proceeds with its proposed deregulation of children's TV rules, it could spell the end of children's programming on broadcast TV. "The FCC’s assumption that children’s television guidelines are no longer necessary because programming is available on other platforms is simply wrong," the groups told the FCC.

Department of Justice antitrust chief Makan Delrahim says he is not "unilaterally disarming" his division, but that he is taking a number of reforms to speed the merger review process. "Provided that the parties expeditiously cooperate and comply throughout the entire process, we will aim to resolve most investigations within six months of filing," he said. For comparison, in 2017, "significant" merger reviews took on average 10.8 months to resolve, he said. To cut that timeline to six months, Justice is inviting parties to meet early with its antitrust team.

The Federal Communications Commission has voted to confirm that a local franchise authority's (LFA) ability to regulate cable service does not extend to broadband and other non-cable services. Additionally, the FCC voted to confirm that in-kind commitments those authorities get from providers as part of franchise agreements count toward the 5% franchise fee cap, with the exception of providing public, educational and government (PEG) channels.

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) Rep Bobby Rush (D-IL) pressed Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to firm up his commitment to conduct a civil rights audit of his social media platform. Their goal is for Twitter to follow a kind of web Hippocratic oath: "First, do no harm to our country, our democracy, or the public." In the letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Reps Pallone and Rush said the civil rights audit was needed because of the use of Twitter to sew that division.

The Free State Foundation is hailing the Federal Communications Commission's planned Sept 26 vote on an item regarding local franchising authorities (LFAs) as important and appropriate pushback on localities trying to re-regulate internet access.

Reps Suzan DelBene (D-WA) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) are offering up the latest legislative effort to regulate online privacy, including by requiring websites and online services to get opt-in permission for collecting and/or sharing web browsing data and requiring privacy policies to be delivered in 'plain English.'  They have introduced The Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act, which would also require disclosure if, and with whom, they share behavioral data, and why, as well as require third-party audits of privacy protections submitted to the Federal Trade Commission a

The White House's signal that it is working on a blueprint for a national privacy protection framework in the age of broadband and the Internet of Things has prompted some bipartisanship on Capitol Hill. A pair of Senate Commerce subcommittee leaders have written Commerce Sec Wilbur Ross to say that Congress should be included in any such effort. “To protect Americans from data misuse and establish certainty for businesses to create jobs, innovate, and compete domestically and abroad, a national privacy framework is essential,” the senators told Sec Ross.

Common Cause and Public Knowledge have told the Federal Communications Commission that its shift to a progress-based assessment of broadband deployment is wrong and needs correcting ASAP. The degree to which the FCC concludes it is not being deployed per a congressional mandate is the degree to which it can regulate Internet service providers to ensure that happens.

The America Cable Association has told the Federal Communications Commission that its Sec. 706 review of whether advanced telecommunications is being deployed in a reasonable and timely manner should exclude hurricanes and other natural disasters. That came in comments for the FCC's next Sec.