FCC

Chinese telecom firms urge FCC not to block U.S. operations

By Frances L. Weems 5 days ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pacific Networks Corp and its wholly owned subsidiary ComNet (USA) LLC on Monday urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) not to shut down its U.S. operations.

FILE PHOTO: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) logo is seen in Washington February 26, 2015. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

In April, the FCC issued show cause orders to three state-controlled Chinese telecommunications companies, including Pacific, citing national security risks.

The FCC directed China Telecom Americas, China Unicom Americas and Pacific Networks to explain why it should not start revoking authorizations enabling their U.S. operations.

The other two firms have not yet filed formal FCC responses.

Pacific and ComNet said in a 92-page FCC filing that “neither company has been asked by the Chinese government or the Chinese Communist Party to take any action that would ‘jeopardize the national security and law enforcement interests of the United States.’”

The companies said they have

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Trump’s push to regulate social media faces uphill battle at FCC

By Frances L. Weems 6 days ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s effort to regulate social media companies’ content decisions may face an uphill battle from regulators who have previously said they cannot oversee the conduct of internet firms.

FILE PHOTO: Facebook, Google and Twitter logos are seen in this combination photo from Reuters files. REUTERS/File Photos/File Photo

Trump said last week that he wants to “remove or change” a provision of a law that shields social media companies from liability for content posted by their users.

He signed an executive order that directed the Commerce Department to petition the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to write rules clarifying social media companies’ legal protections under Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act.

FCC chairman Ajit Pai did not endorse the proposal but said in a written statement “this debate is an important one” and added the FCC “will carefully review any petition for rulemaking.”

In

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Trump’s social media regulation push faces key hurdle at the FCC

By Frances L. Weems 6 days ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s effort to regulate social media companies’ content decisions may face an uphill battle from regulators who have previously said they cannot oversee the conduct of internet firms.

FILE PHOTO: Facebook, Google and Twitter logos are seen in this combination photo from Reuters files. REUTERS/File Photos/File Photo

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai did not endorse Trump’s proposal on Thursday but said in a written statement “this debate is an important one” and added the FCC “will carefully review any petition for rulemaking.”

In August 2018, Pai said he hoped social media companies would embrace free speech but did not see a role for the FCC to regulate websites like Facebook, Alphabet’s Google and Twitter.

“They are not going to be regulated in terms of free speech,” Pai said at a forum. “The government is not here to regulate these platforms. We don’t

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U.S. agencies ask FCC to rescind Ligado spectrum decision

By Frances L. Weems 2 weeks ago

FILE PHOTO: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) logo is seen in Washington February 26, 2015. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A group of U.S. agencies on Friday asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reconsider its unanimous April 22 decision to allow Ligado Networks [MOSAV.UL] to deploy a low-power nationwide mobile broadband network, saying it could pose a threat to global positioning systems (GPS).

The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration filed a request on behalf of executive branch agencies, including the Defense and Transportation departments, saying the approval will cause “irreparable harms to federal government users” of GPS.

It asked the FCC to “prevent Ligado from deploying its network until this petition is addressed and harmful interference concerns are resolved.”

The Air Line Pilots Association, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, International Air Transport Association and Airlines for America, Iridium Communications and Lockheed Martin this week also

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