Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., expects to debate the jobs bill with satellite TV reauthorization “for at least the duration of the week,” and it “could go into next week,” said spokeswoman Regan LaChapelle: “We are expecting an open amendment process so a lot depends on how many amendments are offered.” Separately, the Senate late Tuesday finally overcame the objections of Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., to a package that included a 30-day extension of last Sunday’s deadline. Satellite TV companies continued operations through the license’s sunset at the urging of House and Senate Judiciary Committee leadership, who said upcoming legislation would retroactively push back the expiration date (CD March 2 p2). The 30-day extension brings satellite TV providers back into compliance for the rest of the month, but leaves them vulnerable to legal challenges about providing unauthorized service on Monday and Tuesday, said Senate and industry officials. So far, no legal challenges have been brought against the companies who imported the signals during that period, said two executives. The five-year reauthorization in the jobs bill includes a retroactive provision.
Broadcasters should seek a deal with the recording industry on performance royalties due to current “political realities,” said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher in a keynote at an NAB conference Tuesday. Broadcasters in the audience objected strongly to the concept. Boucher also praised the FCC’s proposed voluntary approach for taking broadcast spectrum, and said spectrum inventory legislation is nearing a full committee vote.
The Senate failed again Monday to extend satellite TV companies’ authorization to use distant signals, permission which expired Sunday. The satellite TV industry is avoiding service disruptions by violating copyright law, as suggested by the House and Senate Judiciary Committees in a letter late Friday (CD March 1 p1). The Senate now seeks to attach a long-term extension to the second item in the Democratic leadership’s jobs agenda, expected to receive votes this week, Senate and industry sources said. A five-year satellite TV reauthorization was included in jobs legislation introduced late Monday by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.
The National Academy of Sciences would scrutinize FCC process and technical expertise under a bipartisan bill (S- 3042) introduced last week by Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Ted Kaufman, D-Del. The Academy would do a study and make recommendations on the FCC’s technical policy decision- making process, current technical staff levels and agency recruiting and hiring processes. “The FCC must be better equipped and more agile to address the ever-changing technical landscape from a regulatory perspective,” Snowe said Monday. Kaufman said it’s “critical that we include engineers in our nation’s technical policy and decision making, at the FCC and across the government.” Since 1948, the number of engineers at the commission dropped 62 percent to fewer than 300. In its 2011 budget proposal last month, the regulator asked for $11.1 million to add 75 full-time employees (CD Feb 3 p7). Snowe introduced a related bill (S- 2881) in December with Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., that would allow each FCC member to hire an additional technical staff member (CD Dec 15 p5). The new bill complements that legislation, with S-2881 addressing the eighth floor and S- 3042 tackling general technical staffing and FCC rulemaking processes, said a Senate aide. The bills could be consolidated into one at a future markup, the aide said.
The best approach to clearing broadcaster spectrum is voluntary and cooperative, said FCC officials at a Technology Policy Institute lunch Friday on Capitol Hill. They provided more details on a spectrum proposal in the National Broadband Plan to free 500 MHz, previewed last week by Chairman Julius Genachowski (CD Feb 25 p1). Also, an aide to Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said spectrum inventory legislation is moving forward.
NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker said he respects the FCC’s broadband goals, but isn’t sure that using broadcast spectrum is the way to get there. Broadcast spectrum comes to less than 200 MHz, so even killing over-the-air broadcasting wouldn’t get the FCC the 500 MHz that the commission seeks to free, he said Thursday at a House Judiciary hearing on the company’s deal with Comcast. (See separate report in this issue.) Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said his company won’t take a position until it closes on the deal.
House Democrats voiced skepticism that no jobs would be lost as a result of the Comcast-NBC Universal deal, during a wide-ranging hearing Thursday before the Judiciary Committee. Members also grilled the companies’ executives on independent programming and diversity in programming and corporate leadership. Republicans seemed more amenable to the deal, though some sought assurances that Comcast would more forcefully address intellectual property issues.
House subcommittees dealing with privacy issues plan to review a draft comprehensive bill by Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., at their next hearing on the subject, said Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Rush, D-Ill. At a hearing on location-based services Wednesday, Rush promised “our next hearing on privacy will be a legislative hearing.” Rules on location-based services will be part of the larger privacy bill, Boucher said. Republicans said they need to see the draft bill, and warned that any legislation must balance consumer privacy with industry innovation and public safety needs.
House subcommittees dealing with privacy issues plan to review a draft comprehensive bill by Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., at their next hearing on the subject, said Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Rush, D-Ill. At a hearing on location-based services Wednesday, Rush promised “our next hearing on privacy will be a legislative hearing.” Rules on location-based services will be part of the larger privacy bill, Boucher said. Republicans said they need to see the draft bill, and warned that any legislation must balance consumer privacy with industry innovation and public safety needs.
Sprint Nextel plans to eventually hold phone manufacturers to new green design standards, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told the Senate Communications Subcommittee at a hearing Tuesday. The carrier also is expanding its cellphone recycling program to credit customers for turning in other carriers’ phones, he said. Senators applauded Sprint’s green efforts, but Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., needled Hesse on early termination fees. Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., said he’s frustrated that more companies haven’t gone green.