Spectrum auction at the fcc in nearly half a decade. We will have another later this year. The a spectrum auction, which everybody has been eagerly anticipating, the incentive option of spectrum in 2015, as the new fcc chairman, tom. Heeler, has stated that is, as i see it, one of the bigger issues in congress and the fcc on the tech front. Wireless carriers have been lobbying aggressively for many years to free up federal airwaves, commercial airwaves to satisfy their consumers appetite for bandwidth. How major is this months spectrum auction . Later this month, the fcc will hold an auction for spectrum. Many people thought it would be a bigger deal. Basically, there is going to be. Nly one bidder is dish for years, Sprint Nextel had suggested that they were going to bid, but they have not filed bid. Plication to the to they have no interest at this point, so it is really going to buying thene spectrum. Not really a spectrum auction so much as a spectrum sale, but we will see the fcc in action and how they conduct this auction, 3,d following that will be aws which will be somewhat of a more widely attended auction if you will. Matthew schwartz, what else do you see the fcc working on this year . What the fcc does this year will be determined by a brand new, very dynamic chairman in tom wheeler, who used to head the Wireless Association ctia and Cable Association mcta, and hes not afraid to come out swinging. In his book he wrote about Abraham Lincoln and his use of the telegraph, he wrote in the press is that when he was in his 20s, he learned that doing the same thing that has been done previously is just an excuse for not thinking. By that measure, chairman wheeler has been thinking ever since he came into office. The first thing he did was turn to his former colleagues at the Wireless Association and say to every carrier, if you do not voluntarily come up with a plan to unlock cell phones and let consumers take them to different carriers, i will come up with a plan for you. That has so far been the trend of what we have seen over the last month and what i expect to see over the next year. The chairman who, as far as his competition, says he is more than happy to let the free market takeover unless theres problems, in which case he is very eager to flex the fccs regulatory muscle. The first thing you are going to see what that is the ip transition, and specifically, the trials. At t has been requesting this for the past year. Association. Yal they want trials of deregulation and various wireless centers around the country as they transfer from the old copper lines into fiber. The ip kdm protocols to protocols, switching to internet packets. This is going to be something where the fcc takes a look to see how well deregulation works. Wire of people say the Center Trials are going to work just fine because the carriers have every incentive in the world to have the fcc see the deregulation works, but they are going to be looking very closely for signs of harm to consumers, to Older Americans who rely on things like hearing aids that have traditionally worked with land lines, with copper lines very well but do not necessarily. Ork as well with Ip Technology they are going to look to see if what happened on fire island a year ago after the hurricane, the superstorm, where all the wireline technologies broke down and wireless is not a very good substitute they are going to look to see whether wireless and ip is a good substitute after at t pulls the copper out in the wireline trials. He is not going to be afraid to take action if things fall apart during the trials. About the hill . Is there a tech agenda on the hill . I would say one of the biggest issues on the hill right now for the tech world is going to be surveillance reform. 2013 is a big year for surveillance, and the leeks will keep coming. By the end of january, president obama will address his groups recommendations. They put forth 46 recommendations, some of which the white house is likely to accept, but some are going to be more contentious. On the hill, we have two battling groups the reform surveillance, reyna then, and and correction. But then you have the Intelligence Committee looking to protect the nsa and keep surveillance programs as they are now. That should play out certainly over the next few months, and we will see where president obama stands on things. The larger issue the issue of privacy. Thatu could all addressed issue and potential legislative or regulatory reform. Privacy definitely is moving on many fronts. Theres the surveillance issue and the issue of access to consumer data by government. That is something that, as i said, the hill is looking at, but also even the fcc is jumping in. They are considering comments to have current fcc rules apply to user data, but we are also looking at commercial site development. Multistakeholder events or efforts, just not moving as quickly as some would like. The hill is picking up that issue. Just last month, senator rockefeller said during a hearing that commercial privacy is even a bigger deal than nsa access to data. But this is his last year in office, so if you want to do something, now is the time. The fcc is not as focused on privacy. They are mostly focused on the technical aspects. There are comments being sought. The Public Interest groups last month addition to the fcc to include to expand the privacy measures that it does have with things like Customer Proprietary Network information so that the source of rules apply to collection of aggregate data these sorts of rules apply to collection of aggregate data, so the fcc will be asked to help where it can, but mostly, privacy tends to fall more on congress. One agency to watch is the fcc the ftc. The ftc is the first and last line of defense with respect to consumer privacy, and they have been able to negotiate with some of the Largest Tech Companies biggest privacy settlements ever. They got twitter to implement its first Information Security privacy practice. I would say that the ftc will continue to be aggressive on this front, using their section five authority under the federal trade commission act. While many people want the ftc to be a stronger regulator, to actually have very Clear Authority to be a privacy and , theyecurity regulator might not get that authority from congress right now, but they will continue to use their section five authority the best they can. A couple of court cases that are related to this world Net Neutrality and potentially, the aereo case. Who wants to start . I will take it. For the last few years, Net Neutrality has been the perennial issue. No one really knows what is going to happen. People have long been saying the court could make a decision at any time. At this point, it really is true. The court could make a decision this week, next week, sometime soon. The d c circuit is currently struggling with whether the fccs open Internet Order, which prohibits blocking and price discrimination, is too close to what is known as common carriage. The fcc has authority to regulate telecom services, your standard phone lines, and ensure that phone companies have to charge customers the same prices, and they are trying to apply the same rules to the internet. At the oral argument in september, a judge was listening to these rules and said, that sounds like classic common carriage. At least one of the other judges seemed to agree. Most observers seem to believe that at least he discrimination section the discrimination section of the Net Neutrality law will be found unlawful. If that happens, it is almost certainly going to be appealed to the Supreme Court, so we could find ourselves back again next year saying, we are about to find out what happens. Sparked tom wheeler some concern by Public Interest groups when he said at an ohio states beach about a month ago ohio state speech about a month ago that he was interested in seeing a twosided market develop, where, for instance, netflix could pay for faster access, for better quality to customers. Some Public Interest groups say that that directly contradicted what he said about Net Neutrality, which is that he is a full supporter. Whats ways to read wheeler said in a way that would not violate Net Neutrality. For example, if he was thinking of netflix paying for content Delivery Networks or something thate back and back end has been excluded from the Net Neutrality rules, but it is kind of a technical read to get tom wheeler out of trouble for what he said. It is going to be very interesting to see what happens there. One of the really big, interesting aspects of this case is how far the court will go, right . Because Verizon Communications appealed the fccs Net Neutrality order, and they challenged the order on the basis of authority. They also forwarded a First Amendment argument as well, exclaiming that they are like a newspaper with the right to include or exclude any information that they see fit. The court could overturn the fccs open Internet Order just on the basis of authority, but they could go further. A could they could rule on verizons First Amendment challenge, in which case it would bring into question some different regulation on the fccs books. Certainly, whatever happened that the court will spark some sort of response from the hill. If the Court Strikes down the role, we can expect to see democrats jumping in and saying, we need these rules to protect consumers. There are already democrats who think the rules do not go far enough, and they will definitely be back in action if something happens that the court. If the Court Upholds the rule, you will see republicans who already questioned the authority of the fcc trying to rewrite the law to take that away from them. It will definitely be a topic there as well. The federal trade commission is more than happy to jump in if the fcc loses authority over that aspect of regulation over the internet. Most of the ftc commissioners have come out over the past year a lot of Net Neutrality disputes are actually Consumer Protection disputes or false advertising disputes, and they feel that there are more than enough tools in their toolbox to deal with any Net Neutrality issues. More broadly, i actually wonder how relevant the Net Neutrality rules are going to be, going an fcc. Because commissioner tweeted a couple of days ago everyone is tweeting she tweeted a couple of days ago and said 2014 could be the year that more americans access the internet via mobile devices. Han via traditional landline mobile devices are excluded from the Net Neutrality rules. They do not apply to wireless. The wireless carriers got that position through under the guise of the need for reasonable network management. A few years ago, that made sense. Speeds on wireless internet when the rules work put into place in 2009, 2010 were very low. You could not really do anything. Today, people are streaming netflix, and we will continue to see this year wireless carriers come up with new lands plans that would possibly be illegal under the Net Neutrality rules. At t just this week announced sponsored data in which a company like netflix could pay to have their data not count against a users cap. That is, i think, the idea of the dynamic twosided market tom wheeler was talking about. We are already seeing that in respect to wireless, and i think we are going to keep seeing that. What was the other case . Potentially the Supreme Court taking up the aereo case . It seems like that is something both sides of the argument want to see. They want to see this go before the Supreme Court, and we will find out if they consider it. What is the case . The case is over aereo streaming broadcast content and have licensesthey for. Broadcasters say that the copyright violation and it should not be up to aereo to provide it without an antenna, and aereo says they have an antenna for every user, but they are providing innovative internet and they are not violating laws. Can you take the temperature of the hill on tech and telecom issues . What do you find . There is definitely still wariness about jumping into issues that are going to spark this big backlash that maybe they are not anticipating. People are definitely being cautious. With surveillance, they are seeing constituents come out and. Ust it just droves that is something that lawmakers are especially aware of. Justin at just to add to that, the aereo case is, as i see it, one of the bigger court cases that could potentially transform the communications sector. Michael powell, former chairman , said a couple of years ago that the biggest biggesthat is go the thing that is going to change our space is the area case the aereo case. We could see the Supreme Court pick this up and find out whether or not whether aereos service is legal. Aereo uses dimesized antennas in order to capture broadcast signals and transmit them over the internet, and this has really changed the dynamic of the paytv market place. Fox says that if aereo is not going to pay a royalty payment, they will just become a cable channel. They will cease distributing. Ontent over the air which is unlikely to happen, but its nice bluster. Its nice talk. Is athis aereo case is continuation of the continuing laws and new old technology. The copyright act does not allow you to take signals and copy them, but with these dimesized antennas, aereo argues it is following the letter of the law. Each user that has signed up or their service has an antenna. They argue that the link of the antenna, whether it is to your roof or through the internet to somebody elses roof, does not matter. It is going to be interesting what the Supreme Court decides, and if the Supreme Court technology, is think we will see a lot more continued competition, and it might actually spur other companies broadcast companies to get into the internet space. And aereo raises sharp questions about how we consume video content. The concept of aereo, netflix, a sharp questions about whether the cable model packaging channels together will be viable. This is something we could see come up on the hill. The House Judiciary Committee is conducting a review of copyright law. They have been distracted by patent efforts, but they will continue Holding Hearings and examining potential legislation that could affect copyright law, and im sure aereo will be part of that. Could these old lawsnew technology conundrums lead to a of the telecom laws at some point . Is there an appetite for that . There seems to be an appetite for that even though there is a even though it seems like a rather large undertaking. The House Committee announced last year that they would be rewriting the act that had a hearing scheduled for january. They are Getting Started right off the bat, but its going to take a lot of time before we see anything concrete on that. I think the big challenge for lawmakers in rewriting the act is going to be finding a problem. The last update to the Communications Act in 1996 our phone bills were high. It was very easy for lawmakers to stand before podiums and get press conferences about performing the Communications Act. Verizon, at t, and comcast have said, we have an asymmetrical Regulatory Framework with the reform. Said, we need i really believe that to see and rewrite,te, an act we need congress to articulate a problem. Right now, we have old rules with new technologies, but as far as consumers are concerned, their problems might be a little different. They might be concerned with data caps. They might be concerned with the cost of their monthly cable service. They might be concerned with other things, but in a way, we really have to see armageddon before a Communications Act rewrite. Im curious what would constitute armageddon in your mind. If all of a sudden grandma gets disconnected from her grandmae service, if can no longer afford to watch nightline these issues are,. F course, front and Center Congress they are aware of them, but retransmission consent that is one issue where when someone gets cut off from their rose bowl game or their super bowl or the oscars, the phones gett ringing, and lawmakers really, really upset, and then they start to threaten rewrites. These are the kinds of issues to watch for. When the average consumer starts to raise issues to congressmen and women about their. Ommunications services rewrite of the Communications Act is such a challenging endeavor. The current laws we have our kind of they are all duct taped onto everything that started with the Communications Act of 1934, which itself was kind of a rewrite from the original act of the 1920s, which was the radio act. They realized they had to have something a little bit more broad, more extensive, but the current act we have is the telecom act of 1990 six, which is actually the Communications Act as rewritten by the telecom act. I feel that if we have a Communications Act of 1934 as rewritten by the telecom act of still be014, we will dealing with a sigh load act in which you have title to regulation dealing with a siloed act in which you have title 2 regulation where theres a docket open that has been open for years, and none of the chairman want to close it. Found to not have authority over Net Neutrality, they can reclassify Internet Services as telecom services, and then they have Greater Authority to regulate. A lot of people argue that could be a backwards step. Ultimately, whatever rewrite happens, i think everyone would agree it has to be technologically neutral. Otherwise, you will have disparate rules for different technologies, and you will just continue to have confusion and problems with whatever the next Big Technology becomes. Big think, too, one of the problems is what is going to be in it . The narrative is somewhat muddled. What should be in the new Communications Act . Remember the baby bells . This was actually the 30th anniversary of the creation of the baby bells. Congress cut a deal with them and said, we will allow you to enter new markets. We will allow you to compete in the Long Distance telephone market. We will allow you to emerge as competitors in the pay tv space. You have to essentially lease out your space to competitors. I think there has been somewhat of a disconnect on the hill. Bout what should be in the act no more title to for telecom service, no more title iii for wireless service, no more title vi for cable service. Lets just deregulate. There has got to be a quid pro quo, and i do not know what that is right now. On the flip side, there is also an effort underway for fcc for fcc under way reform. We saw one bill that had been with bipartisanship the previous year. There was an issue on the fcc process reform act that kind of softened up the republican stances that they wanted more transparency, more accountability for the sec to incorporate some of the flex ability provisions the democrat wanted. It passed the committee. It looked like it had a lot of momentum going to the house floor. Definitely a bipartisan agreement on something that had been troubled ground for the committee. Weve got three minutes left. I want to get three more issues in. Anotherbagallo, whats issue that we have not discussed . Well, mergers and acquisitions. In the tech and telecom space, and wesee m a activity will likely see further consolidation of the wireless space. Being seeing charter listed for time warner. As Technology Changes and as competition increases, we will start to see more companies partner. . Matthew schwartz the sec former interim acting chairwoman was very proud of her competence with reforming interstate prison rates. This was her crowning achievement. It was ceremony when this was finally passed, and this reduced prison rates in some cases to 10 or . 20 a minute. That has been challenged. They say the fcc did not have authority to do that. They say the fcc has mandated rate regulation, which was not contemplated in the notice of proposed rulemaking. This is what happens when you have a chairperson who is not a lawyer. They overreach. The fcc is trying to currently go even further and work on intrastate rates using the payphone provisions of the Communications Act, and this has the state ratemaking bodies up in arms. Intrastate rate making is a traditional local, state job, and the fcc cannot do this. The fcc may very well find itself having to redeal with this issue of risen calling. . Kate tummarello we will see a lot of patent issues in 2014. Senator leahy is picking it up, and this is an issue that had a lot of support in the Telecom World. Google, cisco, Telecom Companies , and retailers all joining in saying they want to reform the patent process. That is something senator leahy is already considering, and we will probably hear about it very soon. A prick a quick preview of some of the issues faced by the sec and the the fcc and the fed and the Telecom World in 2014. Thanks for being on the communicators. Cspan, created by american Cable Companies in 1979, brought to you as a Public Service by your television provider. I think that theres a way in which we have set up this sort ofimpossible series expectations, especially for our president s, but for elected officials as a whole, that they are going to come in, swoop in, save the day, and when it does not happen, we give congress a 9 Approval Rating in the president a 39 Approval Rating. Expectations have to be lowered, and that is part of what is really quite amazing about the american founding. Its not that the founders themselves said, look, dont expect much from government. It is, government is not going to be the main driver of our liberty. It is going to be civil society. The federal government exists to do certain things, and it better do them well. If it does not do them well, nothing else will be properly situated, but the main area of activity is going to be in the private sphere, in the civil society. In the election of local officers. The carrying out of those duties at the local and state level. There is, even in that, i think, a measure of modesty, recognizing that it is not possible for people from washington, d. C. , to run a nation of 310 million people. On humility, sunday night at 8 00 on cspans q a. Coming up next, an encore presentation of cspans first ladies series featuring dolly madison. Dolley after that, the inauguration of terry mcauliffe, who was sworn in as virginias 72nd governor. Formern interview with israeli Prime MinisterAriel Sharon Dolley was socially adept and politically savvy. She was his best friend. She compensated. James madison wishes to meet her. She carved out a space for women where they can wield a great deal of political power. Dolley madison would sit at the head of the table and direct the conversation. She got these people to the white house and entertained them. Got them together and got them talking. This was important to her to make everyone feel welcome. Enemies or allies