OVERNIGHT TECH: FCC poised to move on broadband subsidies

LEDE: The Federal Communications Commission is expected to advance a proposal to provide subsidies for low-income individuals who want to buy Internet service.

The Commission will seek further comment on the controversial proposal to expand the decades’ old Lifeline program, which currently offers subsidies for phone service. Republicans say it is premature to expand the program due to lingering inefficiencies. The three Democratic commissioners have recently been pushing an expansion and they note it would come with a few reforms.

{mosads}It will be a busy lineup for the open meeting Thursday — the first time FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will address reporters since controversial net neutrality rules took effect Friday.

GOP FCC commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly will take the unusual step of holding their own press conference after Wheeler takes questions. That last occurred when the commission’s net neutrality rules were approved.

The commission will take three other votes, including one to crack down on robocalls. Pai and other critics of the move said Thursday’s vote could open up the floodgates for trial lawyers, who have increasingly brought class action lawsuits related to robocalls.

FTC SAYS FCC FINE “COMPLEMENTS” CASE AGAINST AT&T: Asked whether the FCC’s action against AT&T for misleading consumers would affect the FTC’s case, an FTC official said that “FCC’s action complements the FTC’s case in federal court against AT&T.” “Our case rests on allegations that AT&T misled consumers in relation to its advertised “unlimited data” plans and seeks to recover millions of dollars that would be returned to consumers harmed by these practices,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the agency’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “We will continue to work closely with the FCC and other government agencies to protect consumers.”

SEAN PARKER’S BRIGADE LEAVES STEALTH MODE: Brigade, Napster co-founder Sean Parker’s stealthy political startup, released its first product today. It’s in private beta right now, but we logged on and played around with the app this afternoon. Users are asked to stake out their position on a range of questions tied to current events — “Donald Trump’s luxury lifestyle disqualifies him as a serious presidential candidate” was one today — and the app builds a profile of where they stand on certain issues.

It then uses that profile to match you with like-minded friends and advocacy campaigns a user might be interested in. According to a company rep, a test version of the app garnered close to 13,000 registered users — many of whom were under 24. The company is slated to debut more tools in the coming months.

MARK PENN IS OUT AT MICROSOFT: The Clinton ally is leaving the Redmond firm to invest in digital marketing, the Wall Street Journal reports. His new company, Stagwell Group LLC, has raised $250 million and can make up to $700 million in investments. At Microsoft, Penn worked on marketing projects.

COMMITTEE APPROVES AMENDMENT ON JOINT SALES AGREEMENTS: The House Appropriations Committee approved an amendment to a funding bill Wednesday that would prevent an FCC media ownership rule from applying retroactively to deals that were in place before the rules were approved last year. Net neutrality was the top telecom issue at the markup Wednesday of the House Financial Services Appropriations bill. But the committee passed the separate measure 38-11, dealing with the FCC’s 2014 rule on joint ownership agreements. The FCC rules were meant to prevent companies from having an ownership interest in more than one TV station in a single market. The National Association of Broadcasters, which opposed the rules, thanked the committee for approving the measure.  

SNEAK ATTACK ON NET NEUTRALITY?: Some net neutrality advocates have described the plan by House appropriators to temporarily block the FCC’s new regulations as a “sneak attack.” But the chairman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction, Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.), took issue, saying he has been wide open about trying to delay the rules. He said he made his “displeasure known” in March and the provisions passed in committee Wednesday “should come as no surprise.”

MEET THE WOMAN BEHIND TODAY’S UBER RULING: Barbara Ann Berwick is a serial litigant, a defeated candidate for city council and the woman whose claims resulted in a California regulator ruling that Uber drivers are employees, not contractors. She talked to Medium, and said that she wants “social change.” “I’m enjoying my five minutes of fame,” she said.

SIX SENATORS WRITE TO WHEELER ON SPECTRUM: A group led by Sens. Angus King (I-Maine) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) are calling on FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to increase the size and quality of the pool of spectrum saved for non-dominant wireless carriers in next year’s auction. “To promote wireless broadband competition, the FCC should: (1) expand the size of the spectrum reserve from three to at least four blocks; (2) ensure only the highest quality licenses are available in the reserve; and (3) implement the reserve relatively early in the auction to guard against anticompetitive abuse,” they wrote.

NELSON JOINS CHORUS OF CONCERN OVER YOUTUBE KIDS: Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), the ranking member of the Commerce Committee, sent a letter to Google chief Larry Page to express concern over reports that a YouTube app for kids displays inappropriate content. There have also been suggestions that the app targets ads at vulnerable, young viewers. “Numerous studies have shown that children have difficulty understanding and discerning the difference between advertising and non-advertising video content.  YouTube Kids should be sensitive to this well-known vulnerability,” Nelson wrote.

ON TAP:

At 9 a.m., the Federalist Society will hold a conference on the role of Congress in “policing the administrative state,” including a panel on the Telecommunications Act. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will give opening remarks.

At 10:30 a.m., the FCC will hold its June open meeting.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

The Federal Communications Commission plans to fine AT&T $100 million for misleading customers about what it said were unlimited wireless data plans.

The House Appropriations Committee approved a funding bill that includes a policy rider to block newly implemented net neutrality rules temporarily.

A House committee passed a bill that would give Congress more oversight of the plan to give up America’s control of the Internet domain name system.

A California labor regulator has ruled that an Uber driver was an employee, not a contractor, when she worked for the company last year. The ruling could have wider implications for the on-demand economy.

And when Donald Trump announced his presidential bid Tuesday in New York, he generated more interactions on Facebook than any other GOP presidential candidate so far.

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