Robert McDowell’s nomination for FCC commissioner is on hold, Hill and industry sources said Mon. The hold apparently was placed Fri., sources said, with no consensus as to why, according to numerous interviews. The hold process is public; Senators can place anonymous holds or identify themselves as placing holds. But even if a senator takes credit for a hold, it’s unusual to reveal motive, since most holds come into play for backroom deal-making, Hill sources said.
Notable CROSS rulings
Criticism of errors in the FCC’s indecency orders is mounting, with another TV station asking the Commission to void a fine because of a mixup about when a racy show was aired. WTHI-TV Terre Haute became the 5th station to tell us it was improperly fined $32,500 for airing Without a Trace. The show, criticized by the FCC for depicting a teen sex orgy (CD March 17 p1), aired at 10 p.m. Eastern time on WTHI-TV, said a station employee. That’s after FCC decency rules usually apply, said an Emmis spokeswoman: “We do plan to challenge it based on that difference.” That fine and others were based on the incorrect assumption that Ind. was on Central time, said broadcast officials.
FCC Chmn. Martin used his first news briefing to push for deregulation of telco video to compete with cable, plus looser media ownership limits. Fiber to the home “should also be free of many regulations… and I think the Commission should act on that,” Martin said: “I am hopeful that we will be able to provide some regulatory relief.” Fiber deployments such as Verizon’s estimated $20 billion FiOS project also help boost broadband deployment, Martin said, calling broadband “the top priority for this Commission.”
A record batch of FCC indecency fines drew widespread criticism from industry executives and others as failing to set clear precedents that broadcasters can follow. Inconsistencies cited included fining only CBS-owned stations for the infamous Janet Jackson Super Bowl breast-baring episode, while finding more than 100 affiliates and stations owned by that network liable for airing another show. Insiders predicted at least some of the $4 million in fines will lead to lawsuits. Stations can also ask the FCC to reconsider fines, or choose not to pay them and face possible DoJ action, said industry sources.
SAN JOSE -- Net neutrality rules that would bar network operators from charges fees to Internet companies must run the other way, too, Verizon Technology Policy Dir. David Young said. Google is unlikely to try to charge operators for their content and services -- but it’s just as likely as the other way around, he said Tues. on a panel at the VON Conference here. “The regulations should apply equally to all,” he said.
Australian will overhaul its media industry rules for the digital era, the Dept. for Communications, Information Technology & the Arts said Tues. Options: (1) Finding ways to speed the analog to digital shift. (2) Licensing new digital services on broadcast spectrum and other platforms. (3) Widening broadcaster options by ending bars on commercial broadcaster multichanneling and genre curbs on national broadcaster multichanneling. (4) Killing media-specific foreign ownership rules but still tagging media a “sensitive sector” for foreign investment. (5) Amending cross-media rules to let deals proceed subject to maintaining a minimum number of commercial media groups in each market. (6) Revising competition and media regulators’ roles. Comments are due April 18 -- trish.barnes@dcita.gov.uk.
Broadband providers are growing increasingly concerned that FCC attention to protecting customer proprietary network information (CPNI) means a pending rulemaking probably will produce a requirement that they protect such data. Cramming, slamming and truth in billing also were raised in a notice of proposed rulemaking the FCC released in Sept.
Despite improvement in EU-U.S. trade, roadblocks remain to trans-Atlantic business related to telecom and intellectual property (IP) rights, the European Commission (EC) said Wed. in its latest annual report on U.S. barriers to trade and investment. The U.S. has made “significant commitments” on European service provider market access, but the EU “remains concerned” about steep hurdles European and foreign-owned firms still face, the Commission said. The report emerged as the sides agreed to lift longstanding public procurement sanctions, some involving European telecom.
Cautioning the FCC against a “rushed decision” to classify BPL facilities and offerings as an information service, the Pa. PUC said cable, telecom and CE commenters have raised “significant” legal, engineering and ancillary access issues that the Commission should address before classifying the nascent technology. Their comments also have shown considerable disagreement on the “interplay” of Title II consumer protections and common carrier requirements with court decisions on FCC authority under Title I, the PUC said in reply comments in the Commission’s proceedings on a petition for a declaratory ruling by the United Power Line Council.
The U.S. Supreme Court said it would consider part of a Global Crossing appeal of a coinless payphone compensation decision by the 9th U.S. Appeals Court, San Francisco. The appeals court in Metrophones v. Global Crossing ruled in favor of Metrophones, deciding a provider of payphone service could sue a long distance carrier to recover compensation. The high court case is 05-705.