press release

The US Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) introduced CyberSeek, an interactive online tool designed to make it easier for cybersecurity job seekers to find openings and for employers to identify the skilled workers they need. CyberSeek was announced at the 2016 NICE Conference in Kansas City (MO), by Rodney Petersen, director of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), which funded development of the tool.

The NIST-led NICE focuses on cybersecurity education, training and workforce development. The CyberSeek tool fills in knowledge gaps so policy makers, employers, security professionals and others will have greater visibility into the demand for cybersecurity professionals around the country. It will allow them to see the skills and types of workers that employers are looking for, as well as the true supply of professionals to fill those positions.

In just over a week since the AT&T takeover of Time Warner was announced, more than 115,000 Americans have signed petitions, hosted by CREDO Action, Demand Progress, and Free Press, opposing the deal. The petitions call on Washington policymakers to stop the mega-merger, noting the dangerous concentration of economic and political power the deal would create, and that such mega-mergers rarely benefit consumers – instead serving to line the pockets of corporate executives.

“This merger would hurt consumers, stifle competition and poison our democracy,” said CREDO Deputy Political Director Josh Nelson. “It would reward Wall Street banks with huge fees while offering consumers less choice and higher prices,” he continued. “Washington’s failure to block mergers and bust up existing monopolies has already put far too much economic and political power in the hands of major corporations,” Nelson added. “Federal regulators must stop this anti-consumer merger from moving forward.”

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the November Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, November 17, 2016:

Mobility Fund: The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would adopt rules for the second phase of the Mobility Fund, which would provide ongoing universal service support dedicated to expanding the availability of mobile broadband networks. (WT Docket No. 10-208; WC Docket No. 10-90)

Roaming Obligations of Commercial Mobile Service Providers and Regulatory Classification of Voice over LTE Service: The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would seek comment on proposals to implement a unified roaming standard and to classify Voice over LTE. (WT Docket No. 16-356)

Business Data Services: The Commission will consider a Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would allow for light-touch regulation of packet-based Business Data Services and retain and update price cap regulation for lower-bandwidth TDMbased Business Data Services to ensure that lack of competition does not unfairly harm commercial customers or the consumers who rely upon these services. (WC Docket Nos. 16-143, 15-247, 05-25; GN Docket No. 13-5; RM-10593)

Video Description: Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010: The Commission will consider a Report and Order which addresses the amount of video described programming required to be made available to consumers. (MB Docket No. 11-43)

Comcast Corporation announced that Beth Choroser has been promoted to Vice President, Regulatory Affairs in Washington (DC). Choroser will direct Comcast’s advocacy on regulatory matters affecting broadband, voice, public safety and security with a primary focus on the Federal Communications Commission. Choroser will be based in Comcast’s Washington, DC office and is replacing Mary McManus who is retiring at the end of Oct. Choroser previously served as Executive Director of Regulatory Affairs for Comcast Corporation in Philadelphia supporting the business, the regulatory law department and government affairs on a wide range of federal and state telecom matters. Prior to Comcast, Choroser worked at Kulicke and Soffa Industries Inc., ATX Telecommunications Service and New England Electric System. Choroser follows in the steps of Mary McManus, a well-known and highly regarded telecom lawyer who has served as one of the Comcast’s senior regulatory advocates before the FCC for the last 10 years. Choroser received a BA from Pennsylvania State University and a MBA from Syracuse University School of Management.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced the appointment of Lisa Hone as legal advisor to the Chairman with responsibility for wireline telecommunications issues, and the departure of Stephanie Weiner.

Hone begins work in the Chairman’s office in November. Hone has most recently served as an associate bureau chief in the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB). She has also served as a legal advisor for former Commissioner Michael J. Copps and as a deputy division chief in the Telecommunications Access Policy Division in WCB. Prior to joining the staff of the FCC in 2010, Hone worked at the Federal Trade Commission where she conducted and supervised federal court litigation and rulemaking proceedings involving a wide array of consumer protection issues. Hone has also worked in the US Senate (on detail from the FTC) and in private practice at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York City. Hone earned her law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and earned a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University.

Weiner has been at the Commission since 2013, serving as senior legal advisor to the Chairman and, prior to that, in the FCC’s Office of General Counsel. Weiner has served in senior legal positions with Neustar, Inc.; the US Department of Energy; the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau; and as an associate at Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis, LLP. Weiner earned a law degree from Northwestern University School of Law, a master's from the University of Chicago, and a bachelor’s from Brown University.

The Federal Communications Commission announced the winners of the Excellence in Economic Analysis and Excellence in Engineering Analysis Awards. These awards are intended to recognize Commission staff for outstanding economic analysis, and engineering, scientific or technical contributions that they have performed in the course of their work at the Commission.

Eugene Kiselev of the Media Bureau and Katherine LoPiccalo of the FCC’s Office of Strategic Planning share the 2016 Excellence in Economic Analysis Award for economic analysis of the Charter/Time Warner Cable/Bright House merger application. Kamran Etemad of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Robert Pavlak and Navid Golshahi of the Office of Engineering and Technology are the winners of the Commission’s 2016 Excellence in Engineering Award for their work on the technical issues for the Citizens Band Radio Service in the 3550 – 3700 MHz band.

The Federal Communications Commission rejected petitions for reconsideration of $20 million in fines issued against four prepaid calling card companies for deceptively marketing their products. In October 2015, the FCC issued separate $5 million fines against four calling card companies, Locus Telecommunications, Lyca Tel, NobelTel, and Touch-Tel USA, following an investigation by the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau. Each of the companies formally asked the FCC to reconsider those fines in four, separate petitions for reconsideration. The FCC dismisses and denies those requests and continues to seek payment of the fines.

The FCC has referred these matters to the US Department of Justice, which leads the process of collecting outstanding fines in federal court. The companies’ advertisements, apparently targeting immigrant communities, suggested that their calling cards could be used for hundreds or thousands of minutes of international calls. Multiple fees and surcharges added by the companies, however, caused the actual calling minutes available to consumers to be much fewer than advertised.

The US Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced the appointment by Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker of outside experts to serve on the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee (CSMAC), which provides advice and expertise on a wide range of spectrum policy and technical issues. The 30 committee members, including 11 new experts, will serve two-year terms.

The committee provides advice and recommendations to the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information aimed at strengthening the US global leadership role in wireless technology services and innovation while supporting the country's homeland security, national defense, and other critical government missions. In the upcoming term, NTIA expects CSMAC to continue working on, among other topics, enabling flexible federal access to non-federal spectrum on a shared basis and understanding challenges that are unique to 5G wireless systems. The Secretary selected members of the committee based on their technical background and expertise, as well as a diversity and balance in points of view, consistent with the CSMAC Membership Balance Plan. As Special Government Employees (SGEs), members serve in a personal capacity and do not represent any organization or interest.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced the appointment of Maria Pallante as senior advisor for digital strategy and Karyn Temple Claggett as acting register of copyrights. In the role of senior advisor, Pallante will support the Librarian’s agency-wide digital strategy, advising on collecting and preserving digital materials, collections copyright status, licensing opportunities and third-party collaborations related to digital content. Pallante has served as register of copyright since her appointment in 2011 by James Billington. Prior to that appointment, Pallante served as deputy general counsel (2007-2008) and associate register and director of policy and international affairs (2008-2011) for the office. From 1999-2007 she was intellectual property counsel and director of licensing for the worldwide Guggenheim Museums. She also worked for two authors’ organizations in New York, serving as assistant director of the Authors Guild Inc. and as executive director of the National Writers Union. She practiced at the Washington, D.C., law firm and literary agency Lichtman, Trister, Singer and Ross, and completed a clerkship in administrative law for the appellate division of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Temple Claggett has served since 2013 as associate register of copyrights and director of policy and international affairs for the United States Copyright Office. In that role, she has overseen the office’s domestic and international policy analyses, legislative support and trade negotiations. She has directed the Office of Policy and International Affairs, which represents the Copyright Office at meetings of government officials concerned with the international aspects of intellectual property protection, and provides support to Congress and its committees on statutory amendments and construction. Prior to joining the Copyright Office, Temple Claggett served as senior counsel to the deputy attorney general of the United States, where she assisted with the formulation of Department of Justice policy on legal issues and helped manage the Department of Justice’s Task Force on Intellectual Property. She also spent several years in the private sector as vice president, litigation and legal affairs for the Recording Industry Association of America and at the law firm Williams & Connolly, LLP. She began her legal career as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division through its Honors Program and also served as a law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Richard Stengel to be Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Stengel is Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, a position he has held since 2014.

Stengel served as Managing Editor of TIME from 2006 to 2013 and President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia from 2004 to 2006. Mr. Stengel was the Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University in 1999. From 1992 to 1994, he collaborated with Nelson Mandela on his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. Mr. Stengel has written for many publications and is the author of several books. He began his career at TIME in 1981 as a writer and correspondent. Mr. Stengel received a B.A. from Princeton University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Christ Church at the University of Oxford.