NCTA pushed back against TiVo in the battle over the set-top box integration ban and Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization. NCTA CEO Michael Powell sent a letter Thursday to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., who are crafting their own STELA reauthorization bill to be considered in September. The House has included in its reauthorization bill (HR-4572), passed in July (CD July 23 p1), a provision that would repeal the integration ban. The integration ban rule “currently forces cable operators -- and cable operators alone -- to include a CableCard in all leased set top boxes even though this separate security module is completely unnecessary,” Powell said. He slammed “old arguments” and “spurious claims” that TiVo CEO Tom Rogers made in a letter to Senate Commerce leaders sent last week, the same day the House passed its STELA reauthorization bill. TiVo strongly opposes the repeal of the integration ban. Senate Commerce should include the House provision, which is narrow and focused and has bipartisan backers, Powell insisted. TiVo General Counsel Matt Zinn fired back in a lengthy statement. “Once again, NCTA twists the facts to suit its own narrative to continue to undermine the competitive retail environment,” Zinn declared. “TiVo remains confident that the Senate will recognize the damage that will be done to consumer choice and competition if the House language is allowed to become law.” Congress has no reason to intervene in this space of the market, which is moving forward as intended, he said. “If NCTA truly believes that ending the integration ban would save consumers money, why then in testimony before a House committee did Michael Powell say point-blank that consumers would not see any savings?"

A Senate vote on the Internet Tax Freedom Forever Act (S-1431), which would make permanent the ban on Internet access taxes, isn’t yet a “political reality,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman and ITFFA original sponsor Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in prepared remarks (http://1.usa.gov/1nX8zdc) on the Senate floor Thursday. Wyden recommended a temporary moratorium on Internet access taxes through the end of 2014 “while we work out the issues raised by those who believe that allowing localities to collect taxes across the country is more important than a ban on discriminatory taxation,” referring to a portion of the Marketplace and Internet Tax Fairness Act. MITFA (S-2609), introduced by Senate Finance Committee member Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., combines the principles of the Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA) (HR-684), which would let states tax remote sellers with annual revenue exceeding $1 million, and the Internet Tax Freedom Act, which would extend the moratorium on Internet access taxes through Nov. 1, 2024. Wyden voted against the MFA last year (http://1.usa.gov/1qHJcvn). ITFFA has 52 Senate co-sponsors (http://1.usa.gov/1jRXTeE); MITFA has 13 Senate co-sponsors (http://1.usa.gov/1mWMgTw).

More than 40 groups asked Senate and House leaders not to modify the latest version of the USA Freedom Act (S-2685). Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., introduced the version last year, widely seen as a stronger surveillance overhaul than the one the House passed earlier this year. “The version of the USA FREEDOM Act introduced Tuesday is a substantial improvement upon the House-passed bill, and addresses many of our most significant concerns,” the Wednesday letter said (http://bit.ly/1o6gSSr). “While this bill does not include all of the necessary reforms to the government’s surveillance authorities, it is a good first step.” Signatories include the American Civil Liberties Union, American Library Association, Center for Democracy & Technology, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Free Press, New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge and TechFreedom.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., backs net neutrality rules that ban “priority arrangements that harm consumers,” he told Demand Progress Executive Director David Segal in a letter dated Monday. Segal asked Reid if he would tell the FCC “to reclassify Internet service providers as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934,” as Reid recounted. “Let me assure you that I will lead the fight to protect any Open Internet Rules promulgated by the FCC against the inevitable Republican attack against such rules.” Reid referred to himself as a strong backer of such rules since 2006. Reid’s letter “takes away a crucial talking point that some folks have been saying that the Senate won’t defend Title II reclassification,” Nathan White, who is registered as the primary lobbyist for Demand Progress, told us, giving cover for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler “to do the right thing. Secondly, Senator Reid writes that no matter what, there will be a fight over this in Congress. That removes another crucial talking point that [Communications Act Section] 706 is somehow the politically easy way out.” Marvin Ammori, a New America Foundation fellow and longtime net neutrality advocate, dubbed this letter a “game changer” and said Title II reclassification “is now politically feasible,” writing in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1s2TerC). Wheeler “has few reasons left for inaction,” White remarked. Segal told us Reid’s letter speaks to the different possible legal authorities the FCC could use to reinstate net neutrality rules, despite its lack of explicit references to such authorities. “This letter is meant to make it clear that Reid would back Title II if that’s where the FCC goes,” Segal said, saying the letter also casts doubt on the notion that basing rules on Section 706 is “politically easy.” The merits of the situation point to Title II reclassification, Segal said.

The House Commerce Committee approved three communications bills by voice vote Wednesday during a markup session: the Anti-Spoofing Act of 2013 (HR-3670), the E-LABEL (Enhance Labeling, Accessing, and Branding of Electronic Licenses) Act (HR-5161) and the Kelsey Smith Act (HR-1575). Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, introduced an amendment in the nature of a substitute (http://1.usa.gov/1ldL6OU) to the Anti-Spoofing Act, as he has previously said he would, to address some stakeholder concerns about the language, and it was approved. Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., successfully tweaked (http://1.usa.gov/1obNjdG) the Kelsey Smith Act to address some possible privacy concerns. Committee ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., backed the changes but reiterated the concerns he aired during opening statements, saying the committee process could have been better. Sprint applauded the lawmakers for advancing the Kelsey Smith Act. “We support Congressional efforts to establish a national framework that will enable law enforcement and wireless carriers to better assist families to obtain access to GPS information promptly in times of crisis,” Sprint Vice President-Government Affairs Bill Barloon said in a statement. The American Civil Liberties Union “believes that the Kelsey Smith bill needs to be strengthened ... so that it has a strong definition of emergency and people have a remedy when their location information is revealed illegally,” ACLU Legislative Counsel Chris Calabrese said. “We have not yet taken a final position on the bill.” The ACLU sent Commerce leaders a letter Tuesday outlining “continuing concern” with the amended bill. “The more significant problem is that the legislation as drafted does not create any penalty if the court finds a violation of the law,” ACLU said in the letter. “There is no penalty for police misconduct, nor is there any remedy allowing a criminal or civil defendant to suppress evidence gathered from this illegal data collection. The result is that a defendant could be harmed by clearly illegal conduct, but have no remedy -- a gross injustice and at odds with criminal procedural remedies in other contexts."

All broadband access providers clearly provide a Title II telecom service, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told the FCC in a long ex parte filing from mid-July, released this week (http://bit.ly/1pqCjx7). He pushed for strong net neutrality rules that ban both blocking and paid prioritization and urged the agency to rely on Title II, with forbearance to keep unnecessary regulation light. “The red herring arguments about the legal risks of ‘reclassification’ of broadband access as a telecommunication service are simply distractions from the clear statutory framework set forth by Congress,” Wyden said.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., introduced Tuesday his latest version of the USA Freedom Act (http://1.usa.gov/1powtMR), the surveillance overhaul bill he originally introduced last fall. The House approved a watered-down version earlier this year, and Leahy’s new version attempts to add back teeth, he said. The bill “ensures that the ban on bulk collection is effective,” said Leahy, who heads the Judiciary Committee, in a statement of introduction. “It ensures that the government cannot rely on Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] pen register and trap and trace device statute, or the national security letter statutes to engage in the indiscriminate collection of Americans’ private records.” The bill has 13 co-sponsors from both parties and backing from top privacy advocates and technology companies, many of which had opposed the final House version. Privacy advocates say that more overhaul must follow this bill, a sentiment Leahy also conveyed in introducing the compromise legislation. “Given the need to act quickly, I am willing to forego regular order and take this bill directly to the Senate Floor,” Leahy said. Sens. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Dean Heller, R-Nev., applauded Leahy for including transparency provisions they had authored. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Mark Udall, D-Colo., want the bill to go further and address “backdoor” and warrantless searches, they said.

A top House Democrat attacked the way the House Commerce Committee is conducting its business. The Commerce Committee met Tuesday afternoon for the start of a markup session including the Anti-Spoofing Act of 2013 (HR-3670), the E-LABEL (Enhance Labeling, Accessing and Branding of Electronic Licenses) Act (HR-5161) and the Kelsey Smith Act (HR-1575). Ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., attacked the committee leadership, turning the title of a recent Republican news release on its head. “The title of the release left an impression on me,” Waxman said during his opening statement, referring to the Republican release (http://1.usa.gov/1pc5YXT) ripping into what it judged a broken FCC process and something smelling rotten on the eighth floor of the agency’s headquarters. “Well, by their standards, something is broken in our committee today.” He criticized the way the committee had bypassed a hearing process or subcommittee markup for many of the measures under consideration. Waxman backs the Anti-Spoofing Act and E-LABEL Act, calling those common-sense measures, but the Kelsey Smith Act is complicated and has faced no subcommittee or hearing debate. Waxman pointed to such issues as “consumer privacy regarding call location data.” But Waxman noted “it is not perfect but progress has been made.” In his opening statement, Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said that all three telecom bills are bipartisan. Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., called the Kelsey Smith Act, which would compel carriers to share call location data with law enforcement when necessary, “the most meaningful” of the three telecom measures. “Versions of this legislation have been passed in 14 states.” Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., said she’s glad the drafters of the Kelsey Smith Act took some of her privacy concerns into consideration with the version for the markup. She aligns herself with Waxman’s committee process concerns, she said. Commerce will resume the markup session Wednesday at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.

Rural electric cooperatives excel at providing broadband access and need funding, Robert Hance, CEO of Midwest Energy Cooperative, testifying on behalf the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, told House lawmakers Tuesday. The FCC must be “inclusive” with its Connect America Fund money, Hance said during a House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Rural Development and Credit, telling Congress that rural electric cooperatives “need your support to compete for the billions of dollars available to provide broadband in high cost areas.” The FCC is still struggling when it comes to providing USF for rate-of-return companies, USTelecom Vice President-Policy David Cohen testified, praising the agency’s retreat from quantile regression analysis and urging “serious consideration” of the proposal put forth by the rural telecom industry. Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Administrator John Padalino touted the government’s efforts to finance rural telecom and the relevance of RUS in the 21st century. “While the focus of this hearing is on the deployment of broadband through Rural Utilit[ies] Service programs, these programs are not operated in a vacuum,” Subcommittee Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Ark., said in his opening statement. “It will be helpful to review those changes in the recent Farm Bill in light of the FCC’s changes to how rural telecommunication companies receive assistance. The efforts by the FCC to reform the USF have a direct impact on smaller rate-of-return carriers who both rely on USF support to provide service, and RUS loans to expand their coverage areas.” Officials representing CTIA and NTCA also testified (CD July 29 p12).

Lawmakers must look past the current spectrum auctions when considering spectrum policy, said Darren Achord, a senior legislative assistant leading telecom policy for Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Achord spoke Tuesday at a briefing hosted by the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute at the Capitol. This forward-looking need is a challenge, “because so much focus is on the here and now,” he said, calling on government to use spectrum as efficiently and effectively as possible. There’s need for more spectrum sharing and scrutiny of barriers to wireless infrastructure deployment, he said. Rubio has highlighted spectrum policy as a priority this year and introduced two pieces of legislation on the topic. “On the member level, it’s just the education about how important this is,” Achord added, lamenting people falling asleep at the sound of gigahertz. “It’s all about after those auctions,” Achord said. “We've got to continue to be looking forward. … Can we make more spectrum available? Where do we need to be doing that?”