WEDNESDAY WORKSHOP

The FCC's Open Internet Order: Key Issues for Carriers and ISPs
Sponsored by Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP
Attendees Can Earn 3.25 CA General Credits

The FCC’s February 2015 Open Internet Order has impacted the telecommunications industry landscape.  It is currently the subject of a concerted judicial challenge, with a decision expected next spring. This workshop will tell you what you need to know to understand, comply with and perhaps benefit from the new Open Internet rules. There will be special emphasis on key changes and challenges for competitive providers. We will explore the OIO's significant changes to providers' privacy and security-related responsibilities as well as the possible extension of universal service obligations to broadband providers. 

 
Agenda for Wednesday, October 21: 
 
8:30 - 9:45 a.m.: Open Internet Order 101:  Everything You Wanted to Know But were Afraid to Ask
Presented by Chris Savage and Danielle Frappier, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and Joseph Cavender, Level 3 Communications
 
The presenters will provide an overview of what the FCC’s Open Internet Order did legally (impose Title II regulation, with forbearance) and as a regulatory/policy matter (impose certain specific bright-line rules and some general conduct standards; impose disclosure obligations and cover Internet interconnection).  The presenters will also explain the implications of the FCC’s reclassification of broadband Internet access services for universal service contribution obligations and the possible impact on the FCC’s long-awaited contribution reform.

9:45 - 11:00 a.m.: Privacy and Security Under the OIO: New Requirements and Challenges for Telecom Carriers and Broadband Internet Access Providers and Implications for Edge Providers
Presented by Jim Smith and Christin McMeley, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, and Dale Schmick, COO, YourTel America, Inc. and TerraCom, Inc.
 
A largely overlooked but extremely important regulatory change that the FCC introduced in enforcement actions last year and then formalized in the OIO is an expansion of the Commission’s authority to regulate and police the privacy and security practices of both carriers and broadband Internet access service providers. The Order also launched a proceeding, now pending, to develop new privacy requirements for broadband providers.  Learn what you need to know about the FCC’s Section 222 jurisdiction and what you as a provider must do to avoid potential exposure to penalties for privacy, security and data breach violations.

11:00 - 11:45 a.m.: Reading the Tea Leaves: How Will the D.C. Circuit Decide the OIO Appeals? 
Presented by Peter Karanjia, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, and Markham Erickson, Steptoe and Johnson LLP
 
Unsurprisingly for an order of its magnitude, the OIO has unleashed a torrent of litigation, including lawsuits (ultimately consolidated before the D.C. Circuit) from multiple petitioners, with more than 20 other parties lining up on both sides.  Former FCC Deputy General Counsel Peter Karanjia and Markham Erickson, who is representing various intervenors in the litigation, will discuss how the Commission’s new Title II framework for broadband may fare in the D.C. Circuit and whether a blockbuster telecom case before the Supreme Court is in the cards for 2016.   

Nob Hill

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