Join Partner Chip Yorkgitis and the Wireless Communications Alliance for a look at how the spectral landscape continues to evolve and what to expect in 2021. On January 26 at 7:00 pm EST (4:00 PST), this virtual event will feature deep dives on the key spectral allocations at 3, 6 and 60GHz, review anticipated changes at the FCC, and discuss how 5G is shaping up globally.
Click here to register.
On January 21, join Kelley Drye and Partner Steve Augustino at Telecom Council’s IoT Forum on Cybersecurity. Continuing on a series of virtual meetings, the IoT Forum will convene to look at innovation and startups working on IoT Security. Steve will present on the IoT Cybersecurity Act of 2020, including the role of security standards in today’s market and the trends that IoT device manufacturers should consider when designing their products and services.
Click here for more information and to register.
Last week, we told you that President Trump signed bipartisan legislation establishing minimum security requirements for Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices used by the federal government. The Act is the first of its kind at the federal level, aimed at protecting the security of IoT devices and services in the marketplace. The Act governs federal purchases of IoT devices and services but is intended to leverage the purchasing power of the federal government to affect the broader IoT market indirectly. Thus, without (yet) setting standards for all IoT devices and services, the legislation nevertheless is significant whether or not a company sells its product to the government.
Continue Reading NIST Wastes No Time in Implementing the IoT Cybersecurity Act of 2020
On December 18, join Special Counsel Brad Currier and the FCBA Enforcement Committee for a discussion with FCC leaders about the Enforcement Bureau’s approach to handling confidentiality requests for information provided during investigations as well as potential confidentiality issues arising in ex parte and FOIA matters. Brad and the panelists will discuss the requirements for confidentiality requests as well as best practices for ensuring the confidentiality of business and personal information. Click here for more information.
Kelley Drye’s Full Spectrum podcast regularly features Enforcement Bureau actions and trends in its FCC Enforcement Update series. Subscribe here.
For the second time this year, the TCPA came before the Supreme Court via teleconference oral argument in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, et al, Case No. 19-511 (2020). The Supreme Court’s disposition of Facebook’s petition is expected to resolve a widening Circuit split over what qualifies as an automatic telephone dialing system (“ATDS”) under the TCPA, 47 U.S.C. § 227, et seq., and thus determine much of the scope of the TCPA’s calling restrictions.
Continue Reading Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument Over the TCPA’s Definition of an Autodialer
On December 4, 2020, President Trump signed bipartisan legislation establishing minimum security requirements for Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices used by the federal government. The legislation, H.R. 1668, passed the House in September and the Senate in November.
The Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2020 draws upon work that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) has been doing to address cybersecurity for IoT devices. Referencing work done over the Summer on IoT Device Cybersecurity, the Act directs NIST to issue standards for the “appropriate use and management” of IoT devices owned or controlled by federal agencies. NIST, which already was working on the federal profile of IoT uses, is directed to issue these guideline by March 4, 2021. Within 6 months of that date, the Office of Management and Budget is to review agency information security policies and principles based upon NIST’s guidelines. And, adding a hammer to the incentives, federal government acquisition standards are to be revised to implement these standards. In other words, federal contractors will be required to adhere to the NIST standards in IoT devices sold to the federal government.
Continue Reading President Signs IoT Cybersecurity Act of 2020
The FCC released the agenda for its December Open Meeting, scheduled for December 10, 2020 on November 19, 2020, but the agency has made several changes since. The last meeting of the year will lead with a Report and Order on securing the communications supply chain that would require Eligible Telecommunications Carriers (“ETCs”) receiving federal universal service funding to remove and replace equipment and services identified as a risk to national security from their networks. The supply chain rulemaking would establish procedures and requirements for affected providers to seek reimbursement of their removal and replacement costs. The Commission will also consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) that would propose to modernize the marketing and importation rules for regulated equipment. Additionally, the December meeting will include an Order that would amend the invoice filing deadline rule for the E-Rate Program, which supports communications services for schools and libraries, and an Order on Reconsideration clarifying the agency’s interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), although the draft texts of these two items have not been released.
The December meeting may be the first attended by recently-confirmed Republican FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington, who will replace outgoing Commissioner Michael O’Rielly after today’s confirmation vote in the U.S. Senate. In addition, Chairman Pai recently announced that he intends to leave the FCC on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2021. As a result, the January 2021 FCC open meeting will be his last meeting before the change in administration.
You will find more details about the most significant items on the December meeting agenda after the break.
In this episode of Kelley Drye’s Legal Download, Special Counsel Michael Dover and Tara Marciano discuss compliance requirements of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) and how they affect companies implementing COVID-19 procedures to get their employees back to work, as well as how ongoing litigation may have an effect on BIPA compliance in “emergency” circumstances like the pandemic.
Click here to listen to this episode.
In the latest episode of Full Spectrum’s Inside the TCPA series, Partner Steve Augustino and Associate Chris Laughlin discuss a series of FCC orders that require implementation of a call authentication framework called STIR/SHAKEN. They cover the FCC’s anti-robocall program, the specifics of STIR/SHAKEN, its implementation requirements and deadlines, and other implications for service providers, including what might be ahead in 2021.
Click here to listen to this episode.
The FCC recently took a major step in promoting deployment of 5G networks in rural and hard-to-serve areas by adopting a Report and Order establishing the 5G Fund for Rural America (5G Fund) support program. The program, which is effectively the wireless counterpart to the wireline-focused Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), will offer up to $9 billion over ten years to support the deployment of mobile voice and 5G broadband in these areas. It replaces Phase II of the Mobility Fund, which the FCC mothballed in 2018 after questions arose about the accuracy of wireless coverage data reported by carriers, which was meant to determine which areas are eligible for funding. Half of the 5G Fund budget also comes from repurposing the $4.53 billion that the Commission had originally allotted for 4G LTE deployments under Mobility Fund Phase II. The 5G Fund auction may not occur until 2023 because the Commission opted to wait until it can collect new data on existing deployments to identify areas eligible for support. In the meantime, recipients of legacy mobile high-cost support will be required to start using those funds for 5G networks beginning in 2021.
Continue Reading FCC Creates Framework to Fund 5G Deployments in Rural Areas
