Bill Owens, the longtime executive producer of CBS’ 60 Minutes, is resigning over what he said is a loss of journalistic independence, according to a New York Times report Tuesday. CBS faces a $10 billion lawsuit from President Donald Trump and an FCC news distortion proceeding (see 2504140044 and 2502050063), both connected to a 60 Minutes interview last fall of former Vice President Kamala Harris. CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, also needs FCC approval to finalize its $8 billion purchase by Skydance (see 2503210049). In a memo to staff, Owens said it had become clear that he would no longer be allowed to run the show independently as he had been, the NYT story said. Owens had previously said he wouldn’t apologize to Trump as part of any settlement of his suit. Facing a similar suit from Trump, ABC issued a public statement of regret and made a $15 million contribution to the foundation responsible for constructing Trump’s presidential library (see 2412160043). CBS didn’t comment.
The American Bankers Association urged FCC commissioners to approve a draft robocall NPRM that seeks to close a gap in the commission’s Stir/Shaken authentication rules. The NPRM, which addresses the caller ID authentication gap resulting from non-IP networks, is set for a vote April 28 (see 2504070054). “Voice calls that impersonate banks and other legitimate businesses harm consumers and undermine those businesses’ ability to communicate with their customers,” the group said in a filing posted Tuesday (docket 17-97). “If a call passes through a non-IP framework, the STIR/SHAKEN attestation is dropped,” it said: “There is evidence that criminals exploit this gap in our caller ID authentication framework to perpetrate fraud on consumers.” The FCC is also seeing lobbying regarding the 37 GHz draft order (see 2504220011) and the geostationary orbit/non-geostationary orbit satellite spectrum sharing NPRM (see 2504220006) on Monday's meeting agenda.
The Society for American Archeology opposed a CTIA petition asking the FCC to launch a rulemaking (see 2503270059) to update its rules implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). “The goal of the CTIA’s petition is for the FCC to structure its regulations in such a way that wireless geographic licenses would not be considered Major Federal Actions under” NEPA, said a filing posted Tuesday in RM-12003.
Balboa Geolocation urged the FCC to take a close look at its Pointer technology as an alternative to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT). FCC commissioners unanimously approved a notice of inquiry last month on alternatives to GPS (see 2503270042). Balboa's technology was developed at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory with federal funding, said a filing Tuesday in docket 25-110.
SpaceX urged the FCC to tweak a draft order on the 37 GHz band to make clear that the coordination mechanism proposed for sharing the spectrum is based on the Part 101 rules for the 70/80/90 GHz band. Others also weighed in just ahead of the FCC’s sunshine notice Monday, cutting off further lobbying. Commissioners are to vote on the order Monday (see 2504070054).
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez will hold a series of speaking engagements and listening sessions on First Amendment protections and “fighting back against this Administration’s ongoing campaign of censorship and control,” she said in a news release Tuesday. The first event will be a virtual panel discussion at 2 p.m. ET Thursday. It will be hosted by the Center for Democracy & Technology and include speakers from Engine, Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, and the University of Maryland. “These events will provide a forum where Commissioner Gomez can engage with stakeholders and the public on the various ways the FCC is being weaponized to attack freedom of speech in the media and telecommunications sector,” the release said. “Since the founding of our country, the First Amendment has protected our fundamental right to speak freely and hold power to account. Today, the greatest threat to that freedom is coming from our own government,” Gomez said in the release. The FCC didn’t comment.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision calling a $57 million FCC fine against AT&T unconstitutional (see 2504180021) means a lower risk going forward of the agency imposing fines and forfeitures against parties found violating agency rules, Venable communications lawyer Craig Gilley wrote Tuesday. He said agency Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Nathan Simington were already skeptical of enforcement actions that could result in the imposition of forfeitures. Gilley said the 5th Circuit decision also will further bolster arguments that the U.S. Supreme Court's Jarkesy decision has wide application to all agency monetary punishments imposed without a jury trial, not just those imposed by the SEC -- a party in Jarkesy --- or the FCC. The 5th Circuit decision reinforces that federal agencies imposing fines or other monetary penalties have to give their targets access to a jury trial and an Article III decision-maker, such as a judge, he said.
Danielle Thumann, senior counsel to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, indicated on Tuesday that the commission is looking closely at changing its rules for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a step sought by CTIA (see 2503270059), as well as cutting regulations approved during the last administration. NEPA was the first issue Thumann raised while speaking at a Federalist Society 5G webinar.
FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington appoints conservative activist Gavin Wax as chief of staff and names Thomas Struble, who had been on detail from the FCC to the Senate Commerce Committee, as senior legal adviser.
Consumer and public interest groups raised concerns on the Edison Electric Institute's petition asking the FCC to clarify that utilities have “prior express consent” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to send “demand response calls and texts” to their customers (see 2503100047). Led by the National Consumer Law Center, the groups met with Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau staff, said a filing Friday in docket 02-278.