FCC handling of designated entities SNR Wireless and Northstar Wireless got probing Friday by Judge Harry Edwards as he repeatedly criticized the idea that ostensible investor protections gave Dish Network de facto control of the DEs when the FCC hadn't worried about those same protections in past DE situations. Judge Patricia Millett tore into the DEs' assertion that they had made substantive changes from the original terms of their investor agreements with Dish, in the nearly two-hour U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit oral argument (docket 18-1209). The DEs are challenging the FCC's 2020 rejection of the AWS-3 bidding credits -- the second time the agency did so (see 2011230062). New Street Research's Blair Levin said the panel appeared to side with FCC arguments, as was expected.
Country of origin cases
News Media Alliance affiliate American Press Institute hires Michael Bolden as executive director-CEO; he's from the San Francisco Chronicle and starts at API by Feb. 14 ... National Emergency Number Association taps Brooks Shannon as interoperability program manager; he was vice president-geographic information systems, RapidDeploy ... CommScope hires Markus Ogurek from Cisco as senior vice president-segment leader, Venue and Campus Networks business ... Strategic Venue Partners taps former AT&T executive Kevin Hetrick as chief operating officer of the provider of in-building wireless-connectivity-as-a-service.
The FCC Media Bureau’s announcement Tuesday that the consolidated database system (CDBS) won’t accept new filings after Wednesday (see 2201110077) surprised broadcasters and broadcast attorneys. But they told us it isn't likely to create many problems for them. Other than having to email some forms that previously would have been entered into the system, “it’s not going to be a big change,” said Dawn Sciarrino of Sciarrino and Associates.
Network and information security is a Biden administration priority, said Ruth Berry, White House National Security Council digital technology policy director. The need to secure the entire network "could not be higher" due to risks from untrustworthy equipment vendors such as Huawei and the lack of competition and diversity in the telecom supply chain, she said at a Wednesday European Telecommunications Network Operators Association/USTelecom webinar. Europe sees progress on network cybersecurity issues, and many opportunities for common rules, from the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council (TTC), said Thibaut Kleiner, director-policy, strategy and outreach, European Commission communications networks, content and technology directorate. Another international concern is that online platforms and apps are generating increasing network costs, noted ETNO Director General Lise Fuhr. Kleiner said the COVID-19 pandemic was a "stress test" for European networks, and it showed that the regulatory framework hasn't harmed quality or reliability. It's fair to ask who should pay for network upgrades such as 5G, he said, but the EU hasn't reached the point where it needs to intervene in the relationship between telcos and platforms. The emergence of the "splinternet" is very worrying, said Kleiner: The EU continues to support ICANN and its internet governance and infrastructure, and hopes to publish Europe's vision for the internet sector's future at month's end. USTelecom President Jonathan Spalter welcomed the U.S. government push to establish an alliance for the future of the internet, which will address data privacy, data security, cybersecurity, competition policy and other issues. The original optimistic vision of the internet "is now in flux" as shown by misinformation, internet shutdowns and use of the network by autocrats, Berry said. The alliance is expected to launch in coming weeks, she noted: It will let governments recommit to original internet principles of openness, security and more, and will enable a global conversation on how to push back against challenges. The U.S. agrees with the EU that the global community should continue to manage the internet's fundamental infrastructure, without undermining the multistakeholder approach, she said. Another "burning issue" is the semiconductor supply chain, Kleiner noted: The EU Chips Act (see 2201100033) will align with a U.S. initiative.
Some disagreement continued on an FCC Further NPRM aimed at gateway providers and curbing illegal robocalls, in replies Tuesday in docket 17-59 (see 2112130046). Gateway providers should be required to implement Stir/Shaken technology and robocall mitigation, said the National Association of Attorneys General. Extend the requirement to all providers and "enhance [the FCC’s] existing regime,” said USTelecom, which NCTA echoed. Verizon backed requiring all providers to certify a robocall mitigation plan and said the FCC shouldn't "mandate a burdensome stir/shaken obligation for intermediate providers." AGs backed a shorter implementation compliance deadline of within 30 days of Federal Register publication. The Voice on the Net Coalition backed Twilio's suggestion that providers blocking calls "should be subject to transparency and redress requirements." Impose a "know or should have known standard" on providers that may be trafficking in illegal calls, said the Electronic Privacy Information Center and National Consumer Law Center. Consider a "performance-based safe harbor" for providers that "meet or exceed a high standard of compliance," said YouMail. There are still some "misgivings about various aspects of this approach” because “we already have difficulty knowing who is an originator vs. an intermediate provider vs. a caller,” said ZipDX. Limit "any and all obligations” adopted in this proceeding to “foreign calls using U.S. numbers," said iBasis.
The full FCC denied Schwab Multimedia's appeal of a Media Bureau decision to deny Schwab a construction permit extension for KWIF(AM) Culver City, California, said an order in Thursday’s Daily Digest. Schwab argued construction was impeded by COVID-19 and more extensions should have been granted, but the FCC said in the order that Schwab didn’t build out the station because it lost permission to build on the site. “Accordingly, we reject Schwab’s allegation that the Bureau erred in not granting tolling based on other causes, such as COVID,” the order said. Schwab’s construction permit deadline was originally November 2019, but the company was granted several extensions, including one in March 2020 based on Schwab’s contention that COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders made it impossible to continue work. In September, the bureau denied an additional extension and found “no evidence of a causal connection between Schwab’s claimed continued COVID-related impediments and its failure to construct.” In October, Schwab told the bureau it had lost the landlord’s permission to construct on the site. Schwab also didn’t provide sufficient evidence that COVID restrictions prevented construction, and late-filed evidence that construction was occurring, the order said. “Permittees that seek additional construction time following a disaster must establish a material nexus between the disaster and failure to construct,” the order said.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., is “no longer participating” in CES 2022, nor are Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) or New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), confirmed a CTA spokesperson Monday. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is still keynoting CES on Thursday but will do so virtually, not in person as originally planned, she said. The full slate of senators on a Friday panel called Women Leaders of the Senate will still appear live in Las Vegas, she said, including Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.; Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. The spokesperson sidestepped our questions about whether the speaker withdrawals were germane to CTA's decision to waive its $700-and-up Deluxe Conference Pass fees for in-person CES 2022 audiences (see 2201030034). Blackburn confirmed Monday that she will travel to Las Vegas for CES 2022 and looks “forward to collaborating” with tech leaders and the bipartisan group of senators on “key issues in the tech environment, including the current lack of accountability eroding the relationship between platforms and users.” A spokesperson in Clyburn's office confirmed Tuesday "that the Congressman had a scheduling change and will not be attending CES this year."
Podcast usage is rising for "diverse" audiences, Nielsen emailed Thursday. Mainstream media often centers on one perspective or experience, “with representation often addressed as a complement to a main story or primary character,” but podcasts increasingly resonate with diverse audiences, it said. The average number of times each identity group listens to a podcast varies from nine to 12 per month, Nielsen said, counting Asian Americans, Blacks, Hispanics, people with disabilities and LGBTQ+ consumers. People with disabilities listen to podcasts most at home (67%); Asian Americans listen the least at home at 43%. Black listeners stream audio more than other audiences, “while listening more closely when brands reach out,” averaging 73% brand recall for podcasts ads, it said. Podcast listening among Hispanics 25-39 has doubled in the past three years, it said, and Asian Americans have upped their podcast listening five times over the past decade, with news among the leading topics, it said. The Interactive Advertising Bureau predicts podcast ad revenue will hit $2 billion by 2023 vs. $842 million in 2020, Nielsen noted. Host-read ads drive a brand recall rate of 71%, creating “high levels of consumer interest, purchase intent and recommendation intent,” it said. Diverse audiences want to hear from “trusted voices with similar backgrounds or that have similar interests,” Nielsen said; topics need to be inclusive and relevant from credible sources with original voices.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) vetoed AB-5837 Wednesday, drawing praise from publishing advocates. The measure would have required publishers to license e-books to libraries under “reasonable terms,” including limits on the number of users who could simultaneously have access to particular titles and for a particular number of days. AB-5837 “would have forced authors, publishers, and other copyright owners to involuntarily grant licenses to New York libraries for their digital works on terms decided by the state of New York,” CA CEO Keith Kupferschmid said Thursday in a statement. “The bill was clearly unconstitutional, based on a campaign of misinformation, and in violation of federal copyright law.” Association of American Publishers President Maria Pallante thanked Hochul for "taking decisive action to protect the legal framework that has long incentivized the American private sector to invest in, publish, and distribute original works of authorship to the public, in service to society. The bill that she vetoed was rushed through the state legislature in response to a coordinated, misinformation campaign supported by Big Tech interests and lobbying groups that are notorious for wanting to weaken copyright protections for their own gain."
The FCC received about 4,000 more consumer complaints about calls made from automated telephone equipment or with prerecorded voice in 2021 (through November 30) than in 2020, according to informal data presented in an agency report to Congress on robocalls released Wednesday. The report was required by the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (Traced) Act. The report recommends “continuing to advance the implementation of STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication technology across the voice network and explore new ways to leverage this technology to protect Americans from unlawful calls.” Complaints about automated systems went up to 42,637 in 2021 from 38,657 in 2020, but the numbers for other forms of robocall showed small drops year over year: sales calls to residential numbers dipped from 92,043 to 91,624, about faxes from 27,937 to 27,002, and about spoofing from 53,736 to 53,320. A single complaint may address several sorts of violations and be counted in the report multiple times, the agency said. The report counts complaints going back to 2016, showing the FCC has received 365,867 informal consumer complaints about automated telephone equipment since then. All the categories had decreases from 2019, when the agency had 58,797 complaints about automated calls and 70,866 complaints about spoofed caller IDs. The report cited spam text messages and robocalls that originate in foreign countries as rising and difficult areas for the agency to tackle. Illegal robocalls that originate abroad “present one of the most vexing challenges facing the Commission,” the report said. In 2020, the FCC had 14,000 consumer communications -- “an almost 146% increase” over the prior year -- that were complaints about unwanted texts, the report said. “Thus far in 2021, the Commission has received over 9,800 consumer complaints about unwanted texts.”