FCC to Hold January Open Meeting in Spite of Shutdown

The FCC announced that it will still hold it’s meeting on January 30, 2019, but due to the current partial lapse in appropriations, the items previously set forth in the Tentative Agenda released on January 3, 2019, will not be considered at the meeting.   The FCC noted that if the lapse in appropriations continues through January 29, 2019, the meeting will be held by conference call.  However, if the lapse in appropriations ends before January 29, 2019, and the FCC resumes normal operations by that date, then the meeting will be held in person at the FCC.  However, regardless of appropriations, the meeting will only consist of Commission announcements.  The Communications Act requires the FCC to meet at least once a month.

See the Regulatory Mix dated 1/8/19.

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The Regulatory Mix Today:  FCC to Hold January Open Meeting in Spite of Shutdown, Senators Seek Clarity From FTC Robocall Protections During Shutdown, DC Circuit Allots 150 Minutes of Oral Argument in RIF Case

Senators Seek Clarity From FTC Robocall Protections During Shutdown

A group of 13 US Senators wrote to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to seek more information about how the Trump government shutdown is impeding the agency’s ability to protect American consumers from robocallers and scammers.  The Senators said: “We are deeply concerned by the continued threat of illegal robocallers and other scammers during the ongoing government shutdown and want to work with you to make sure anyone falling victim to them during this unnecessary lapse in funding does not fall through the cracks.  We write with questions to better understand how Congress can assist the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to protect consumers during the shutdown and to ensure the agency has sufficient resources to address the backlog of consumer complaints and cases of identity theft as soon as funding is restored.”  They noted further that the FTC “maintains the Do Not Call Registry to protect consumers from receiving unwanted commercial telemarketing calls. During this ongoing shutdown, consumers trying to add themselves to the Do Not Call Registry, either online or via telephone, encounter a message that this service is not being offered due to the lapse in funding. In addition, legitimate telemarketers seeking to comply with the Do Not Call Registry are not even able to download the list of numbers they are not to call. Instead, they are instructed to “continue to use their existing lists from the National Do Not Call Registry until the shutdown concludes.” While legitimate telemarketers may continue to reference existing lists during the shutdown, unscrupulous scammers may exploit this lapse to the public’s detriment.”

The Senators who signed the letter are: Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

DC Circuit Allots 150 Minutes of Oral Argument in RIF Case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an Order providing the [outline][format] for oral arguments in the case regarding the FCC’s 2017 Restoring Internet Freedom (RIF).  The Court is allowing each side 75 minutes to present specific issues.  More specifically, the Court is allowing 50 minutes for Non-Government Petitioners: 25 minutes on the issue of service reclassification, Section 706 of the Act as the basis for FCC authority, and competition, and 25 minutes on the Administrative Procedure Act, section 257 (market entry barriers), and mobile BIAS (five minutes of this is allotted to Non-Government Intervenors on the same issues).  The Court is providing Government Petitioners a total of 25 minutes: 10 minutes on the FCC’s consideration of public safety and government services and 15 minutes on the preemption of state law.  Of the 75 minutes provided to the Respondents, 60 minutes is to address all issues and 15 minutes is designated for ISP Intervenors to address all issues

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s 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.