February 2013

FCC Acts on USTelecom Petition for Forbearance from Enforcement of Certain Legacy Telecommunications Regulations

In this order, the Federal Communications Commission addresses portions of a petition for forbearance filed by the United States Telecom Association (USTelecom).

The USTelecom Petition seeks forbearance from 17 different categories of FCC rules, which USTelecom argues are “legacy telecommunications regulations” that are unnecessary and outdated. The FCC address three of those categories here: Traffic Damage Claim Rules; Rules Governing Extension of Unsecured Credit for Interstate and Foreign Communications Services to Candidates for Federal Office; and Rules Governing Furnishing of Facilities to Foreign Governments for International Communications.

The FCC concludes that forbearance from these rules, in the limited circumstances discussed In this Order, furthers the Act’s and FCC’s goals of eliminating unnecessary and outdated legacy regulations that do not reflect today’s marketplace. USTelecom’s request regarding the remaining categories of rules is pending and under active consideration by the FCC, and will be addressed at
a later time.

Five Fundamentals for the Phone Network, Part 1: Service to All Americans

[Commentary] The debate around the technological transition of our phone system to an IP-based network is now well underway at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and among state and local regulators across the country. Public Knowledge has argued that we must guide this transition according to five fundamental principles: service to all Americans, interconnection and competition, consumer protection, network reliability, and public safety.

These principles lie at the heart of the reliability, efficiency, and consumer-friendly aspects of the phone network that we often take for granted. This post is going to focus on the first principle I listed: service to all Americans. First and foremost, the benefits of the phone network must reach all Americans – regardless of “race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.” In the U.S., we have long held to the conviction that the phone network should reach everyone. The U.S. can’t become the first industrialized nation to retreat from the goal of making basic voice service available to 100% of our population. Even if we haven’t met this goal yet, it is crucial that our actual goal continues to be complete coverage for everyone in the country.

How AT&T Is Planning to Rob Americans of an Open Public Telco Network

[Commentary] AT&T has a sneaky plan. It wants to exploit a loophole in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s rules to kill what remains of the public telecommunications network — and all of the consumer protections that go with it. It’s the final step in AT&T’s decade-long effort to end all telecommunications regulation, and the simplicity of the plan highlights a dysfunction unique to the American regulatory system.

AT&T and other big telecom carriers want to replace the portions of their networks that still use circuit-switching technology with equipment that uses Internet Protocol (IP) to route voice and data traffic. But because the FCC previously decided that it has no direct authority over communications networks that use IP, this otherwise routine technological upgrade could lead to a state of total deregulation. We are already living with the consequences of the FCC IP decision: an uncompetitive broadband market. Our broadband providers enjoy the kinds of high profit margins that would make a 19th-century robber baron blush. And our ability to use these networks to communicate openly and freely is under constant assault. Meanwhile, consumers in other countries not only have better access, but they pay far less for far better services. But there are large portions of the public telecom network that don’t use IP, and that are still subject to varying degrees of regulatory oversight — including traditional landlines, alarm circuits, and many of the “special access” connections that carry voice and data traffic from cellular towers.

Chairman Rockefeller Introduces Do-Not-Track Bill to Protect Consumers Online

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-WV) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Do-Not-Track Online Act of 2013, which would give consumers the ability to control their personal information and allow them to prevent online companies from collecting and using that information for profit.

“Online companies are collecting massive amounts of information, often without consumers’ knowledge or consent,” said Chairman Rockefeller. “Consumers should be empowered to make their own decision about whether their information can be tracked and used online. Industry stood at the White House and made a public pledge to honor do-not-track requests, but has since failed to live up to that commitment. My bill gives consumers the opportunity to simply say ‘no thank you’ to anyone and everyone collecting their online information. Period.” The bill would preserve the ability of online companies to conduct their business and continue to deliver content and services to consumers.

The Do-Not-Track Online Act of 2013 would:

Create a universal legal obligation for all online companies to honor consumer choice when consumers do not want anyone to collect information about their online activities;
Allow the Federal Trade Commission to pursue enforcement action against any company that does not honor this request by consumers;
If consumers ask not to be tracked, allow companies to collect only the information that is necessary for the website or online service to function and be effective, but then place a legal obligation on the online company to destroy or anonymize the information once it is no longer needed.

Universal Sells EMI Stake in Popular Music Series

The Universal Music Group has made the last of the divestitures ordered by European regulators as part of its $1.9 billion purchase of EMI’s recorded music division, closing a drawn-out process but significantly lowering Universal’s cost in the deal.

Universal sold EMI’s share of the long-running pop compilation series “Now That’s What I Call Music!” to Sony Music. The price was not disclosed, but it has been reported at about $60 million. Universal will retain its share of the “Now” brand, a joint venture by Sony, EMI and Universal, which began in Britain in 1983 and came to the United States in 1998. The series has sold more than 200 million albums around the world. Universal, now by far the world’s largest music company, made its deal for EMI in November 2011 with Citigroup.

ESPN Ordered to Pay Dish

A federal jury in Manhattan ordered ESPN to pay Dish Network $4.86 million in damages in a dispute over licensing rates for sports broadcasts.

Dish Network alleged that the sports broadcaster violated an eight-year broadcast licensing agreement by offering more favorable rates to the satellite provider's competitors. The agreement is set to expire later this year. The jury on Thursday found in favor of Dish Network on only one of its four claims: that ESPN had allowed Dish's competitors to pay a lower rate for ESPN Deportes, the broadcaster's Spanish-language channel. Dish Network had sought more than $152 million in the dispute. Diane Sullivan, a lawyer with Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, which represented ESPN, said the network was "thrilled with the result." She said the network was evaluating whether to file a post-trial motion asking the judge to set aside the jury's verdict on the one claim where Dish prevailed.

Senate plans joint hearing on Obama's cybersecurity order

The chairmen of the Senate Commerce and Homeland Security Committees will hold a joint hearing March 7 on implementation of President Obama's recent executive order on cybersecurity and potential legislation on the issue.

White House debating actions to retaliate against foreign cyberattacks

The White House is debating what actions will be taken to retaliate against individuals and countries that launch cyberattacks against the United States.

White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Michael Daniel said officials might consider financial sanctions, visa restrictions and military action as tools to use against foreign hackers who target U.S. networks. However, the U.S. is still weighing when a cyber-incident will prompt a response from the federal government. "It's really a question that we're still debating and debating vigorously, and we need to debate within the government and as a society," Daniel said during a speech at the RSA cybersecurity conference. "What I can say is that once we decide a federal response is warranted though, there's still a broad spectrum of actions we could take." The State Department could also leverage its diplomatic powers to push countries to crack down on hacking activities from within their borders, Daniel said.

China's universities linked to cyber-spying

A burgeoning Chinese effort to build academic and civilian expertise in computer espionage has ties to the nation's military, the journal Science reports.

In the past five years, China has opened 10 university computer security academies that specialize in cyber-research. Chinese universities publish computer espionage research in the open scientific literature — including one 2009 report "outlining how to mount an effective attack on the U.S. power grid." Such schools have hosted hiring fairs for People's Liberation Army units, which have been linked to hundreds of hacking successes against U.S. industries and government agencies recently by outside analysts.

Rep. Wolf: Media Should Be Bigger Part of Violence Conversation

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), a longtime critic of media violence, particularly video games, took to the House floor during general speeches to call on the president to get the media more involved in the solution to gun violence.

His latest interest was sparked by the Sandy Hook school shootings (the Virginia Tech school shooter lived in his district). In arguing against focusing on guns, Rep Wolf said that he had concerns about what he called the "lack of discussion" about mental health issues and "violent media and the role they play in mass shootings." He called it irresponsible to focus only on shooting. He focused mostly on violent video games, but did not stop there. "I am not naive enough to think that video game violence is the only issue here. We need to have an honest discussion about media violence -- TV, movies and video games."

Benton

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