| FCC Commissioner Addresses
Government Role in Broadband Deployment |
9/18. Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) Commissioner Kevin Martin
gave the opening address at a half day conference hosted by
the Alliance for Public
Technology (APT) and the High Tech Broadband Coalition (HTBC)
titled "From Debate to Deployment: Making Broadband
Competition Work for All Americans".
Martin stated that broadband deployment will spur economic
growth and provide the benefits of distance learning, public
safety and emergency response, telemedicine, and rural
medicine. He advocated moving quickly on pending broadband
related proceedings, promoting facilities based competition,
and removing financial and regulatory obstacles to broadband
deployment.
Martin outlined four principles. (Martin also discussed these
principles in a speech
on October 26, 2001, titled "Framework for Broadband
Deployment".) First, the government should establish a
"stable, reliable and fast regulatory environment".
He stated that "Broad proceedings that remain pending for
extended periods will contribute to uncertainty. More
protracted uncertainty can prolong financial difficulty.
Regulatory uncertainty and delay can function as entry
barriers" and limit investment, thereby "impeding
deployment of new services".
He said that "I believe that it is time for the
Commission to take action on these various proceeding
involving broadband competition, including the UNE triennial,
performance measures, and the broadband proceedings that are
currently before us." He elaborated that the FCC should
act first on the UNE triennial, and that it should act this
year.
Martin's second principle is that "the Commission needs
to focus more on facilities based competition."
"In the past, the Commission has adopted a framework that
may have discouraged facilities based competition by allowing
competitors to use every piece of an incumbent's network at
super efficient prices," said Martin. "Under such a
regime, new entrants have little incentive to build out
facilities, since they can use the incumbent's cheaper and
more quickly. And incumbents have less incentives to build new
facilities, since they must share them with their competitors
at regulated prices."
Martin's third principle is that governments should reduce the
financial burden they impose on broadband. He state that
"Currently, at every level of government, we often, we
too often see broadband deployment and telecommunications as a
potential revenue stream."
 Martin
(at right) continued that "from federal and state excise
taxes, the kind of taxes that have traditionally been reserved
for decreasing demand for certain products, such as alcohol
and tobacco, to local franchise fees, which are sometimes
designed to recoup more than the cost that the government
bears for allowing services to be deployed, such as repairing
streets, governments impose taxes that actually discourage
demand, and therefore discourage the deployment of broadband
telecommunications services."
He also stated that "I do not support the FCC's proposal
to extend universal service contribution obligations to the
providers of broadband Internet access. In my view, the
contribution requirement ... would be essentially an Internet
access tax that represents an unnecessary financial burden on
such Internet service providers and actually creates a barrier
to broadband deployment."
Martin's fourth principle is that governments should remove
regulatory barriers to broadband deployment. He stated that
"For competitive carriers, many of these regulatory
hurdles occur at the state and local level. These include
local rights of ways, permits for zoning and tower
citing".
Martin also briefly touched on various proposals for
Congressional legislation. He said that "There are
several different legislative proposals for providing direct
and indirect financial incentives for broadband
deployment." He said that "more targeted
relief" such as "reform and modernization of
depreciation schedules can actually help spur
deployment." However, he concluded that "even more
important than providing direct relief right now, I believe
the government should first commit itself to exercising self
restraint by placing additional financial burdens on
broadband."
In responses to questions from the audience, he further
elaborated the FCC's UNE remand proceeding. He does not know
if the FCC will file a petition for writ of certiorari from
the U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir). He hopes that the FCC will
act this year. He also addressed universal service.
Afterwards Martin spoke with reporters outside the conference
room. He discussed primary video, must carry, the FCC's likely
timing in the UNE remand and broadband related proceedings,
and E-911.
Editor's Note: TLJ transcribed extended excerpts from Martin's
speech, responses to questions from the audience, and
responses to questions from reporters outside the event. The
transcription was made from TLJ's audio recording of the
event. The quality of the audio recording was poor, and
Commissioner Martin spoke over a noisy breakfast audience.
Hence, this transcript includes many omissions, and is certain
to contain errors. For whatever it may be worth, the transcript
is in the TLJ web site. |
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| More News |
9/18. The Treasury
Department released its notice
[39 pages in PDF] to be published in the Federal Register
which contains and explains its final rule regarding
information sharing among financial institutions and federal
government law enforcement agencies. The USA PATRIOT Act, at
Section 314, required the Treasury Department to promulgate
regulations "to encourage further cooperation among
financial institutions, their regulatory authorities, and law
enforcement authorities, with the specific purpose of
encouraging regulatory authorities and law enforcement
authorities to share with financial institutions information
regarding individuals, entities, and organizations engaged in
or reasonably suspected based on credible evidence of engaging
in terrorist acts or money laundering activities."
9/18. The Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) released its Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking and Memorandum Opinion and Order
[50 pages in PDF] pertaining to telemarketing rules. The FCC
announced, but did not release, this NPRM and MOO at its
September 12 meeting.
9/18. Brown University's Taubman Center for Public Policy
released a study
[27 pages in PDF] of 1,265 state and federal websites. It
ranked a select group of 59 federal web sites. The Federal Communications Commission's
(FCC) web site was ranked first. The Commerce Department web site
was rated eleventh. The White
House was rated thirteenth. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
was nineteenth, and the Department
of Justice (DOJ) was twentieth. The thirteen judicial
branch web sites rated by the study received the thirteen
lowest rankings. See, FCC
release [PDF]. |
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| FCC Approves BellSouth Long
Distance Application |
9/18. The FCC approved BellSouth's application
under Section
271 to provide in region interLATA services in the states
of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South
Carolina.
BellSouth Ch/CEO Duane Ackerman stated in a release that
"The approval of this application by the FCC, the first
approval of five states at one time, proves that BellSouth is
in compliance with the Telecom Act of 1996, that our markets
are open to local competition, and that millions of additional
customers in our operating region will now experience the
benefits of increased competition for long-distance
services". He added that "We will be in the
marketplace in these five states on September 27 with the
competitive long distance offers and packages our customers
want." Ackerman is also scheduled to speak at a Federal Communications Bar
Association (FCBA) luncheon in Washington DC on Thursday,
September 26.
The FCC approved BellSouth's Section 271 application for
Georgia and Louisiana in May of this year. The FCC's docket
number for this five state application is WC 02-150. For more
information, contact Aaron Goldberger of the FCC's Wireline
Competition Bureau at 202 418-1591. |
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| FCC Releases Order With
Competition Analysis of Radio Ownership |
9/18. The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) released a Hearing
Designation Order [18 pages in PDF] in its proceeding on
the application to assign the license of radio station WAAM(AM),
in Ann Arbor, Michigan, from Whitehall Enterprises to Clear
Channel.
While the license involved in this proceeding (MB Docket No.
02-284) is not significant, the order includes the FCC's
interim public interest analysis, and competition analysis, in
a subject that is currently the subject of several pending
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proceedings.
The FCC order states that "we are unable to make the
required finding that the public interest, convenience and
necessity will be served by granting the subject application
in light of the questions raised in the context of our
competition analysis." Accordingly, the FCC assigned this
matter for a hearing. |
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| SEC Official Addresses
Smart Routing Technologies |
9/17. Lori Richards, Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's
(SEC) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations gave a
speech
titled "Key Issues in SEC Examinations of Broker
Dealers". She discussed a wide range of issues, including
sales practices, supervision, internal controls, money
laundering, the IPO process, and analysts' conflicts of
interest. She also touched on smart routing technologies, and
identity theft.
She stated that "We are continuing to focus on execution
practices of broker dealers and advisers. ... Now retail order
routing firms have a new tool to measure and monitor execution
quality -- all firms should be using the new market quality
data required to be provided by market centers under Rule
11Ac1-5."
"Order routing decisions must be made based on the
ability to get the best possible execution, not on order
routing inducements," said Richards.
She continued that "Many firms are using ``smart routing
technology““ that allows them to instantaneously route
individual customer orders to the market posting the best
price or best size (or both), with algorithyms that also
factor in past fill rates and price improvement rates.
Certainly, ``smart routers““ go a long way to ensuring that
customers are getting the best possible price at any given
moment during the trading day." (Parentheses in
original.)
She also addressed identity theft. "Regulation S-P
requires that firms have adequate safeguards to protect
customer information from unauthorized access or use. As such,
we are currently conducting a sweep of broker-dealers and
investment company complexes to evaluate their policies and
procedures for protecting customer records and information
from people seeking to commit identity theft frauds."
Richards spoke to the Legal and Compliance Division of the
Securities Industry Association at the Union League Club in
New York, NY. |
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| People and Appointments |
| 9/18. Scott Taub was named Deputy Chief Accountant of
the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC). He previously worked in Andersen's
Professional Standards Group in Chicago, Illinois. See, SEC release. |
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Privacy
Policy
Notices
& Disclaimers
Copyright 1998 - 2002 David Carney, dba Tech Law Journal. All
rights reserved. |
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| Thursday, September 19 |
The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business.
8:00 AM. The U.S. Chamber
of Commerce's National Chamber Litigation Center will host
a press briefing on the upcoming term of the Supreme Court. Charles
Cooper (Cooper &
Kirk) and Carter
Phillips (Sidley & Austin.
Location: 1615 H Street, NW.
8:00 AM. Treasury Secretary Paul
O'Neill will speak at the American Business Conference
CEO's Fall Meeting. Location: Jefferson Hotel, 1200 16th
Street, NW.
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. Day three of a three day meeting of the Computer System Security
and Privacy Advisory Board (CSSPAB). The agenda includes
(1) discussion of a CSSPAB privacy report, (2) discussion of a
CSSPAB baseline standards report, (3) updates on computer
security legislation, (4) an update by the OMB on privacy and
security issues, (5) an agency briefing on compliance with the
Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA), (6) and a
discussion of DMCA issues. Location: GSA, 7th and D Streets,
SW, 5700.
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM. Subcommittees of the FCC's Public
Safety National Coordination Committee will hold meetings. The
Interoperability Subcommittee will meet at 9:00 - 11:30 AM.
The Technology Subcommittee will meet at 12:30 - 3:00 PM. The
will meet at 3:00 - 5:30 PM. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street,
SW, Commission Meeting Room.
9:15 AM. The House
Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations will hold a business meeting to consider a
resolution authorizing the Chairman of the full Committee to
issue subpoenas in connection with the Committee's
investigation into Global Crossing, Qwest and related
entities. Rep. James
Greenwood (R-PA) will preside. See, notice.
Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.
10:00 AM. The Senate
Judiciary Committee will hold a business meeting. The
agenda includes votes on confirmation of three judicial
nominees: Dennis Shedd (to be a judge of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 4th Circuit), Ronald Clark (U.S.D.C., E.D.
Texas), and Lawrence Block (U.S. Court of Federal Claims).
See, notice.
Press contact: Mimi Devlin at 202 224-9437. Location:
Room 226, Dirksen Building.
10:00 AM. The Senate
Commerce Committee will meet in executive session to mark
up pending legislation. The agenda includes the Wyden Allen
Lieberman nanotechnology bill. Location: Room 253,
Russell Building.
10:00 AM. The Senate
Banking Committee will hold a hearing on financial
privacy and consumer protection. The scheduled witnesses
are Mike Hatch (Atty. Gen. of Minnesota), William Sorrell
(Atty. Gen. of Vermont), Jim Kasper (North Dakota House of
Representatives), Phyllis Schlafly (Eagle Forum), Edmund
Mierzwinski (USPIRG), Fred Cate (Indiana Univ. School of Law),
and John Dugan (FSCC).
Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.
10:00 AM. The House
Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the
Internet, and Intellectual Property will hold a hearing on HR 5119,
the Plant Breeders Equity Act of 2002. Audio web cast.
Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.
11:00 AM. The Cato Institute
will host a panel discussion titled "Copy Fights: Can
Politicians or Entrepreneurs Best Protect Intellectual
Property?" The scheduled speakers are Rep. Howard Berman
(D-CA), Gigi Sohn (Public
Knowledge), Phil
Corwin (Butera
& Andrews), Troy Dow (MPAA), Ed
Black (CCIA),
and James
Miller (Smith College). Lunch will follow the program.
See, notice.
Location: Cato, 1000 Massachusetts Ave., NW.
12:00 NOON. The Progress and
Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a luncheon panel
discussion titled "The Future of Telecom".
The participants will be Ivan Seidenberg (Verizon), Randolph May (PFF),
Scott Cleland (Precursor Group), Blair Levin (Legg
Mason), and Brett Swanson (Gilder Technology Report).
To register, contact Rebecca Fuller at rfuller @pff.org or 202
289-8928. Location: Ronald Reagan Building, Pavilion Room,
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.
1:00 PM. The House
Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Border
Security, and Claims, and the House Ways and Means
Committee's Subcommittee on Social Security will hold a
joint oversight hearing titled "Preserving the Integrity
of Social Security Numbers and Preventing Their Misuse by
Terrorists and Identity Thieves". Location: Room 1100,
Longworth Building.
2:00 PM. The Senate
Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Subcommittee will hold a
hearing on enforcement of antitrust laws. Charles James
(Asst. Atty. Gen., Antitrust Div.) and Timothy Muris (FTC
Chairman) will testify. Sen.
Herb Kohl (D-WI) will preside. See, notice.
Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.
4:00 PM. Michael
Birnhack (Professor at the University of
Haifa Faculty of Law) will give a lecture titled "The
Denial of the Copyright Law / First Amendment Conflict"
as a part of the George
Washington University Law School Intellectual Property
Workshop Series. For more information, contact Prof.
Robert Brauneis at 202 994-6138. Location: Faculty
Conference Center, 5th Floor Burns, 716 20th Street, NW.
6:00 - 8:00 PM. The FCBA's
Young Lawyers Committee will host a Career Night for law
students and new attorneys. FCC
Commissioner Kevin Martin
will participate. For more information, contact Yaron Dori at
202 637-5600 or ydori @hhlaw.com
or Ryan Wallach at 202 429-4759 or rwallach @willkie.com.
RSVP to Wendy @fcba.org.
Location: Hogan & Hartson, 555 13th Street, NW.
Day two of a two day Homeland Security Technology Expo
hosted by the Department of
Commerce's Technology Administration and Bureau of
Industry and Security (BIS). See, BIS
notice. For more information contact Cheryl Mendonsa
(202 482-8321). Location: D.C. Armory. |
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| Friday, September 20 |
The House will not be in session.
8:30 - 10:00 AM. Harold
Furchtgott Roth and Gregory Sidak
of the American Enterprise
Institute (AEI) will host a press breakfast titled
"Is the FCC Moving Too Slowly?". The AEI states that
this is a "media only" event. RSVP Veronique Rodman
at vrodman @aei.org or
call Heather Dresser at 202 862-5884. Location: AEI, 11th
Floor Conference Room, 1150 17th Street, NW.
9:30 AM - 12:30 PM. The FCC's Public
Safety National Coordination Committee will meet. See, notice
in Federal Register. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW. |
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| Tuesday, September 24 |
9:00 AM. The House
Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and
Consumer Protection will hold a hearing on HR
4678, the Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2002,
sponsored by Rep.
Cliff Stearns (R-FL). Web cast. Location: Room 2322,
Rayburn Building.
10:00 AM. The House
Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations will hold a hearing titled "Capacity
Swaps by Global Crossing and Qwest: Sham Transactions Designed
to Boost Revenues?" See, notice.
Web cast. Press contact: Ken Johnson or Arturo Silva at 202
225-5735. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.
10:00 AM. The Senate
Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Judiciary
Administrative Oversight and the Courts will hold a hearing on
"the Washington, D.C. judicial circuit". Location:
Room 226, Dirksen Building.
11:00 AM. The Cato Institute
will host a policy forum titled "Digital Pearl Harbor:
How Real Is the Cybersecurity Threat, and Who's Responsible
Anyway?" The scheduled speakers include Howard
Schmidt (Federal Office of Cybersecurity), Ken Silva (Verisign),
Ira Parker (Genuity), and Scott Charney (Microsoft). See, notice and
online registration page. Lunch will follow the program.
Location: Cato, 1000 Massachusetts Ave., NW.
12:15 PM. The FCBA's
Young Lawyers Committee will host a brown bag lunch to
"discuss FCC's recent order mandating that consumer
electronics manufacturers install digital television tuners in
almost all new TVs, as well as TV interface devices such as
VCRs". The scheduled speakers are Lynn Claudy (NAB),
Michael Petricone (CEA), and
Valerie Schulte (NAB). RSVP to Ryan Wallach at rwallach @willkie.com.
Location: Willkie Farr &
Gallagher, 1875 K Street, NW.
CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC. 5:30
PM. Meeting of a legislative executive working group on the
Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC) and Extraterritorial Income
Exclusion Act (ETI) issue. Location: Room 211, Dirksen
Building.
Deadline to submit opposition comments to the Copyright Office (CO)
regarding the motion for stay filed by various broadcasters of
the CO's final rule that provides that transmissions of a
broadcast signal over a digital communications network are not
exempt from copyright liability under 17 U.S.C.
§ 114(d)(1)(A). See, notice
in the Federal Register. |
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| Wednesday, September 25 |
| 10:00 AM. The House
Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications
and the Internet will hold a hearing on the transition to
digital television. Web cast. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn
Building. |
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