March 2016

The intensifying legal battle over encryption between Apple and the Justice Department has all but obscured another more subtle division, the one inside the Obama administration itself. Driven by competing and sometimes clashing interests about privacy, national security and the economy, some of the president’s most senior aides are staking out a variety of positions on the issue.

The White House denies there is disagreement over the effort to force Apple to break into the phone used by one of the terrorists in the San Bernardino (CA) shootings, but the differences on how to deal with the broader questions raised by encryption have become increasingly apparent. The Federal Bureau of Investigation wants the ability to break into smartphones and computers for investigations. The Pentagon and intelligence officials worry that the same techniques could be used by foreign powers or hackers to drain data from phones used by the United States government, and that countries like China will demand the same access provided to American law enforcement officials.

Add wireless operators to list of friends of the Federal Communications Commission and opponents of low-power operators' efforts to delay the auction. Actually, the LPTVs seeking the delay would rather the auction start on time—March 29—so long as they were allowed to participate in it. In a joint filing with the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, the Competitive Carriers Association and CTIA: The Wireless Association asked the court to allow them to intervene in the case of Latina Broadcasters of Daytona Beach v. FCC, and filed opposition to Latina's request for a stay. Latina asked the court to either allow it to participate in the auction—the FCC has excluded them—or delay the auction. “It is absolutely critical for the 600 MHz Incentive Auction to remain on track and as scheduled for the March 29 start date," said CCA president Steven Berry. "The FCC, CCA and competitive carriers have spent years devoting considerable time and effort preparing for the auction. The Commission has given sufficient notice and ample time for those wishing to participate, and any delay would harm the economy, consumers and the industry as a whole.”

An independent consumer watchdog within the California Public Utilities Commission has asked the agency to reject the merger between Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable, adding that if the agency does approve the deal, it should only be done with stiff conditions. In a 59-page document the Office of Ratepayer Advocates said the Charter-TWC merger would not be in the public interest, quoting another critic of the deal, Dish Network deputy general counsel Jeff Blum, who said, “If Comcast’s deal for Time Warner Cable was a Category 5 hurricane, Charter-Time Warner is a Category 4.”

Comcast abandoned its merger with TWC in April after it determined it would not receive regulatory approval for the deal. Other parties have come out against the merger in recent weeks, including several legislators that feared it would put control of a large portion of the broadband market in too few hands. The ORA had similar fears, stating that a combined Charter-TWC would dominate high-speed data service in the state, passing more than 82% of homes in Southern California and would be the only provider satisfying the Federal Communications Commission’s 25 Mbps broadband definition in “the vast majority” of those homes. While the ORA called for rejection of the merger, it added that if the PUC were to approve the deal, it should include a number of conditions.