Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., asked the FCC about the possibility of criminals and foreign governments intercepting phone calls. He sent FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler a letter Wednesday with several questions, requesting “complete responses” by July 15 (http://1.usa.gov/1m9mavt). Recent reports of network vulnerability are “extremely troubling” and Grayson is “disturbed” the FCC has known of such weaknesses, he said. “Does the FCC have any evidence that IMSI [international mobile subscriber identity] catchers and similar cellular interception technology have been used by private entities or foreign governments to spy on the public, companies, policy makers or members of Congress?” Grayson asked. “Do the FCC’s existing legal authority permit it to force the wireless carriers to upgrade the security of their networks in order to secure their subscribers’ conversations from criminals, private parties or foreign governments using commercially available interception technology?”

The term of Republican FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly expired Monday. The White House nominated him to finish the term of Robert McDowell, who stepped down last year, and O'Rielly was sworn in as commissioner in November after the Senate approved the paired nominations of O'Rielly and current FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. McDowell’s term ran only up through Monday, as the White House noted when first nominating O'Rielly (http://1.usa.gov/1lA3noJ). Normally FCC commissioners are appointed for five-year terms and can serve beyond their expiration until the subsequent session of Congress expires. But an exception exists, according to the Communications Act (http://1.usa.gov/1opbbhs), saying “any person chosen to fill a vacancy shall be appointed only for the unexpired term of the commissioner whom he succeeds.” The agency had no immediate comment.

A draft bill that would narrow the conditions under which patent “demand letters” may be sent for alleged infringements was released by House Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Lee Terry, R-Nev., Tuesday. Demand letters would be found to be “deceptive and unfair” under the Federal Trade Commission Act if a “civil action” for an alleged infringement has already been taken against other parties. Demand letters would have to be sent by the rightsholder of the patent, and couldn’t “preempt” state law.

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., questioned FCC E-rate overhaul plans, sending a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Wednesday criticizing aspects of the agency’s plans. “Small, cramped, crowded buildings often require more spending for wireless connectivity per square foot than uncrowded buildings,” Markey wrote. “A single flat rate of E-rate funding per square foot -- reportedly under consideration by the Commission -- might well not lead to adequate wireless connectivity in urban and rural buildings. Instead, the Commission should consider a wide range of factors including the number of users, connection from wireless in other buildings, architectural impediments, inside cabling, and the speed of access to the buildings.” The FCC had no comment right away.

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., plans to co-sponsor the USA Freedom Act, S-1599. The House had passed a modified version earlier this year, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., had introduced the Senate version, expected to be considered soon. “And while I support the current version of the bill, I want to be clear that I can and will vote against any bill that undercuts transparency, or that undercuts any of the other oversight and accountability provisions that are necessary for a successful surveillance reform effort,” Franken said in a statement Monday night, slamming the House version for having “gutted” most of the transparency requirements. The USA Freedom Act as originally introduced has transparency provisions modeled after Franken’s Surveillance Transparency Act, S-1621, introduced last year with Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., Franken’s office said in a news release. Currently 21 other senators co-sponsor the S-1599, 18 Democrats and three Republicans. On Tuesday, Franken and Heller sent a letter to the White House (http://1.usa.gov/VD8Je5) urging it to “support stronger transparency provisions such as those included in our bill."

It’s “unclear” when the FCC might open another filing window for low-power FM (LPFM) stations, Chairman Tom Wheeler told lawmakers in a letter the agency released last week (http://bit.ly/1vp1gtj). Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and Reps. Michael Capuano and Stephen Lynch, all Massachusetts Democrats, had written Wheeler a joint letter in May asking about LPFM stations. “It is unlikely there would be many, if any, additional LPFM channels available in most urban markets due to spectrum congestion and interference concerns,” Wheeler said in his mid-June response. “However, interested entities could pursue other avenues to distribute their programming, absent a license from the FCC and beyond the frequently noted option to provide programming as an online radio station.” Wheeler pointed to the “potential to lease one of a station’s several multicast or ‘HD’ channels and to pair this digital signal with an analog FM translator to reach most listeners who continue to use analog radios.”

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler asked the Media Bureau to complete its review of the sports blackout rules proceeding and provide recommendations for the full commission by “early fall,” he told Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and John McCain, R-Ariz., in a letter the agency released last week (http://bit.ly/1iO4vKO). The comment period for that proceeding -- about whether to end the agency’s sports blackout rules -- ended in March, Wheeler observed. “I share your desire for a quick resolution to this pending proceeding,” he told the senators. Blumenthal and McCain had asked Wheeler commit to bringing “a final order to a vote within the next 60 days” in their initial letter to Wheeler, dated June 2.

The FCC is “seriously considering the use of Title II” reclassification of broadband, Chairman Tom Wheeler wrote in responses to Senate and House Republicans (http://bit.ly/1iNYePc). The agency on Friday released his letters dated June 17. The Republicans had written to the FCC protesting its possible use of Title II in its proceeding to write new net neutrality rules. Wheeler called the status quo of no net neutrality rules “unacceptable” and explained the agency’s rulemaking notice, which asks many questions about what the best legal authority should be for the rules and how the FCC should proceed. “I believe that the [Communications Act] Section 706 framework provides us with the tools with need to adopt and implement robust and enforceable Open Internet rules,” Wheeler said. But the NPRM also asks about Title II reclassification, pointing to Republicans’ concerns about common carriage regulation, about “the extent to which forbearance from certain provisions of the Act or our rules would be justified so that the regulatory treatment of broadband providers is appropriately balanced,” Wheeler said.

The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) spearheaded letters to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, opposing the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) (http://bit.ly/TqkeDF; http://bit.ly/1qLudBO). Privacy advocates have long opposed the bill, which has received industry support (CD May 15 p11). CISA’s markup was set for last Thursday, but was rescheduled because of the looming July 4 recess (CD June 27 p12). The ACLU’s letter argued the bill creates “threats” to whistle-blowers, transparency and privacy. CDT’s letter added the bill “arbitrarily harms average Internet users,” and is “infringing on net neutrality policy."

House lawmakers introduced two bills last week to modify communications law. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., introduced the Cell Phone Freedom Act, HR-4952 (http://1.usa.gov/1oazYWx), which “would prevent government agents from accessing the smartphone kill switch feature without either a court order or the express permission of the device’s owner or primary user,” Griffith said in a statement (http://1.usa.gov/1qC2XU0). It has been referred to the Judiciary Committee and has no co-sponsors. Meanwhile, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., joined with Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., to introduce HR-4969. It has not yet been posted online but it would direct the FCC “to extend to private land use restrictions its rule relating to reasonable accommodation of amateur service communications,” according to its longer title. That bill has been referred to the Commerce Committee.