FCC
At FCC, Commissioner Brendan Carr Proves That Bipartisanship Still Works
Yesterday, President Biden announced his slate of nominees to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks were renominated for another term, and newcomer Anna Gomez was nominated for the fifth seat that has been vacant since former Chairman Ajit Pai’s resignation. We will cover each nominee…
Canadian Government Imposes Restrictive Television Speech Rules on the Internet
The Canadian government took a dramatic step to restrict the free speech rights of online streaming platforms by passing the Online Streaming Act, popularly known by our neighbors to the north as Bill C-11. This bill places most online content creators under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications…
Spectrum is More Important than Middle Mile
By James Erwin It has been 30 years since Congress granted the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the authority to auction radiofrequency spectrum for commercial use, and Congress has carelessly allowed auction authority to lapse. Making matters worse, Congress’s failure to reach an agreement is due to the Department of Defense’s…
Americans for Tax Reform & Digital Liberty File Comments to FCC on Best Practices for Preventing and Eliminating Digital Discrimination
Americans for Tax Reform and Digital Liberty jointly filed comments on February 21st with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the agency’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Digital Discrimination. These comments explore the pitfalls that would result from the agency’s adoption of a disparate impact standard to measure digital discrimination, as opposed to a…
Digital Liberty Op-Ed in The Hill: “The FCC is working just fine without Gigi Sohn”
On September 15, The Hill published an op-ed by Digital Liberty Executive Director James Erwin, refuting the argument that the Senate must rush to confirm flawed nominee Gigi Sohn to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) because the FCC cannot function properly without all five commissioners. As the op-ed…
The Senate Should Pass the House Spectrum Bill
Without Congressional reauthorization, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will lose its general spectrum auction authority at the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Congress has never allowed this to happen, and it should not do so now. Taking the initiative, the House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a…
House Energy and Commerce Committee Hold Hearing about Extending FCC’s Auction Authority
By Rich Sill The House Energy and Commerce held a hearing on May 24 on how to strengthen the United States’s communication networks. One of the bills discussed was the Extending America’s Spectrum Auction Leadership Act of 2022 (H.R. 7783), which would extend…
FCC Oversight Hearing: American Broadband Survived the Pandemic, Don’t Kill It with Misdirected Subsidies
By Rich Sill The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on FCC oversight on March 31. This was the first time under the Biden administration that all four FCC commissioners were called to testify to the committee. At the hearing, FCC Chairwoman…
Bedoya and Sohn Nominations Remain Stalled
By Rich Sill The Senate Commerce Committee deadlocked once again at 14-14 on the questions of whether to move the nominations of Gigi Sohn and Alvaro Bedoya to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote. To proceed, the full Senate must vote to discharge the stalled nominations from the committee; a whole host of hurdles…
Second Hearing for FCC Nominee Gigi Sohn Raises Concerns
by Rich Sill The Senate Commerce Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held an unusual second hearing on the nomination of Gigi B. Sohn to be a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday, February 9th. The first took place in December 2021, but new information concerning a recusal agreement…