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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2017
Salmon: ‘I think
FCC chairman sets out to
scrap open internet access rules there’s a lot of
By RYAN NAKASHIMA
and MICHAEL LIEDTKE
Associated Press
MENLO PARK, Calif.
— The chairman of the Fed-
eral Communications Com-
mission set out Tuesday to
scrap rules around open inter-
net access, a move that would
allow giant cable and telecom
companies to throttle broad-
band speeds and favor their
own services if they wish.
Ajit Pai followed through
on a pledge to try to repeal
“net neutrality” regulations
enacted under the Obama
administration. The cur-
rent rules treat internet ser-
vice providers such as Com-
cast, AT&T and Verizon as
if they were utility compa-
nies that provide essential
services, like electricity. The
rules mandate that they give
equal access to all online con-
tent and apps.
Pai said those rules dis-
courage investments that
could provide even better and
faster online access. Instead,
he said new rules would force
ISPs to be transparent about
their services and manage-
ment policies, and then would
let the market decide.
“Under my proposal, the
federal government will stop
micromanaging the internet,”
Pai said in a statement.
Pai distributed his alterna-
tive plan to other FCC com-
missioners Tuesday in prepa-
ration for a Dec. 14 vote.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Federal Communication Commission Commissioner Ajit
Pai speaks during a February 2015 open hearing and vote
on “Net Neutrality” in Washington.
Pai promised to release his
entire proposal Wednes-
day. Although the FCC’s
two Democrats said they
will oppose the proposal, the
repeal is likely to prevail as
Republicans dominate 3-2.
The vote for net neutrality
in 2015 was also along party
lines, but Democrats domi-
nated then.
Equal treatment for all web
traffi c has been a fundamental
principle of the internet since
its creation but companies
have increasingly put their
thumb on the scales of access.
AT&T, for example, doesn’t
count use of its streaming ser-
vice DirecTV Now against
wireless data caps, poten-
tially making it seem cheaper
to its cellphone customers
than rival TV services. Rivals
would have to pay AT&T for
that privilege.
Regulators,
consumer
advocates and some tech
companies are concerned that
repealing net neutrality will
give ISPs even more power
to block or slow down rival
offerings.
A repeal also opens the
ability for ISPs to charge a
company like Netfl ix for a
faster path to its customers.
Allowing this paid-priority
market to exist could skew
prices and create winners and
losers among fl edgling com-
panies that require a high-
speed connection to end users.
Pai, who was appointed by
President Donald Trump, said
in an interview on Fox News
Radio that Trump did not have
any input on his proposal.
Asked whether deregulation
would result in higher prices
and put speedy internet access
out of the reach of blue-col-
lar Americans, Pai said “it’s
going to mean exactly the
opposite.”
“These heavy-handed reg-
ulations have made it harder
for the private sector to build
out the networks especially in
rural America,” Pai said.
In a Wall Street Journal
editorial published Tuesday,
Pai cited a report by a non-
profi t think tank, the Informa-
tion Technology & Innovation
Foundation, that said invest-
ment by the dozen largest
ISPs fell about 2 percent from
2015 to 2016, to $61 billion.
The group didn’t link the drop
solely to the stiffer rules intro-
duced in 2015.
The attempt to repeal net
neutrality has triggered pro-
tests from consumer groups
and internet companies. A
data fi rm called Emprata
that was backed by a tele-
com industry group found in
August that after fi ltering out
form letters, the overwhelm-
ing majority of comments to
the FCC — about 1.8 mil-
lion — favored net neutral-
ity, compared with just 24,000
who supported its repeal.
Carmen Scurato, director
of policy and legal affairs for
the National Hispanic Media
Coalition, said ISPs’ ability to
impose monthly caps on data
use already act to raise prices
and limit access. Repealing
net neutrality, she said, “is just
erecting more barriers.”
AT&T suit may herald a new antitrust era
By TALI ARBELAP
Associated Press
NEW YORK — The
Trump administration’s deci-
sion to oppose the $85 billion
AT&T-Time Warner merger
may be clouded by suspicions
of political infl uence. But con-
sidered on its merits, it could
mark a signifi cant departure in
antitrust policy, one that might
block or modify a broader
set of mergers found to harm
consumers.
The move disconcerted
both Wall Street and the tele-
com and media industries,
none of which expected it.
Consumer groups are applaud-
ing, saying it’s a good step by
the Justice Department to pro-
tect people from higher cable
bills and ensure that web-
based alternatives to TV aren’t
stifl ed. (Many of the same
groups, however, are also pro-
testing the government’s plan,
announced Tuesday, to roll
back “net neutrality” rules
intended to equalize access to
the internet.)
Matters, of course, are
complicated by President
Donald Trump’s long-running
feud with CNN, a Time War-
ner company, which Trump
regularly denigrates as “fake
news” and “failing.” On Tues-
day, Trump called the deal
“not good for the country”
and said he thought it would
cause prices to go up. A White
House spokeswoman said
Monday she wasn’t aware of
any efforts to infl uence the
case.
The Justice Department
has suggested that AT&T
could resolve the case by sell-
ing off DirecTV or a Time
Warner business that includes
CNN, according to a person
familiar with the situation
who couldn’t go on the record.
AT&T has rejected any option
that would cause it to lose con-
trol of CNN.
In 2011, Obama-era anti-
trust
regulators
waved
through Comcast’s acquisi-
tion of NBC Universal — a
deal that, like the current one,
brought together a major pro-
vider of television and inter-
net service and an entertain-
ment conglomerate. (AT&T
offers wireless, home internet
and TV services; Time Warner
owns the Warner Bros. studio
and networks including HBO,
CNN and TBS.)
To prevent Comcast from
abusing its greater leverage,
regulators imposed a host of
conditions on the company.
For example, Comcast had
to offer its TV and movies
to online video competitors
at the same rates as it did to
cable and satellite rivals. But
this approach isn’t universally
acclaimed.
For one thing, conditions
are typically temporary; the
ones for Comcast expire next
year. They also don’t funda-
mentally change behavioral
incentives for the company,
and they require ongoing
enforcement. Complaints in
the past have dragged on for
years. Among critics of such
“behavioral commitments” is
Makan Delrahim, now the Jus-
tice Department’s new anti-
trust chief.
“The DOJ in this instance
is learning from those past
mistakes,” said Lina Khan,
the legal policy director at
the Open Markets Institute, a
think tank that opposes exces-
sive corporate power.
Cannon Beach: ‘This is not a static, one-time decision’
Continued from Page 1A
options like bonds and grants,
committee member Douglas
Craner said.
“We want to encourage
the city to look at other solu-
tions,” Craner said. “We’re not
wanting things to fall apart, we
just don’t want it all to fall on
ratepayers.”
The committee also is rec-
ommending the City Coun-
cil phase in rate increases
over fi ve years, which would
mean residents would see a
35 percent and 5 percent rate
increase for water and waste-
water respectively in the fi rst
year, and single-digit rate
increases for the following
four years. After fi ve years,
rates would only be adjusted
for infl ation.
“There are things that need
to get done, and I think we can
do that with a lower funding
level,” said Rich Bertellotti,
the public works committee
chairman. “We all recognize
issues with how it was pre-
pared, but this is an outline —
not a plan to be followed like a
blueprint.”
Lingering issues
While the committee voted
to recommend approving the
water and wastewater master
plan and rate increases, they
did so with reservations.
Les Wierson, the one com-
mittee member who voted
against the recommendation,
said there are still too many
issues with the plan itself for
him to support rate increases
associated with it.
Wierson took issue with a
plan that appeared to be trying
to replace an entire water sys-
tem, which he deems as exces-
sive, he said.
“The proposed 20-year
plan is very large, especially
for a small city staff available
to guide, inspect and approve
the new construction,” Wier-
son said.
Craner expressed concerns
that the plan lacks “schedule
and implementation ability.”
The committee chose to
retain the current rate struc-
ture, which includes an allow-
ance of 400 cubic feet of water
usage, after deciding the alter-
native rate options provided by
the consulting fi rm Civil West
Engineering Services would
disproportionately
impact
homeowners in comparison
with large commercial outfi ts.
The committee, however, is
still recommending to the city
to continue exploring more
equitable rate structures that
would encourage more con-
servation, committee member
Carolyn Propst said.
“I think we should work
forward with what we have,
get an increase to pay for some
of these projects and then take
a deeper dive into structures,”
Propst said. “This is not a
static, one-time decision.”
Arndt will provide a rec-
ommendation that “follows
the need of the system,” which
could differ from the conclu-
sion of the public works com-
mittee, he said.
“We aren’t trying to rebuild
a whole system in 20 years.
It’s good practice to replace
them every 80, and to do that
you have keep up the progress,
little by little, so the system
lasts in perpetuity,” Arndt said.
good news here’
Continued from Page 1A
The question of what it
all means for Southern Res-
ident killer whales whose
population numbers remain
low is another gap, said
Michael Ford, director of
NOAA’s Conservation Biol-
ogy Division and a co-au-
thor of the study. Are they
being out-competed? What
other stressors are at play?
But, he said, “I think
there’s a lot of good news
here.”
The recovery of marine
mammal populations points
toward the success of
the
Marine
Mammal
Protection Act, he said.
The fact that these ani-
Port: Trial between Port
of Astoria and Smithart
scheduled for January
Continued from Page 1A
A week after the verdict,
McIntosh gave Param the
choice between taking either
the monetary damages or the
lease it had sought on the
hotel.
Param’s attorney, Colin
Hunter, said the com-
pany plans to take over the
hotel lease in November
2018, after the term of cur-
rent operator Astoria Hos-
The CHIP program pays
97 percent of the total costs
of health care for the 121,000
Oregon kids covered under the
program.
Those children can be cov-
ered by Medicaid, but will be
covered at a reduced match rate
of 64 percent, which would cost
the state more money, accord-
ing to Allen’s memo.
If CHIP expires, federal
funds can still pay for emer-
gency services for pregnant
women, such as labor and
delivery, according to Ore-
gon’s interim Medicaid direc-
tor, David Simnitt. But the state
would have to pay for other ser-
vices for pregnant women cov-
ered by the program, such as
prenatal check-ups.
The 121,000 kids cov-
ered by CHIP in Oregon live
in homes where incomes are
between 100 and 300 percent of
the federal poverty level. Ore-
gon must cover about a third
of those kids — those earning
between 100 and 138 percent of
the poverty level — under the
Affordable Care Act, according
to OHA.
CHIP covers children whose
parents make too much to qual-
ify for Medicaid but still may
struggle to afford coverage.
Kids in households making less
than 100 percent of the federal
poverty level are eligible for
Medicaid.
Brown’s directive comes as
OHA struggles to get its books
in order, shore up its eligibil-
ity and payment systems and
bounce back from a pummel-
ing of negative publicity.
The state overpaid Medic-
aid providers by up to $74 mil-
lion between 2014 and 2016,
about $10 million of which it
has already recouped. Allen,
who took the reins Sept. 1 in
the wake of a publicity scandal,
identifi ed a host of other issues
with payment and allocation of
funds — to the tune of about
$112.4 million.
pitality Ventures ends. The
takeover would also involve
Sonpatki fulfi lling his prom-
ise to pay off Smithart’s
debts.
The Port has also
sued Smithart for back-
due rent and revenue
sharing. The case was
put on hold until after
Param’s
lawsuit
was
resolved. A trial between the
Port and Smithart is sched-
uled for January.
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Q: What causes a dry
Gov. Brown: OHA struggling to get books in order
Continued from Page 1A
mals are eating so many
salmon shows fi shery man-
agers have been successful
at keeping Pacifi c salmon
available — to some extent
— to feed a growing num-
ber of predators.
Ford and others are in
the middle of another study
that would actually count
how many salmon killer
whales are eating over a
certain period of time, mov-
ing beyond the theories pro-
posed in the recent preda-
tion study. They hope to be
able to make more direct
comparisons between the
healthy northern killer
whale groups and the less-
healthy southern killer
whales.
mouth?
possibilities exist
A: Many
here which need to begin
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DMD, FAGD
503/325-0310
1414 M ARINE D RIVE
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