The leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon indicating the LightSquared matter is far from over for the Federal Communications Commission. Republicans Fred Upton of Michigan, Greg Walden of Oregon and Cliff Stearns of Florida accused the FCC of rushing the process of evaluating LightSquared's proposal for a nationwide wireless broadband network built on satellite spectrum purchased at auction. The lawmakers argue LightSquared received special waivers and conditions, resulting in billions of wasted dollars. LightSquared recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but the firm said it still plans to seek FCC approval for its broadband network.
The GOP has done its best to highlight LightSquared as a failed example of the Obama administration picking winners and losers, hoping to turn the issue into a political liability similar to the failed energy startup Solyndra. But unlike Solyndra, LightSquared is mostly owned by hedge fund magnate Phillip Falcone. Thus far the loss of Falcone's money hasn't struck the same chord with the public as the loss of taxpayer funds, but the lawmakers said they are determined to continue their probe of the FCC until they find out exactly what took place.
Quotable: “Several months ago, the committee requested more information on the interference dispute between LightSquared and GPS to better understand the actions taken by the FCC in approving the deployment of a terrestrial network using a license originally granted for satellite service. In addition to the broader broadband implications, the FCC’s rushed process resulted in special waivers and conditions and billions of wasted dollars. Now, more than ever, we need to get to the bottom of how we got this far down a dead-end road. There are many unanswered questions, specifically about whether the FCC’s own objectives led to sloppy process. We are continuing to examine the information we’ve received so far to determine what happened and how it can be avoided in the future.” — Reps. Fred Upton, Greg Walden and Cliff Stearns. Bill Would Lift Cold War-Era Ban on Domestic Propaganda: Reps. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, and Adam Smith, D-Wash., recently introduced a bill (HR 5736) that would update the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 and lift a domestic ban on citing information produced or funded by the government and aimed at a foreign audience, such as Voice of America. The lawmakers claim the law is outdated and prevents American media outlets from reporting accurately on international developments by forcing them cite dubious foreign sources. The bill would eliminate the ban on the domestic dissemination of public diplomacy material, while preventing the State Department and Broadcasting Board of Governors from targeting domestic audiences with such programming in order to influence public opinion. Bill Would Create New Student Visa Category: CQ's David Harrison reports Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., plan to introduce a bill this week that would create a new category of visa for foreign graduate students seeking U.S. degrees in science, technology, engineering, or math fields (STEM). After graduating and receiving a job, those students would automatically be eligible for green cards granting them permanent resident status, giving them a chance at citizenship later. Tech companies have long pushed the government to make it easier for STEM graduates to stay in the country, arguing the U.S. is subsidizing the education some of the world's best and brightest, only to ship them back home after they graduate. The new bill would allow graduates to stay in the country for up to 18 months after they graduate while they apply for a green card. The bill's measures should attract significant industry support, but whether Congress will be amenable to potentially issuing thousands of new green cards every year, while unemployment remains stubbornly elevated, remains to be seen. Consumer Groups Wary of WiFi Bill: CQ's Ambreen Ali reports privacy groups are less than enthused about Sen. Dick Durbin's recent call for legislation that would make it illegal to tap into open wireless networks. Durbin, D-Ill., called for updates to the law after Google received a $25,000 fine for downloading payload data from unsecured WiFi networks using its Street View cars, drawing the ire of Congress and the FCC. Durbin termed that fine "somewhere short of a slap on the wrist," but the FCC noted that Google's actions weren't strictly illegal, since the law governing the space is cloudy at best. Privacy advocates are worried that changing the law to treat tapping into open WiFi networks as wiretapping may impede innovation, especially since free WiFi is a popular feature of many restaurants and businesses. Public Knowledge spokesman Art Brodsky compared obtaining data from open WiFi networks to overhearing a conversation in a subway car, making it clear that privacy advocates aren't eager to safeguard networks that users can't be troubled to protect themselves.