Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announces Brian Moulton, ex-office of Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., as director-Office of Legislative Affairs, and promotes Trent Harkrader to Wireline Bureau chief following Kris Monteith’s retirement … DigitalBridge names Wireless Infrastructure Association CEO and former FCC commissioner Jonathan Adelstein as managing director and head-global policy and public investment, beginning June 1 (see 2203020059) ... Open Compute Project Foundation hires George Tchaparian, ex-Accton Group, as CEO …
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New America’s Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge warned the FCC’s proposed enhanced competition incentive program (ECIP) is likely to have only minimal impact. Comments on a November Further NPRM (see 2111180071) were posted Tuesday in docket 19-38. Other commenters also sought changes to the FCC’s proposed approach, aimed at making more spectrum available for small carriers and tribes.
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina entered into default North Carolina's complaint against Articul8 and owner Paul Talbot on suspected illegal robocalls, said an order Monday in case 1:22-cv-00058 (see 2201250052). Articul8 "cooperated with the North Carolina Department of Justice investigation, supplying them with billions of records and other data so that the Attorney General could trace ... the origins since Articul8’s customers do not originate or terminate the calls," emailed Talbot: "However, instead of using the ample data provided by Articul8 to get closer to the cause of the problem, the Attorney General used it to file this complaint, by which he not only violated his own anti-robocall [principles], but also further continues to cause the people of his state to get bombarded with calls." Talbot and his company don't have the "legal or financial resources to mount a defense ... but plan to make the facts public so the industry, consumers and people of North Carolina know why their daily lives continue to be interrupted and harassed."
Senate maneuvering on newly named Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, FCC nominee Gigi Sohn and FTC nominee Alvaro Bedoya is expected to draw many telecom and tech policy stakeholders’ attention in the coming weeks. President Joe Biden nominated Jackson, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit judge, Friday to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Jackson has little record on communications law matters but has played a larger role on administrative tech-focused legal matters, legal experts said.
The U.S. Forest Service reopened the comment period on a proposal to charge new administrative fees to communications facilities on USFS land (see 2202180051) for another 30 days, said a notice for Tuesday’s Federal Register. The original comment deadline on the proposal closed Feb. 22, while the new comment window will close March 31, the notice said.
Data is an "untapped potential," the European Commission said Wednesday. As part of its European strategy for data, it floated new rules for use of data, saying its volume has grown from 33 zettabytes generated in 2018 to 175 zettabytes expected in 2025. The Data Act will address the legal, economic and technical issues causing its under-usage, the EC said. The rules will make more data available for reuse and are expected to create 270 billion euros ($306 billion) additional GDP by 2028. Proposals include measures to allow users of connected devices to gain access to the data generated by them, often harvested exclusively by manufacturers, and to share it with third parties to provide after-market services such as predictive maintenance; and provisions to rebalance the negotiating power for small and mid-sized enterprises by preventing abuse of contract imbalances in data-sharing agreements. It provides for ways for public sector bodies to access and use data held by the private sector when needed for exceptional circumstances such as public emergencies, and it allows customers to switch between different cloud data-processing services providers while safeguarding against unlawful data transfer. The proposal is "well-intended but in need of improvements," said the Computer & Communications Industry Association. It "will serve the EU's digital ambitions if it protects confidential business information, treats all companies equally, and avoids creating new data flow restrictions," said Public Policy Director Alexandre Roure. The proposal is "essential to consumers," said the European Consumer Organisation: People originate much of the data via their use of connected devices and digital services and must be able to control how and with whom their data is shared.
The Wisconsin Assembly voted 59-37 Wednesday to send a comprehensive privacy bill (AB-957) to the Senate. In Florida, the House Judiciary Committee voted 13-4 to send HB-9 to the House floor despite Democrats voting no due to business concerns. The panel supported an amendment by sponsor Rep. Fiona McFarland (R) that would take a tiered approach to the bill’s private right of action (PRA). An industry-backed Utah privacy bill also advanced Wednesday.
The U.K. Office of Communications proposed tighter rules against robocalls and texts. Nearly 45 million people were targeted by spoof calls and texts last summer, and almost a million of them fell for the scammers' instructions, it said Wednesday. Ofcom works with phone companies to help them block calls that imitate the numbers of legitimate organizations such as banks and government offices, but "fraudsters quickly adapt to changing circumstances and technology." The regulator proposed requiring all phone networks involved in transmitting a call to block clearly spoofed numbers, plus new guidance to help companies stop scammers from accessing valid phone numbers: Among other things, they will have to run "know your customer" checks on business customers. Ofcom is also examining how technology can help prevent scam calls at the source. For calls originating in the U.K., for example, the network from which the call is made would have to "authenticate" the caller's ID information before connecting the call, a requirement that "should be achievable" when the country's transition to digital landlines is complete.
President Joe Biden should demand changes to the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which discriminates against U.S. tech companies, Reps. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and Darin LaHood, R-Ill., wrote Wednesday in a letter with some 30 other members of Congress. The group noted the administration has recently engaged with the EU to revise its proposed DMA ahead of potential adoption next month. Originally announced in 2020, the DMA regulates self-preferencing and other competition issues associated with Big Tech. It establishes a "set of narrowly defined objective criteria for qualifying a large online platform" as a gatekeeper. As drafted, the DMA would “single out” American companies by restricting their activity in Europe while favoring European companies, the lawmakers wrote in their letter. The EU’s approach “unfairly targets American workers by deeming certain U.S. technology companies as ‘gatekeepers’ based on deliberately discriminatory and subjective thresholds,” they wrote. The DMA’s discriminatory aspects violate “fundamental principles” of the World Trade Organization, they argued. Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.; Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.; and Doris Matsui, D-Calif., signed. The White House didn’t comment.
Democratic FCC nominee Gigi Sohn again pushed back, in responses released Tuesday to Senate Commerce Committee members’ follow-up questions against claims she hasn't been sufficiently candid about whether she played a role as a board member for Locast operator Sports Fans Coalition (SFC) in securing a revised $700,000 settlement of broadcasters’ lawsuit against the shuttered rebroadcaster (see 2202090070). Sohn got repeated GOP criticism during a second confirmation hearing earlier this month over the Locast settlement process and her January commitment to temporarily recuse herself from some FCC proceedings involving retransmission consent and broadcast copyright matters (see 2201280066). Sohn’s repeat appearance in front of Senate Commerce isn't considered likely to have changed her prospects of getting support only from committee Democrats (see 2202090070).