Windstream was granted an advertising-related temporary restraining order against Charter Communications during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. Charter, opposing Windstream's restraining order ask (see 1904080020), told the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, New York, its ads targeting Windstream customers only repeated what the company itself said about the bankruptcy possibly affecting service or ending up in liquidation (see here, in Pacer, docket 18-8246). But Judge Robert Drain in an order Tuesday said Windstream had "a substantial likelihood of success" on its false advertising claim, and it could suffer irreparable harm without the restraining order. He also ordered Charter to stop any discontinuation to Windstream customers through the companies' reseller agreement and to restore service to those who had been cut off. Charter didn't comment Wednesday.
Government entities and nonprofit health and safety organizations have until May 16 to petition for an 833 toll-free number for public health and safety purposes, the FCC Wireline Bureau said in a docket 17-192 public notice Tuesday. It then will release a public notice seeking comment on those petitions and establishing a comment period, followed by grants of petitions, it said.
FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly responded to groups and fellow FCC commissioners who participated in Monday’s #SaveLifeline tweet storm (see 1904150061) with his own tweets. “I’d vote for a cap on Lifeline any day of week but that’s about responsible management, not harm to program,” he said. Others, including Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks, commented on the importance of Lifeline and railed against possible cuts.
AT&T has sold its 9.5 percent stake in Hulu back to the streaming service joint venture for $1.43 billion, they said Monday. Hulu said it anticipates that AT&T's WarnerMedia "will remain a valued partner ... for years." AT&T said it will use the money to pay down debt.
The Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative and GVNW Consulting met with aides to the five FCC commissioners on the progress of their Alaska Plan performance obligations (see 1812200010). They also met with staff from the Wireless Bureau, said a filing posted Monday in docket 16-271. It didn’t offer other details.
Numerous groups, including Free Press, the National Consumer Law Center and Public Knowledge, took part in a #SaveLifeline tweet storm Monday, commenting on the importance of the service and railing against possible cuts (see here, here and here). FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel (see here and here) and Geoffrey Starks (see here) also chimed in.
Free Press spoke with FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel to oppose a draft USF budget NPRM (see 1904030026). “Not only would the proposed changes to Lifeline … severely frustrate the Commission’s goal of bringing affordable broadband to all Americans, the very existence of this long, drawn-out proceeding has loomed like a dark cloud over the program,” said a Tuesday filing in docket 17-287 on a phone call including Free Press CEO Craig Aaron. “It likely has caused reduced Lifeline provider participation in the program, and fewer choices for Lifeline users.”
Last week’s working paper by the FCC on the organization of economists in a regulatory agency (see 1904050030) shows benefits and risks to the launch of the Office of Economics and Analytics, American Enterprise Institute Visiting Scholar Mark Jamison blogged Tuesday. “Forming the OEA doesn’t come without costs,” Jamison wrote: “As the FCC economists found in their reviews of other studies, separating out the economists makes it harder for them to influence regulations being developed elsewhere in their agencies, such as those developed in the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications, Wireline Competition, and Media bureaus.” Forming the OEA was a good idea and will mean better economic analysis, Jamison said: But FCC “economists and commissioners will have to work hard to make sure the improved analytical quality results in improved regulations.” Umair Javed, aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, raised concerns about the study in a tweet. “What does credibility look like?” he asked. “Peer review. Posting complete datasets and code online. Reproducibility. Reliance on experimental data over empirical or observational data. Recognizing when statistical power is too low and where there is bias toward exaggerating effect sizes.”
Representatives of the Mortgage Bankers Association, American Financial Services Association and Consumer Mortgage Coalition urged the FCC to overhaul Telephone Consumer Protection Act rules. Groups like the banking associations have long sought changes to a June 2015 order and declaratory ruling on implementing the TCPA, approved over dissents by then-Commissioner Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. Both Republicans were concerned the policy call would lead to more class-action lawsuits against legitimate businesses (see 1506180046). “Many of the Commission’s existing TCPA interpretations impair the ability of the Associations’ members to send time-critical, non-telemarketing communications to millions of customers and members promptly,” the groups said, posted Monday in docket 02-278. “Act expeditiously to ensure that its implementation of the TCPA is consistent with the text of the statute and congressional intent.” The groups met with the FCC’s three Republican members.
Akin Gump got some support in seeking FCC clarity on fax “sender” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, so it's harder to sue companies whose products are unknowingly hawked in junk faxes (see 1903070051). Comments were posted through Tuesday in dockets including 02-278. Educational Testing Service noted "federal courts have divided over how to apply the TCPA and the Commission’s regulations" here. "Why would Congress or this Commission impose liability on someone who had nothing to do with sending an allegedly unlawful fax?" asked the educational test developer. "What sense could there be in stringing companies up for massive statutory damages when, as everyone acknowledges, they did not send the fax (or cause it to be sent) in any ordinary sense of those terms?" AmeriFactors Financial supported much of the law firm's petition, with the company raising more fax scenarios where the FCC ought to not find one liable for violating the TCPA. RingCentral agrees with the petition that the agency should say “sender” doesn't include entities that merely dispatch others’ faxes but only those that compose the fax or choose recipients. That would ensure "TCPA continues to protect injured consumers by holding accountable the bad actors who initiate unsolicited" ads, commented the provider of virtual fax and other communications services. Bais Yaakov of Spring Valley, New York, which litigated a TCPA case against the FCC, asked, along with Roger Kaye MD PC and a few others that Akin's request be denied. They supported a definition/test backed by Cin-Q Automobiles. The Edelman Combs law firm that represents consumers who got unsolicited junk faxes opposed the petition: "Akin Gump has failed to identify any ambiguity in the 2006 Junk Fax Order that necessitates clarification."