Picnics, baseball, and mosquitos -- what else do you expect from relaxing summer months? Anyone expecting a summer lull may have been surprised by the fireworks displayed in telecommunications policy in July. Communications surveillance, media ownership, and Internet policy grabbed the headlines. Also, see July's most-read Headlines
I. FISA Update
Just after the 4th of July, Congress approved and President Bush signed an update of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The bill has generated great controversy in no small part because it granted liability protection to telecommunication companies that took part in the warrantless domestic spying program President Bush began after the September 11 attacks. The measure shields those firms from potentially billions of dollars in damages from privacy lawsuits. The bill authorizes U.S. intelligence agencies to eavesdrop without court approval on foreign targets believed to be outside the United States. Critics complain this allows warrantless surveillance of the phone calls and e-mails of Americans who communicate with them. The bill seeks to minimize such eavesdropping on Americans, but critics say the safeguards are inadequate.
Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) had opposed immunity for telecoms, but he ended up voting for the bill after a failed effort to strip liability protection out of the measure. A number of Obama advisors argued that the bill, though imperfect, struck the right balance between modernizing surveillance tools and providing oversight. Supports were not convinced, however. On the senator's campaign website thousands organized against him because of a changed position on the FISA update.
II. Media Ownership, Diversity and Radio
On July 29, the Federal Communications Commission held an en banc hearing and conference on overcoming financing barriers to media ownership. Commissioner Michael Copps identified as starting points 1) agreement on the overarching goal of supporting more minority and female ownership and 2) recognition that access to capital is a huge barrier to entry. But Commissioner Copps also pointed out that the FCC's own policies have actually pushed for more media consolidation rather than attempting to stem the tide.
Ironically, in the same week as the FCC commissioners held the ownership hearing in New York, the ownership of the nation's two biggest radio companies changed hands. Private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners completed the $17.9 billion purchase of radio-station and billboard company Clear Channel Communications. The deal, which had been slowed by legal battles in two states and negotiations to lower the purchase price, closed almost two years after Clear Channel began exploring strategic options in October 2006.
On July 25 the FCC approved the purchase of XM Satellite radio by now-former-rival Sirius. The FCC decided it was in the public interest to let the two companies merge even when the relevant competitive market was confined to satellite radio. However, the FCC placed the following conditions on the merged company:
- a three-year cap on prices,
- setting aside 8 percent of their channel capacity for minority and non-commercial programming,
- payment of a $19.7 million penalty for past FCC rule violations, and
- make available to consumers radios that receive both Sirius and XM.
As part of the order, the FCC also will conduct an inquiry into whether it should require that all satellite radios be built with technology that allows them to also receive high definition terrestrial radio signals.
III. Universal Broadband
On July 21, the FCC traveled to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh to discuss Broadband and the Digital Future. Rep Mike Doyle (D-PA) helped organize the event saying it was intended to address two major concerns -- the so-called "digital divide" between those who have broadband access and those who don't, and "Network Neutrality," or the openness of the Internet. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps went as far to declare access to broadband a civil right. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said the government needs to expand its broadband mapping efforts and collect information about Internet speed tiers. The FCC is currently considering whether it should get into the business of mapping out availability of broadband.
Art Brodsky of Public Knowledge reported on the FCC's rulemaking on collecting broadband data, highlighting some of the critics of Connect Kentucky/Connected Nation. While reviewing comments filed in the proceeding, Brodsky found challenges to the "semi-sacred status of the public-private partnership." The arguments on who should map broadband deployment fall into two categories. On one side is Connected Nation and its allies -- telephone companies, cable companies and labor. On the other is the public agencies and publicly-owned utilities which are wary of too much of the "private" side taking over the equation. Connected Nation responded to Brodsky's article on Benton's website.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) ramped up its lobbying efforts on the Hill in July, calling on House and Senate leaders to support legislation aimed at developing a national broadband policy. The union -- which represents 700,000 workers in the communications, media and other sectors -- was joined by an alliance of telecommunications and cable carriers, trade associations, health-care, education, farm, and public interest groups to urge Congress to act on two pending bills -- S. 1492, the Broadband Data Improvement Act and H.R. 3919, the Broadband Census of America Act -- to get the ball rolling. This alliance sent a joint letter to Sens. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Reps. John Dingell (D-MI) and Joe Barton (R-Texas), copied to other key congressional and committee leaders, outlining their reasons for wanting the two bills to move through the system quickly. Some, however, criticized these efforts as an attempt to adopt a "fake national broadband strategy."
IV. Managing Internet Traffic
July has been an interesting month for anyone interested in how Internet service providers (ISPs) manage the traffic that runs over their networks.
On July 17, the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a hearing on "deep packet inspection" (DPI) and its implication on online privacy. DPI allows Internet service providers (ISPs) to mine data they can collect about customers' online habits to deliver tailored ads, weed out spam, catch viruses that could possibly harm a network, or determine what practices are hogging bandwidth. The American Civil Liberties Union identifies DPI as a "massive risk" to privacy -- particularly if the government gets access to it. Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) called for 1) clear, conspicuous, and constructive notice about what broadband provider's use of deep packet inspection will be, 2) meaningful, "opt-in" consent for such use, and 3) no monitoring or data interception of those consumers who do not grant consent for such use.
Later today August 1, the FCC is expected to censure Comcast over its network-management practices which surreptitiously and deceptively interfered with customers' use of file sharing technology. The action is in response to a complaint filed by Free Press, a nonprofit group that advocates for Network Neutrality, the idea that all Internet content should be treated equally. Marvin Ammori, general counsel of Free Press and author of the complaint, said, "This vote reflects the bipartisan support for protecting consumers' access to the free and open Internet. Comcast's blocking is a flagrant violation of the online rights established by the FCC. If adopted, this order would send a strong signal to the marketplace that arbitrarily interfering with users' online choices is not acceptable. Internet service providers do not get to decide the winners and losers online. Should Comcast finally be held accountable for its illegal practices, it will be the direct result of historic public involvement in this precedent-setting debate. We look forward to seeing the order, and commend the FCC for conducting such a thorough investigation on behalf of Internet users everywhere."
- Connected Nation's Private Interests Hit In FCC Comments
- Sirius-XM merger may get OK from FCC
- FCC Again Denies Chicago, Milwaukee TV License Challenges
- FCC Broadband Hearing in Pittsburgh
- Consumer Privacy and 'Deep Packet Inspection' Explored at House Hearing
- FCC's Martin: Comcast Broke Network Neutrality Rules
- House Hearing Takes Up Issues in Telecommunications Competition
- Consumers: Reject Verizon ETF Plan
- LCCR: "Serious Problems" with DTV Switch
- Nation's Largest ISPs Crafting Fake National Broadband Policy