Lauren Frayer

In 2016, North Carolina won a court case against the Federal Communications Commission, a victory that allowed it to restore a state law that restricts the growth of municipal broadband networks. This created an immediate problem for new customers of one municipal-run broadband provider.

After the FCC's 2015 vote to preempt the state law, Greenlight Community Broadband in Wilson, North Carolina, began offering service outside the Wilson County boundaries, something it previously wasn't allowed to do. Greenlight now serves about 200 customers in the nearby town of Pinetops, as well as Vick Family Farms in rural Nash County. Greenlight came close to shutting off Internet service to those new customers after the state ban on municipal broadband expansion was upheld by a federal appeals court. But in October 2016, the Wilson City Council voted to provide free Internet service to Pinetops and Vick Family Farms for six months. Wilson's wholesale providers agreed to waive their fees for six months, making this decision possible. Wilson's Greenlight ISP was technically in compliance with the state law as long as it didn't charge its new customers for service, but Wilson community leaders hoped the state legislature would eliminate or change the state law before the six months were up.

That might be on the verge of happening. Reps. Susan Martin, R-Wilson and Jean Farmer-Butterfield, D-Wilson introduced a bipartisan bill that would allow Greenlight Community Broadband to keep its existing customers outside the Wilson County lines.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a seismic victory in favor of streaming company FilmOn, handing significant relief to broadcasters like CBS, Fox, NBC and ABC who were aghast by a federal judge's decision in July 2015 that streamers could be deemed to be a "cable system" eligible for a compulsory license under the Copyright Act.

The battle took place after the US Supreme Court determined in June 2014 that another streamer, Aereo, had publicly performed the copyrighted work of broadcasters. The high court, though, left some room for further litigation upon Justice Stephen Breyer's opinion that compared unlicensed Aereo to licensed cable systems. After this decision, which ultimately brought down Aereo, FilmOn argued that it was entitled to perform copyrighted works without consent of copyright holders by taking advantage of Section 111 of the Copyright Act, which was enacted by Congress in the 1970s thanks to a perception of the burdensome nature of requiring cable systems to negotiate with every copyright owner over the retransmission of channels on public airwaves. In a huge surprise, US District Court judge George Wu then agreed with FilmOn, writing that "courts consistently reject the argument that technological changes affect the balance of rights as between broadcasters and retransmitters in the wake of technological innovation."

Now a three panel led by Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain overturned Judge Wu by holding that a service that captures copyrighted works broadcast over the air, and then retransmits them to paying subscribers over the Internet without the consent of copyright holders, is not a "cable system" eligible for a compulsory license.

As more class assignments and homework migrate online, long bus rides have generally counted as lost time in preparing for the next school day. But Google said it hopes to help expand the use of Wi-Fi on school buses in rural areas around the country.

Google has funded 28 Wi-Fi-equipped school buses in South Carolina's rural Berkeley County. Google also has given the school district 1,700 Chromebooks, the stripped-down laptops on which many schoolchildren now do their class and homework. Google is also looking for ways to make the high-tech buses useful outside of school hours, working with the school district and community on places the buses can go once the school day is done to bring connectivity elsewhere, such as a community center or fellowship hall.

FBI Director James B. Comey acknowledged that his agency is conducting an investigation into possible coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign in a counterintelligence probe that could reach all the way to the White House and may last for months. At the same time, Comey repeatedly refused to answer whether specific individuals close to the president had fallen under suspicion of any criminal wrongdoing, “so we don’t wind up smearing people” who may not be charged with a crime.

The extraordinary disclosure came near the beginning of a sprawling, 5.5 hour public hearing by the House Intelligence Committee, the panel’s first into the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election. The FBI traditionally does not disclose the existence of an investigation, “but in unusual circumstances, where it is in the public interest,” Comey said, “it may be appropriate to do so.” Comey also said he was authorized by the Justice Department to confirm the existence of the wide-ranging probe into Russian interference in the electoral process.

Inspired a bit by Kerouac, I hit the road last week. I visited Pittsburgh (PA), Youngstown (OH), Cleveland (OH), and Detroit (MI). Some might not think of these as glamorous travel destinations — but that's precisely why I went. I had a chance to see these principles in action during my trip through the Industrial Midwest. I heard firsthand about the promise and perils of broadband deployment; about the entrepreneurship that was sprouting up along the way; and about the established companies that are creating jobs and innovating in these cities.

In this Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Further Notice), we propose a further eighteen month extension of the freeze of jurisdictional separations category relationships and cost allocation factors for rate-of-return incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) while we continue to work with the Federal-State Joint Board on Jurisdictional Separations (Joint Board) to overhaul our separations rules.

The separations rules have long been frozen in recognition of the sweeping technical and regulatory changes that have been occurring in the communications sector over the last two decades. Having made progress in implementing changes to our intercarrier compensation regime and to the high cost universal services support program, and having recently reformed our Part 32 accounting rules, now is the time to address the separations rules. In this Further Notice, we seek comment on the proposed extension and describe the path we envision towards comprehensive reform of the jurisdictional separations procedures embodied in the Commission’s rules.

Pursuant to section 410(c) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, the Commission appoints the Honorable Wendy M. Moser, Commissioner, Colorado Public Utilities Commission, to serve on the Federal-State Joint Board on Jurisdictional Separations. This appointment fills the position recently vacated by the Honorable Betsy Wergin, Commissioner, Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. The Commission gratefully acknowledges the contributions of Commissioner Wergin to the work of the Federal-State Joint Board on Jurisdictional Separations.

[Commentary] It is important that we engage policymakers at the state and national level to force them to make better policy decisions. There is no reason for these legislative battles we’re seeing in Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri and elsewhere other than to heed the call of incumbents’ lobbyists out to stifle competition. States have to follow the lead of Georgia, where their state legislators declared all options – including municipal networks – viable in an “all hands on deck” approach to broadband deployments.

Policymakers must have broadband funding and grant programs that follow suite. Wireless providers must have seats at that table. For many years, wireless internet service providers have enabled communities that otherwise would never see the broadband light of day except for their efforts. They repeatedly have proven their ability to do great things with little money. Now is the time to capitalize on that experience.

[Craig Settles assists communities develop broadband business and marketing plans, and help them raise money for broadband projects.]

I welcome the opportunity to reiterate my strong support for the First Amendment rights of the media and all Americans. A free media is vital to our democracy. That is why during my time at the FCC I have consistently opposed any effort to infringe upon the freedom of the press and have fought to eliminate regulations that impede the gathering and dissemination of news. So long as I am privileged to serve as Chairman, I will continue to respect the First Amendment. As Chairman of the FCC, I take my oath to defend and protect the Constitution seriously. And the preservation of the First Amendment is the foundation of that commitment.

Responding to a letter from 13 U.S. Senators today, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai promised to alert the public of any attempt by the Trump Administration to influence FCC decision-making or direct the independent agency to take or not take any action with respect to media interests. The following may be attributed to Benton Foundation Executive Director Adrianne B. Furniss:

“I am glad to read Chairman Pai’s recognition that free media is vital to our democracy. While the Trump Administration continues to treat the press as the ‘opposition,’ Chairman Pai says he will respect the First Amendment. I hope that additional federal officeholders and Members of Congress also live up to their oath to defend and protect the Constitution.”