Captured Agency: How the Federal Communications Commission Is Dominated by the Industries It Presumably Regulates

Captured Agency: How the Federal Communications Commission Is Dominated by the Industries It Presumably Regulates - book review
by Norm Alster, 2015 - Published by: Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics Harvard University
Click here for full text of book.

Ever wonder who really runs Washington? Ever have the sense that the agencies which are supposed to regulate industry actually report to it? Ever get angry that Washington lawmakers and regulators seem more interested in protecting corporations than in protecting public health?

If so, you will want to read this fascinating account of how corporate technology interests have won inordinate access to—and power over—a major regulatory agency. The Federal Communications Commission sits at the heart of a bipartisan Washington web of institutional corruption that has for many years championed corporate interests, typically at public expense. Echoing industry, the FCC has ignored the growing evidence that wireless technologies pose serious health risks. It has indirectly taxed consumers billions to pay for the pet projects of tech executives and lobbyists. FCC policies have enabled cable companies to charge the highest rates in the world while forcing consumers to pay for channels they don’t want.

How can all this happen in a system where elected representatives approve and supervise regulatory officials? An online survey conducted for this project suggests that corporate interests have a huge ally in public ignorance of their most damaging (but obscure) triumphs and tactics.

https://alumni.columbia.edu/content/captured-agency-how-federal-communications-commission-dominated-industries-it-presumably

FCC says tests find cellphones comply with federal limits on radiofrequency radiation

FCC says tests find cellphones comply with federal limits on radiofrequency radiation
By Joe Mahr, Chicago Tribune, Dec 20, 2019

Responding to a Tribune investigation that found some popular cellphone models measured above federal limits for radiofrequency radiation, the Federal Communications Commission said this week that its own testing found all eight models it evaluated were in compliance.

The testing commissioned by the Tribune, conducted according to federal guidelines at an accredited laboratory in California, examined 11 cellphone models from four manufacturers. The phones were purchased new. Among other findings, the Tribune reported that all four Apple iPhone 7s tested yielded results exceeding the federal limit.

At the time, Apple disputed the results and said the lab used by the newspaper did not test the phones the same way it does.

Cell Phones are Not Tested Touching the Body: FCC Tests are Rigged.

Cell Phones are Not Tested Touching the Body: FCC Tests are Rigged. 

(8 mn., 20 December 2019)

Environmental Health Trust

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgL-VlR1Nuw

GBM Incidence Rates Relatively Steady in U.S. and Canada Unlike the Doubling Seen in England

GBM Incidence Rates Relatively Steady in U.S. and Canada
Unlike the Doubling Seen in England
microwavenews.com, 13 December 2019

The incidence of glioblastoma multiforme, GBM, the most aggressive type of brain tumor, though rising slowly over the last 20 years, has not jumped up in the U.S. and Canada, as it has in England and a number of other northern European countries, according to a new analysis of national brain tumor registry data.

Between 1995 and 2015, GBM rates went up 10% in the U.S. and 26% in Canada. In contrast, the increase in England over the same period was 110%.

United States: Supreme Court Rejects Cell Phone Industry Challenge To Berkeley Ordinance

Supreme Court Rejects Cell Phone Industry Challenge To Berkeley Ordinance
Op-Ed by Dr. Devra Davis, ibtimes.com, 10 December 2019

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a free-speech challenge brought by the CTIA, telecom industry trade group, against a Right to Know law issued by the Berkeley California City Government that requires cell phone retailers to inform customers that phones emit radiation that can exceed limits when close to the body. Previously, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court en banc upheld the Berkeley ordinance concluding that the public health issues at hand were “substantial” and that the “text of the Berkeley notice was literally correct.”

In 2011 and again in 2015 I testified on behalf of the Berkeley citizens in this case. Four years later, this monumental moment is a sweet victory for the fearless Town Council, its hard-working citizens, advisors like the unintimidatable Joel Moskowitz, Ellie Marks, Lloyd Morgan and Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig who argued the case pro bono. Lessig helped craft the elegantly drafted law after an earlier effort by San Francisco fell victim to industry legal machinations.

United States: Ericsson Agrees to Pay Over $1 Billion to Resolve FCPA Case

“Ericsson’s corrupt conduct involved high-level executives and spanned 17 years and at least five countries, all in a misguided effort to increase profits,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Such wrongdoing called for a strong response from law enforcement, and through a tenacious effort with our partners in the Southern District of New York, the SEC, and the IRS, today’s action not only holds Ericsson accountable for these schemes, but should deter other companies from engaging in similar criminal conduct.”

Ericsson Agrees to Pay Over $1 Billion to Resolve FCPA Case
Ericsson Subsidiary Pleads Guilty to FCPA Violations

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, Press Release, 6 December 2019

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson or the Company), a multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, has agreed to pay total penalties of more than $1 billion to resolve the government’s investigation into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) arising out of the Company’s scheme to make and improperly record tens of millions of dollars in improper payments around the world. This includes a criminal penalty of over $520 million and approximately $540 million to be paid to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a related matter. An Ericsson subsidiary pleaded guilty today for its role in the scheme.

United States: FeganScott Law Firm Confirms PhoneGate: New FCC-Accredited Lab Results Show Apple and Samsung Smartphone RF Radiation Levels Exceed Federal Limit

FeganScott Law Firm Confirms PhoneGate: New FCC-Accredited Lab Results Show Apple and Samsung Smartphone RF Radiation Levels Exceed Federal Limit
Equipe Phonegate 8 Dec 2019

We are relaying the press release just published by the law firm Fegan Scott. We observe with great interest that they now use the term “PhoneGate” in the title of their release.

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec 6, 2019–

National consumer-rights law firm FeganScott consolidated its two proposed class action suits against Apple (AAPL) and Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) after independent testing from a Federal Communications Commission-accredited laboratory confirmed that radio-frequency (RF) radiation levels from popular Apple and Samsung smartphones far exceeded federal limits when the devices are used as marketed by the manufacturers.

Beth Fegan, managing partner of FeganScott and the attorney representing the consolidated suit, which was filed after the firm hired the industry-recognized lab, says that smartphone manufacturers must take responsibility for misleading consumers about the levels of RF radiation emitted by their smartphones when used against or in close proximity to the user’s skin.

Phonegate: [Press release] Users warned about 3 French mobile phone models from 3 manufacturers

This warning most certainly concerns users who have purchased these 3 models from the brands BlackBerry, Doro and Selecline in other European countries.

[Press release] Users warned about 3 French mobile phone models from 3 manufacturers
Equipe Phonegate 5 Dec 2019

Our analysis of the National Frequencies Agency (ANFR) database revealed that 3 smartphone models controlled in 2018 and 2019 by ANFR and announced as having a “compliant” trunk specific absorption rate (SAR) were tested more than 5mm from the skin. This is confirmed by the extract from the database below. We therefore wrote to ANFR in August 2019 to inform them of this apparent anomaly in view of the test results and ask for explanations.

Unscrupulous application of the principle of anteriority of the law

U.S. Phonegate? Cell Phone Safety Guidelines Exceeded in Study…Lawsuit Follows

U.S. Phonegate? Cell Phone Safety Guidelines Exceeded in Study…Lawsuit Follows
mdsafetech.org (Physicians for Safe Technology), 29 November 2019

FCC Safety Guidelines Were Exceeded in Chicago Tribune Cell Phone Tests

The Chicago Tribune recently investigated cell phone safety by testing 11 models of popular cell phones, both according to the manufacturers recommended distance from the head (5 to15 mm), as well as in a manner consistent with how they are used, i.e. close to the head. The accredited lab found that with some of the phones the levels exceeded the FCC guidelines both at recommended positions and in close proximity to the body. A class action lawsuit was filed against Apple and Samsung by a group of lawyers in California, Illinois and Iowa who state the manufacturers “intentionally misrepresented” the safety of these phones. The attorneys argue that numerous scientific publications show that radiofrequency radiation exposure affects living organisms at levels well below international guidelines. These RF guidelines are based only on heating of tissues, not demonstrated complex biological effects. Dr. Lennart Hardell points out in his research that increased usage of both cell phones and cordless phones, which emit fairly similar radiation levels, is associated with brain tumors. If the lawsuit is found valid will this be the Phonegate of the United States?

French Phonegate: 2017

Switzerland: Shame on Roger Federer for Advertising in Favor of 5G Technology!

The Swiss tennis champ, Roger Federer, has been advertising in favor of 5G technology.  We sent him this letter last year.  He never replied.

Dear Mr. Federer,

We are extremely disappointed that you have accepted to participate in advertising in favor of 5G technology.

You have small children and should be aware that this technology will be adding to the health effects of radiofrequency radiation (RFR) already being emitted by previous technologies, 2G, 3G, 4G. Children, with their smaller, developing bodies, are especially vulnerable to this type of radiation.

Your advertising is also in direct contradiction to the democratic vote of the Swiss Parliament – and the voice of the people - last year not to raise limit values of mobile phone antennas as a requirement for the launch of 5G.

The presence of billions of connected objects will make us more stressed, vulnerable to cybercrime, disconnected and poisoned by RF radiation. Health services will be under pressure to cope with a pandemic of diseases resulting from increased exposure. The economy will be affected by rising health costs and lost productivity at work.