The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved two telecommunications bills:

 S. 151, Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act, Sponsors: Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Krysten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.)
a. Thune Substitute (modified)   
b. Moran 1

The bill boosts the Federal Communications Commission's authority to fine telemarketers, gives it more time to identify them and take action, and requires carriers to adopt call ID technologies.

S. 918, Eliminate From Regulators Opportunities to Nationalize The Internet In Every Respect Act, Sponsors: Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) 
a. Markey 1

Fiber cities know the difference between publicly overseen networks, aimed at providing a utility service, and wholly private, “demand-driven” communications networks. There is no single meaning of the word utility, but the concept is familiar to many people. The basic idea is that a utility is a service that 1) relies on a physical network of some kind and 2) is a basic input into both domestic and economic life. A utility is not a luxury. Utility services can be sold by private or public entities, but they are always subject to public obligations to reach everyone at a reasonable price, with a service meeting public quality standards.

When Microsoft announced plans in 2017 to work with network operators to bring broadband to rural areas lacking broadband service, the company had no problem finding network operators to participate in the program, dubbed Microsoft Airband. Microsoft’s initial plans called for 12 rural broadband projects in 12 states, with a strong emphasis on fixed wireless technology. The company later extended the timeframe and raised the goal to 25 states.

To date, the company has announced eight partners, primarily wireless internet service providers (WISPs), for 16 states. But so many other companies expressed interest in the Airband project that Microsoft decided to create a program to help those companies with their own deployments. More than 230 WISPs currently participate in that program, which as McKinley explains, provides benefits such as access to hardware at lower prices. The service providers that were chosen for Airband projects were chosen based on “how committed to and interested they were in developing new solutions and being creative in solving problems,” said McKinley, adding that “we need everyone’s creativity to come to the front.” Other selection factors: Microsoft wanted providers that were “actively engaged in the community” and who wanted to “ensure that the community has access to greater economic opportunities,” as well as opportunities for healthcare and education.

More than 540 million Facebook records — including users’ comments, likes, account names and more — were left exposed on an Amazon cloud-computing server, researchers announced, marking the latest major privacy and security mishap to plague the social-networking giant. The trove is one of two data sets discovered to be in full public view by the security firm UpGuard, which also raised alarms with a second app developer that appears to have mishandled Facebook records including users’ interests and potentially their app passwords. Facebook said its policies prohibit app developers from “storing information in a public database,” adding it has worked with Amazon to take them down.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s call for new rules for the Internet is a start. The four proposals he makes open the door to a meaningful discussion about the effects of internet capitalism. Now what is needed is a similar look at the issues underlying the market dislocations caused by a handful of internet companies. As significant as Zuckerberg’s proposals are, it is important to recognize they deal with the effects of internet commerce more than their causes: the business model of internet companies. Economists define that business model as a “two-sided market.” On one side, the companies collect the assets they sell on the other side. Each of those sides requires a set of behavioral rules, yet today the companies make those rules. On the collection side, consumers should have more control over their data. In his embrace of GDPR by name and in its entirety,  Zuckerberg recognizes the importance of protecting consumer sovereignty over their own data. It is the sell side of the market—where the money comes from—that Zuckerberg’s proposals ignore. The internet business model relies on companies like Facebook hoarding personal information in order to collect monopoly-based prices. It is this data bottleneck that is at the root of the digital companies’ power to dominate and control markets.

Communications technologies power one-sixth of the nation’s economy—and every American needs access to these technologies to have a fair shot at 21st century success. That is why the budget request from the Administration before you today is so striking. It asks for less than the $339,000,000 the agency is set to spend in the current fiscal year and is almost $4,000,000 less than the budget level authorized by Congress. If adopted, it would result in the smallest payroll in decades—at a time when communications technologies loom larger than ever before in every aspect of civic and commercial life.