House Subcommittee Passes Robocalling Act
The House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) released the following statement after the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (H.R. 3375) was reported to the full Energy and Commerce Committee by voice vote: “The American people are fed up with robocalls, and thanks to the Subcommittee’s bipartisan action today we’re one step closer to putting consumers back in control of their phones,” Pallone and Doyle said. “We commend the Democratic and Republican members of the Subcommittee for working together on bipartisan amendments strengthening this comprehensive legislation to end the robocall epidemic. We look forward to bringing it up before the full Committee soon.”
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Topics:
FCC Tribal Workshop,
Communications and Technology Subcommittee,
Stopping Bad Robocalls Act,
Spectrum Opportunities,
FTC PrivacyCon,
PrivacyCon 2019
Senators Seek Information on Tech Company Antitrust Investigations
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and Tina Smith (D-MN) have asked for details about possible Federal Trade Commission antitrust investigations into Amazon and Facebook and possible Justice Department antitrust investigations into Google and Apple. In the letters, the senators requested information regarding the existence and scope of the potential investigations.
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Topics:
robocalls,
Dark Fiber Transport Unbundling,
Tech Company Antitrust Investigations
US Senate Moving FIRST Act
U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) announced introduced the Moving and Fostering Innovation to Revolutionize Smarter Transportation (Moving FIRST) Act. The Act creates a competitive grant program for large and medium-sized cities as well as rural communities to seek federal grants for the creation of efficient, creative and innovative transportation projects. A companion bill is being introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.).
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Topics:
Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau,
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks,
FIRST Act,
FCC Workshops,
SMART Challenge,
USDOT
FCC July Open Meeting Agenda
FCC Chairman Pai announced the tentative Agenda for the FCC’s July 10, 2019, Open Meeting. The FCC will consider the following items:
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Topics:
FCC July Open Meeting,
Transforming the 2.5 GHZ Band,
Robocalling Bill,
Stopping Bad Robocalls Act,
5G Incentive Auction,
Connected Care Services
US House Robocalling Bill
Six members introduced the Locking Up Robocallers Act of 2019, which directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide evidence of unlawful robocall violations to the Attorney General. The bill is intended to strengthen enforcement of current robocall laws aimed at ending the scourge of predatory robocalls. It would also require the FCC to provide annual reports to Congress containing the number of times the FCC provided evidence of unlawful robocalls to the Attorney General and a summary of the types of violations to which such evidence related.
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Topics:
robocalls,
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr,
FCC Telehealth Initiative,
Locking Up Robocallers Act of 2019
U.S. Congress Legislation to Protect Health Data
In a recent press release, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced that they introduced new legislation to protect consumers’ private health data. “While recent reports have highlighted how home DNA testing kits and health data tracking apps have given companies access to unprecedented levels of consumer health data, current law does not adequately address the emerging privacy concerns presented by these new technologies.”
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Topics:
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel,
Massachusetts Attorney General Healey,
The Protect Personal Health Data Act,
Broadband Conversations Podcast
U.S. Congress TOWER Infrastructure Deployment Act
U.S. Representatives Tim Walberg (MI-07) and Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) announced they introduced H.R. 3255, the TOWER Infrastructure Deployment Act. The Act is intended to help close the workforce shortage in the telecommunications industry for highly-skilled, professional workforce equipped to deploy 5G, lightning-fast broadband networks, and new broadcast technology.
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Topics:
TOWER Infrastructure Deployment Act,
Cyber Defense Legislation,
Precision Ag Connectivity Task Force,
U.S. Congress
US Senate Broadband Data Mapping Bill
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., John Thune, R-S.D., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act. The legislation would improve the accuracy of the FCC’s broadband availability maps by strengthening the process by which broadband data is collected.
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Topics:
FTC,
Broadband Data Mapping Bill,
Privacy Shield Compliance,
high-speed broadband
FTC Releases Details for its Hearing on Competition and Consumer Protection
In a press release, the FTC issued details for its upcoming June 12, 2019, hearing. See the Regulatory Mix dated 6/3/19.
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Topics:
USAC,
FCC Rural Health Care,
FTC Hearing on Competition and Consumer Protection,
FY 2019 filing window
