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  2. March 2017

March 2017

CLIC Announces Strong Support for 2 TN Bills to Remove Restrictions on Muni and Co-Op Broadband Networks

On March 6, 2017, the Coalition for Local Internet Choice and 14 prominent public and private-sector companies and organizations announced strong support for two Tennessee bills, HB970 (SB1058) and HB1410 (SB1045) that will authorize municipal electric utilities and cooperatives to finally serve many currently unserved or underserved rural businesses and citizens.

According to the CLIC letters of support, these bills will not only remove barriers, but will also incentivize public-private network deployments. In separate letters to the House and Senate committees, CLIC and fellow co-signers note how municipalities and cooperatives in Tennessee have been subject to legislatively imposed barriers for too long. These barriers have harmed both the public and private sectors by retarding or delaying economic growth, preventing the creation or retention of jobs around the State, particularly in rural areas, hampering workforce development, and diminishing the quality of life in Tennessee.

Trump renominates FCC Chairman Pai to another term

President Donald Trump has renominated Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to another term at the agency. The White House was hoping to move renomination papers to the Senate ahead of Chairman Pai's appearance before a Senate Commerce Committee hearing March 8. He's been renominated for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2016, when his previous term formally expired. (Commissioners are able to stay on at the agency a year after their term expires.)

Trump’s New FCC Chief Is on a Mission to Radically Revise Agency’s Policies

While outgoing Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler had presided over an activist commission, ready to act on marketplace trends that would seemingly threaten competition, Chairman Ajit Pai is convinced that the best approach is one that is largely hands-off. He has signaled a willingness to target regulations that he sees as stifling investment. Yet President Donald Trump’s populist campaign rhetoric may conflict with Chairman Pai’s laissez-faire approach, particularly when it comes to big media mergers. Pai already has said that the FCC would not weigh in on the AT&T-Time Warner combination. That would leave the Dept of Justice as the sole agency to assess the deal. But the FCC, which reviews transactions to determine if they are in the public interest, would have an easier path to block the merger than would the DOJ, which, more narrowly, weighs whether a combination conforms to antitrust law.

Coalition of 171 Public Interest Groups Send Letter to Pai and Senate Leaders To Protect Net Neutrality

A coalition of 171 public interest groups [including the Benton Foundation] sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) and Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL) urging them not to dismantle the network neutrality rules from 2015.

“Protecting net neutrality is crucial to ensuring that the internet remains a central driver of economic growth and opportunity, job creation, education, free expression, and civic organizing for everyone,” the letter reads. "In order to promote continued economic, social, and political growth and innovation, it is imperative that the internet remain open and accessible to all people in the future." "We, the undersigned organizations, representing a diverse group of consumer, media, technology, library, arts, civil liberties, and civil rights advocates and content creators, urge you and your colleagues to oppose legislation and regulatory actions that would threaten net neutrality and roll back the important protections put in place by the FCC in 2015, and to continue to enforce the Open Internet Order as it stands."

FCC Chairman Pai Needs to Stop Blocking Opportunities for Low-Income People to Get Online

People with low incomes often have to make difficult choices about how to spend their money to best support their families. This is why so many people are still living without internet access. And those without reliable home internet access are missing out on opportunities to connect to jobs, complete homework and engage in our democracy. Since his promotion to chairman, Ajit Pai has taken steps to limit Lifeline broadband options and has essentially frozen Lifeline implementation. Thanks to the outcry from nearly 40 advocacy groups — including Free Press — Chairman Pai is now inviting public comment on his decision to stop nine companies from providing broadband service to Lifeline customers. That’s why we need to seize this opportunity and urge Pai to help bridge the digital divide. Tell him to revoke his decision on the nine companies and move forward on implementing the Lifeline Modernization Order now.

Public Knowledge Files Opposition for Reconsideration to Save Broadband Privacy Rules for Consumers

Public Knowledge, joined by Benton Foundation and the Center for Digital Democracy, filed an Opposition to Petitions for Reconsideration of the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Privacy Order adopted in 2016. We seek to preserve elements of the Order that enable Americans to control both how their data is collected and how that data gets used, including a requirement that internet service providers should take “reasonable measures” to secure broadband subscribers’ data.

Dallas Harris, Policy Fellow at Public Knowledge, said, “Despite the exploding vulnerability consumers feel as today’s digital marketplace virtually forces them to expose their most private personal data online, both internet providers and advertising agencies petitioned the Commission to return us to a time when Americans had much less control over how their information is collected and used. There’s no denying that consumers need more control over their data, not less, which is why we oppose those petitions that asked the Commission to abandon its successful efforts to protect our privacy online.”

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