Transcripts For CSPAN2 The Communicators 20140513

Thats my guiding principle. From that comes for facts. Does the commission have authority to act on particular issue . What authority is Congress Given us the statute . Is there harm to consumers and a solution that we can actually remedy whatever harm has been brought forth . And is the solution tailored to the particular problem that we are addressing and not regulate by analogy . And even with those elements, the benefits of regulation now with the cost . Thats all im approaching each issue individually. The chance to take each issue as they come before you. Host do you have a crack in the fence . A staffer to know congressional content. Guest i actually had the benefit of working on a number of provisions that there in the current statutes. Guiding statute, and therefore worked on number of those pieces of my 20 years as a staffer in congress. I had my hand in on behalf of a number of employers. Actually know a number of the pieces. Host we also want to bring to the table the National Journal participating. Guest thank you for having me on. Commissioner, the fcc has been in the news last couple of weeks more so than used to. That neutrality proposals. The old rules are struck down. The chairman is pushing a proposal that was still our eyepiece from blocking website. What do you think of that proposal. I dont want to get too specific. In general i hope they give you some guidance. If i worry when people use the phrase. I worry on that that the quality issue. It goes back to my guiding principles. My good friend has highlighted a provision known as section 706 which was brought forward as part of the court case. The d. C. Circuit sanction. Actually worked on that provision as a congressional staffer. At to get past that hurdle. Its a big one for me. But then i get to the question of is there a problem that we are solving . Nt there is in. There have been incidents amount prospective problems. What could be the harm for the future . But they dont actually have any instances today. Providing a good experience complying with the principles that they think meet the need of the consumer. I dont want to regulate in the future what may happen. Three, unintended consequences. I worry about using section 706 and what it can be used for in the future. You could take that language. Given number of different things, including getting back to the proprietors. People talk about it providers. And number of different players. You could use it to regulate those kind of players. I also worry because you have a temptation for investment. When you impose new rules it has an impact. Willing to bring forward to the marketplace. That has an impact on consumer experience. The fourth response here. This is something that should be addressed. Theres a question of the congressional intent. I think its something where congress could provide very clear rules what our rules should be in imposing that neutrality. We cited it as part of an argument that is in cybersecurity and the question of authority or the agency otherwise and we have also used it when we are planning to use it another way so that they are the concrete experiences where we use it and its been used in other funds going for it. Host you are skeptical of the idea of the fccs involvement in that the tuc some areas where theres a possibility that your Internet Provider might he abusing its market power especially fits the only provider. If comcast starts blocking the cbs web sites and favors nbc which comcast owns . Are there areas where they should be a thing the fcc is involved with . Guest well there is something that how to i answered. I want to be careful regarding comcast because we have a pending merger before us so i dont talk about pending mergers or potential mergers but let me give you a general perspective. Everyone should worry that at any time the internet experience could be harmed for consumers so i want to keep my eyes and ears open and Pay Attention to anything that is brought forward. If there are legitimate experiences and legitimate harms that consumers are experiencing on the Internet Service i want to know about them. Thats something we can look at if we actually have a viable petition before us but right now we are kind of regulating a guessing game of what might happen. Host commissioner orielly given what the court decided earlier this year with regard to Net Neutrality what if anything would you like to see the fcc do . Guest i think has a just highlighted i think its something we should be keeping our eyes out for and we will be actively making sure that the consumers experience is positive. Now in terms of i had those conversations with their broadband providers and they expressed to me that they have no intent in changing their behavior read today the do not block and they dont discriminate. They are open in terms of their transparency and thats one piece the court didnt strike down so they will be moving forward on that. They want a good experience provided to consumers and to. Host . Support what chairman wheeler had to say about not mergers but agreements to have a faster track . Guest like i said early on i hate to use the word fasttrack as it implies a slow lane but in general is something we should keep our eyes on the something the former chairman genachowski talked about. Its a Business Model in terms of two mechanisms for broadband provider and the edge provider as well. We want to keep our eyes on it to see how it develops but its early on in the equation. Host you also did a hill newspaper oped. You indicated that this could potentially lead into the fcc regulating cybersecurity. How did you get from there to hear . Guest as i talked about just briefly i worry that section 706 can be interpreted very broadly. It is language that i determine that i worked on on behalf of previous bosses. It has two components. One is an oratory language that broadband is good and two is an examination of whether broadband is available and whether it is being deployed appropriately and if not it needs to do regulatory we have flipped it on its head and said heres revelatory measures we can do a Net Neutrality and i worry the way the court has interpreted the language and this came in the descent by judge zimmerman that you can have very Broad Authority given to the fcc to go in any direction in terms of how it views the virtuous circle its talked about. Theres a broadband deployment that leads to regular edge providers that leads to better broadband experience which takes you back to more broadband deployment so its an interesting circle. They were early so i take cybersecurity for instance. I view the Communications Act of 1934 that doesnt provide a great deal of authority to the fcc on cybersecurity issues. The congress has rightfully provided a number of federal agencies with jurisdiction over cybersecurity. I have spent some of my time when i worked on capitol hill for other members on the issue of cybersecurity and in very few instances to the issue of the fccs jurisdiction or fcc authority ever come up. That was something we were looking at in the Homeland Security department or defense or a number of other that we will mention right now the work on the issue aggressively. The fccs rule is very limited in my opinion in terms of the could provide its analysis of Communications Networks and oversees those situations in writing of other federal agents. What i worry about is where the the chairman is talked about and i wait to see what he actually puts forward that hes talked about getting very aggressive on the issue of of cybersecurity in without me lead to an the question is the lead to regulation . The only place i can see you get regulation authorities from section 706 and interpreting the courts decision. Host Michael Orielly mention he worked on a hill and he had his hill career as a legislative assistant to tom bliley who served as energy and commerce chair. He also worked for senator john sununu and for a long time for senator john cornyn republican of texas. Whats it like to go from being a staffer to a commission or . Guest its actually been a good transition. The good thing about my job is it doesnt come with too many surprises. I have spent a great time on capitol hill working for the members to highlighted overseeing the fcc in one capacity or another whether it be the specific nuts and bolts like i did in the house of the more general macropolicy in the senate. In those instances i got to know what the fcc does and i got to work with the members of staff so im very family with that. I will say theres a difference in terms of being a person who writes things for members and being the person who is actually on the show itself. Theres a difference there but hopefully ill have that transition pretty soon. Host Brendan Sasso. Guest it looks like the fcc might be dealing with a few mergers this year. We have, time warner before you and tmobile potentially the pipeline. Can you give a general sense of one of merger comes before you what you look at her affair certain red flags that might indicate that a merger might be bad . Guest let me give you my general philosophy. We have a merger pending and i will review the record but ill give you my generally philosophy and hopefully thatll help. I would like to see the commission provide an expedited review and that means working closely with the department of justice friends and examining all information we need. I want as much information early in the process. They want to make sure we can make decisions and have everything we need early in the process. What has been disciplining the past is information is collected really late in the game and thats problematic. Its how it all fits together with their decisions previously made. I also approach a larger merger with the idea that if we look within the four corners of the application and what potential harm it may cost to consumers of any, there may be none and thats understandable but i am very leery to look at solutions that are outside of those corners or potential remedies outside of that universe, conditions of people talked about in the past that have been done that are unrelated to the merger itself. I try to stay within the boundaries of what the application provides. Guest to think of that the broadband market is now . Guest it depends on how you define the marketplace. I think the broadband market is much more dynamic. We are seeing everyday consumers switch to ip services. We are seeing everyone switch to wireless devices and wireless broadband being very effective. Id know myself as a consumer its something i have adapted to very quickly. It depends on how you define the market and how broad your willing to go. I think the technologies are very dynamic. Guest in the Obamas Administration blocked at ts attempt to buy tmobile a couple of years ago if the deal was made about the need for four wireless carriers and the Justice Department said. If something the fcc agreed with. Do you think its important to have this magic number . Guest im not sure i have the magic number at this moment. I will have to analyze the information as it presented if any application is provided. Host Michael Orielly with all the convergence going on in the telecommunications market, apple, googling comcast broadcasters at some point do you see them all coming into the same rubric as far as regulation goes . Guest well i would like to see some removal of the silos we have and how Different Companies are treated in a different way base the way they are set up are based on the technology they use. I think thats something that the congress is looking at is how do you treat Similar Companies in the same way. Thats something we have to move toward. Whether theyll come under the fccs jurisdiction is a matter for congress to decide. Guest aside from Net Neutrality another issue coming up soon is the incentive option and the chairman was pushing rules that capped the ability of especially verizon and at t to buy spectrum area do you think or what do you think of those rules and are you worried about the success of the auction and also at t has so vehemently oppose the rules that they might skip the auction entirely thats a real threat. Guest a lot at once. I have to repeat my comment phrase that we will consider something next week so i dont want to get into the specifics but i will give my general thoughts and that is i do not support aggregation limits or whatever limitations people want to talk about in this space and it comes from a particular reason. As i talked about his been a great deal of time on capitol hill overseeing the fcc and ive watched them try a number times to manipulate the marketplace in the auctions for a particular purpose. I believe you either believe that auctions are a way to make sure that the license gets the most efficient use possible or you dont and i believe auctions are a way to do so. I believe in the auction process and i dont want to manipulate the process Going Forward. So i have trouble in that part of the equation. In terms of at ts particular presentation you would have to ask them in terms of their take and u. S. Another question. Guest so do you think that the rules jeopardize the auction . Guest i want to measure the auction this way and hopefully provide viewpoints. One, does the auction con place it there for everybody, all participants . Broadcasters and all that different folks that are going to be part of the equation whether its broadcasters who are participating our broadcasters who decide not to participate. Is it fair for them . Two, desert make available more commercial spectrum for companies to offer Services Wireless Broadband Services to consumers . Three, and its kind of four but its three now. Three is are we going to close the auction under the statute . Do we need the statutory obligations that i have to work on and are we able to close the auction and there are certain obligations. Congress has outlined a number of spending targets and functions that we would like to have for money for firstnet and nextgeneration 911 and a healthy dose of deficit reduction. I want to see are we going to build to meet those targets and that will be my definition of success. It plays into how much money we are able to race in terms of for the mac and people on behalf of the asset we are selling that we are going to license out to wireless providers and it gets to the first part of your question which is holding, can you restrict the potential bidder and i have problems doing so. We in this case would like you to get to a specific target. Host commissioner orielly now that you have been with the fcc for six months on the other side of the fence do you have any different view of congress and their oversight role . Guest no, i miss my friends and colleagues and former employers. I wish them well. One thing ive tried to do is avoid providing them any unsolicited advice. I believe the information should come and the direction should come from congress to the fcc. We are a creature of the congress. The information should come this way then rather than me telling them what to do so im receptive to their ideas. I read all the information from members and talk to them as best i can to keep up to speed. Host sunday ideas ideas from congress include fcc reform and management of the commission i guess is one way to put it. Do you agree with those efforts in congress . Guest i dont want to endorse any particular item but i do think theres room to improve the sec process. Chairman wheeler has work to do so and is very aggressive effort in working with Diane Cornell at the commission so i think thats been moving forward fruitfully and thats a good avenue. I know their number of pieces of legislation that congress will consider and we will take them as they get passed or not. Host would you like to be able to sit down and sit with one or two commissioners . Guest i can today speak with one. I can speak with two. I leave that to congress and the representing people and whether they should. In my time have i been worried over the years that was a problem . Perhaps not. I dont know if its a problem today that i leave it to their discretion. Host just go back to the spectrum what about the government controlled of spectrum . What should be done with that if there is excess and that . Guest absolutely we are going to need those licensed and unlicensed spectrum Going Forward for all this demand builds at me for more spectrum Going Forward. Our wireless devices are multiplying in everyones home. Every user has to, three, for ways to connect. That is going to only expand so we are going to need more commercial spectrum. One of the places we are going to have to look at really closely and where its more do you feel like you have been included in what the commission is doing . Guest chairman wheeler and i have a very good relationship. He and i spent a great deal of time getting to know each other so we can figure out how we can work together. There will be times that we disagree and we have come to the understanding that where we disagreed we will disagree respectfully and then move onto the next issue. In terms of 32 votes come but that happens. 90 of our work, 95 of her work depending on the day you measure is going to go through a five0 vote so their many instances we dont agree and those will have our particular disagreements will move forward. Im not sure thats necessarily nonpartisanship. Different viewpoints and how we approach an issue. Sometimes i would have liked to have things changed and they werent able to make them. They had different viewpoints in the chairman had different viewpoints so we disagree but thats okay. We will move forward and see who is right in the end. Host where do we stand when it comes to media ownership rules and regulations . Guest that is one of the issues where we have disagreement. We are in a process right now where we are going to ignore the statute. We are missing a deadline that the Congress Asked us to do. We are missing that statutory deadline and we are going to review this based on the chairmans promise. We are going to have another item at some point in 2016, mid20 sixteenths on disappointed in that. I dont believe we have the right to ignore statutory deadline so thats very disappointing for my viewpoint. In addition to that we also found a mechanism when Congress Asked us to review the media ownership issues holistically we have taken the opportunity to ignore that part of the equation and just focus on one piece of the issue on joint sales agreements. And focus on that in tidying up those without doing the bigger ticket issues we were asked to do. I had voted accordingly. Host could that lead into retransmission fees . Should there be a look at retransmission costs . Guest so theres only so much authority and that the current statute that the fcc has. We did take a little bit of action in terms of what authority we have. Its a question of how you define good faith negotiations but congress has limited exactly what we can do in this space and thats something i know they will debate Going Forward and whether they should change the statute or not. Host youre watching the communicators on cspan. Michael orielly one of the five commissioners a republican. November 4, 2013 the day he was sworn in riyadh Brendan Sasso is with the National Journal. Guest you brought up in tiaa earlier in the role and another issue they are involved in right now is giving up the current u. S. Oversight of i can this nonprofit Internet Access system. Would you think of that . Do you think thats a smart move . Guest ive been really critical of this decision. Its not because the good people at ntia are doing it in a siliceous way. I worry about where its going to go in the longterm. I have talked about this extensively and the problem is its a component of of the current relationship we have and the oversight i can and the imf functions are the main system. Funding to the main system you can control. You can prevent people from accessing the internet and there are ways to use that use that process in a bad way and the question has been today what mechanism should go from the Current System which i think is working very well and i wonder why we would change from that to some other mechanism based on Multistakeholder Community basis. I like Multistakeholder Community relationships on the internet. I think they are helpful. The worry i have here is you can have the Multistakeholder Community and then have intergovernmental organizations have a way to try to control the process. We have seen already so my worries are not a stun the leafs. They are based on actual practices so we have seen countries such as russia conquered china, iran, turkey try to influence the itu to be involved and individuals to be more involved. Those are countries that have tried to limit their internet experiences for their citizens and therefore by way of american consumers. I have a big problem with the direction the ntia is going. At the going. At the end of the day even if it is a Successful Transition to a structure we can live with in the shortterm we dont know what the longterm ramifications are. You can always have a shortterm bulky Stakeholder Community structure. That is very problematic. Im not sure why we would or why we showed that if we are going down this route i want Crystal Clear airtight guarantees that cant be influence Going Forward on governments or intergovernmental relations. Im not sure how you would do that. I have my doubts but that is what would be necessary for me to move forward on this. Guest you mentioned you support the multistakeholder model of the internet governance. Congress passed a resolution endorsing that model. Why is this different . Should there be an exception in this issue for u. S. Role . Guest its not the exception. You can still have Multistakeholder Community. I think they are very positive influence and congress has recognized it as well. I support those scenarios. What i have difficulty with is how can intergovernmental organizations influence as part of the equation relating to the domain system as it has an impact on what you can actually see or what youre going to actually have in your internet experience Going Forward. Host decides i cannonmack and so many Telecommunications Issues today are international. Europe has a different model than the u. S. Is this something we should be concerned about or are we moving towards a more global type regulation . I dont know if its something we should be concerned about as much as keeping our eyes on him being a very aware. There have been a number of existing intergovernmental organizations. The itu International Telecommunications union has been one that has existed for a number of years of that will continue to exist so i dont worry losing economy in our system. Think the fcc is an effective regulator and Something Congress continues to a overseas and finetune is necessary but i dont see us melding into one particular unified regular internationally. Host Michael Orielly republican commissioner on the federal Communications Commission the first time on the communicators. Thank you and Brendan Sasso. Guest thank you. Today at the white house urged congress to pass the highway bill. This article from reuters gave administration estimates 700,000 jobs could be lost if congress misses the deadline to replenish the highway fund. And Senate Legislation could fall short of a longterm solution. The transportation secretary anthony foxx asked for passage of the 302 billiondollar for your trance or tatian bill that would and some business tax breaks to boost the Highway Trust Fund. It needs to be reauthorized by the end of september that it could run out of money in the late summer. That again from reuters. Here are the secretaries are marked from the white house earlier. Thank you jay and i think all of you. I would like to be here celebrating all the work thats happening around our country to reinvigorate our nations transportation networks. Unfortunately however this may be the most dire moment in the American Transportation system has faced in decades. As soon as august the Highway Trust Fund the account that pays for building and repairing our nations roads will start bouncing checks unless Congress Acts up to 700,000 americans will lose their jobs over the next year. And roadwork, bridge building transit maintenance all of these types of projects may be delayed or shut down completely. Which means freight wont move which means trade will slow which means businesses wont hire. And by the way your morning commute will be longer because the roads you are driving on bookworm bolt and no one will show up to fix them. We are at a starting to see it happen. The National Tennis in nashville tennessee for bridges carrying 130,000 vehicles a day of reached the end of their useful life. One of them has been shut down three times since last summer because concrete keeps crumbling onto the underpass threatening cars below. We have an infrastructure deficit in this country. We have been saying that for