The Parents Television Council (PTC) praised Local Choice, a proposal to end TV blackouts that Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., recently circulated. The lawmakers say they want to attach the proposal, which would overhaul retransmission consent rules, to Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization legislation. Broadcasters have expressed deep concerns and are expected to lobby against the proposal, and the big cable companies of NCTA have stayed silent (CD Aug 13 p4). “This proposal is a wonderful and important first step for consumer choice,” PTC President Tim Winter said in a statement (http://bit.ly/1nQ9kyV). “Consumers, not the media conglomerates, should decide for themselves which networks they want to purchase and bring into their homes. While the present measure would give consumers choice over the broadcast networks, we hope this will ultimately pave the way for consumers to enjoy greater choice for all of their cable programming.” The PTC is a member of the American Television Alliance (ATVA), which includes several pay-TV operators that have sought to overhaul retransmission consent. “Broadcasters’ opposition shows that they're unwilling to accept even a reasonable solution to our broken retransmission consent system,” an ATVA spokesman told us. “They've complained for years that they don’t get fair market value for their content and this bill provides exactly that. ... This is a simple and elegant solution that should appease both sides and consumers and it can immediately be added to STELA."

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., blasted wireless cramming Wednesday. “These unauthorized and unscrupulous third-party charges -- hidden in bills through vague and deceptive language -- have robbed consumers of billions of dollars,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “Voluntary guidelines have clearly failed to curb this growing nuisance, and phone companies can no longer be trusted to do the right thing without strong federal regulation.” He held a news conference in New Britain, Connecticut, with the state’s Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz and a victim of wireless cramming. The senator intended to call “on phone companies and wireless carriers to stop the unscrupulous practice of ‘cramming’ unauthorized third-party charges onto bills,” said a Blumenthal advisory sent out before the event, which referred to cramming as a “scourge.” Blumenthal also tweeted Wednesday, signing with his initials: “Phone cramming is a billion dollar industry that brings in revenue for major carriers which keep between 30% & 40% of the profits.” He recently led a Senate Commerce Committee hearing focused on the topic.

Last-mile broadband networks have “unique control” of access to their customers, Microsoft told Congress in its comments about interconnection. Several stakeholders have submitted comments, due Friday, to the House Communications Subcommittee on the topic, none officially posted online yet by the committee. The subcommittee is considering ideas for a rewrite of the 1996 Telecom Act. “Last-mile broadband network operators should not be permitted to leverage their control over or role in interconnection to their networks to circumvent open Internet policies,” Microsoft said. “The goals of a legal framework for interconnection should be to promote efficient connection between and among those networks, regardless of the particular network transmission medium, i.e., wireline or wireless, copper or fiber; and to enable frictionless exchange of traffic across those networks, regardless of the particular content, application, or service being exchanged,” Microsoft said. Yet Microsoft cautioned that Congress must not “simply transfer last century’s interconnection regime to a 21st century broadband interconnection regime,” saying interconnection policy must evolve in the IP environment. Level 3 did not file comments, its spokeswoman told us. “We didn’t file public comments, although we are working with Congressional staff on these issues,” she said. “Any Communications Act update needs to ensure that the networks of the future interconnect on reasonable terms, no matter the technologies involved.” Any update to the Communications Act “must recognize those principles” of past interconnection policy “and must continue to provide backstop rules to ensure fair interconnection,” the Level 3 spokeswoman said. NARUC filed comments defending the state role in interconnection as well as Communications Act sections 251 and 252, which ILECs have argued should not apply to IP interconnection. “Unfortunately, the FCC has, through inaction, encouraged carriers to ignore Congress’s instructions in Sections 251 and 252,” NARUC said. “The FCC’s failure to clarify VoIP’s regulatory status, through both Republican and Democratic Administrations, has spawned numerous otherwise unnecessary (and wasteful) State and Federal administrative proceedings and appeals at taxpayer and ratepayer expense.” The FCC “lacks the resources” to handle all interconnection policy disputes, NARUC added.

House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, will join with Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai Thursday to discuss telecom, Latta said in a news release Tuesday. “Commissioner Pai has been a leading advocate for rural areas when it comes to building robust communications networks and delivering next-generation services to these communities,” Latta said in a statement (http://1.usa.gov/1sOIyvf). “His visit provides the opportunity to demonstrate how policies in Washington, D.C., directly affect Americans across the country and why continued investment in our rural areas is critical to the future growth and prosperity of our nation’s economy.” They plan a roundtable discussion at the American Legion hall in McClure, Ohio, at 11:30 a.m. with local telecom business owners, and tour the Buckeye Telesystem in Toledo starting at 2:15 p.m.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told a House lawmaker that the agency is looking into the phone devices known as international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) catchers. “I have recently established a task force to initiate immediate steps to combat the illicit and unauthorized use of IMSI catchers,” Wheeler said in a letter to Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla. (http://bit.ly/1pMOV1O). “The mission of this task force is to develop concrete solutions to protect the cellular network systemically from similar unlawful intrusions and interceptions. The task force can also leverage the agency’s risk responsibility with our federal partners ... in order to clamp down on the unauthorized use of these devices and promote consumer privacy.” An IMSI catcher is a device used to intercept cellphone traffic and track the movement of wireless subscribers by simulating a fake wireless tower between the phone and the real tower used by the carrier.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wants the FTC to crack down on health apps’ loose data sharing policies, he said during a news conference Sunday (http://1.usa.gov/1opBczS). “The FTC should require fitness devices and app companies to adopt new privacy measures that will help conceal the identity of individuals and develop policies to protect consumer information in the event of a security breach,” he said. Schumer specifically cited Fitbit, saying federal protections are inadequate to ensure that sensitive health information collected by the device is not released or sold for advertising purposes. “The fact that private health data -- rich enough to identify the user’s gait -- is being gathered by applications like Fitbit and can then be sold to third-parties without the user’s consent is a true privacy nightmare,” he said. The FTC confirmed it had received a letter from Schumer outlining his concerns. The commission has done initial research into health apps’ data sharing practices, which showed popular health apps are widely sharing information with third-party companies (CD May 8 p22). Fitbit had no comment.

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, praised the town government in Rockport, Maine, Monday for opening its municipal-owned gigabit fiber network. The network -- a partnership among the town, ISP GWI, Maine Media Workshops and College, and Networkmaine -- is already in operation but the partnering groups held a ceremony Monday to officially launch the project. “Rockport ... has taken a significant step forward in ensuring that it is well-positioned to utilize and enjoy the many benefits of this tremendous new technology,” King said in a news release (http://1.usa.gov/1oY6psw).

TVFreedom opposes the Local Choice legislation, which Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., circulated Friday (CD Aug 11 p12). The initial proposal said the legislation could end the problem of TV blackouts, and a senior Commerce aide told us Rockefeller and Thune “think this proposal could end some of the most troubling aspects of the retransmission consent system for consumers and should be seriously considered as part of the [Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act] reauthorization process.” NAB said Friday it opposes hitching the proposal to STELA. TVFreedom, a coalition of broadcast interests including NAB, attacked the proposal as well, dismissing it as a “last minute” effort. Local Choice “curiously targets America’s most-watched programming -- broadcast TV -- as the culprit for rising cable bills even though these channels collectively amount to a pittance on the price of a monthly pay-TV bill,” a TVFreedom spokesman said in a statement. “This approach fails to offer consumers real programming choices or serious economic relief, yet forces them to continue overpaying for rarely watched cable channels such as Spike TV and TruTV.” The American Television Alliance, a coalition of pay-TV companies and other groups like Public Knowledge that want to overhaul retrans rules, praised the legislation, calling it “a solid bipartisan compromise and a real win for consumers,” according to a statement it issued. “It would provide consumers with great choice and transparency and would end retrans blackouts once and for all.” Guggenheim Partners analyst Paul Gallant predicted the proposal faces an uphill battle but may have more long-term potential, in a research note he sent to investors. “If Republicans take the Senate this fall, Sen. Thune would chair the Commerce Committee,” Gallant said. “Should his LOCAL CHOICE proposal fail in 2014, we could well see Congress try to update the 1992 Cable Act -- including the retrans provisions -- starting in January 2015.” Gallant suspects the legislation would face obstacles due to the uncertainty it creates for broadcasters, how late in the STELA reauthorization it already is and the mixed reactions other stakeholders may have. “We anticipate that content companies (Time Warner, Disney, Fox, Viacom, Discovery) also would oppose the LOCAL CHOICE proposal because a positive public response to broadcast channel a la carte could lead to discussion of cable channel a la carte, which we assume content companies don’t want,” Gallant said.

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., slammed FCC processes Monday, echoing recent concerns of Republican FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly. “Commissioner O'Rielly’s call for increased transparency and better process at the commission could not be more timely,” Walden said in a statement. “The commission’s last few open meetings have been marred by bad process and insufficient sharing of information among the commissioners -- underscoring the need for reform.” He touted the FCC Process Reform Act (HR-3675), a bill that passed the House but has not moved in the Senate.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., circulated a two-page fact sheet about legislation known as LOCAL CHOICE, capitalized but without saying if it stands for anything, according to industry officials. “LOCAL CHOICE gets rid of blackouts, makes sure that broadcasters are fairly paid, and puts viewers in control by giving them meaningful choice over their programming options and offering more opportunity to control the cost of their pay-TV subscriptions,” said the sheet describing the legislation. American Cable Association President Matthew Polka lauded the proposal. ACA “believes that Sen. Rockefeller and Sen. Thune, acting in a bipartisan fashion on an important consumer welfare issue, deserve the highest praise for offering a legislative proposal designed to advance the public interest in the receipt of over-the-air local broadcast stations from pay-TV providers,” Polka said in a statement. “The approach taken by Sens. Rockefeller and Thune is to put consumers first. It will permanently remove consumers from retransmission consent disputes and provide consumers with more choice in the selection of TV station programming than they have seen in decades.” Polka called the proposal “bold and necessary” and hopes it becomes law this year. The proposal “is very pro-consumer and would mark a huge improvement for all parties compared to today’s broken retransmission consent system,” said New America Foundation Wireless Future Project Director Michael Calabrese by email. “We would prefer to see Congress simply eliminate the must carry rules for commercial broadcast programming, but for now the Rockefeller/Thune concept is an elegant compromise that will at least stop broadcasters from holding viewers hostage during blackouts for undeserved retransmission payments.” Rockefeller and Thune have been collaborating on Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization legislation and plan to unveil and consider it in September, they've said. NAB opposed attaching such legislation to STELA. It’s “a significant rewrite of the Communications Act,” NAB Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton said in a statement. “Given the shortness of time between now and the end of the Congressional session, we question whether there is sufficient time for key committees in Congress to give this proposal the thorough review that is warranted.” The proposal “ends some of the most troubling aspects of the present retransmission consent system for consumers,” the fact sheet said. “Importantly, (1) it ends blackouts associated with contentious retransmission consent negotiations; (2) it requires every local broadcast TV station to be made available to [multichannel video programming distributors] MVPD subscribers; (3) it guarantees viewers have transparency on retransmission prices; and (4) it gives viewers more control over their MVPD subscription. At the same time, it preserves fair compensation for broadcasters -- in fact, it allows them to freely, fairly, and transparently value their programming.” Rockefeller’s and Thune’s offices did not immediately offer further comment on the proposal.