FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler supports “a reinvigorated Tribal consultation process” to address communications issues in Indian country, he told the National Congress of American Indians. “From a policy point of view, my experience is that there’s generally no shortage of awareness around Tribal issues,” said prepared remarks by Wheeler, released by the FCC Tuesday (http://fcc.us/1cWwYLb). “But when it comes to closing the gaps in opportunity and infrastructure that plague many Tribal communities, there’s a persistent deficit of meaningful achievement.” Wheeler listed as his top concerns improved access to “world class” broadband, spectrum and ensuring a “diversity of voices” in tribal areas.” There “are of course other important issues that we will also work on together, but these are the priorities we have heard from you,” he said to the group March 12.

Seventeen computer and data scientists, mostly academics, filed an amicus brief Thursday to the U.S. District Court in New York on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union in its lawsuit against government intelligence officials over their phone metadata collection program (http://bit.ly/1fx9Aie). “It is not just metadata,” they said. “Telephony metadata reveals private and sensitive information about people.” Government assurances it’s not listening in on telephone calls “is cold comfort,” they said. The ACLU filed its lawsuit last year after NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed a trove of documents detailing government surveillance programs, according to an ACLU release (http://bit.ly/1dWxS8S).

The FCC Public Safety Bureau plans a workshop on technology transitions and public safety, it said in a public notice Friday (http://bit.ly/1impmSg). The 1.5-day workshop is scheduled for April 17 and 18, and representatives from public safety agencies and other stakeholders will “explore the impact of the technology transition on key public safety, emergency response, and national security functions,” the notice said. “The workshop will seek to identify the conditions, rebuttable presumptions, and relevant factors that are needed to ensure that core public safety values are supported in the transition to an all IP-based infrastructure.” The workshop will focus on day-to-day public safety operations in an all-IP world, disaster preparations, and additional risk factors from “cyber exploits” on commercial and public networks. Deadline for registration is April 11.

Correction: The European Parliament’s Wednesday affirmation of a revamp of data protection rules came in a separate vote that warned a U.S. trade deal could be scrapped if NSA mass surveillance doesn’t end (CD March 13 p15).

A dynamic and competitive broadband market will keep the Internet open “regardless of whether there is government regulation,” said Matthew Berry, chief of staff to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, at a Broadband Cable Association of Pennsylvania event in Harrisburg Thursday, according to prepared remarks (http://bit.ly/1furxxT). “Let’s say, with a tip of the hat to Billy Joel, that you're living in Allentown, you're a Service Electric broadband customer, and the company decides to shut down your access to lawful content. You might switch to Verizon. Or, suppose that you're a Frontier customer in Breezewood, and the company prevents you from running applications of your choice. There’s a good chance that you'll switch to Comcast.” The federal government is “all too slow to recognize competition” and “too quick to impose regulation” while dismissing the harms caused by “too much meddling in the marketplace,” Berry said. He criticized the FCC’s renewed attempt to regulate ISPs with net neutrality rules. A broadband connection is not and should not be merely a “dumb pipe,” Berry said. “We should aspire to connect all Americans with smart networks,” which private enterprise is accomplishing, he said. Determining whether a particular network management principle is reasonable is “not an area conducive to government micromanagement,” Berry said. “We should want network operators to be focused on innovating and providing the best service possible to their customers rather than guessing how the FCC might respond to a particular network management practice. A rule based on amorphous and subjective value judgments will inevitably breed caution and chill progress.” Berry praised the ability of two-sided markets to bring needed funding from both consumers and content providers to pay for network upgrades to come, rather than simply relying on consumers to foot the bill.

The communications world has changed markedly since his parents left India, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said in a speech in Mumbai. Pai said his parents had left India in 1971 “with just a radio and ten dollars in their pockets.” The changes in communications have made his staying in touch with relatives in India much easier, Pai said, according to a prepared text (http://bit.ly/1fvypj7). “At home, I shoot videos of my two-year old son and five-month old daughter with a smartphone, upload them onto YouTube, and within seconds, my relatives here in India can watch them on their mobile devices,” he said. “And we can talk on the spur of the moment as well, often for free.” Pai touched on a number of major policy issues before the FCC, among them the upcoming spectrum auction. “Our experience with auctions, which now spans about two decades, offers valuable insights to the rest of the world,” he said. “Auctions are more successful when they are kept simple, transparent, and market-driven. That means setting clear rules in advance and sticking with them. That means avoiding onerous conditions on particular spectrum. That means giving everyone a fair opportunity to bid.” Pai spoke at the FICCI-FRAMES conference, an annual entertainment conference.

The proposed USF contribution factor for the second quarter of 2014 will be 16.6 percent, the FCC Office of Managing Director said in a public notice Wednesday (http://bit.ly/On0Zsp). That’s slightly up from the first quarter factor of 16.4 percent. It’s also more than a full percentage point higher than the 2013 second quarter contribution factor of 15.5 percent. But it’s down from a 2012 second quarter factor of 17.4 percent. The proposed contribution factor will automatically take effect within 14 days unless the FCC takes action to intervene, the notice said. Carriers may not recover through a federal universal service line-item an amount that exceeds 16.6 percent of the interstate telecom charges on a customer’s bill, the notice said.

The FCC Media Bureau will “closely scrutinize” pending and current transactions that involve sharing arrangements and deals to give one station right of first refusal purchase rights over another, the bureau said in a public notice Wednesday evening (http://fcc.us/1gaJJwk). “This is not a change in our underlying rules or the policies on which they are based,” said bureau Chief Bill Lake in a news release (http://fcc.us/1glEAGt). Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly objected to the notice being issued on delegated authority. “This abuse of delegated authority is all the more unfortunate because it is entirely unnecessary,” said Pai in a statement (http://fcc.us/1iC9sWv). “Our policy has been changed without a commission vote. That’s not the way we should do business.” O'Rielly said (http://fcc.us/1lXAOGX) that “this guidance presupposes the media ownership item [is] to be voted later this month and may deter future transactions that could increase local news and other beneficial diverse programming for communities."

The FCC Wireless Bureau extended to May 16 the deadline for replies in a proceeding to decide whether to expand mobile wireless services on planes. They were originally due March 17 (CD Jan 16 p17), and CTIA on Feb. 28 sought a 60-day delay (CD March 5 p17). The bureau agreed with requests for an extension made by CTIA, AeroMobile and Panasonic Avionics, stating that an extension is warranted to ensure the FCC obtains a complete and thorough technical record.

A draft order to make joint sales agreements attributable “appears flawed and not in the public interest,” said FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly in a written statement Monday. “Even before receiving the specifics of the proposal, I strenuously disagree with the intended direction.” O'Rielly and fellow Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai have not been involved in the drafting process for the new rules (CD Feb 12 p1). The draft order was set to be circulated to all commissioners Monday. O'Rielly said the JSA proposal would impair the ability of broadcasters to offer local programming and “would establish a very subjective ‘Mother-May-I’ approach to obtain or retain a JSA, which is a recipe for market uncertainty and reduced offerings.” O'Rielly said he hopes the order will be “dramatically changed” before being presented to the commission. The JSA report and order was listed on the commission’s released tentative agenda for the March 31 meeting, along with an NPRM seeking comment on disclosure of shared services agreements. The meeting will also feature a draft order banning joint negotiation of retransmission consent negotiations and an FNPRM seeking comment on whether to eliminate the network non-duplication and syndicated exclusivity rules. The commission will also consider an FNPRM kicking off the 2014 quadrennial review, the agenda said (http://fcc.us/1cPAnWZ).