John Eggerton

The Senate Commerce Committee has unanimously approved the nomination of Rebecca Slaughter to the Federal Trade Commission, and Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) said he hoped the full Senate could approve the new full FTC slate as early as the week of April 30. The other four nominees, Joseph Simons (chairman), Noah Joshua Phillips, Christine Wilson, and Rohit Chopra were already reported favorably by the committee Feb. 28.

The long, long trail winding from the Federal Communications Commission's Dec. 14, 2017, decision to eliminate network neutrality rules and the actual rollback of those rules continues to wind through Washington, with April 27 the next red-letter day. While some were reporting that April 23 was the effective date of the Restoring Internet Freedom order, that was not the case, or at least not the case with the overwhelming majority of the order, which still awaits the turn of another government wheel or two.

President Donald Trump is using his planned absence from the White House Correspondents Association dinner Saturday, April 28, to try and raise money for his next election. The President didn't show up for 2017's dinner, either, where the press and the President customarily get together to trade barbs and toasts, a temporary glove-dropping that had become a regular stop for President's of both parties before the current one.

INCOMPAS, whose members including streaming services, edge providers, and competitive carriers, has officially filed suit against the Restoring Internet Freedom order. Part of their argument is the Federal Communications Commission did not include important information in the comment record for the decision. 

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit April 20 is hearing oral argument in the Free Press v. Federal Communications Commission challenge to the FCC's reinstatement of the UHF discount. A politically divided FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai voted back in April 2017 to reverse the previous Democratic majority's decision to eliminate the discount. That discount meant TV station group owners only had to count half of the audience to their UHF stations towards the 39% national audience reach cap.

The Federal Communications Commission has signaled the next spectrum band it is seriously eyeing to free up for advanced telecommunications. The Wireless Telecommunications, International, Public Safety and Homeland Security bureaus said April 19 that it was instituting a temporary freeze on applications for new or modified fixed satellite service earth stations and fixed microwave stations in the 3.7-4.2 GHz spectrum bands (C-band) to "preserve the current landscape" as it looks into possibly allowing mobile broadband and more "intensive" fixed use.

The American Cable Association, which represents small and midsized cable operators, has a response to broadcasters' proposals to double their audience reach: No way. The ACA told the Federal Communications Commission that the proposal is both ill-conceived and unlawful. The National Association of Broadcasters wants the FCC to extend the UHF discount to VHF stations, which means all broadcast groups could effectively double their audience reach cap from 39% to 78% of the national audience.

INCOMPAS, the internet and competitive networks association (formerly COMPTEL), wants the House Communications Subcommittee to know just where it stands on paid prioritization: firmly against it. INCOMPAS said paid prioritization, an umbrella term that covers a variety of business plans involving charging for prioritizing web traffic, gives internet service providers the incentive to "monetize network congestions," leading to a world of fast and slow lanes where ISPs pick the winners and losers.

Here are just some of the issues as the capital and the nation focused on how better to protect online users' data in a world of almost universal collection and sharing. 

Sens Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), have introduced the Privacy Bill of Rights bill, the Customer Online Notification for Stopping Edge-provider Network Transgressions (CONSENT) Act, which would require edge providers to obtain opt-in consent to use, share or sell users' personal info. It would not extend opt-in to data collection, but would require edge providers to notify users of such collection. The bill would require the Federal Trade Commission to establish online protections for "customers" of online edge providers, including Facebook and Google.