Upcoming policy issue

Internet service providers and their lobby groups are fighting the Federal Communications Commission's plan to prohibit discrimination in access to broadband services.

As Members of the New York delegation, we are writing to urge you to allocate $7 billion for the critical Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) via a manager amendment when the fiscal year 2024 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill is brought to the House floor or through any emergency supplemental appropriations package taken up by Congress.

Congress established the Affordable Connectivity Program in November 2021 as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, providing $14.2 billion to expand an emergency broadband program that began in 2021. But those funds are running out. On Oct.

The Biden administration is fighting a two-front war in its campaign to re-regulate internet service providers (ISPs), fronts that opponents fear could include price regulation as ammunition. The Federal Communications Commission's Democratic majority voted on October 19, 2023 to propose reclassifying internet access as a Title II telecommunications service subject to some common-carrier regulations and to restore net neutrality rules.

On November 11 each year, we are asked to recognize that our military and veteran families answer our Nation’s call to duty—and we recommit to doing right by their service and sacrifice. This year that recommitment must include ensuring that our veterans don't fall onto the wrong side of the digital divide. This year, our recommitment to veterans must include a recommitment to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

In a comment submitted to the US Copyright Office, the Federal Trade Commission identified several issues raised by the development and deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that implicate competition and consumer protection policy, noting the FTC’s role in monitoring the impact of generative AI and vigorously enforcing the law as appropriate to protect competition and consumers. The comment explains that the FTC has an interest in copyright-related issues beyond questions about the scope of rights and the extent of liability under the copyright laws.

Network carriers are exploring nascent technology that would allow them to better and more quickly deliver certain apps and services on their network—but this technology, known as network slicing, could potentially run afoul of net-neutrality regulations. In the current model, all data traffic from phones is typically funneled through the same network. Carriers are able to prioritize the voice calls that they handle on that network, but they rarely have visibility into what else users are doing through other apps.

The Federal Trade Commission recently proposed rules that would stop businesses from charging hidden fees. The agency estimates that junk fees cost consumers tens of billions of dollars per year. The new rules would prohibit companies from jacking up bills with hidden and bogus fees and instead require that businesses clearly disclose their fees to customers.

In October 2023, the Biden Administration called on the Federal Communications Commission to implement provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The FCC will vote on Nov 15 on new rules; I oppose the plan for several reasons:

Charles Dickens opened A Tale of Two Cities writing that “It was the best of times, it was worst of times”. Therein may lie some helpful context for understanding where our country finds itself today. I don’t propose to cover the entire issues waterfront in this brief piece, but will instead focus on a few of the things I see dragging our country and our government down today. For the purposes of this essay, I will include telecommunications and media, Congress, and the courts. To start off on the positive, there’s some really good news at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).