press release

The Federal Trade Commission announced a crackdown on two massive robocall telemarketing operations, both of which have been blasting robocalls to consumers on the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry since at least 2012. Many of the defendants in the two cases, FTC v. Justin Ramsey, et. al. and FTC v. Aaron Michael Jones, et. al., have agreed to court orders that permanently ban them from making robocalls, making any calls to numbers listed on the Do Not Call Registry, violating the TSR, and/or assisting others in doing so. The settling defendants also will pay the Commission a total of more than $500,000.

The two ringleaders of the operations—Justin Ramsey and Aaron Michael (“Mike”) Jones—have previously been sued by state attorneys general for telemarketing violations and the FTC’s litigation against them continues. According to the FTC’s complaint in the Ramsey action, the defendants illegally blasted millions of robocalls in 2012 and 2013 to consumers on the DNC Registry selling home security systems or generating leads for home security installation companies. In just one week in July 2012, the defendants allegedly made more than 1.3 million illegal calls to consumers nationwide, 80 percent of which were to numbers listed on the DNC Registry.

Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez announced her resignation from the FTC, effective February 10, 2017. Ramirez became Chairwoman on March 4, 2013, and has served as an FTC Commissioner since April 5, 2010, following her appointment by President Barack Obama. Chairwoman Ramirez prioritized protecting consumers and promoting competition in the technology and healthcare sectors, safeguarding consumer privacy and data security in the online world, and protecting diverse communities from deceptive and unfair practices and scams.

Under her leadership, the FTC brought nearly 400 law enforcement actions covering a range of consumer protection issues and approximately 100 enforcement actions challenging anticompetitive mergers and business conduct in major sectors of the economy, including the healthcare provider, pharmaceutical, retail, and energy markets. A priority for Chairwoman Ramirez has been expanding the FTC’s role in studying markets and emerging trends, and issuing reports that provide best practice recommendations to companies. For example, the FTC has issued reports on a wide range of key topics, including patent assertion entities, the sharing economy, the Internet of Things, and big data, among other topics.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau announced a settlement valued in excess of $100 million with Straight Path Communications to resolve an investigation of Straight Path’s failure to deploy wireless services as required under its FCC spectrum licenses.

The Enforcement Bureau investigated allegations that Straight Path violated the FCC’s buildout and discontinuance rules in connection with approximately 1,000 licenses in the 39 GHz and Local Multipoint Distribution Service GHz spectrum bands. These high frequency bands have been identified by the Commission as extremely valuable for use in the next generation evolution of wireless technology or “5G.” To settle this matter, Straight Path will pay to the United States Treasury a $100 million civil penalty, surrender to the Commission 196 of its licenses in the 39 GHz spectrum band, sell the remainder of its license portfolio, and remit 20 percent of the proceeds of that sale to the Treasury as an additional civil penalty.

“Squatting on spectrum licenses without any meaningful effort to put them to good use in a timely manner is fundamentally inconsistent with the public good,” said Travis LeBlanc, Chief of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau. “Wireless spectrum is a scarce public resource. We expect every person or company that receives a spectrum license to put it to productive use.”

The Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau announced a settlement valued in excess of $100 million with Straight Path Communications to resolve an investigation of Straight Path’s failure to deploy wireless services as required under its FCC spectrum licenses.

The Enforcement Bureau investigated allegations that Straight Path violated the Commission’s buildout and discontinuance rules in connection with approximately 1,000 licenses in the 39 GHz and Local Multipoint Distribution Service GHz spectrum bands. These high frequency bands have been identified by the Commission as extremely valuable for use in the next generation evolution of wireless technology or “5G.” To settle this matter, Straight Path will pay to the United States Treasury a $100 million civil penalty, surrender to the Commission 196 of its licenses in the 39 GHz spectrum band, sell the remainder of its license portfolio, and remit 20 percent of the proceeds of that sale to the Treasury as an additional civil penalty.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that the following item is tentatively on the agenda for the January Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, January 31, 2017:

Streamlining the Public File Rules: The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would eliminate the requirement that commercial broadcast stations retain copies of letters and e-mails from the public in their public inspection file and the requirement that cable operators retain the location of the cable system’s principal headend in their public inspection file.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) released the full Republican rosters for all six subcommittees in the 115th Congress. The GOP Members of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology:
Marsha Blackburn (TN), Chairman
Leonard Lance (NJ), Vice Chairman
John Shimkus (IL)
Steve Scalise (LA)
Bob Latta (OH)
Brett Guthrie (KY)
Pete Olson (TX)
Adam Kinzinger (IL)
Gus Bilirakis (FL)
Bill Johnson (OH)
Billy Long (MO)
Bill Flores (TX)
Susan Brooks (IN)
Chris Collins (NY)

The House Commerce Committee selected Rep Marsha Blackburn (R–TN) to chair the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. Rep Blackburn, who will take over the subcommittee from incoming full Committee Chairman Rep Greg Walden (R–OR), has long sided with the phone, cable and entertainment industries against ordinary Americans:

In 2011, she supported the ill-fated SOPA bill, which would have allowed the film and recording industries to black out large tracts of internet content without due process.
In 2013, she co-authored a letter to the FCC opposing the agency’s Lifeline Program, which helps low-income households gain access to high-speed internet services. She continued her opposition to the program throughout 2016, criticizing the FCC decision to help subsidize broadband in addition to traditional phone service.
In 2014, she introduced an amendment to appropriations legislation that would have blocked federal efforts to protect world-class municipal-broadband initiatives local residents and governments have launched in towns and communities across the country, including in her home state of Tennessee.
She has repeatedly opposed Net Neutrality protections and in 2015 introduced the “Internet Freedom Act,” which would have stripped the FCC of its clear authority to prohibit online discrimination and protect the open internet.
In 2015, she joined with other House Republicans against the FCC proposal to protect broadband users’ privacy by requiring internet service providers to seek consumers’ permission before exploiting their online data for their own monetary gain.

The US.Senate officially ratified Sen. John Thune (R-SD) as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee for the 115th Congress. Sen Thune issued the following statement on the selection: “It is a great honor to be selected to serve for a second term as chairman of the Commerce Committee. I look forward to working with Ranking Member Bill Nelson and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on issues at the forefront of innovation and competitiveness, consumer protection, science, transportation, and economic growth in my role as chairman.”

President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Sylvia Orozco, Appointee for Member, National Museum and Library Services Board: Sylvia Orozco is Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Mexic-Arte Museum of Austin (TX), positions she has held since 1984. Orozco served on the Advisory Board of the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center from 2008 to 2012 and the Mayor’s Community Cabinet in Austin from 2009 to 2011.

Annette Evans Smith, Appointee for Member, National Museum and Library Services Board: Annette Evans Smith joined the Alaska Native Heritage Center (ANHC) in 2003, and has served as its President and CEO since 2011.In 2012, Ms. Evans Smith worked on the legislation that established the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council.

Deborah Taylor, Appointee for Member, National Museum and Library Service Board: Deborah Taylor is Coordinator of School and Student Services at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, where she has worked since 1974 in various additional roles including as a Branch Librarian and Head of the Office of Children and Youth. Taylor is a member of the Voice of Youth Advocates Editorial Advisory Board and served as President of the Young Adult Library Services Association and Chair of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards. She received the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Practitioner Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Library Association in 2015.

Jonathan L. Zittrain, Appointee for Member, National Museum and Library Service Board: Jonathan L. Zittrain is a Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the George Bemis Professor of International Law at Harvard Law School, positions he has held since 2010 and 2008, respectively. Zittrain is also Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources at the Harvard Law School Library and Co-Founder and Faculty Director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, positions he has held since 2012 and 1997, respectively.

The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Taiwan-based computer networking equipment manufacturer D-Link Corporation and its US subsidiary, alleging that inadequate security measures taken by the company left its wireless routers and Internet cameras vulnerable to hackers and put US consumers’ privacy at risk.

In a complaint filed in the Northern District of California, the FTC charged that D-Link failed to take reasonable steps to secure its routers and Internet Protocol (IP) cameras, potentially compromising sensitive consumer information, including live video and audio feeds from D-Link IP cameras. The complaint filed is part of the FTC’s efforts to protect consumers’ privacy and security in the Internet of Things (IoT), which includes cases the agency has brought against ASUS, a computer hardware manufacturer, and TRENDnet, a marketer of video cameras.