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MARTIN SAYS FCC SHOULDN'T REGULATE ONLINE VIDEO
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin says he does not think the FCC should be regulating Google Video, YouTube or other online video services. During his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, Chairman Martin said that he did not think the Internet should be taxed, or that it should be subject to payments into the Universal Service Fund for rural telecommunications, which he said would discourage broadband rollouts by raising the price. As to online video, he said that it is "not necessary to regulate [Internet video service] at this time." On the broader Internet regulation issue of network neutrality, Chairman Martin said he did not oppose Google charging more to companies for higher-profile placement on their search engine, and likewise did not opposed a telephone company like Verizon charging more for higher-bandwidth services like streaming video, suggesting that if they could not, the might not be able to afford to provide those services. Chairman Martin said he didn't think the FCC had the authority to regulate online content, as it does with broadcast, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't like to. He told Senator Mark Pryor (D-Ark) that he thought "all policymakers should try to make the Internet a more decent place," but said that was a challenge, pointing out that it had been challenging enough in the broadcast space, where the FCC does have authority to regulate decency.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6370828?display=Breaking+News

TESTIMONY OF FCC CHAIRMAN KEVIN MARTIN
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Senate Commerce Committee held a renomination hearing for FCC Chairman Kevin Martin on Sept 12. In his remarks, Chairman Martin said, "If reconfirmed, I would continue to make decisions based on a fundamental belief that a robust, competitive marketplace, not regulation, is ultimately the greatest protector of the public interest. Competition is the best method of delivering the benefits of choice, innovation, and affordability to American consumers. Competition drives prices down and spurs providers to improve service and create new products. Government, however, still has an important role to play. The Commission should focus on creating a regulatory environment that promotes investment and competition, setting the rules of the road so that players can compete on a level playing field. For example, high speed Internet access offered by a phone company should be treated the same way as high speed Internet access offered by a cable operator. Government also must act when necessary to achieve broader social goals. Thus, while I support eliminating economic regulations, I recognize that there are issues that the marketplace alone might not fully address. For instance, government should ensure that people with disabilities have access to communications in the same manner as all Americans, that people in rural areas, schools and libraries have access to affordable, current technology, and that the communications needs of the public safety community are met." Chairman Martin noted these achievements: 1) "I have made broadband deployment my highest priority at the Commission." "During my tenure as Chairman, the Commission has worked hard to create a regulatory environment that promotes broadband deployment. We have removed legacy regulations, like tariffs and price controls, that discourage carriers from investing in their broadband networks, and we worked to create a regulatory level playing-field among broadband platforms." 2) "When I first became Chairman, I identified public safety and emergency preparedness as another top priority. 3) "The Commission has taken a number of important actions over the past year to fulfill our statutory goal of ensuring that every person has equal access to this nation's communications services." 4) "The Commission remains committed to pursuing fundamental universal service contribution and distribution reform as needed."
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-267390A1.doc

* The NAB has endorsed the renomination of FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6370977?display=Breaking+News

The staff director of the Senate Commerce Committee told communications attorneys that Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, is still talking one-on-one with senators to secure the votes needed to debate telecommunications legislation. Lisa Sutherland said at a Capitol Hill briefing that since Stevens returned to Washington this week, he had been busy with floor debate of the fiscal 2007 Defense appropriations bill. But she added, "That's not such a bad place to talk with people... Sen. Stevens remains optimistic he can get 60 votes. He's working with Sen. [Daniel] Inouye to get the bill up." James Assey, the counsel for Hawaii's Inouye, the ranking Democrat on the committee, did not sound as optimistic that a vote would happen this session, saying it is such a multifaceted version compared with the House's. "We just have to wait and see," Assey said. Rumors have circulated that Stevens may try to divide the bill and attach it to different appropriations bills. "If he's doing that, it's news to me," Sutherland said. "Sen. Stevens isn't going to do something Sen. Inouye has major heartburn with." She said if some senators do not like sections of the entire bill, they can offer amendments then.

STATE GROUPS FIGHT PRE-EMPTION FOR WIRELESS INDUSTRY TELECOM BILL
[SOURCE: Technology Daily, AUTHOR: David Hatch]
A broad coalition of state utility groups, attorneys general and watchdogs urged lawmakers to kill a proposal to pre-empt state regulation of the wireless industry. The language -- part of a comprehensive telecommunications overhaul measure that cleared the Senate Commerce Committee in late June -- would place the FCC in charge of handling wireless customer complaints. "Why is this section in the bill today?" Billy Jack Gregg, director of the consumer advocate division of West Virginia's Public Service Commission, asked rhetorically at a briefing for Hill staffers. Answering his own question Gregg asserted, "One reason: CTIA, the cellular association, got it in there. Why? For consumers? No. For the wireless industry" -- so that it could avoid state regulatory oversight. Gregg and other speakers said state regulators would lose the ability to resolve disputes involving billing, contracts, coverage areas, deceptive practices and other concerns if the language is enacted. Jeannine Kenney, a senior policy analyst at Consumers Union, insisted the FCC does not have the resources to handle customer complaints.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-TOXX1158088861768.html