Dear Subscriber,

The FCC circulated a draft order that would extend Lifeline USF support to broadband coverage and to streamline administration of the program that subsidizes low-income telecom service, as expected. The draft is expected to be considered at the agency's March 31 meeting, as Communications Daily first reported. The order would allow Lifeline support to be used for stand-alone broadband or bundled broadband/voice packages in addition to current voice service. The order would phase out the support for stand-alone mobile voice service and phase in broadband minimum standards over the next few years, said an FCC fact sheet.

Swedish Post and Telecom Authority Director-General Göran Marby will be ICANN’s next permanent president-CEO, ICANN said Monday. CEO Fadi Chehadé is to leave ICANN in mid-March, with Marby set to take the helm in May. ICANN President-Global Domains Division Akram Atallah will be acting CEO until Marby can move from Sweden to Los Angeles, ICANN said. Friday night, Communications Daily reported that the nonprofit was nearing a pick, with one likely to come from Europe (see 1602050065).

A top antitrust official weighed in on the FCC's side on controversial draft proposed rules on untying set-top boxes from the multichannel video programming distributors that often provide the boxes to MVPD customers (see 1601270064). An emailed statement from Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division came on a day in which AT&T slammed the set-top rule changes backed by Google and others and being explored by the commission. The FCC in turn defended its approach. (See the next regular issue of Communications Daily for a related report.)

The European Commission and the U.S. announced an updated safe harbor agreement Tuesday, with a new trans-Atlantic data transfer mechanism that would protect the personal information of EU citizens and give them a way to legally challenge U.S. government agencies that mishandle such data. The EC announced the deal in a news release and the Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker was scheduled to brief reporters about the new agreement that's now called the EU-US Privacy Shield. The deal was welcome news for the 4,400 U.S. companies that were formerly certified under the old safe harbor deal nullified in October by the European Union's highest court.

The FCC said it will move forward with an NPRM on a downloadable security replacement for CableCARD, on the same day a group of multichannel video programming distributors, consumer electronics companies and content providers and some of their associations announced the formation of a coalition opposing such a move. Chairman Tom Wheeler will circulate an NPRM to eighth-floor FCC offices that he said is intended for a vote Feb. 18. Communications Daily had first reported, in December, that such an NPRM was in the works and likely to come soon (see 1512150072).

A group of some 40 public interest groups is sending a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler asking the commission to begin a privacy rulemaking. Industry observers said Tuesday that the letter is likely a prelude to an expected FCC NPRM on privacy (see 1601110065).