Tag Archive : FCC

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COVID-19 gives the FCC a platform to leverage educational programming

October 10, 2020 | programming | No Comments

Months before COVID-19, the FCC voted to loosen broadcasters’ obligations to carry core “educational and informative” content across their networks. The National Association of Broadcasters thanked the FCC profusely, touting that obligations to carry “low-rated children’s programming” would have serious economic consequences when stations were already dealing with shrinking profits.

Little did they realize that in just a matter of months, schools across the country would morph into remote learning modalities, placing television and public airwaves in the role of providing educational content for many American families.

FCC commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks practically prophesized the grave risks of relaxing FCC children’s programming rules when they issued their dissenting statements back in July of 2019. Both commissioners championed the value of quality educational programming in a rapidly changing media landscape, where the digital divide was becoming more pervasive every day. Starks even went so far as to say that

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By iwano@_84

U.S. Supreme Court will consider FCC effort to loosen media ownership rules

October 2, 2020 | technology | No Comments

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court said on Friday it will take up a long-running legal dispute over whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can loosen U.S. media ownership rules.

A lower court has thwarted the FCC’s efforts to revise the rules since 2003 in a series of decisions.

In 2017, the Republican-led FCC voted to eliminate a ban in place since 1975 on cross-ownership of a newspaper and TV station in a major market. It also voted to make it easier for media companies to buy additional TV stations in the same market, for local stations to jointly sell advertising time and for companies to buy additional radio stations in some markets.

The FCC said in 2003 “that the ownership rules should be substantially overhauled because they inhibit beneficial combinations between struggling traditional outlets and no longer reflect current market realities.”

The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S.

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By iwano@_84

FCC Nixes Cable’s Programming Financial Interest Reporting Rule

September 30, 2020 | programming | No Comments

WASHINGTON—The FCC is eliminating the requirement that cable operators maintain records in their online public inspection files related to their interests in video programming services and information regarding their carriage of these services on cable systems they own.

The FCC adopted these rules 25 years ago in an effort to police compliance with channel occupancy limits on programming where cable operators had a financial interest, the commission says. In 2001, the D.C. Circuit ended those limits and remanded them back to the FCC, which has determined no need to establish new limits.

“Given that these requirements no longer serve their intended purpose and the information covered by the rule can be obtained from sources other than public inspection files, the commission voted to remove this unnecessary and outdated regulatory burden on cable operators,” the FCC said in its announcement.

The decision came ahead of the FCC’s Sept. 30 open

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By iwano@_84

Energous Receives FCC Approval, Extending Charging Zone to Up to 1 Meter for Groundbreaking Over-the-Air, Power-at-a-Distance Wireless Charging

September 30, 2020 | technology | No Comments

Class II permissive change allows for expansion of Energous’ new, non-beamforming wireless charging technology announced earlier this year

Today Energous Corporation (Nasdaq: WATT), the developer of WattUp®, a revolutionary wireless charging 2.0 technology, announced that it has received a Class II permissive change to the existing MS-550 FCC Grant, extending the charging zone up to one meter. This change, under the FCC’s Part 18 rules, allows Energous and its partners to develop and market wireless charging products that may be charged within one meter of the transmitter. It is believed to be the first time that a non-beamforming transmitter has been permitted under the FCC’s rules with a charging zone of up to one meter under the FCC’s Part 18 guidelines.

“We continue to make advances that will enable over-the air, wireless charging at-a-distance to become a reality. This permissive change from the FCC substantially expands the allowable non-beamforming footprint

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By iwano@_84

FCC commissioner: Our agency says all Americans are gaining advanced Internet access. It’s wrong (opinion)

May 6, 2020 | internet | No Comments

Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the nation’s 2020 Broadband Progress Report. It concludes that broadband is being delivered to all Americans in a reasonable and timely way.

But from where I sit, nothing could be further from the truth. I would know. I am one of the five Commissioners at the FCC, and I refused to offer my support for the 2020 Broadband Progress Report. That’s because, in this crisis, it has become painfully clear that not everyone in the United States has adequate Internet access. The evidence is all around us.

Schools have shuttered and more than 50 million students have been told to head home and many were told to go online for classes. But millions of them can’t get there because they fall into the homework gap and lack internet access at home. It’s not just a problem in rural America. It’s a challenge
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By iwano@_84