Brad Smith's title at Microsoft is president (see 2104190057).

Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., praised the FCC Media Bureau Monday for seeking comment on whether it needs to update rules implementing the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act’s bar on excessively loud TV ads (see 1012170090). The bureau sought feedback on “the extent to which our rules have been effective in preventing loud commercials” and whether the commission should “take additional actions” to update the rules. Comments are due June 3, replies July 9, in docket 21-181. Eshoo recently asked acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to investigate “a reported increase in complaints about loud TV ads” (see 2104140001). “I welcome the FCC’s action to protect consumers from the vexing issue of loud TV ads,” Eshoo said now. “I authored” the Calm Act “to put an end to this national irritant, but complaints are rising again. I welcome the decision of the FCC to hear complaints from the American people. I urge everyone who is annoyed to submit their complaints to the FCC about loud ads to ensure violations of” the law “can be investigated.”

CTA “urges caution” as lawmakers weigh tech mandates to curb app store antitrust practices, President Gary Shapiro will tell a Senate Competition Subcommittee hearing Wednesday. “New legal requirements for app store providers and consumers could have major unintended consequences affecting national competitiveness, privacy and security, entrepreneurs and even the retirement accounts of millions of Americans as the companies potentially hurt by the proposed policies are owned by millions of Americans.” There are 20-plus mobile app stores, “facilitating a $1.7 trillion ecosystem led almost entirely by U.S. companies,” he says. “Avoid adopting policies that pick winners and losers in the app market.” Competition is “alive and well” in relevant markets, ACT|The App Association wrote the subcommittee, noting lack of small-business witnesses.

Apple reinstated Parler to its App Store effective April 14, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., announced Monday. Lee and Buck, top Republicans on the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee and the House Antitrust Subcommittee, wrote Apple, Google and Amazon in March, questioning actions the companies took against Parler in January. Apple had removed the platform from the App Store. According to Apple’s response to their letter, the two sides negotiated updates to Parler’s content moderation practices, and Apple’s review team informed Parler of the reinstatement. Parler didn’t comment.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and the leaders of the Communications Subcommittee urged NTIA to “continue to work with federal agencies and the FCC to ensure all spectrum resources are being used as effectively as possible.” NTIA has a statutory “responsibility to ensure that the views of the executive branch on telecommunications matters are effectively presented to" the FCC, the lawmakers wrote acting NTIA Administrator Evelyn Remaley. “In recent years, several federal agencies with spectrum allocations have circumvented this statutory process and argued the importance of their particular use cases directly to the FCC, rather than working through the NTIA as the central repository and manager of federal spectrum.” They noted the NTIA-DOD agreement last summer on commercial shared use of the 3.45-3.55 GHz band as a contrasting “collaborative and productive process and hope to see similarly effective engagements in the future,” including for the 3.1-3.45 GHz band. Lawmakers hope such fracases during then-President Donald Trump’s administration won’t continue (see 2101260063). House Communications Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, also signed Monday's letter. Interagency spectrum coordination is among the issues House Communications is likely to examine Wednesday (see 2104150066). Open Radio Access Networks Policy Coalition Executive Director Diane Rinaldo and Competitive Carriers Association Senior Vice President-Legislative Affairs Tim Donovan will testify, House Commerce said Monday. Also on deck: Rakuten Mobile Executive Vice President Tareq Amin, Mavenir Senior Vice President-Business Development John Baker and JMA Wireless CEO John Mezzalingua. The hearing’s start time is delayed to 11:30 a.m. EDT to accommodate the funeral of Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., the committee said.

Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted President Joe Biden’s proposed $100 billion broadband request Monday in selling the administration’s overall $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal (see 2104140069). Biden, meanwhile, discussed the plan with 10 members of Congress who are former governors or mayors. “The world runs online,” but “millions of Americans, many of whom live in rural America, do not have access to broadband,” Harris said during a speech in Jamestown, North Carolina. “If they do, it is not affordable.” Biden “and I are determined to make sure that every person in our country can access broadband and afford it,” Harris said. Biden told reporters he’s “prepared to compromise” on aspects of his proposal, including its scope. “I’m prepared to see what we can do and what we can get together on” in a compromise, he said. “It’s a big package, but there are a lot of needs.” Lawmakers participating in the meeting included Senate Commerce Committee member John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and House Appropriations Committee ranking member Kay Granger, R-Texas. “We’re quite open to a range of mechanisms for agreed-upon legislation moving forward,” including “smaller packages” or “pieces being peeled off,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. “In terms of what the package or size looks like, we’re just not quite there yet.” Some industry officials have also been meeting with lawmakers in hopes of allocating some infrastructure money for 5G-specific uses, lobbyists told us. Microsoft President Brad Smith backed Biden’s proposal Sunday but issued cautions in a USA Today opinion piece. “A challenging conversation awaits about how to pay for all this,” he said. Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., wrote in USA Today that “a bipartisan infrastructure bill is possible if Democrats are interested in working with Republicans on traditional infrastructure such as roads and bridges, and even modern infrastructure like broadband, if done correctly.”

Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., said Friday he refiled his Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act (HR-2489) in a bid to protect inmates from unreasonable prison phone charges. The bill, first filed last year (see 2003270061), would bar communications providers from receiving site commissions earned by prisons and other confinement facilities. It would cap inmate calling service rates at 4 cents per minute for prepaid calls and 5 cents per minute for collect calls. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., plans to refile her similar Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act “in the coming weeks,” Rush’s office said. “The suspension of in-person visits in prisons and jails across the country due to COVID-19 restrictions made phone calls one of the only ways inmates could stay connected with friends and family,” Rush said. “It is heart-wrenching that, as prisons became early petri dishes for the spread of the virus, something as simple as calling to check on the health and safety of a loved one could exact such a heavy financial toll.” The House passed the Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act last year as part of the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (see 2009290044). “I hope to see it finally signed into law” in this Congress, Rush said.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released draft legislation Thursday to set rules on sharing sensitive data overseas to prevent foreign criminals and other bad actors from accessing it. Wyden requested comment on the Protecting Americans’ Data From Foreign Surveillance Act, which, as drafted, would direct the Commerce secretary to identify personal data categories that could harm national security if obtained by third parties. The bill establishes a private right of action for individuals physically harmed, arrested or detained in a foreign country due to illegal data export.

The House Judiciary Committee voted 24-17 Wednesday to approve a report (see 2010090053) accusing Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google of monopolizing and abusing their market dominance. The House Antitrust Subcommittee’s report, which recommends how to restore competition, was approved along party lines. With the findings formally adopted, subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline, D-R.I., said he looks forward to crafting legislation that addresses the “significant concerns” raised.

The House Communications Subcommittee plans a Wednesday hearing on wireless security. “After years of falling behind in the global supply chain of wireless technology, the United States needs to prioritize the production of secure and modern wireless equipment,” said House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Communications Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa. “This -- along with an interagency, harmonized effort to coordinate our airwaves -- is crucial to ensuring our wireless technology is both secure and economically competitive on the world stage.” The virtual hearing will begin at 10:30 a.m. EDT.