WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Federal Communications Commission has announced that its Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) has undergone a system upgrade to a cloud-based system that will help enable expanded features and functions to be introduced into ECFS in the coming year. 

The transition to a cloud-based platform is the first phase of a multi-phase ECFS upgrade effort that will make the system scalable and more agile, the FCC said. In addition, reCAPTCHA functionality has been added to the system.

“Our comment filing system is a critical avenue for public input that we need to keep up-to-date,” said Chairwoman Rosenworcel.  “Today’s effort is a start to do just that and I want to thank the FCC staff and contractors who have made this possible.”

The comment system is an important part of the FCC’s legal process and a critical portal for public engagement in FCC proceedings. 

To access the Electronic Comment Filing System, visit https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/.

WASHINGTON—The FCC has announced it has permanently closed the filing window at the current FCC headquarters. In addition, the commission said that there will be no filing window located at its new headquarters, leaving only one place for hand-delivering files.

This decision was originally shared in an Order earlier this year and published in the Federal Register on June 30.

The new, and only, address for filing of paper documents will be at 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, Md., 20701. When restrictions from COVID-19 are lifted, the filing window will be open from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Hand-carried filings will not be accepted outside of those hours, including ones for the commission’s secretary.

Other details for the updated filing policy include:

• Originals and copies of each official filing must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners;
• Hand-carried filings may not be submitted in envelopes or boxes; 
• “Stamp and return” copies will be provided as long as each individual filing is accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped return envelope; 
• Confidential documents should be clearly labeled as “Confidential” on the document and the cover letter; and 
• Documents intended to be received by specific staff members within Bureaus and Offices must be clearly labeled on the first page of the document or with a cover sheet indicating the destination 

The FCC says that these changes are designed to boost security measures as it prepares for its upcoming relocation to its new headquarters (45 L St., NE, Washington, D.C., 20554) later this year.

The commission also encourages filers to utilize the Electronic Comment Filing System online for applicable documents. 

WASHINGTON—Broadcasters want to take a closer look at the FCC’s rules when it comes to Distributed Transmission Systems, aka single frequency networks, and its service limits.

This is the early take away from comments filed in regards to a joint petition from APTS and the NAB that specifically asks the FCC to amend its rules regarding DTS for the ATSC 3.0 rollout. Nearly all of the comments submitted to the commission’s ECFS are in support of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the subject, the only dissension thus far comes from Microsoft.

The computer company is the only commenter as of yet to outright oppose the joint petition. Even so, its comments explain that it supports the idea of using SFNs to better utilize the ATSC 3.0 standard, it just does not feel new rules are needed.

“[W]e believe the commission was fundamentally correct in its Next Generation Broadcast Television Standard Report and Order when it concluded that ‘the rules the commission already has established to authorize a DTS station generally are adequate to authorize an ATSC 3.0 SFN station.’ Thus, while we support the use of DTS, we do not support the rule changes proposed in the petition, which appear to go well beyond what is needed to fill coverage gaps within broadcasters’ service areas,” Microsoft wrote. It was the only submitted comments to outright oppose the joint petition.

Ark Multicasting Inc., while ultimately supporting the petition, also warned against “unintended consequences that could freeze technology and markets.”

Most of the comments support the concept that SFNs will be better suited to provide better reception for ATSC 3.0.

“The NEXTGEN TV rules adopted by the FCC build upon an existing license framework that, while perhaps reasonable for ATSC 1.0 transmissions, needlessly limits the ability of broadcasters to take full advantage of the next-generation standard,” Nexstar’s comments read. “The Commission should take this opportunity to remove that limitation and provide broadcasters with the flexibility to fully embrace single frequency networks to expand the delivery of local content and maximize the efficiency of their assigned spectrum.”

All of the filed comments can be read on the FCC’s ECFS page.

WASHINGTON--Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai threw some serious shade at former FCC Chief Information Officer David Bray in a Monday statement about the Office of Inspector General’s investigation into the May 2017 “incident involving the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System.”

Although he did not refer to Bray by name — only as “the FCC’s former Chief Information Officer (CIO), who was hired by the prior Administration and is no longer with the Commission,” “the former CIO” or “then-CIO” — in the statement, Pai made clear that he laid the blame for the rumors and conspiracy theories at his feet.

Pai said he is “deeply disappointed” that Bray “provided inaccurate information about this incident to me, my office, Congress, and the American people,” referring to a statement released by Bray’s office that said the disruption to the comment system was a result of “multiple distributed denial-of-service attacks (i.e. DDoS). These were deliberate attempts by external actors to bombard the FCC’s comment system with a high amount of traffic to our commercial cloud host.”

Although he called Bray’s actions “completely unacceptable,” Pai said he is “pleased that this report debunks the conspiracy theory that my office or I had any knowledge that the information provided by the former CIO was inaccurate.”

In addition to castigating Bray for telling him “we’re 99.9% confident this was external folks deliberately trying to tie-up the server to prevent others from commenting and/or create a spectacle,” Pai said it’s “abundantly clear that ECFS needs to be updated.” And he said the good news is that Congress last week authorized funding to revamp the FCC comment system.

Pai also addressed cultural issues that he said contributed to the misleading statements. “I’m also disappointed that some working under the former CIO apparently either disagreed with the information that he was presenting or had questions about it, yet didn’t feel comfortable communicating their concerns to me or my office.”

Because of this report, Pai said his office plans to “make it clear” that FCC IT employees “are encouraged to speak up if they believe that inaccurate information is being provided to the commission’s leadership.”

Bray now works as executive director of the People-Centered Internet Coalition.

A representative shared a prepared statement: “Dr. Bray has not been contacted by the FCC IG and has not seen their reported findings. There has not been any outreach to ask what he had seen, observed, or concluded during the events more than a year ago in May 2017.” After emphasizing that Bray is no longer with the commission, the statement added that “Swift response ensured the commenting system was up more than 99.4% of the time for the total commenting period” (presumably referring to the Title II debate).