June 2010

The witness list for the House Judiciary Committee's hearing to be held Monday in Los Angeles about the Comcast-NBC Universal deal is likely to include a mix of industry executives and academics, many of whom will raise concerns about the combination of the cable giant and the programming behemoth.

Although the committee chair is Rep. John Conyers (D-MI.) and he will be overseeing the hearing, the driving force behind is it Rep Maxine Waters (D-CA). Rep Waters, who was particularly tough on NBC Universal about diversity in its prime-time programming during a hearing about the deal back in February, pushed Monday's event. Among potential witnesses are producer Suzanne de Passe, Alex Nogales of the National Hispanic Media Coalition; writer and producer Reggie Hudlin, a former senior executive at BET who was also an executive producer of Cartoon Network's "The Boondocks" and more recently has directed episodes of ABC's "Modern Family" and NBC's "The Office;" Frank Washington, chairman of Tower of Babel, which owns KBTV-TV Sacramento, a television station that Comcast carries on its cable systems there; Will Griffin, a music and cable entrepreneur; Sam Kang of the Greenlining Institute, a liberal think tank, is set to appear; media watchdog Stanley Washington, chief executive of the National Coalition of African American Owned Media.

Sen Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), the most vocal network neutrality supporter among GOP senators, has joined her colleagues in urging Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski not to change the regulatory classification of broadband service.

Sen Snowe said she supports the FCC's goal of keeping the Internet open and expanding broadband to all Americans, but that she sees "significant drawbacks" in Genachowski's proposal to change broadband's regulatory status. She said Genachowski's effort could create uncertainty that would "hamper or delay investment in much-needed broadband." Sen Snowe has repeatedly introduced network neutrality legislation designed to rein in how cable and phone companies can treat the traffic that rides over their networks. But she indicated she strongly opposes the reclassification effort, and said congressional action to streamline broadband policies is preferable to Genachowski's plan. Sen Snowe warned that putting broadband services under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act would place new technologies under regulatory burdens designed decades before the Internet was launched. "Title II includes numerous prescriptive regulatory obligations — close to 50 different sections — many of which were created in 1934 and do not properly capture technological advancements," Sen Snowe said. She said she supports the calls by the chairmen of key congressional committees to start work on updating the Communications Act.

The National Broadband Plan recommends that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should make 500 megahertz of spectrum available for broadband use within the next 10 years, including 300 megahertz between 225 MHz and 3.7 GHz for mobile use in the next five years. The Office of Engineering and Technology has engaged in discussions with the Office of Spectrum Management, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), to begin examining various frequency bands that may be suitable for mobile broadband use.

NTIA has preliminarily identified the 1675-1710 MHz band for such use and is examining the impact on its incumbent federal users. By this Public Notice, we seek information to help us better comprehend the current use of the 1675-1710 MHz band by non-federal entities and better understand its potential utility for broadband. The 1675-1710 MHz band is allocated on a co-primary basis for federal and non-federal use for the Meteorological Aids Service and the Meteorological Satellite Service (Space-to-earth). Specifically, this band is used for downlinks from certain weather satellites and radiosondes (weather balloons) that are administered by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA provides these services for weather forecasting, tracking of hurricanes and other storms, prediction of flooding and drought conditions, and warning against other hazards to life and property. The FCC seeks comment on the extent to which and manner in which non-federal users directly access federally authorized Meteorological Satellite Service space station downlink transmissions. The FCC also seeks comment on the extent to which non-federal users directly access transmissions from radiosondes. Also, it may be feasible for radiosondes to operate using substantially less bandwidth than they currently do, freeing spectrum for other uses, or for them to use an alternative technology or relocate to other spectrum. Comments are due June 28, 2010.

The Online Safety and Technology Working Group has submitted a report and many recommendations to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration after evaluating:

• The status of industry efforts to promote online safety through educational efforts, parental control technology, blocking and filtering software, age-appropriate labels for content or other technologies or initiatives designed to promote a safe online environment for children;
• The status of industry efforts to promote online safety among providers of electronic communications services and remote computing services by reporting apparent child pornography, including any obstacles to such reporting;
• The practices of electronic communications service providers and remote computing service providers related to record retention in connection with crimes against children; and
• The development of technologies to help parents shield their children from inappropriate material on the Internet.

The OSTWG has attempted to offer recommendations that will stand the test of time by stressing that lawmakers, government, and risk-prevention practitioners rely heavily on the research, as it unfolds, to get an accurate picture of what needs to be addressed when it is being addressed. This is in no way dissimilar to the approach policymakers have taken with our nation's longest living laws and policies, which continue to stand up to historical, behavioral, and technological change.