Adam Bender

The Senate Judiciary Committee put off for a week a vote on a bill to reauthorize the Patriot Act after time ran short at a markup session Thursday. However, they voted to accept a substitute bill by Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that would create a 2013 sunset on the Act’s National Security Letter (NSL) provisions. The committee didn’t discuss immunity for telecom carriers in electronic surveillance cases, an issue that resurfaced earlier this week (CD Sept 30 p2) in a bill by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and co-sponsored by Leahy. The Leahy-Feinstein bill “updates checks and balances by increasing judicial review of the use of government powers that capture information on U.S. citizens,” and “augments congressional oversight,” Leahy said. The bill also proposes a sunset on NSLs, “given their extensive use, abuse and intrusiveness,” he said. The bill includes higher standards for NSLs seeking library records, and repeals a 2006 provision “stating that a conclusive presumption in favor of the government shall apply,” he said. And it requires court oversight of minimization procedures when information about a U.S. person is acquired, retained or disseminated, he said. Nothing in the bill will obstruct any ongoing investigation, and the NSL sunset would coincide with other sunsets in the Act, said Feinstein. The proposal to sunset NSLs received opposition from Republican members. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., introduced an amendment to strike the sunset, saying previous FBI abuses of NSLs had been remedied, but the committee voted it down. The meeting broke up without a final vote a few minutes before noon. Leahy said the committee will reconvene next week to vote on a final bill after considering additional amendments by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and possibly others.

FCC policy must promote the development of tools to protect security of broadband networks, Commissioner Meredith Baker said at a cybersecurity workshop Wednesday at the commission. She encouraged the FCC to collaborate with industry on developing best practices. On a panel, industry officials resisted the idea of government certification of cybersecurity tools and practices but urged improved information-sharing processes before and during attacks.

“No one is proposing any government spending at this time,” FCC broadband plan coordinator Blair Levin told reporters late Tuesday after his task force presented its midterm report to the commissioners (CD Sept 30 p1). The task force estimate of the cost of making broadband available to everyone in the country, $20-$350 billion, reflects anticipated capital and operating expenses and shouldn’t be taken as a recommendation for what the government should spend, Levin said. He said he doesn’t know what the group will recommend in February beyond increased information collection. On possible government funding, Chairman Julius Genachowski said “all of the different policy options will have to be explored between now and February.” When Congress authorized broadband grants, it “understood that it was a step in what needs to be a larger, long-term plan for the country, he said. “This is a major challenge for the country that will require a national commitment to make sure that we have a 21st century communications infrastructure available to all Americans.” Universal-service reform and several other matters came up at the meeting, but “exactly what the timing will be of addressing each issue hasn’t been decided yet,” Genachowski said. He did touch on spectrum scarcity, saying he’s “less confident that the country will have the spectrum it needs to meet the purposes that were outlined in the presentation today.” But the chairman said he’s “confident that we will have data that’s sufficient to support what’s recommended.” With the midterm report done, Levin said, he expects meetings with industry to discuss the findings. The meetings will be closed but not confidential, and FCC staff probably will write about them on the commission’s blog, he said. The task force will concentrate, among a longer list of issues in the report, on “things that if we don’t change government policies, five to ten years from now” policymakers will regret it, he said.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski circulated a draft reconsideration order related to a traffic pumping dispute between Qwest and Farmers and Merchants Mutual Telephone Company. The revision would be the commission’s second since 2007, when it partly granted a Qwest complaint alleging that Farmers levied excessive access charges (CD Feb 1 p13, Jan 31/08 p15). Farmers was one of the eight companies ordered last month by the Iowa Utilities Board to refund unauthorized intrastate switched access charges billed to Qwest, AT&T and Sprint (CD Sept 28 p11).

States want the FCC to declare that its rules don’t bar or limit states’ collection of data from broadband service or infrastructure providers. “States need this data. There is no question that Congress wants States to have this data,” the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) said in a petition. But USTelecom said states’ broadband data collection ambitions shouldn’t surpass instructions by NTIA.

Unless the FCC sharpens its outreach, thousands of people who are deaf may be left without functionally equivalent phone service, said consumer advocates and telecom relay service providers during a workshop Friday at the FCC. Video and IP-based relay users must register 10-digit numbers or they won’t be able to make non-emergency calls after Nov. 12 (CD Aug 12 p1). The deadline has already been extended over concerns about consumer confusion, lack of public education, and technical issues. But education problems remain, workshop attendees said.

The broadband-over-power-line industry in comments Wednesday said keeping the FCC’s existing BPL rules would advance broadband stimulus efforts. However, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) said changes are needed to prevent interference to amateur radio. The rulemaking proposal follows a 2008 remand of the FCC’s BPL rules by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The court faulted the FCC on procedure, saying the agency gave no “reasoned explanation” for an extrapolation factor used to measure BPL emissions (CD May 9/08 p6). The court also compelled the agency to publicly release unredacted copies of studies it conducted for formulating its rules.

A new coalition of nearly 100 broadband providers, content providers and others aims to act as an educational resource for lawmakers involved with broadband efforts, said a spokesman for the group, Broadband for America. The group, announced Thursday, hopes to highlight barriers to deployment and adoption, and provide technical information about running broadband networks, the spokesman said. Members include CTIA, USTelecom, NCTA, the Telecommunications Industry Association and the largest telephone and cable companies, among others. Members are contributing to the group in different ways, some financially and others with their time, said spokesman Phil Singer. He declined to specify which groups were funding the effort. Elaine Karmarck, a Harvard University lecturer advising the group on policy, said her focus will be showing how broadband connects to major policy areas including education, healthcare and poverty. In an interview, she said she expects the group’s lobbying to be limited, particularly because many of its members already have “full-fledged” lobbying shops.

A federal appeals court said the FCC misread the Freedom of Information Act when it disclosed confidential AT&T information to CompTel. In a decision Tuesday written by Judge Michael Chagares, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia kicked back to the FCC an order denying an AT&T petition to review. The court said corporations like AT&T have personal privacy rights and in some cases are protected from mandatory disclosure under FOIA.

Verizon and Frontier wholesale customers strongly resisted Frontier’s proposed acquisition of Verizon wireline operations in 14 states (CD Sept 22 p10). In comments this week at the FCC, they said Frontier may be unfit to manage the new assets, like FairPoint before it. Others said the deal would work only with conditions.