The FCC should do a comprehensive review of its regulations, axing those that no longer serve consumers, and Congress should rewrite the Communications Act "to eliminate most of the FCC's current duties," the Competitive Enterprise Institute said. The small-government public policy group's Shrinking Government Bureaucracy report Wednesday recommended Congress consider "folding a much smaller FCC" into a different arm of the U.S. government, such as the Commerce Department. "With a handful of exceptions, the FCC continues to regulate as if it were 1996 -- or, in some cases, 1934," CEI said, pointing to media ownership rules. CEI said that instead of relaxing legacy cable-TV rules in the face of cord cutting, the agency did the opposite with its set-top box and over-the-top-as-MVPD rules proposals. It said due to FCC rules, "many of the most valuable airwaves cannot be licensed by wireless providers." The report recommended changes to or abolishing Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Labor Relations Board, the SEC and some others. The FCC didn't comment.

The tech community will oppose any revision of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, regardless of the revision, said a senior aide to Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who's one of more than two dozen co-sponsors of the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (see 1708110022). Lawmakers say S-1693 would narrowly amend CDA to curb online sex trafficking and wouldn't affect legitimate actors. Technology and civil society organizations say it will restrict internet free speech (see 1708010011). Lee's aide said industry incorrectly thinks the bill would "open the door" for more changes: "Based on that reasoning, Congress wouldn’t have inserted the existing exceptions to Section 230 immunity, concerning obscenity and sexual exploitation of children, and those haven’t broken the Internet.”

Lawmakers and communications sector officials lauded Senate passage Thursday of six long-stalled telecom bills, including the Mobile Now Act (S-19) spectrum bill. The Senate approved the legislation as part of a deal to confirm Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr as FCC commissioners (see 1708030060). The other telecom bills approved were the Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things Act (S-88), Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act (S-96), Kari’s Law Act (S-123), Spoofing Prevention Act (S-134) and FCC Consolidated Reporting Act (S-174). The bills’ passage “brings us a step closer to increasing access to spectrum that powers our 21st century tech economy, improving the quality and reliability of phone calls in rural communities, removing barriers to dialing 911 in emergencies, and cutting inefficiencies in federal bureaucracy,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D. CTA President Gary Shapiro urged the House to “swiftly pass” S-19, saying it would “create better mobile broadband for us all, spurring developments in cellular 5G technologies and securing our wireless future.” S-19 “will help ensure more spectrum is made available,” said Competitive Carriers Association President Steve Berry. The bill “recognizes the importance of deploying wireless broadband services in rural areas and endeavors to streamline deployment challenges, particularly on federal lands, which unfortunately have oftentimes plagued competitive carriers.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Deb Fischer, R-Neb., praised passage of S-123, which addresses direct dialing to 911. S-123 and House companion HR-582, which passed the House in January (see 1701230071), mean "Americans will one day be able to call 911 and reach first responders without having to dial an access code,” said Pai. S-123 “would ensure families can call for the help they need,” said Fischer, who was a main sponsor of that bill, S-88 and S-134.

Big companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google exist because customers like them and government efforts to break them up would be detrimental to users, blogged Mark Jamison, American Enterprise Institute visiting fellow and former member of the Trump FCC transition team. Responding to a new strategy from Senate Democrats about corporate influence over competition, consumer choice and workers' bargaining rights (see 1707240067), Jamison countered that big companies attract competitors and have other positive impacts, and actions to break them up would hamper their business models and hurt customers. Besides, he said, "government attacks" won't alter the underlying economics, which give rise to these big companies.

Civil society organizations, think tanks and a major tech association pressed Capitol Hill lawmakers Thursday not to move ahead with the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (S-1693), which the groups say will produce an onslaught of "frivolous" lawsuits and discourage intermediaries from policing their sites because the legislation is so broad (see 1708020019 and 1708010011). In a Thursday letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Access Now, R Street Institute, TechFreedom and eight other groups said Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act "need not be treated as sacrosanct" but rushing through amendments such as attaching them to the National Defense Authorization Act "would be a mistake of historic proportions." They said it should go through the committee process and get public input. CTA President Gary Shapiro, in a Wednesday letter to Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., co-chairs of the Senate Caucus to End Human Trafficking, cited the same reasons for opposing the proposal. He urged Congress to press DOJ to go after "rogue websites" violating the law as the tech industry works to prevent sex trafficking.

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and four other subcommittee members filed a resolution Wednesday highlighting the importance of 5G networks and related technologies as a way of encouraging infrastructure investment, job creation and innovation. "Approving this resolution would send a strong signal" the Senate supports development and deployment of fifth generation, Wicker said. The resolution was backed by CTIA and the Competitive Carriers Association. “The wireless industry is poised to invest hundreds of billions of dollars to make faster 5G wireless service available to millions,” said CTIA Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Kelly Cole. “Ensuring all Americans have access to 5G technologies ... will also help close the digital divide by reducing the number of rural areas that are still unserved and underserved,” said CCA President Steve Berry.

Tech trade groups said more action is needed to stop sex trafficking and hold companies like Backpage.com accountable (see 1701100001), but that Senate legislation amending Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (see 1708010011) would "severely undermine a crucial protection for legitimate online companies." In a Wednesday letter to Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., among the 20 senators who introduced the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act the previous day, the 10 associations said Section 230 encourages "positive legal behavior" and doesn't shield companies from liability of federal crimes, including prosecution for human trafficking. But the bill would have a "devastating impact on legitimate online services" without meaningfully stopping trafficking crimes and, instead, generate "frivolous litigation targeting legitimate, law-abiding intermediaries," the consortium said. The groups -- including Computer and Communications Industry Association, Internet Association and Software & Information Industry Association -- said Congress should work with DOJ to prioritize prosecutions, target rogue sites and coordinate international enforcement. CTA President Gary Shapiro agreed that amending Section 230 would "create a trial lawyer bonanza of overly-broad civil lawsuits," saying DOJ has tools to go after traffickers. CCIA Vice President-Law and Policy Matthew Schruers told us Tuesday the tech industry plans to educate Congress about member companies' fighting trafficking including an estimated more than 100,000 content moderators who try to flag illegal activities. He said information about bad actors and content and misconduct also are shared among firms, and there's cooperation with law enforcement and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. "There's a great deal of interest in stamping out [bad actors] simply because your brand depends on doing so," he said.

Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Chris Coons, D-Del., introduced, as expected, the International Communications Privacy Act (ICPA) that would clarify rules for U.S. law enforcement access to electronic communications in other countries, said a joint news release Tuesday (see 1707280020). They highlighted Microsoft's legal fight with DOJ over whether U.S. warrants apply abroad in a case that the Supreme Court might consider (see 1706260057). Major tech companies and trade groups including Apple, AT&T, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and TechNet said they support ICPA.

The House Commerce Committee extended the deadline for eight CEOs of top tech and telecom firms to commit to testifying at a planned Sept. 7 hearing aimed at reaching a consensus on net neutrality, a spokesman confirmed Monday. House Commerce originally gave the CEOs of Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast Cable, Facebook, Netflix and Verizon until Monday to respond (see 1707250059). The committee “has been engaging in productive conversations with all parties and will extend the deadline for response in order to allow for those discussions to continue,” the spokesman said. The deadline extension is “unspecified” for now, he said. None of the eight invited CEOs reportedly had made a final commitment at our deadline to testify and none of the companies commented. House Commerce is seeking feedback from the invited companies and other stakeholders on the contours of a “bipartisan legislative solution” on net neutrality, with a 2015 discussion draft crafted by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., now-House Commerce Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and then-committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich. (see 1506040046), as a starting point. Walden “has no interest in wasting anyone's time in this process,” said House Communications Subcommittee Chief GOP Counsel Robin Colwell in an email to stakeholders we obtained. The committee is asking stakeholders to identify “what needs to stay, what needs to be added, and what needs to go” from the 2015 draft to reach a consensus. House Commerce staff plan to meet with interested parties Aug. 7 about how to modify the 2015 draft, with the aim of determining by the end of that week “whether there is any chance of moving forward together,” Colwell said in the email. Perceived prospects for a compromise bill have remained dim this year amid significant opposition from many high-ranking congressional Democrats, though a few of the party’s lawmakers called publicly for consensus legislation (see 1707130063 and 1707210038).

Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and 42 other House members jointly urged the FCC Monday to advance use of white spaces for rural broadband. The FCC is collecting comment on a Microsoft-backed proposal to reserve at least one blank TV channel in every market for white spaces devices and wireless mics after the TV incentive auction and repacking (see 1707050048). Microsoft more recently sought to work with NAB, which opposed the FCC proposal (see 1707110015). The agency should “preserve at least three, 6 MHz television white spaces channels in every media market” in the U.S., “to promote access to affordable broadband internet, particularly in rural and underserved areas,” the other lawmakers said in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and the other commissioners. The letter's signers also included House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Reps. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. White spaces “have strong potential to revolutionize broadband internet accessibility in rural areas,” they said: The proposed use of white spaces would allow internet services that are “extremely cost-effective requiring minimal infrastructure investments, and are far more dependable than the limited connections that many rural areas currently have.”