Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Shares in wireless charging company Energous soared 168 percent Wednesday, closing at $23.70, after Tuesday’s announcement the company received FCC certification of its first-generation mid-field transmitter that sends focused, RF-based power to devices at distances up to three feet.

Local governments opposed to the FCC rescinding Title II protection are weighing legal and other options to protect neutrality and local authority, local representatives said. Some see municipal broadband as an answer, though few can buy such service today. Local government “has long supported enforceable net neutrality protections,” said Best Best attorney Gerard Lederer. State-level Democrats also seek to counter the FCC action through a planned multistate lawsuit by attorneys general, some governors mulling ways to use their state’s buying power to require net neutrality, and a flurry of state legislation predicted for 2018 (see 1712150042, 1712140044 and 1712210034).

The FCC Enforcement Bureau said Lumenier agreed to pay $180,000 and institute a compliance plan to end investigation of the company’s alleged sale of noncompliant audio/visual transmitters for use with drones, in a consent decree. The noncompliant transmitters “could operate in bands that are reserved for Federal government and other important operations, including Federal Aviation Administration airport operations and satellite communications,” the bureau said. “Some of the AV transmitters also operated at power levels that exceeded limits set by the Commission’s rules.” The closely held company acknowledged it violated equipment authorization and marketing rules and didn’t comment further.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., vowed Friday to "force" a floor vote on a planned Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to counteract the FCC order to repeal 2015 net neutrality regulation. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., are leading the CRA push and will file their respective resolutions in the Senate and House once the order is promulgated (see 1712110050, 1712120037 and 1712140044). Industry lawyers and governance experts noted diverging opinions on the procedural timeline for bringing up CRA resolutions on the net neutrality repeal. The precise timetable for court challenges to the order is also somewhat murky due to the item's structure, attorneys told us.

Federal lawmakers and state governments promised action Thursday to counteract the FCC 3-2 vote to roll back its 2015 net neutrality rules. State Democratic attorneys general announced plans to sue as expected (see 1712130051), and other officials said they will protect consumers within their states if the FCC won’t. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., gained support for respective plans to file Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval to undo the FCC's repeal (see 1712110050 and 1712120037). The FCC's action drew impassioned statements from lawmakers in both parties, with Republicans largely in support and Democrats uniformly in opposition.

The FCC voted 3-2 to undo Title II net neutrality regulation under the Communications Act at a Thursday meeting, as expected. The ruling and orders approved by commissioners along party lines will return broadband classification to a Title I framework and eliminate 2015 regulation. The item as described by a release and officials' statements appears substantively the same as a draft. Tweaks narrowed the legal basis of a transparency rule and bolstered pre-emption of state broadband regulation.

The FCC draft "restoring internet freedom" order cites studies to show the 2015 net neutrality order hurt the economy. Such arguments have been disputed, but court watchers agree for the most part that when legal challenges are filed, judges are likely to give the analysis little scrutiny. NCTA CEO Michael Powell told reporters Wednesday consumers will see no change due to the order. The National Hispanic Media Coalition said it expects to take the regulator to court, and states may as well.

Protests highlight growing resistance to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's plan to undo net neutrality regulation and Communications Act Title II broadband classification, said organizers of 700 demonstrations they say were held across the country Thursday. Attendees said much the same thing. But the protests won't change any votes at the FCC's decisive Thursday meeting, it's widely believed. Self-identified Republicans, independents and Democrats were among protesters, they said on the sidelines.

The FCC is obstructing a law enforcement investigation, the New York attorney general’s office said Friday. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel slammed her agency’s general counsel for refusing to cooperate with the probe into allegedly fake comments in the proceeding to rescind some net neutrality rules (see 1712040046). FCC General Counsel Thomas Johnson wrote in a Thursday letter to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) the commission declined the request.

A congressional infrastructure package isn't expected to contain broadband funding, said Grace Koh, National Economic Council technology, telecom and cybersecurity assistant to President Donald Trump. "I don't think broadband is going to be a set-aside" in legislation, though high-speed deployment could be encouraged in other ways, she said at a Practicing Law Institute conference Thursday morning. Other PLI news: 1712070063 and 1712070047.