Multichannel News

Smaller cable operators don't have the incentive or ability to act anticompetitively toward either their customers or edge providers. That came in American Cable Association comments to the Federal Trade Commission as it tees up month-long hearings on protecting consumers and competition in a digital age. ACA said smaller operators provide vital connectivity, particularly in the rural areas the government is focused on bringing into that digital age as full participants.

NCTA: The Internet & Television Association says the Federal Trade Commission needs to take a light-touch approach to regulating the wildly competitive communications marketplace, but apply that touch to everyone in the space.

Public Knowledge, Mozilla, the Benton Foundation, INCOMPAS and others challenging the Federal Communications Commission's Restoring Internet Freedom order say that was not just bad policy but illegal. That is coming in a brief with the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, which is hearing their challenge to the network neutrality regulation rollback--the deadline for initial briefs from non-government parties is Aug 20.

Sen Tom Udall (D-NM) has signaled he will use some of his time questioning Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai at an Aug 16 FCC oversight hearing to make sure he has journalists' backs. That is the same day journalist organizations are getting together to push back on President Donald Trump's attacks on mainstream media as fake news outlets in league with his Democrat opponents to undermine his presidency and policies. Sen Udall will call on Chairman Pai "to defend the free press in light of repeated attacks from President Trump and members of his administration."

Watchdog group Campaign for Accountability is calling for an investigation into political campaigns' use of "imbedded" Facebook and Google staffers. It wants the House and Senate Rules Committees to investigate the practice and whether new laws are needed to prevent what it says are edge providers "abusing their relationships" with Washington. 

Comcast has announced that its subsidized Internet program Internet Essentials has now been provided to six million low-income Americans, and that it will expand the program to nearly one million low-income military veterans. Comcast said it has connected two million users to Internet Essentials just in the last year—its largest annual increase to date.

Sinclair Broadcast Group filed documents with the Federal Communications Commission withdrawing its applications to acquire Tribune Media and asking the agency to cancel hearings set to discuss the merger. Sinclair asked that its applications to acquire Tribune be withdrawn with prejudice and requested that the chief administrative law judge terminate a hearing that was to look into possible sham transactions associated with the approval process.