Net neutrality lobbying of California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is heating up. Capitol Hill Democrats seek enactment and industry urge veto of a state bill that flies in the face of the FCC’s December order rescinding 2015 rules. Brown kept mum Tuesday on SB-822, his usual practice with bills pending his signature; he has until midnight on Sept. 30 to decide. Chairman Ajit Pai Friday said the bill passed last month by the California legislature is illegal (see 1809140046).
ISPs seeking pole attachment expanded calls for the Maine Public Utilities Commission to adopt the FCC rate formula, after Consolidated Communications and other pole owners reported they would have to charge much less using the federal method. Maine reverse pre-empted the FCC. Now, the PUC is weighing adopting in docket 2018-00010 the FCC newer method for setting rates (see 1807240019). Consolidated wants the PUC to keep Maine’s Chapter 880 formula allowing higher rates, even though it actually sets rates by private contract like other pole owners there.
The Democratic nominee for New York attorney general supports net neutrality and applauded recent Public Service Commission penalties against Charter Communications (see 1808010040). New York City Public Advocate Letitia James won the Democratic nomination Thursday against three rivals including a Verizon lobbyist, Leecia Eve. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who supported action against Charter and earlier this year signed an executive order restricting state agencies from signing contracts with ISPs that don’t follow net neutrality principles, won his primary against actress Cynthia Nixon. If elected in November, James could take the reins of state attorneys general’s lawsuit against the FCC’s December net neutrality order. AG Barbara Underwood (D) has led states’ suit since Eric Schneiderman resigned as attorney general after facing sexual assault allegations he denied (see 1805110021). James' victory is a “good thing” for AG oversight of telecom companies, privacy and net neutrality, said Public Utility Law Project Executive Director Richard Berkley in an interview. James, expected to win in November, probably will continue and may intensify current state lawsuits against Charter and the FCC, Berkley said. James intervened in recent telecom merger cases at the PSC, advocating strongly for what she called net neutrality’s importance to democracy, and she “changed the public advocate’s office from being the people’s advocate to being the people’s lawyer,” the consumer advocate said. Telecom probably isn't at the top of James' to-do list, "but I expect she will be very pro-net neutrality, pro-labor and pro-universal broadband," emailed Phillips Lytle telecom attorney David Bronston. "Given that she ran with the Governor’s endorsement, I expect she will be receptive to working on any Charter/Spectrum case that the NYS PSC feels is warranted."
New Mexico sued Google and Twitter alongside a mobile app developer that the state alleged improperly shared children’s personal data with third parties, violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. “When children play Tiny Lab’s gaming apps on their mobile devices, their geolocation, demographic characteristics, online activity, and other personal data, are inescapably -- and without verifiable parental consent -- exfiltrated to third parties and their marketing networks in order to target the children with advertisements based on their own personal information,” said Tuesday's complaint (in Pacer) at U.S. District Court for New Mexico. Google knows about and condones Tiny Lab’s illegal conduct by allowing its apps in the Play store, New Mexico said. Google and Twitter SDK was embedded in Tiny Lab’s Fun Kid Racing and other apps, the state said. "These apps can track where children live, play, and go to school with incredible precision,” Attorney General Hector Balderas (D) said Wednesday. “The unacceptable risk of data breach and access from third parties who seek to exploit and harm our children will not be tolerated.” Google took down Tiny Lab’s games on the Play store Tuesday and the game developer is “working to solve the issue as soon as possible,” Tiny Labs said. Tiny Labs isn’t violating COPPA, CEO Jonas Abromaitis wrote. The developer has an age gate to determine users’ age by asking their birthday per FTC guidelines, he said. No data is collected if the user is under age 13, he said. Google and Twitter didn’t comment.
New York Public Service Commissioner Diane Burman raised process concerns related to PSC actions against Charter Communications including revoking OK of buying Time Warner Cable. At a Wednesday meeting, Burman said "no" in a 3-1 procedural vote on an order in docket 15-M-0388 to confirm 30-day extensions granted Monday by Chairman John Rhodes for the ISP to file a rehearing petition and a transition plan for exiting New York (see 1809110027). "The integrity of the commission is vital and the processes are very important,” said Burman. There must be good cause for extension but having productive talks, as cited in the order, seems like a “low bar,” she said. “The message that I fear we’re sending” is that the PSC is willing to delay a statutory 30-day deadline for rehearing petitions so long as the objecting entity is talking productively with staff: “If we allow that, there is no end in sight on when that good cause for productive discussions can be stopped.” Agency General Counsel John Sipos replied that “it’s important for litigators to be open to the possibility of settlement discussions.” Burman said it's “wrong” and a “slippery slope” to take 3-0 action against Charter without her present at a July special session. The company has been “responsive” in exchanging information and “improving attachment practices in concrete ways that promote safety,” Rhodes said at the meeting. Commissioner James Alesi also supported extension. “Exercising the power that comes with having the time is the best opportunity that we all have at this point to move forward,” he said. Burman missed the July special session because she was on “a planned vacation that the chair was aware of,” the commissioner said afterward in an interview. She said that the explanation for the meeting didn’t justify a special session. The meeting was “not appropriate” and “was potentially legally insufficient to be valid,” she said. Burman didn’t say when she learned about the session. She said she won’t weigh in on substance of the Charter case until it comes before the commission in a public meeting. The PSC didn’t comment on Burman's complaint about the special session.
The FCC continues preparing for Hurricane Florence in coordination with state and federal partners, Chairman Ajit Pai said Wednesday. It activated the disaster information reporting system, with reports requested from some counties in Georgia, Virginia and the Carolinas starting at 10 a.m. Thursday, said a public notice. “Staff have already been deployed to survey the radiofrequency spectrum across critical areas of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, and our Operations Center is open 24 hours a day,” Pai said. “Our staff has also reached out to broadcast associations, wireless carriers, and other telecom companies in the areas expected to be hit by Hurricane Florence. We will closely monitor communications outages data in the coming days and work to support restoration and recovery.” Pai urged people in affected areas to charge devices and sign up for emergency alerts. Carriers announced preparations this week (see 1809110046). Some state commissions also released alerts, with North Carolina and South Carolina agencies announcing closures. The FCC Public Safety Bureau should ensure emergency information in Spanish is available in four radio markets in the path of Florence that lack sufficient Spanish-language radio stations, said the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the League of United Latin American Citizens in a letter Wednesday. “Intervention is necessary because it does not appear that the region’s broadcasters have [emergency alert system] plans that address the urgent needs of speakers of Spanish." Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Hilton Head, South Carolina, have Hispanic populations of more than 10 percent, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is 5.8 percent Hispanic, the groups said. The Greenville-New Bern-Jacksonville, North Carolina, radio market is 8.5 percent Hispanic, a population of more than 59,000 people, the letter said. “We ask that lifesaving information be broadcast in the referenced markets” at periodic intervals throughout the day “by at least one station in each market that survives the hurricane,” they said.
Proposed rate ceilings for small-cells application fees set for an FCC vote Sept. 26 may undercut caps set by one-quarter of the 20 states that made small-cells laws in the past two years. Proposed FCC ceilings for recurring access and attachment fees appeared to equal or exceed the state laws that specified limits on such fees. Commissioner Brendan Carr said last week the draft wouldn’t “disturb nearly any” of the provisions of small-cell bills that state legislatures enacted (see 1809040056 and 1809050029).
State regulation of interconnected VoIP is pre-empted because it’s an information service, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday. One judge dissented. But overall, the 8th Circuit affirmed last year’s ruling by U.S. District Court in St. Paul on Charter Communications' complaint the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission overstepped its authority by imposing state regulations for traditional phone services on VoIP.
No further action by the New York Public Service Commission is needed to require Charter Communications and any successor ISP to follow net neutrality rules, a PSC spokesman said Thursday. He responded to Democratic state legislators urging the agency to use its leverage in the Charter dispute to require adherence to FCC now-retracted 2015 rules. Observers on each side of the net neutrality debate said not to count out net neutrality rules in an expected settlement that could let the company remain in New York. In California, legislators urged Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to sign their net neutrality bill to build momentum elsewhere.
Mike Poth will step down as FirstNet CEO at the end of September for an unnamed private-sector job, NTIA said Wednesday. Also, Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross reappointed Edward Horowitz to the FirstNet board and named him chair for a two-year term, replacing Sue Swenson, the authority said. The board and the department plan to appoint an interim CEO as they search for a permanent executive, FirstNet said. Swenson and ex-Vice Chair Jeffrey Johnson announced their resignations last month (see 1808200050). Six board seats must be filled; to ensure a quorum and continuity, expired members Neil Cox, Kevin McGinnis and Annise Parker agreed to extend terms, FirstNet said. “Mike Poth took the helm at a critical time and has been a driving force behind FirstNet’s success,” said NTIA Administrator David Redl. Poth said he’s focused on a smooth transition. The board’s next quarterly meeting is in December. Also Wednesday, the Bay Area Regional Interoperable Communications System Authority board chose Corey Reynolds as BayRICS general manager, replacing Barry Fraser, who was in that role since May 2013. Reynolds, previously interoperable communications project manager at the Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative, blogged about his new role Wednesday.