The new version of the FCC Process Reform Act is “a bipartisan compromise” but not without its disappointments, said House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., in her opening statement at the bill’s markup late Tuesday afternoon. “While I appreciate the inclusion of the bipartisan/bicameral FCC Collaboration Act of 2013 (HR-539), I'm disappointed that this provision will not take effect immediately upon enactment,” Eshoo said. “For years, current and former FCC Commissioners have called on Congress to pass ’sunshine reform.’ A delay in implementation is the unnecessary delay of a much needed reform.” The bill should be changed in the House or possibly in the Senate, she said. The House Commerce Committee plans to vote on it Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. in 2121 Rayburn. Eshoo praised FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s own process review initiative, started since his confirmation. She backs the Federal Spectrum Incentive Act (HR-3674), introduced Monday, which she co-sponsored. “Passage of this legislation is a win-win for federal agencies, the wireless industry and most importantly for consumers,” she said. In his markup opening statement, Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., cited pride in both the process reform and spectrum legislation, backing their passage. The spectrum bill “would incent agencies by offering a percentage of net auction proceeds to agencies willing to do the hard work of making their systems more efficient,” Walden said. He urged his colleagues to back the bill and “work on creative ways to bring additional spectrum.”

The federal government’s decision to redact information in its response to a petition from technology companies seeking to disclose more information about U.S. surveillance requests “is within the discretion of the executive branch, and in any event does not interfere with the legal arguments the companies can offer,” it responded to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (http://1.usa.gov/J2WikO). The response to FISC released Monday and dated Friday is the most recent move in the months-long attempt by five tech and social media giants -- led by Google and Microsoft -- to argue the First Amendment gives them the right to disclose the specific number and type of government surveillance requests they receive as long as they don’t disclose the content or surveillance target (CD Oct 3 p5). The federal government released a response in October urging FISC to deny the tech companies’ request. The companies responded in November, asking for more transparency in the government’s response, saying the redacted portions obfuscated the government’s legal rationale behind its stance and violated the First Amendment (CD Nov 14 p19). “None of the legal arguments in the government’s public brief have been redacted,” said the government’s most recent response. “The classified information is irrelevant to the companies’ argument about the scope of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s nondisclosure provisions.” The tech companies have until Dec. 20 to respond.

Several House Republicans objected to FCC activities they say are an attempt to revive the Fairness Doctrine. Every Republican member of the House Communications Subcommittee, including Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and full Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., signed onto a Tuesday letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler (http://1.usa.gov/18AC5fK). The letter cited a Nov. 1 agency public notice (http://fcc.us/1bB7C2n) announcing a field test for the research design of what it called a multi-market study of critical information needs. But the members argued the letter amounts to “Fairness Doctrine 2.0” and “a startling disregard for not only the bedrock constitutional principles that prevent government intrusion into the press and other news media” but also lessons from past Fairness Doctrine endeavors. The FCC has no business “probing the news media’s editorial judgment and expertise,” the letter said. It asks about the purpose of the study as well as the statutory justification for launching it. The FCC declined comment.

Several major electronics manufacturers agreed to work within a common open software framework to enhance the Internet of Things, said a Tuesday release from the AllSeen Alliance, a new “cross-industry consortium” of manufacturers (http://bit.ly/ICwigb). Board members include Cisco, Haier, LG, Panasonic, Qualcomm and Sharp. According to the release, they and other members “will contribute software and engineering resources as part of their collaboration on an open software framework that enables hardware manufacturers, service providers and software developers to create interoperable devices and services.” The nonprofit Linux Foundation, which advocates for the growth of the open source operating system Linux, issued the release about the new alliance. “Open source software and collaborative development have been proven to accelerate technology innovation in markets where major transformation is underway,” said Linux Foundation Executive Director Jim Zemlin. “Nowhere is this more evident today than in the consumer, industrial and embedded industries where connected devices, systems and services are generating a new level of intelligence in the way we and our systems interact.”

CEA hailed the Federal Spectrum Incentive Act (HR-3674) as “an innovative approach to federal spectrum management and reallocation.” The bill, introduced Monday (CD Dec 10 p3), would give government agencies financial incentives to give up or share their spectrum. It would create a federal spectrum incentive auction fund, which would allow some agencies to get auction revenue from the spectrum they have given up and potentially use those funds to offset sequestration losses. “Effective and efficient use of spectrum, both commercial and federal, is vital to ensuring that our nation has enough supply to keep up with demand,” said Veronica O'Connell, CEA vice president-congressional affairs, in a Tuesday statement. “By providing the right mix of incentives, we hope it will encourage federal users to seriously consider terminating or sharing existing spectrum assignments.” CEA hopes the bill will have “strong bipartisan support” during its Wednesday markup and urges “quick consideration” by the full House, O'Connell said.

Cloud-based TV service nimbleTV began offering its service in the New York City metropolitan region Tuesday, the company said in a news release. The service allows users with addresses in that area to watch TV on any device with an authenticated cable subscription, the release said. Customers can watch “their favorite local cable programming -- including local news, sports and major networks -- anywhere, anytime and on any device,” it said. The base service, which requires an existing cable subscription, costs $3.99 a month. Users can buy a subscription TV package that will allow them to stream local, cable and premium cable channels starting at $29.98 per month. Both kinds of services include DVR capability. CEO Anand Subramanian said: “Our approach simply improves existing pay TV -- it does not displace it."

Tribune Broadcasting requested a license for a Ku-band transportable transmit-only earth station. The facilities will be uesd to provide news and event coverage “via digital video and audio carriers to WTIC-TV, Hartford, Conn., and WCCT-TV, Waterbury, Conn.,” it said in an application to the FCC International Bureau (http://bit.ly/1iTnpiv). WXMI Grand Rapids, Mich., also applied for a Ku-band transmit-only earth station (http://bit.ly/1e3njCM).

The Telecommunications Industry Association said the White House should continue pursuing research and development related to spectrum sharing, and urged Congress to provide “significant additional funding” for that research. Additional funding would result in “transformational advances” in spectrum sharing research, which in turn will have “economic benefits several times over,” TIA said Tuesday in a white paper. “Spectrum sharing technologies hold great promise, but a significant and sustained research and development effort is required to help move many of these technologies into the mainstream. By modernizing the foundations of the research ecosystem and focusing R&D efforts in priority areas, Congress and the Administration can work in partnership with industry to ensure that the future for spectrum remains a bright one.” TIA said more research is needed on several topics: The Authorized Shared Access and Licensed Shared Access unlicensed sharing regimes, the effectiveness of geolocation databases, cognitive radio, intelligent network selection, wideband sensing, distributed sensing, spectrum aggregation, interference mitigation, wireless ad hoc networks, network resiliency and security (http://bit.ly/1cniQEn).

A hands-off approach to VoIP regulation would maintain a regulatory environment in North Dakota that encourages broadband investment and delivers VoIP and other communications services that bring “investment and economic growth” to the state, John Stephenson, American Legislative Exchange Council communications and technology task force director, told the North Dakota Information Technology Committee Tuesday (http://1.usa.gov/19fsz2b). ALEC adopted a model policy in 2007 (http://bit.ly/18kESMd) that exempts interconnected VoIP service from state utility regulation, while preserving the rights and responsibilities for states and providers and recognizing the FCC’s jurisdiction, said Stephenson. “If each state applied its own utility laws to VoIP, which include requirements such as PUC authority to provide the services, carrier of last resort obligations and tariffs with pre-approval for service changes, the increased costs on providers and ultimately consumers would be substantial.” Twenty-nine states and the FCC have recognized the “continued investment in communications technology and services is at risk” if VoIP faces an “uncertain” regulatory future, said Stephenson. “Legislatures across the country have made clear that they believe the competitive marketplace, not legacy telephone regulations, are capable of ensuring service availability, quality, and reliability for consumers into the future."

Data stored in cloud services need stronger protection against government surveillance, the European Parliament said in a nonbinding resolution approved Tuesday. The adopted text wasn’t available at our deadline. The resolution stressed that EU rules apply to all cloud computing services operating in the EU, even if a client in a third country directs otherwise, Parliament said in a news release. Lawmakers acknowledged that the cloud opens opportunities for new jobs, lower costs and less red tape, but said the EU needs safeguards to counteract foreign laws that might lead to massive, illegal transfers of their data, it said. Members asked the European Commission to ensure that consumers get better information about cloud services, saying that users of services that fall under non-EU law should be given “clear and distinguishable warnings” that foreign intelligence agencies may survey their personal data. Parliament members (MEPs) also asked the EC to make sure that consumer devices don’t make use of cloud services by default and aren’t restricted to specific cloud providers. They also want a minimum level of consumer rights relating to privacy, data storage in non-EU countries and liability for data losses. While the market should be open to all law-abiding providers, the more server farms there are in Europe, the better for European companies and the more sovereignty the EU has over those servers, MEPs said. BSA/The Software Alliance said it has “mixed views” on the resolution. While lawmakers recognized the significant potential of cloud computing, they approved “worrying and contradictory proposals that could undermine Europe’s participation in the global cloud network,” it said. Saddling European services with market-specific rules relating to procurement, standards and content stored in the cloud must be considered in a global context or they'll limit the economies of scale cloud computing is designed to deliver, said Government Relations Director-Europe, Middle East and Africa Thomas Boué.