Innovation Policy Post

Last year, CCIA consistently opposed efforts to pass legislation that would force online retailers to collect sales and use taxes regardless of physical presence.  Last month, we opposed an attempt in the lame duck session to attach such a bill to the defense authorization bill.  In light of such back door efforts, as well as the stated determination by proponents in Congress to continue to push for legislation in the new Congress, we remain vigilant against any further attempts to misleadingly frame the issue as one of fairness and leveling the playing field.  One Reuters article in the aftermath of the holiday shopping season caused us concern by seeming to conflate Amazon.com, which is a retailer with both physical and online operations (“click and mortar”), and Internet retailers with no physical presence.  

The FCC’s Incentive Auctions rulemaking docket is titled: “Expanding Economic and Innovation Opportunities of Spectrum…”   With an increasing majority of the American TV audience choosing to consume their video programming via wired or wireless broadband,  rather than over the air broadcast signals, new spectrum to be voluntarily relinquished by TV broadcasters will become available to the highest bidders in the mobile broadband business, hopefully to boost coverage and capacity. The public safety network and the U.S. Treasury also stand to gain something in the bargain.   Not end of story.   Spectrum holdings limits currently under consideration by the FCC in a separate parallel proceeding should prevent further concentration in the amount of spectrum controlled by the mobile wireless duopoly, thereby leaving some chance of winning bids by smaller carriers.   And some of the available spectrum should not be auctioned or licensed at all.