Today:  US Court of Appeals Sets Briefing Scheduling For Net Neutrality Appeal, FCC CAF II Auction Applications, FTC/FCC Robocalling Forum Agenda  

US Court of Appeals Sets Briefing Scheduling For Net Neutrality Appeal

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an order consolidating 15 petitions for review of the FCC’s Internet Freedom fka Open Internet fka Net Neutrality Order and set a briefing schedule.  Petitioners and intervenors in support of petitioners must file a consolidated opening brief by May 29, 2018.  Respondents’ consolidated answering brief is due June 28, 2018. Petitioners’ and petitioner-intervenor’s consolidated optional reply brief is due 28 days after service of respondents’ brief.   The Petitioners are: 

• County Of Santa Clara; 
• Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District;
• California Public Utilities Commission, Petitioner, City And County Of San Francisco, Intervenor; Mozilla Corporation;
• Vimeo, Inc.; 
• Public Knowledge;
• Open Technology Institute At New America, Dba New America; 
• State Of New York; Et Al. (States Of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington; Commonwealths Of Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia; and The District Of Columbia), 
• Ntch, Inc.;
• Benton Foundation;
• Free Press; 
• Coalition For Internet Openness;
• Etsy, Inc.;
• Ad Hoc Telecommunications Users Committee; and
• Center For Democracy And Technology.

FCC CAF II Auction Applications

The FCC announced it is now accepting applications to participate in the Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II reverse auction.  Applications must be submitted by March 30, 2018.  The auction will make available up to $1.98 billion in support over the next decade to help build out high-speed Internet access to up to 1 million homes and small businesses in rural areas across the country that lack service.

FTC/FCC Robocalling Forum Agenda

The Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission announced the agenda for their Joint Policy Forum to discuss the regulatory challenges posed by illegal robocalls and what the FCC and FTC are doing to both protect consumers and encourage the development of private-sector solutions.  This event will be held on Friday, March 23, 2018, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at FCC Headquarters.  The first panel will address challenges facing consumers and the industry.  Discussion topics will include the factors driving the volume of illegal robocalls; new threats to consumers, such as Caller ID spoofing; and protections for legitimate callers. The second panel will discuss recent regulatory and enforcement efforts and will include an overview of the relevant law; recent FCC, FTC, and state actions to protect consumers; and enforcement challenges.  The final panel will address solutions and tools for consumers.

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 The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s daily blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.