Jonathan Make

ICANN should get "the time it needs to carefully review" the Internet Society's plan to sell the Public Interest Registry to private equity firm Ethos Capital "and make sure nonprofits are protected," House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., tweeted Tuesday. "Transfer of control of the Internet’s .org addresses may harm nonprofit groups and activists." Others have raised similar concerns (see 2002030020). ICANN had sought to extend review of PIR's takeover to April 20 from Feb. 17, after California's Office of the Attorney General sought the delay (see 2001310015). Last week, a lawyer for PIR wrote ICANN to say the .org registrar would agree to a delay until Feb. 29. Pallone wasn't more specific in the tweet his office emailed to reporters Wednesday. ICANN didn't comment. A House Commerce spokesperson responded to a question about the timing of Pallone's concern by pointing us to PIR's letter to ICANN. ISOC has "worked closely with ICANN and believe that it understands its limited mandate as set out in its fundamental bylaws," an ISOC spokesperson emailed. "We worry that ICANN is being inappropriately pressed to step outside of that mandate, which could only be harmful for its 'reputation for political independence.'" The spokesperson cited a Feb. 9 editorial from The Wall Street Journal. The editorial compared the "hysteria" around FCC net neutrality deregulation to PIR's transfer. ICANN "has spent 90 days reviewing this matter," a PIR spokesperson emailed us Wednesday. "Extending it further would set a precedent and introduce uncertainty into what should be a straightforward contractual process." PIR "may be amenable to one final brief extension, if necessary, provided significant progress is made toward completing this process," the representative added. Ethos has "been working closely with ICANN to answer their questions and have publicly given the necessary assurances for the community," a firm spokesperson emailed. "Ethos reiterates its commitment to being a responsible steward of PIR." The spokesperson pointed to a Feb. 6 post by Ethos Chief Purpose Officer Nora Abusitta-Ouri that ICANN's purview "is to ensure that the transfer does not adversely impact the stability, reliability, or security of the registry." That "mandate cannot be expanded simply because of external pressure," Abusitta-Ouri wrote. "PIR, which will remain the registry operator and has successfully operated .ORG for 17 years, meets all relevant criteria."

After a few years of some stakeholders seeking one, a field hearing will be held in Puerto Rico that involves the FCC. A commissioner, not the agency itself, will host it, we were told.

The U.S. accused Huawei of conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. DOJ said Thursday afternoon that "a superseding indictment was returned yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York."

The annual Mobile World Congress was canceled due to the coronavirus. Many companies had pulled out, as we previously reported.

PASADENA, Calif. -- A federal judge appeared skeptical Monday of an FCC safe harbor threshold that lets communities charge wireless carriers up to only $270 yearly for each small-cell facility. Municipalities and others are challenging FCC wireless infrastructure orders in a consolidated case at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Judges’ decision about whether the commission legally pre-empted local authority in the right of way could have broader impact for local authority in telecom (see 2002060056).

The judge who heard states' case about whether T-Mobile can buy Sprint won't block the deal.

The FTC ordered Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft to provide information about acquisitions they made since 2010 that weren't reported to that agency or DOJ under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. The FTC Act Section 6(b) orders "will help the FTC deepen its understanding of large technology firms’ acquisition activity, including how these firms report their transactions to the federal antitrust agencies, and whether large tech companies are making potentially anticompetitive acquisitions of nascent or potential competitors that fall below HSR filing thresholds," the agency said Tuesday.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated Wednesday an NPRM for a Feb. 28 commissioners' vote. It "would allow white space devices to reach users at greater distances, thus enabling improved broadband coverage," the agency announced this morning. "Because white space device operations must protect other authorized services from interference, Chairman Pai is also proposing to increase the minimum required separation distances for white space devices operating at higher power."

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai plans to soon circulate an item on the C-band auction and seek a vote at the next commissioners' meeting, he told Communications Daily in Q&A after Thursday's monthly gathering. "We will be considering an item on the Feb. 28 meeting to go forward with the C band.”

The FCC auction of 3,400 MHz in the 37, 39 and 47 GHz bands garnered gross proceeds of $7.56 billion, the agency announced during commissioners' monthly meeting. “Bidding in the clock phase" ended Thursday after round 104.