Overnight Tech: Dem blasts daily fantasy sports firms at first hearing

LEDE: House Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) got his long-desired hearing on daily fantasy sports on Wednesday.

Pallone laid into Peter Schoenke, the chairman of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, over the fact that DraftKings and FanDuel have applied for gambling licenses in the United Kingdom while claiming that are not facilitating illegal gambling in the United States. After a back and forth over the specifics of U.K. and U.S. law, Pallone dropped this zinger: “It sounds like the difference is that in one country they have a lot of smart lawyers or lobbyists that are defining things in one way and in the other they’re not.”

{mosads}He got some support from Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), the ranking Democrat on the Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee, which was holding the hearing. “Even if some skill is required, daily fantasy still at its core involves betting on sports,” she said, adding that if daily fantasy companies claim to be legal under the letter of the law, that doesn’t seem like the lawmaker’s intent.” That latter comment points to another focus of the hearing: whether federal sports betting laws should be less restrictive. Pallone, who backs legal sports betting in New Jersey, had hoped to draw attention to the issue with the hearing.

Otherwise, it was relatively quiet, with subcommittee chairman Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) asking some questions about how to prevent underage users from playing on daily fantasy websites. Other lawmakers asked questions on the industry, holding back from taking shots for now.. Read our full story on the hearing here.

LIFELINE FOIA REQUEST DENIED: The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday denied The Hill’s request for a copy of the 10-page “official chain” of communications between commissioners that took place ahead of the vote in March to offer Internet subsidies to low-income Americans. The chain allegedly contains the details of a deal between Democratic Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and the two Republicans before it fell apart amid pressure from Democrats on Capitol Hill. “Disclosure of this material would chill the deliberative process and inhibit the frank and open discussions between government employees that are necessary for agency decision-making,” the agency said.

HATCH DOESN’T LIKE CHARTER MERGER CONDITIONS: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai that “I share your concerns” about the conditions that the agency imposed on the merger of Charter and Time Warner Cable. During opening remarks at a hearing about broadband privacy, Hatch said he has been “troubled recently” that a number of FCC actions extend past the commission’s authority, and also namechecked the set-top box proposal. The comments panning the agency came at the beginning of a hearing on the broadband privacy proposal. For more on the merger conditions, click here.

‘SOFTWARE GLITCH’ BLAMED FOR FCC COMMENT DELAYS: The group Protect Internet Freedom is accusing the Federal Communications Commission of not posting more than 2,000 comments it gathered opposing the agency’s new proposed privacy regulations for internet service providers. The group, which opposes the FCC’s net neutrality regulations, sent a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler asking questions about the missing filings. Wheeler blamed it on a “software glitch” that is being rectified.

FTC TALKS GOOGLE SEARCH: Federal Trade Commission officials have had discussions with at least one company about Google’s dominance in the search market, according to Politico. The discussions were initiated by the unnamed company and could signal renewed interest from the FTC. The consumer protection agency ended its probe into Google’s search service back in 2013 without charges. But others have reported that the FTC has recently been asking questions about the company’s Android smartphone operating system.

UBER PAYING WORKERS GROUP: BuzzFeed News confirms that Uber’s relationship, announced Tuesday, with The Freelancers Union includes a financial component. The group does advocacy work around issues that matter to independent workers and will consult for the ride-hailing company, which has faced significant criticism for using independent contractors rather than employees. “We’re also happy to announce today that Freelancers Union, a longtime leader in advocating for independent workers, will advise Uber on how to best bring flexible benefits to independent workers in the on-demand economy,” Uber adviser David Plouffe said on Tuesday.

ICYMI- RIDE-HAILS FUELS BACKGROUND CHECK BOOM: The Wall Street Journal had a story out on Tuesday night about how the growth in ride-hailing applications has been good for companies that do background checks on drivers. It’s also forced companies to handle larger volumes of requests faster, according to the paper. Read the story here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler defended his proposal to enforce new privacy rules for broadband providers on Wednesday while sparring with opponents at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

A Republican lawmaker who is influential on tech issues joined other members of his party Wednesday in expressing concerns about allegations that Facebook downplayed conservative content while nodding toward worries on the right about government overreach.

Lawmakers on Wednesday morning expressed disappointment that the daily fantasy sports operators DraftKings and FanDuel skipped a hearing on their industry.

Google announced it will ban advertisements on its platform for so-called payday loans, which are short-term cash advances that have large interest rates.

A handful of conservatives are expressing displeasure after a top Republican senator began digging into allegations of bias in Facebook’s “Trending Topics” feature.

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