The FCC notice of inquiry on future spectrum needs of the IoT was changed from the draft to ask whether rules or standards were slowing progress. Our review is based on a side-by-side comparison of the NOI's final and draft versions. The disaster preparedness NPRM also saw changes, as discussed by FCC officials Thursday (see 2109300069). Both were posted in Friday's Daily Digest.
Notable CROSS rulings
New Orleans and nearby Louisiana parishes faced 911 outages Monday after Hurricane Ida hit, local authorities reported. Ida caused “significant impacts” to AT&T's Louisiana network due to “massive power outages and storm damage,” the carrier said Monday. The FCC disaster information reporting system (DIRS) was activated Sunday for affected counties in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Staffers were deployed “to assess the post-landfall impact to communications networks and to assist in efforts to restore service as quickly as possible,” acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Saturday before landfall: “We know the reality of the danger from this kind of hurricane all too well.”
T-Mobile and Dish Network may both testify and cross-examine each other’s witnesses at the California Public Utilities Commission’s Sept. 20 hearing on T-Mobile's shutting down its CDMA network (see 2108160021), Assistant Chief Administrative Law Judge Anthony Colbert ruled Tuesday in docket A.18-07-011.
FCC commissioners approved 4-0 an NPRM on modifying compensation methodology for IP relay service supported by the Telecom Relay Service Fund. It’s the first time in 14 years the commission is considering such new TRS methodology. The current IP relay compensation period ends June 30.
The House Appropriations Committee’s proposed report on the Financial Services Subcommittee-cleared measure to fund the FCC and FTC in FY 2022 seeks further work on changes to USF contribution rules and wants additional study of how municipal broadband can expand connectivity access. The committee was still considering the underlying bill late Tuesday afternoon. Dueling panels of telecom policy officials disagreed on how lawmakers should translate into legislation the $65 billion broadband component in a bipartisan infrastructure package framework President Joe Biden endorsed last week (see 2106240070).
Localities are gearing up to sue Ohio unless lawmakers remove a proposed ban on municipal broadband that the Senate added to the state budget without hearings. A conference committee is expected to say in coming days if the amendment added this month will make the final budget that both chambers must pass and Gov. Mike DeWine (R) must sign by month’s end. The proposed ban could force existing muni providers to sell their businesses, said local officials in interviews last week.
Privacy watchdogs may enforce breaches even if they're not the lead authority -- under certain conditions -- the European Court of Justice ruled Tuesday. ECJ's decision prompted cheers from consumer groups and a cautious response from Facebook and the tech sector. The case arose when the Belgian Privacy Commission tried to stop Facebook Ireland, Facebook Inc. and Facebook Belgium from allegedly collecting personal information on the browsing behavior of account holders and non-users via cookies, social plug-ins and pixels. In 2018, a Brussels court held that it had jurisdiction and that Facebook wasn't adequately informing Belgian users about its data collection. The court ordered the social media giant to stop gathering the information in Belgium. The company appealed; that court said its jurisdiction covered only Facebook Belgium, not Facebook Ireland or Facebook Inc. The appeals court asked the ECJ to determine whether Belgium's data protection authority had the required standing to bring the proceedings, given that general data protection regulation created a "one-stop shop" for enforcement actions, and that only the Irish Data Protection Commission had jurisdiction because it's the controller for Facebook personal data in the EU. The ECJ held that a national data protection authority has the power to pursue alleged GDPR violations involving cross-border data processing even though it's not the lead supervisory authority and that it's not necessary that the controller of such personal data have a main establishment in that country. However, the ECJ said the non-lead authority can enforce only if it complies with rules governing the relationship between itself and the lead authority. The one-stop shop mechanism "requires close, sincere and effective cooperation" between authorities to ensure consistent application of the rules, the court said. Facebook said it's pleased the court "upheld the value and principles of the one-stop shop mechanism, and highlighted its importance" in ensuring uniform application of the GDPR. "While the Court has upheld the one-stop shop principle ... it has also opened the back door for all national data protection enforcers to start multiple proceedings against companies," said the Computer & Communications Industry Association, adding that this risks compliance becoming more fragmented and uncertain. "Given the existing bottlenecks in the GDPR cross-border enforcement system, all national authorities must be able, under certain conditions, to proactively take matters into their own hands, said the European Consumer Organisation.
The U.S. and EU should stop squabbling over tech issues or risk having China or another authoritarian government step into the gap, speakers told a Tuesday Information Technology and Innovation Foundation webinar. High on President Joe Biden's agenda for the summit in Brussels next week is discussion of the relationship, including whether the EU should stop attacking America's tech sector and Biden should refrain from giving away too much to make amends to Europe for the previous administration's attitude, said ITI President Robert Atkinson. He accused Europe of deploying a range of tools to hobble U.S. tech giants, such as the Digital Services Act and limits on cross-border data flows, and urged Biden to aggressively defend America while seeking stronger trans-Atlantic ties. The EU and U.S. are at an uneven point, said Atlantic Council Distinguished Fellow Frances Burwell: Europe is active on these issues while it's unclear where Biden or Congress wants to go. The U.S. must pick its battles with the EU and be clear about what it wants, Burwell said. The summit is a great opportunity to reset the EU-U.S. relationship, said President Paul Hofheinz of think tank The Lisbon Council. There are two different forms of government in the world -- democracies and one-party states -- and no one is thinking hard enough about how to regulate the neutral technology that sits between them, he said. The discussion should focus on China, said Center for European Policy Analysis President Alina Polyakova. This year will be important for seeing where and who sets normalization rules for technology, she said. Creating a level playing field for European companies is a top priority for the EU, but that will come from stimulating innovation, not regulation, she said. The "big gorilla in the room" is the Digital Markets Act, which attacks U.S. companies, she said. She urged the EU to rethink its digital agenda, including Privacy Shield and the DMA, and both sides to cooperate more. They potentially can meet in some areas, such as on facial recognition technology and the need for a U.S. federal privacy law, said Hofheinz: "We need to talk to each other humbly, respectfully and honestly." One problem with the U.S. approach is that no official "owns" this issue, which is spread across various agencies, said Polyakova. On the other hand, Europe is more thoughtful, strategic and sophisticated about policy, said Atkinson.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., plans to introduce legislation to regulate online platforms like common carriers, he told us Monday. Citing a recent opinion from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas advocating for such (see 2104090046), Wicker hoped to introduce the bill this week.
The FCC Media Bureau reinstated media ownership rule changes resurrected by Supreme Court reversal of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ Prometheus IV (see 2104010067), said an order Friday’s. “The Newspaper/Broadcast Cross-Ownership Rule, the Radio/Television Cross-Ownership Rule, and the Television Joint Sales Agreement Attribution Rule are eliminated, and the Local Television Ownership Rule and Local Radio Ownership Rule are reinstated.” Such actions are ministerial, and rules have effectively been in operation since SCOTUS ruled (see 2105070053). The bureau said it's revising forms for assignment, transfer of control and FM construction permit applications.