Citizens Against Government Waste is telling the FCC it would be a waste not to use 45 MHz of the 5.9 GHz band to expand WiFi, citing the pandemic as one reason. 

Vehicle-to-vehicle communications currently claim the entire band, though that technology has been slow to roll and WiFi backers including cable operators and computer companies say V2V can do fine with only 30 MHz of the 75 MHz total. 

Related: Public Interest Groups Call for 5,9 GHz 

In its reply comments to the FCC, which has proposed freeing up the lower 45 MHz for WiFi/5G, CAGW said that the FCC's plan more closely aligns the U.S. with other countries. Then there is the virus-driven need for remote communications. 

"During the coronavirus pandemic, WiFi has enabled tens of millions of Americans to work and learn remotely and operate many devices at the same time on their home networks," CAGW said. "Designating the lower 45 MHz of the 5.9 GHz band for unlicensed use can help address an immediate need for capacity." 

Related: NCTA Says It's Time 5.9 GHz Drove WiFi Expansion

The group also said that if V2V got to keep all 75 MHz they would likely try to use some of that capacity for nonsafety systems including entertainment systems. "Good spectrum policy requires that the FCC only give away spectrum for free, without an auction or sharing requirements, if it will be used for a public purpose such as public safety," it said. 

Related: NCTA to FCC: Set 5.9 GHz Free

Besides, it said, using the spectrum for "infotainment" could lead to distracted driving and accidents, so it would be the opposite of public safety use.  

Citizens Against Government Waste is also against the FCC's proposed new broadband privacy regime.

The FCC majority has proposed requiring ISPs to get permission (opt-in regime) to share their customer proprietary information (CPNI) with third parties, including marketers, with an opt-out regime for its use by ISPs and their affiliates.That information could include what web sites they had surfed or movies they watched online.

CAGW, in comments filed at the FCC, said that the FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking "seeks to impose a highly prescriptive privacy regime on ISPs....Compliance with the proposed customer consent requirements, which could increase both overhead costs of provisioning broadband and customer costs, is an onerous and unnecessary burden on broadband providers," it said.

The FCC deeded itself responsibility over the privacy of broadband CPNI, including what their subs read and view online, when they reclassified ISPs as Title II common carriers no longer subject to Federal Trade Commission privacy oversight.

The FCC then had to come up with its own framework, which includes new rules rather than the FTC approach--with its limited rulemaking authority--of enforcing company privacy policies and preventing unfair and deceptive practices.

CAGW says that if the Title II regime is not overturned by the court--a decision is expected anytime now--and if the FCC retains jurisdiction over ISP privacy, it should model itself on that FTC approach, which the FCC applies to the edge providers over whose privacy it does have jurisdiction, and over which the Wheeler FCC has repeatedly said it does not have privacy authority.

ISPs have been pushing for the FTC approach rather than prescriptive rules. The FTC itself has backed prescriptive rules but with more flexibility within those rules depending on the sensitivity of the information, with more "opt-in" protection for personally identifiable information, but opt out for less sensitive customer info, or what the FTC has called "privacy by design."

Bill O’Reilly’s recent comments on Fox News Channel’s The O’Reilly Factor regarding the “Black Lives Matter” movement have spurred a fierce Twitter reaction from Roland Martin, host of TV One’s News One Now. Martin wants to confront O’Reilly on-air regarding the protest movement involving mostly young African-Americans calling for change following several controversial police shootings of unarmed black men.

O’Reilly called the Black Lives Matter movement “a hate group” after a video emerged of some movement protesters in Minnesota chanting that police were “pigs in a blanket” in the aftermath of the shooting death of a Texas sheriff. O’Reilly also said he plans to put the movement “out of business,” and would publicly out any journalist who supports the Black Lives Matter movement.

Since then, Martin said he has unsuccessfully lobbied O’Reilly’s producers to appear on The O’Reilly Factor to debate the popular news/talk host about what he calls misconceptions about the movement. Martin also has made several Twitter posts calling out O’Reilly, as well as CNN’s Don Lemon and other TV news personalities, for “nonsense” they’ve stated regarding Black Lives Matter.

This past week (Sept. 9), Martin upped the ante on Twitter, saying “I Challenge @FoxNews, @oreillyfactor, @megynkelly @TheFive @ TheJuanWilliams to debate me about #Black-LivesMatter facts.”

“When somebody lies and distorts the truth they should be held accountable for it,” Martin told The Wire. “He opened the door by saying if there are any journalists out there who support Black Lives Matter, he’s going to put them on the network and call them out. And I said fine, I’ll raise my hand.

“I just want to correct the record. I don’t believe that people should go on and say things that are factually incorrect — if you disagree with a movement, fine, but you are going to be held accountable if you flat-out lie,” Martin said. “There are things that Bill O’Reilly has said that are simply not true, so we are certainly going to hold his feet to the fire and others as well.”

Fox News did not respond for comment. 

— R. Thomas Umstead

FCC Dish Decision Draws Praise From ‘Porker’ Patrol

Dish Network was featured in the most recent issue of the Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) e-newsletter, but it probably would just as soon not have been.

CAGW gave the FCC a shout-out for unanimously denying Dish-affiliated designated entities Northstar Wireless, LLC and SNR Wireless — satellite-TV provider Dish owns 85% of both, through a joint venture — over $3 billion in bidding credits in the agency’s AWS-3 wireless spectrum auction. That means $3 billion more into the U.S. Treasury, which is getting a chunk of the auction proceeds after the funding of FirstNet and some research.

Calling it a victory for taxpayers, CAGW president Tom Schatz said: “The FCC auctions are a valuable method to increase the availability of spectrum, increase innovation, and raise money for taxpayers. The process must meet the highest standards of fairness and integrity.”

It’s no big surprise that the FCC’s decision would make news with CAGW, best known for its “porker” awards for its identification of what it says is government waste. (Dish memorably sent up cable companies as greedy pigs in ads about a decade ago, so turnabout might be fair play.) CAGW teamed up with other taxpayer groups to ask the FCC to deny the credits back in May, saying a grant would come “at the peril of [the FCC’s] already diminishing credibility.” Ouch.

Dish saw it quite differently, suggesting its participation was one of the big reasons the auction raked in so much dough in the first place.

“Our approach to the AWS-3 auction, which followed 20 years of FCC precedent and complied with all legal requirements, was intended to enhance competition — in the auction and in the marketplace long-term,” Dish senior vice president and deputy general counsel Jeff Blum told The Wire.

— John Eggerton