Daily Digest 5/18/2018 (The RIGHT Thing to Do)

For well over a decade, the debate on how best to ensure protections for broadband customers has bounced around Washington, DC. Although Congressional Members have often shared their opinions on network neutrality, few have ever gotten the chance to cast a vote on the issue. That changed this week when the Senate voted 52-47 to adopt Senate Joint Resolution 52. S.J. Res 52, introduced by Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), nullifies the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission entitled "Restoring Internet Freedom." Adopted by the FCC is December 2017, the rule, published on February 22, 2018, is set to take affect on June 11. But the Restoring Internet Freedom Order is better known as a repeal of the FCC's Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet Order which banned three practices that harm the Open Internet: blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. Passage of S.J. Res 52 would reinstate these rules.

[Speech] A year ago, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order aimed at strengthening the cybersecurity of federal networks and critical infrastructure.  The order mandated that all federal agencies use the Cybersecurity Framework developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In April, NIST released version 1.1 of the Framework, which shows how this voluntary approach can provide a first line of cyber defense for companies. Several broad themes emerged from our work over the past year: Attacks are a global challenge for the entire Internet ecosystem, and cannot be solved in isolation. We must collaborate across sectors and involve all stakeholders in finding workable solutions. And we must work closely with international partners, as the majority of compromised devices in recent botnet attacks have been located outside the United States. Many of the tools necessary for a more resilient Internet already exist, but aren’t widely used. We need to increase awareness and education, and help align market incentives to promote a better balance between security and convenience.  The administration will work with the private sector to coordinate on our plans based on the report’s recommendations.

In 2013 Mark Zuckerberg debuted a bold, humanitarian vision of global internet. It didn’t go as planned—forcing Facebook to reckon with the limits of its own ambition. Facebook launched Internet.org with the bold arrogance that has defined its approach to many of its partnerships. It blundered blindly into areas where it had no expertise, apologizing after the fact when it made mistakes. That arrogance left it deaf to the feedback of partners, potential users, and people who had spent careers learning the lessons Facebook has had to piece together on its own. By the middle of 2016, the company had rebranded its larger effort to “Internet.org by Facebook.” Instead of adding partners to the original six with which it launched in 2013, Facebook opted to forge its own path.  In many ways, the early mistakes Facebook made as it launched Internet.org mirror the company’s current challenges. Facebook tried to present itself as a neutral party and suggested its actions were driven by altruism. But Facebook is inherently not neutral; its aim is profit. 

The Office of Special Counsel has ruled that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai did not violate ethics laws by participating in a panel discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February, but said that it will be conducting standards training with agency employees in the coming months. "After considering all of the facts and circumstances surrounding the event, OSC has concluded that you did not violate the Hatch Act by merely participating in the panel discussion in an official capacity," OSC official Ana Galindo-Marrone wrote in the letter to Chairman Pai, which is dated May 16. But the letter said the, "OSC is working with the FCC to schedule comprehensive Hatch Act training for FCC employees" this summer.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the June Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, June 7, 2018:

1. Next Steps to Open Spectrum Frontiers for 5G Connectivity – The Commission will consider a Third Report and Order, Memorandum Opinion and Order, and Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would continue efforts to make available millimeter wave spectrum, in bands at or above 24 GHz, for fifth-generation wireless, Internet of Things, and other advanced spectrum-based services. It would finalize rules for certain of these bands and seek comment on making additional spectrum available in the 26 GHz and 42 GHz bands for flexible terrestrial wireless use, sharing mechanisms in the Lower 37 GHz band, and earth station siting criteria for the 50 GHz band. (GN Docket No. 14-177; WT Docket No. 10-112)
2. Wireline Infrastructure – The Commission will consider a Second Report and Order that will revise the Commission’s section 214(a) discontinuance processes, network change disclosure processes, and Part 68 customer notification process to remove barriers to infrastructure investment and promote broadband deployment. (WC Docket No. 17-84).
3. Eliminating Disparate Treatment of Rural Broadband Providers – The Commission will consider an Order granting forbearance from applying Universal Service Fund contribution requirements to rural carriers’ broadband Internet access transmission services. (WC Docket No. 17-206)
4. Audacy Corporation Space Station Authorization – The Commission will consider an Order and Authorization that recommends granting Audacy’s request to construct, deploy, and operate a proposed non-geostationary satellite (NGSO) constellation to provide continuous, high-speed, low-latency relay services to other NGSO spacecraft operators through Audacy’s proposed satellites and gateway earth stations. (IBFS SAT-LOA-20161115-00117)
5. O3b Market Access Request – The Commission will consider an Order and Declaratory Ruling that recommends granting a request to modify O3b’s existing U.S. market access grant by adding new non-geostationary satellites and new frequency bands in order to provide broadband communication services in the United States. (IBFS SAT-MOD-20160624-00060)
6. Updating the Intercarrier Compensation Regime to Eliminate Access Arbitrage – The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes measures to eliminate access arbitrage in the intercarrier compensation regime. (WC Docket No. 18-155)
7. 8YY Access Charge Reform – The Commission will consider a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking which proposes taking further steps in reforming intercarrier compensation by transitioning interstate and intrastate originating 8YY end office and tandem switching and transport charges to bill-and-keep and capping and limiting 8YY database query rates. (WC Docket No. 18-156)
8. Text-Enabled Toll-Free Numbers – The Commission will consider a Declaratory Ruling and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that will clarify the Commission’s rules regarding the authorization required to text-enable a toll-free number, and propose further safeguards to promote the innovative use of toll free numbers while protecting the integrity of the toll free numbering system. (WC Docket No. 18-28)
9. Slamming and Cramming Rules – The Commission will consider a Report and Order to protect consumers from slamming (the unauthorized change of a consumer’s telephone provider) and cramming (the placement of unauthorized charges on a consumer’s telephone bill), including rules to address sales call misrepresentations and abuses of the third-party verification procedures. (CG Docket No. 17-169)
10. Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service Reform – The Commission will consider a Report and Order, Declaratory Ruling, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and Notice of Inquiry to adopt measures, and seek comment on others, to ensure that Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) remains sustainable for people with hearing loss who need it. (CG Docket Nos. 13-24, 03-123)
11. Leased Commercial Access; Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative – The Commission will consider a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that tentatively concludes that the Commission should vacate its 2008 Leased Access Order, and invites comment on ways to modernize the existing leased access rules. (MB Docket Nos. 07-42, 17-105)
12. Enforcement Bureau Action – The Commission will consider an enforcement action.