The video distribution marketplace is in the midst of rapid and massive upheaval, but video rules experts were divided in a panel talk Monday about what needs to be done in response. At the Congressional Internet Caucus Academy event, former FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly called for eliminating the vast majority of the rules governing video distribution. Localities lawyer Cheryl Leanza of Best Best warned of the tendency of a "knee-jerk reaction" to deregulate without looking at why existing rules were adopted. Some archaic rules need to be done away with, she said, but rules that promote democracy and civic discourse must be maintained.
Public interest groups defended most parts of the FCC’s July order implementing the Martha Wright-Reed Act of 2022 (see 2501280053) in a brief filed Monday at the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (24-8028). Incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS) providers and the National Sheriffs’ Association argued to the court why the order should be overturned. Last week, the government also defended the order (see 2506120078).
Analysts said the FCC is unlikely to act soon on its twin EchoStar proceedings given that the White House seems to want to avoid an EchoStar bankruptcy. The agency is probing whether the company is using the 2 GHz band for mobile satellite service and looking into the deadline extensions EchoStar received for its 5G network buildout (see 2505130003).
The Senate confirmed Republican Olivia Trusty to the FCC Tuesday on a largely party-line, 53-45 vote, as expected. The vote covered only her nomination to finish the term of former Democratic Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, which expires June 30. The chamber is likely to confirm Trusty on Wednesday to a full five-year term, which will begin July 1. Once sworn in, Trusty will shift the FCC to a 2-1 Republican majority. The simultaneous resignations earlier this month of Republican Commissioner Nathan Simington and Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks left the agency without a quorum and in a 1-1 tie.
The Trump Organization announced Monday that later this year, it will launch Trump Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator, and a gold-colored smartphone, which it said will eventually be made in the U.S. The launch would create ethics concerns regardless, but even more so given the Trump administration's pressure for the FCC to answer directly to the White House, public interest groups said.
FCC changes: Enforcement Bureau Assistant Bureau Chief Pamela Gallant is promoted to acting deputy bureau chief; Attorney Advisor at the Office of Engineering and Technology Tom Struble becomes acting chief of staff at the Office of Economics and Analytics.
The New York office of the FCC Enforcement Bureau sent warnings to several New York and New Jersey property owners about pirate radio broadcasts emanating from their properties, said an agency notice in Thursday’s Daily Digest. DRSD Management was warned about a property in Wesley Hills, New York, and the company 141 Coit Street was warned about a property in Irvington, New Jersey. Marie Louis and Yvons Louis received a warning about their property in Spring Hills, New York. All three warnings said the landowners could face up to a $2.4 million penalty for hosting unauthorized broadcasts.
NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt defended FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Friday after former Commissioner Nathan Simington criticized Carr for not streamlining agency policies around ATSC 3.0 (see 2506120088). “NAB has seen first-hand FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s leadership and ongoing commitment to the successful deployment of ATSC 3.0,” LeGeyt said in an emailed statement. “Chairman Carr has also made clear that he understands what’s at stake: ensuring every viewer has access to free, local broadcast television that meets the evolving needs of the modern media landscape.”
Beyond SMS texting, no other texting formats have been implemented or requested to be implemented with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, the FCC Wireline Bureau said Friday (docket 18-336). The bureau annually provides notification about what texting formats are required or seeks comment on parameters for any additional text message formats transmitting to 988.
The New York Senate voted 45-14 Thursday to approve a bill that would address junk fees. S-363 would require businesses, such as ISPs and cable providers, to display certain mandatory fees and the total price of their services. In addition, it would exclude "any tax, duty, fee or custom levied by any local, state, federal or other governmental or quasi-governmental entity" from its list of mandatory fees. Fourteen Senate Democrats introduced the legislation, the New York Junk Fee Prevention Act, in January. Providers would be deemed in compliance if they're abiding by the FCC's consumer broadband label rules. The bill accounts for the possibility of the FCC's rules no longer being applicable and establishes similar provisions for providers. Such mandatory fees would include surcharges that are "not reasonably avoidable" to make a purchase or require action by a consumer to remove them.