There were numerous changes between draft supply chain rules and final rules OK’d by commissioners 4-0 Thursday (see 2106170063). The FCC added several questions to a section on certification rules, including for telecom certification bodies (TCB) that do most of the work. “Are there additional compliance measures beyond” an attestation “that we should consider?” it now says: “Should the applicant have an ongoing duty during the pendency of the application to monitor the list of covered equipment and provide notice to the TCB or the Commission if, subsequent to the initial filing of the application or at the time a grant of certification, the equipment or a component part had become newly listed as ‘covered’ equipment in an updated Covered List?” The NPRM now asks whether existing rules or procedures should “be enhanced with respect to applicants that intentionally attempt to circumvent our rules or TCBs that repeatedly fail to meet their responsibilities to comply with our proposed prohibition” and on “revisions that could better ensure that applicants comply with our proposed requirements.” The draft was changed to ask for comment on “any other types of action or activity (e.g., outreach and education) that would be helpful to ensure that all parties potentially affected by these changes understand the changes and will comply the prohibition associated with ‘covered’ equipment.” Other sections also were modified to ask about the need for additional education. In a change requested by Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, the NPRM asks “should we also require that the compliance statement include the name of a U.S. agent for service of process (if different from the responsible party)?” As indicated Thursday, the NOI now includes new language on the roles played by stores and standards groups. “Even with broad adoption of industry best practices and standards, some equipment sold in the United States may lack appropriate security protections,” it says: “What is the role of retailers in voluntarily limiting the sale of such equipment? How can retailers educate consumers about the importance of security protections for their devices?” The NPRM asks for comment on “the status of international standards setting that could be relevant to supply chain security.” As mentioned by Commissioner Nathan Simington, the NOI asks: “Are there other technologies or cybersecurity methods that mitigate security risks (e.g., RF fingerprinting256 or some other method)? What, if anything, should the Commission be doing to encourage” such.

SES and Intelsat asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Keith Phillips of Richmond for summary judgment in SES' $1.8 billion claim against Intelsat regarding the breakup of the C-Band Alliance as part of Intelsat's Chapter 11 proceeding (see 2007140029). Evidence during discovery shows that Intelsat, "in a desperate, calculated act of betrayal," intentionally breached CBA's agreement with SES to be able to claim an additional $421 million promised to SES, SES said in a motion for summary judgment Wednesday (in Pacer, docket 20-32299). The plain language forbade Intelsat's unilateral termination, SES said. It said when it and Intelsat received word in January 2020 that the FCC C-band clearing order would allocate proceeds individually based on an agency methodology, SES and Intelsat agreed to prepare a draft filing asking to accelerate payments to CBA so that it could then allocate them under the pact. It said that filing was never submitted due to objections of another CBA member. SES said it's entitled to punitive damages because Intelsat "willfully and intentionally breached its fiduciary duties." Intelsat said CBA and its members told the FCC the alliance exists strictly for carrying out the band-clearing approach it was advocating. With the FCC going a different route, making the accord inapplicable, SES "now seeks to cast itself as a jilted bride .... entitled to half of everything that [Intelsat] earns on its own pursuant to the FCC’s order." It said SES "flagrantly abused the discovery process, using scorched-earth tactics to seek soundbites ... in an apparent effort to make a splash in the trade press and besmirch its key competitor."

The FCC said it will follow Office of Personnel Management guidance and close Friday to mark the Juneteenth federal holiday signed into law Thursday. OPM tweeted that while the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act establishes June 19 as a federal holiday, the date this year falls on Saturday and "most federal employees" will instead observe it Friday. A commission public notice said that, in accordance with rules about filing deadlines on holidays, all June 18 deadlines are moved to Monday. It said June 18 won't count in computing filing periods of less than seven days. Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told reporters her agency's Office of General Counsel was working on the PN, as stakeholders awaited President Joe Biden signing the law.

Commissioner Nathan Simington wants the FCC to focus more on receiver standards, told a Hudson Institute webinar Wednesday. They “could prove very useful in allowing for more efficient use of spectrum in bands where there’s a need to protect or coordinate against in-band interference with incumbents in the band, or in bands where there’s currently a large guard band,” he said. Most receivers lack an emissions mask, which can mean “spurious emissions that contribute to intermodulation interference,” he said. The commission has emissions mask rules for transmitters, he said. “Having them apply to both the transmitter and receiver ends may allow for further spectral efficiency.” Simington said an agency proposal would have risks: Many in industry “would be worried that the FCC would prejudge the issue and start imposing standards.” It could have a role as a coordinator, he said. The FCC Technological Advisory Council recommended creation of a multistakeholder group (see 1212110072). Simington said TAC should revisit how standards might work. The FCC didn't comment.

Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel last week circulated for a vote an amendment to rules on FCC registration number (FRN) requirements for the commission registration system (Cores). The proposal from the Office of Managing Director would require FRN registrants to provide an email address when they register for the first time for an FRN in Cores, or when current registrants seek to change any information, including password resets, officials said. Other registrants will be asked to provide email addresses later.

The top four network broadcast affiliate groups said streaming services should be required to disseminate emergency alert system messages, while a wide range of opponents from NPR to NCTA contend that’s not necessary or practical, in replies filed by Monday’s deadline in docket 15-94. Streaming services “are not ill-equipped to distribute EAS information, and no wholesale reconfiguration of Internet-based programming distribution technology would be needed,” said affiliate groups for Fox, CBS, ABC and NBC. “Requiring streaming services to create this infrastructure and solve these technical challenges would be infeasible in many cases, and costly and unduly burdensome in others, especially when EAS alerts already are delivered widely through traditional broadcast and wireless means,” said NPR. Requiring this would be “technically impracticable” and “produce little, if any, benefit,” said MPA, the Digital Media Association, Digital Content Next and Internet Association. Streaming is too vague a term, said the Information Technology Industry Council. “The difficulty of defining an unbounded term such as 'streaming' makes any effort to bring streaming services into the EAS untenable.” Comtech sided with affiliate groups, saying it's “absolutely imperative” to enable such alerts and conceding it would involve “significant technical challenges.” Instead of new alerting requirements, the FCC should consider convening a multistakeholder working group to study “the alerting ecosystem as a whole” and how to best to reach consumers, said NCTA.

Demand Progress, Public Knowledge and 55 other groups urged President Joe Biden to “not lose any more time” in picking a nominee to fill a third Democratic FCC seat given the commission’s current 2-2 political makeup (see 2101060055). “We recognize the pressing and time-consuming challenges this administration has faced since its earliest days,” but continuing to leave that unfilled “is incompatible with the goal of delivering open, affordable and reliable high-speed broadband to every home,” they said in a letter to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The White House didn’t comment Monday.

Emergency alert system participants must renew their identifying information in the FCC’s emergency test reporting system by July 6 for the Aug. 11 nationwide EAS test, said a Public Safety Bureau public notice Friday. The Federal Emergency Management Agency last month announced the test date and an Aug. 25 backup date (see 2105040068). EAS participants must file “day of test” info by Aug.12, and post-test data by Sept. 27, the PN said. The simulation will include a test of the wireless emergency alert system.

SES' assertion to the FCC about its reservation of its rights in its legal fight with Intelsat (see 2106100062) "is legally meaningless and not binding on any entity -- be it the Commission, the Clearinghouse, Intelsat License LLC, or any other Intelsat affiliate," Intelsat said in filing Friday to be posted in docket 18-122. It said the C-band proceeding docket "is not the forum for SES to further attempt to buttress its weak arguments in litigation" not involving the FCC, C-band clearinghouse or other operators. It said SES' filing does underscore that the clearinghouse agreement the two incumbent C-band operators need to negotiate and sign "bears no resemblance to the framework or process that Intelsat, SES, and the former C-Band Alliance advocated for." SES didn't comment.

The Senate will have hearings soon on a federal privacy bill, said Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., during a Politico webinar Thursday. “We will hold hearings on a number of aspects, not only the substance of what should be included, but also enforcement, how to enlist state authorities, especially the states where there are now laws.” Congress doesn’t want to preempt states like California, he said. Blumenthal seeks an FTC rulemaking. “It may be time-consuming, but it will provide additional leverage and impetus for what we will do in Congress,” he said. “We’re way behind the rest of the world.” Blumenthal said he will consult with other members of the Commerce Committee on hearing dates: “This area is really ripe for action.” Subcommittee ranking member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., sees growing consensus. State officials are “perplexed” Congress didn’t move first, she said: “People are waiting for us.” Parents are “turning to us,” she said, “and saying there need to be some stronger rules of the road on online privacy. There need to be some punishments for misuse.” Discussions are further along among members than most people realize, she said. Blumenthal noted Facebook is planning Instagram for kids: “We’ve got to stop it. … It’s a disaster waiting to happen.” Legislation should require people opt in if they want to share data, Blumenthal said. “A strong national standard” should be “imposed across the board on all platforms,” he said. People should be able to transfer their data, he said. It won’t be easy to get anything through the Senate, he said: “The bandwidth here is sometimes limited and there are a lot of competing issues.” Lack of federal privacy rules hampered using data in a “sufficiently agile” way to respond to COVID-19, said Julie Brill, Microsoft chief privacy officer. No one knew “what the guardrails were,” she said. In the absence of a federal law, “states will move forward because policymakers want to address their constituents’ concerns,” she said. Brill hopes agreement can be reached on a federal law. There’s consensus “consumers are shouldering too much of the burden around privacy” and companies need to demonstrate they use data responsibly, she said: There’s understanding consumers need to correct their data and move it to another provider if they want.