December 2016

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed a $392,930 fine against NECC Telecom for apparently charging excessive and unlawful universal service fees to its customers.

Phone companies are required to pay into a fund to support various universal service programs and may assess fees on customers to offset that cost. Carriers are prohibited from charging customers more in fees than they pay into the Universal Service Fund (USF). The FCC Enforcement Bureau’s investigation showed that NECC, primarily an international long distance reseller, profited from overcharges labeled as USF-related fees imposed upon its international service customers despite being exempt from any USF contribution obligation. This is the Commission’s first action enforcing FCC rules prohibiting a carrier from collecting more from consumers in USF fees than the carrier actually pays into the USF. The FCC also alleges that NECC failed to pay over $80,000 in mandatory regulatory fees and transferred its authorizations to provide telecommunications services without FCC approval.

The Federal Communications Commission raised new concerns about AT&T’s practice of excluding its new DirecTV Now streaming service from data charges and, for the first time, lobbed similar questions at Verizon Communications. In a pair of letters sent Dec 1, the FCC warned that so called zero-rating, which makes the data used by certain video services free for the carriers’ wireless customers, could harm competition and consumers. The agency argues the practice could deter consumers from accessing mobile-video services not affiliated with the carriers, such as those from Netflix or Hulu, which is co-owned by Walt Disney Co., Comcast Corp., 21st Century Fox and Time Warner Inc. Both AT&T and Verizon responded that the practice complies with existing rules and benefits consumers.

In light of the multiple directives we have received from Congress to avoid directing attention and resources to complex or controversial matters, the staff of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau is inappropriately pressing forward and escalating its investigation of certain providers’ zero-rated video services. It would be difficult to come up with a better example of a complex, controversial policy at the current Commission than this attempt to intimidate providers in order to shut down popular offerings to consumers. It just reaffirms my objection to this entire investigation process and the use of delegated authority in general. Any potential action the Bureau may be considering can be reviewed and potentially reversed within weeks. To the extent the message to stop work on such items has not filtered down to staff, the Chairman should direct the Bureau to halt this wild goose chase at once.

The controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is on its deathbed. After international outcry and intense grassroots organizing, US lawmakers from both parties rejected the 12-country deal, including every leading presidential candidate. The president-elect has said he’ll withdraw from the pact on day one. The TPP’s demise is a huge blow to the hundreds of corporate lobbyists who worked closely with government officials to craft the agreement in secret. But it’s a major victory for free speech and civil liberties in the digital age. While many of the largest technology companies struck a deal with the White House and ended up supporting the TPP, it has long been condemned by tech experts, free speech advocates, startups, and civil society groups, along with some of the biggest websites on the Internet like reddit and Wikipedia, who have long championed the open web.