Overnight Technology

Overnight Tech: Senators spar on opening wireless airwaves

by David McCabe 07/29/15 06:16 PM ET

LEDE: Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) were at odds at a Wednesday hearing — with two witnesses caught in the middle.

The battlefield in question was Booker’s bill with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) asking the Federal Communications Commission to explore whether spectrum currently allocated to connected cars could be used for Wi-fi. On Wednesday, Booker used his time at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on wireless broadband to push back against the auto industry’s opposition to the proposal.

{mosads}”This bill clearly, plainly states in it that this is not a taking of spectrum at all,” he said. “I’ve had conversations with folks in the auto industry — please read the bill, it’s just asking [the FCC] to examine it to see if spectrum is sharing.”

“I’ve never seen such an overreaction, and a reaction that has nothing to do with what the text of the bill says.”

He pushed Democratic FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel on the idea and got a diplomatic response. “I’m optimistic we can find a way forward that both brings us more Wi-fi and continues to allow the auto industry to proceed with its safety efforts associated with dedicated short-range communications systems,” she said. “It encourages testing, and I think that is a smart and prudent course.”

Peters struck back a little while later while questioning CTIA head Meredith Attwell Baker after Booker had left the hearing.

“I certainly appreciate [Booker’s] desire to open up that band, but I also want to thank the committee for slowing down that process,” he said. “We have some significant interests that are very concerned about what that means particularly in the area of safety.”

He asked his colleagues to proceed cautiously and focus on carefully testing technology that could allow for the sharing of spectrum by automobiles and Wi-fi. “We don’t need additional legislation at this point, we just need to let things to continue to move forward,” he said.

FACEBOOK GEARING UP FOR 2016: Facebook has doubled its government and politics team since the last presidential election and has data communications teams dedicated to helping Republican or Democratic candidates in 2016, according to the New York Times. The publication describes the social media company’s work with candidates as campaigns seek to leverage Facebook’s 189 million monthly users in the United States.

STRATEGIST CALLS GOP OUT ON DIGITAL CONTENT: Chief digital strategist for Rand Paul, Vincent Harris, is calling on the Republican Party to invest more time and money into content that is made solely for the Internet. He said video “sticky enough” to survive without paid media must mirror “authentic,” sometimes unscripted, clips that have propelled some individuals into YouTube stars.

“…we are dramatically behind in the ways we connect with voters. Put plainly: the Republican idea of online video content is largely predicated on putting a television ad on YouTube,” Harris said in a Medium post.

T-MOBILE COULD SURPASS SPRINT: Analysts predict T-Mobile could push past Sprint for the No. 3 spot for mobile service providers in terms of customers, according to USA Today. The Research firm GSMA Intelligence predicts T-Mobile will report 58.9 million customers during its quarterly earnings, while it expects Sprint to report 58.3 million. T-Mobile’s earnings will be reported this week, while Sprint will report on Aug. 4. Both companies are far below AT&T and Verizon, the top two leading carriers.

WH RESPONDS TO LANGUISHING EMAIL PRIVACY PETITION: After more than a year and a half, the White House responded to a “We the People” petition calling for reforms to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. The petition reached its 100,000 signature threshold required for an answer in December 2013. As in the past, The White House endorsed reforms that would require the courts to treat emails the same, regardless of whether they have been opened or not and on how old they are. But the White House said “we aren’t going to endorse a single ECPA-reform bill at this time,” noting important details are being worked out. One proposal in the House has 290 co-sponsors.

ITI OUTLINES PATENT BILL PRIORITIES: The Information Technology Industry Council sent a letter to House leaders Wednesday voicing its opposition to any changes in patent reform legislation that would affect the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s inter partes reviews — changes called for by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. While expressing support for the overall bill, the group also called to strengthen a provision on pleading standards, which a number of other tech groups have also called for.

CLINTON SAYS ISIS SHOULD BE OFF TWITTER: “We have got to shut down their internet presence, which is posing the principal threat to us,” Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday. “I gave a speech when I was secretary of State on Internet freedom, and I believe in that. But I also believe that you’ve got to look carefully at terrorist groups and criminal cartels and other illegal actors to figure out whether they can use the Internet to cause crimes, to cause harm, to cause terrorist attacks,” she said.