Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., asked the FCC to “investigate a reported increase in complaints about loud TV ads that may violate” the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act “and take enforcement actions as appropriate.” The 2010 law (see 1012170090), written by Eshoo, “led to a decrease in complaints about TV ad loudness,” she said in a letter Tuesday to acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. But former Chairman Ajit Pai indicated last year that the FCC “never brought an enforcement action under the law, even though the FCC receives thousands of complaints. His response also indicated that CALM Act complaints were increasing in the first half of 2020,” Eshoo said. A news report “using more recent data shows that complaints increased sharply from April 2020 through February,” and 2021 is likely to be the “worst year” for such complaints since the law went into effect, she said. “This worries me a great deal.” The FCC didn’t comment.
The FTC will testify at a hybrid Senate Commerce Committee hearing on consumer protection authority at 10 a.m. EDT Tuesday. Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter is scheduled to testify with Commissioners Noah Phillips, Rohit Chopra and Christine Wilson. Topics include the FTC’s “endangered consumer redress authority” and the agency’s “efforts to fight fraud during the pandemic, including its new first-time civil penalty authority for COVID-related scams.”
The House Agriculture Committee said Tuesday it plans an April 20 hearing on rural broadband issues. The hybrid panel will begin at 10 a.m. on Webex and in 1300 Longworth, Agriculture said.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, led a bipartisan letter with 70 other lawmakers Tuesday urging President Joe Biden to “prioritize securing funding” in his FY 2022 budget request “to implement” the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (Chips) for America Act, which was enacted as part of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (see 2101030002). The Chips language authorizes federal incentives to promote semiconductor manufacturing and public-sector investments in semiconductor R&D (see 2012170061). “We would specifically request you consider joining us in support of funding levels that are at least the authorized amounts proposed in the original bill as you work with Congress on a package of policies to better compete with China and how best to strengthen our country’s economic competitiveness and resiliency as well as national security,” the senators and House members said. The original measure proposed $10 billion to match state and local incentives to encourage semiconductor manufacturing and $3 billion for a Commerce Department grant program. Others senators signing the letter included Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich.; and Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss.
National Emergency Number Association officials urged its members during a Tuesday event to lobby lawmakers to modify next-generation 911 language in the Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s (Lift) America Act (HR-1848) and pass the 911 Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services Act (HR-2351). Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., touted HR-2351 during the NENA event as necessary to “support and maintain the men and women of our 911 dispatcher community, who serve as our first emergency line of support.” The refiled measure would change the federal government's classification of public safety call-takers and dispatchers to "protective service occupations" (see 1904050054). NENA Government Affairs Director Dan Henry emphasized that the group backs HR-1848’s proposed $15 billion in NG-911 funding but seeks changes to some elements of the associated policy language, including broadening its definition of “commonly accepted standards,” clarifying its interoperability requirement and limiting the scope of a proposed NG-911 Advisory Board within NTIA (see 2104080003). “Both of the parties are hoping for a bipartisan solution here,” Henry said. He wants members to meet with House Commerce Committee lawmakers, as well as Senate Commerce Committee members, because a Senate-side companion to HR-1848 hasn't been filed.
President Joe Biden’s proposal to spend $100 billion on broadband (see 2103310064) pursues the goals of “expanding internet access and improving the quality of connectivity” in “a costly and heavy-handed way,” said American Action Forum Technology and Innovation Policy Director Jennifer Huddleston and Technology and Innovation Policy Analyst Juan Londono in a paper released Tuesday. “This new plan would have government direct deployment and pricing, diminishing market incentives for investment and innovation -- a marked shift from the current policy focusing on private-sector leadership in deployment and on targeted incentives for areas and individuals without service.” Biden’s “comments around the plan also suggest a potential move toward price controls on internet service,” AAF said. “Instead of engaging in these costly top-down programs with unproven success, policymakers should seek to work with the private sector and encourage further innovative solutions to improve access to high-quality, high-speed internet and encourage internet adoption.” Biden's effort to "future proof" broadband infrastructure (see 2103310064) would "increase inappropriately the costs of connecting unserved areas," blogged Andrew Long, Free State Foundation senior fellow. Biden's proposal to "reduce internet prices for all Americans" would also "disincentivize investment and innovation," Long said Tuesday. The FCC's current definition of broadband "unleashes the most efficient investment and innovation mechanism" to meet consumer demand, he said, but the administration's proposal would "render many viable distribution technologies ineligible to receive government subsidies simply due to their inability to deliver upstream speeds far exceeding the needs of consumers." Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., praised Biden Monday for seeking bipartisan compromise on infrastructure, after a meeting she attended on the issue earlier in the day with ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and other lawmakers (see 2104120060) “No one disagreed” during that meeting “that we need a major investment in infrastructure,” Cantwell tweeted. "I hope our colleagues will continue to talk through the details because it’s clear that transportation, housing, and broadband need more investment.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation Monday that would ban “all mergers and acquisitions by companies with market capitalization exceeding $100 billion.” The Trust-Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act would allow the FTC to designate “dominant digital firms” in prohibiting such companies from buying potential competitors. It would alter the Sherman and Clayton acts to “make clear that direct evidence of anticompetitive conduct is sufficient to support an antitrust claim.”
Apple and Google will send witnesses to a Senate Antitrust Subcommittee hearing on mobile app competition April 21 at 2:30 p.m. EDT, Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and ranking member Mike Lee, R-Utah, announced Sunday.
NAB CEO Gordon Smith is to testify at Thursday's Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing on “ways in which media is disseminating vaccine safety and COVID-health related information,” the Commerce Committee said Friday. The panel aims to “encourage Americans, particularly those in rural areas and in communities of color, to get vaccinated. It also will explore what more can be done to encourage media outlets, including television, radio, and online platforms, to promote reliable and trustworthy vaccine information.” New Mexico Health Secretary Tracie Collins and Rutgers University communications professor Yonaira Rivera will also testify, Senate Commerce said. The hearing starts at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell.
House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and other lawmakers said Thursday they “will closely follow the impact” of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Facebook v. Duguid. The court sided with Facebook in a ruling last week that favored a narrow definition of what constitutes an automatic telephone dialing system (see 2104010063). The decision, which effectively removes “text messages from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act,” may “allow scammers to send out a barrage of texts or calls without fear of reprisal or consequences,” the lawmakers said. “The last thing Americans need right now is an onslaught of texts or calls from scammers trying to swindle them out of their hard-earned money.” The others who signed onto the statement were House Communications ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio; Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D.; and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. Those lawmakers led work on what eventually became the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (Traced) Act (see 1912310028). Markey previously vowed to file legislation aimed at addressing the Facebook ruling.