[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 80 (Thursday, April 27, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 19347-19349]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-08487]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 64

[CG Docket Nos. 10-51 and 02-123; DA 17-76]


Structure and Practices of the Video Relay Services Program

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission's Consumer and Governmental 
Affairs Bureau (Bureau or CGB) seeks comment on the scope of 
application of the technical standard for user equipment and software 
used with video relay service (VRS) and the extent to which such a rule 
is necessary and appropriate for functionally equivalent communication.

DATES: Comments are due June 12, 2017. Reply Comments are due July 11, 
2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by CG Docket Nos. 10-51 
and 03-123, by any of the following methods:
     Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically 
using the Internet by accessing the Commission's Electronic Comment 
Filing System (ECFS), through the Commission's Web site http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/. Filers should follow the instructions provided on 
the Web site for submitting comments. For ECFS filers, in completing 
the transmittal screen, filers should include their full name, U.S. 
Postal service mailing address, and CG Docket Nos. 10-51 and 03-123.
     Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must 
file an original and one copy of each filing. If more than one docket 
or rulemaking number appears in the caption of this proceeding, filers 
must submit two additional copies for each additional docket or 
rulemaking number. Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, 
by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. 
Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission's 
Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
    For detailed instructions for submitting comments and additional 
information on the rulemaking process, see the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob Aldrich, Consumer and Governmental 
Affairs Bureau (202) 418-0996, email [email protected], or Eliot 
Greenwald, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, (202) 418-2235, 
email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to 47 CFR 1.415, 1.419, interested 
parties may file comments on or before the dates indicated in the DATES 
section. Comments may be filed using the Commission's ECFS. See 
Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 63 FR 24121 
(1998).
     All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings 
for the Commission's Secretary must be delivered to FCC Headquarters at 
445 12th St. SW., Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. The filing hours 
are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together 
with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be 
disposed of before entering the building.
     Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service 
Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton 
Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743.
    U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority mail must be 
addressed to 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554.
    This is a summary of document DA 17-76, Structure and Practices of 
the Video Relay Service Program; Telecommunications Relay Services and 
Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech 
Disabilities, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, document DA 17-76, 
adopted on January 17, 2017 and released on January 17, 2017, in CG 
Docket Nos. 10-51 and 03-123. The Report and Order, DA 17-76, is 
published elsewhere in this issue. The full text of document DA 17-76 
will be available for public inspection and copying via ECFS, and 
during regular business hours at the FCC Reference Information Center, 
Portals II, 445 12th Street SW., Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. 
This proceeding shall be treated as a ``permit-but-disclose'' 
proceeding in accordance with the Commission's ex parte rules. 47 CFR 
1.1200 et seq. Persons making ex parte presentations must file a copy 
of any written presentation or a memorandum summarizing any oral 
presentation within two business days after the presentation (unless a 
different deadline applicable to the Sunshine period applies). Persons 
making oral ex parte presentations are reminded that memoranda 
summarizing the presentation must (1) list all persons attending or 
otherwise participating in the meeting at which the ex parte 
presentation was made, and (2) summarize all data presented and 
arguments made during the presentation. If the presentation consisted 
in whole or in part of the presentation of data or arguments already 
reflected in the presenter's written comments, memoranda or other 
filings in the proceeding, the presenter may provide citations to such 
data or arguments in his or her prior comments, memoranda, or other 
filings (specifying the relevant page and/or paragraph numbers where 
such data or arguments can be found) in lieu of summarizing them in the 
memorandum. Documents shown or given to Commission staff during ex 
parte meetings are deemed to be written ex parte presentations and must 
be filed consistent with 47 CFR 1.1206(b). In proceedings governed by 
47 CFR 1.49(f) or for which the Commission has made available a method 
of electronic filing, written ex parte presentations and memoranda 
summarizing oral ex parte presentations, and all attachments thereto, 
must be filed through the electronic comment filing system available 
for that proceeding, and must be filed in their native format (e.g., 
.doc, .xml, .ppt, searchable .pdf). Participants in this proceeding 
should familiarize themselves with the Commission's ex parte rules.
    To request materials in accessible formats for people with 
disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), 
send an email to [email protected] or call the Consumer and Governmental 
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (844) 432-2272 (videophone), 
or (202) 418-0432 (TTY).

Initial Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis

    Document DA 17-76 does not contain proposed information 
collection(s) subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 
Public Law 104-13. In addition, therefore, it does not contain any new 
or modified information collection burden for small business concerns 
with fewer than 25 employees, pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork 
Relief Act of 2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4).

[[Page 19348]]

Synopsis

    1. The Commission's TRS interoperability and portability rules are 
intended, among other things, to allow VRS users to make and receive 
calls through any VRS provider, and to choose a different default 
provider, without changing the VRS access technology they use to place 
calls. The Relay User Equipment (RUE) Profile addresses this problem by 
specifying a basic interface that is intended to enable a user to use 
the same equipment and software with any default provider without 
experiencing any inconvenience or disruption of basic communications 
functions.
    2. In document DA 17-76, the Bureau pursuant to authority delegated 
by the Commission in Structure and Practices of the Video Relay Service 
Program, et. al., Report and Order, published at 78 FR 40582, July 5, 
2013, seeks additional comment on the extent to which adoption of a 
rule applying the RUE Profile to provider-distributed VRS user 
equipment and software is necessary and appropriate for functionally 
equivalent communication.
    3. First, the Bureau seeks additional comment on the user 
experience with provider-supplied user equipment and software. To what 
extent can users currently use the features and functions of provider-
supplied equipment and software when making and receiving calls through 
other providers, or after switching to another default provider? To the 
extent that user equipment and software supplied by one provider 
performs less effectively with other providers, which functions are 
most problematic? Do the answers to these questions vary depending on 
the specific user equipment and software used by a consumer, and if so, 
how? How feasible is it currently for third parties, including open 
source and academic institutions, to innovate in providing new relay 
user equipment or to provide relay user equipment tailored to specific 
user groups or application scenarios, such as customer service or 
government call centers or public safety answering points (PSAPs)?
    4. Second, the Bureau seeks comment on the appropriate scope of 
application of the RUE Profile. There are a number of possible 
approaches. One possible approach could be to require RUE compliance 
for all user equipment and software, including equipment and software 
provided prior to the designated compliance deadline. As an 
alternative, to avoid imposing retrofitting costs on VRS providers, the 
Commission could require RUE compliance only for new user equipment and 
for new versions of user software. Under a third, more limited 
alternative, the Commission could require VRS providers to make RUE-
Profile-compliant user equipment or software available to those users 
affirmatively requesting such equipment or software, as well as to 
provide information on their Web sites indicating how to obtain such 
user equipment and software. Which operating system platforms should be 
supported under this alternative? Under a fourth alternative, the 
Commission could make no further changes to its VRS interoperability 
and portability requirements. The Bureau seeks comments on the relative 
costs and benefits of these alternatives. In this regard, CGB invites 
commenters to submit additional specific cost information quantifying 
the costs of the three alternatives outlined above. The Bureau also 
seeks comment on the providers' claim that ``forcing provider endpoints 
to adhere to the RUE Profile would require that providers remove any 
innovative or useful features of their endpoints that are not specified 
in the RUE Profile and subject their networks to lower security than 
they employ today.'' What specific aspects of the RUE Profile would 
require removal of innovative or useful features, and what kinds of 
innovative or useful features would need to be removed? What specific 
aspects of the RUE Profile would subject networks to lower security?

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    5. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act, as amended (RFA), 
the Bureau has prepared this Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 
(IRFA) of the possible significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities by the policies and rules proposed document DA 
17-76. Written public comments are requested on this IRFA. Comments 
must be identified as responses to the IRFA and must be filed by the 
deadlines for comments specified in the DATES section. The Commission 
will send a copy of document DA 17-76, to the Chief Counsel for 
Advocacy of the Small Business Administration.

Need for, and Objectives of, the Proposed Rules

    6. In document DA 17-76, the Bureau seeks comment on whether the 
scope of application of the RUE Profile should be expanded beyond the 
interface between provider networks and user equipment employing ACE 
software, to apply more generally to the interface between provider 
networks and provider-supplied user equipment and software. Comment is 
sought on a variety of alternatives, including the alternative of 
leaving the rule as is.

Legal Basis

    7. The proposed action is authorized under sections 1, 2, 4(i), 
225, 251, 255, 303, 316, and 716 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended, section 6 of the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act 
of 1999, and section 106 of the CVAA; 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i), 225, 
255, 303, 316, 615a-1, 615c, 617.

Listing of Small Entities to Which the Proposed Rules Will Apply

    8. The proposals in document DA 17-76 will affect obligations of 
VRS providers, who are classified by the Census Bureau as ``all other 
telecommunications.''
     All Other Telecommunications.
     VRS Providers, which are generally classified within the 
broad category of ``All Other Telecommunications.''

Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 
Requirements

    9. Document DA 17-76 does not include new or modified reporting, 
recordkeeping, and other compliance requirements, except for compliance 
with a potentially broader application of the RUE Profile technical 
standard, to apply more generally to the interface between a VRS 
provider and provider-supplied user equipment and software.

Steps Taken To Minimize Significant Economic Impact on Small Entities, 
and Significant Alternatives Considered

    10. Regarding the possible broadening of the application of the RUE 
Profile, document DA 17-76 seeks comment on a variety of alternative 
approaches, including alternatives with minimal or no impact on small 
entities.

Federal Rules That May Duplicate, Overlap, or Conflict With the 
Commission's Proposals

    11. None.

Ordering Clauses

    Pursuant to sections 1, 2, 4(i), 4(j), 225 and 303(r) of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i), 
154(j), 225, 303(r), and the authority delegated by the Commission in 
Structure and Practices of the Video Relay Service Program et al., 
Report and Order, published at 78 FR 40582, July 5, 2013, document DA 
17-76 is adopted.
    The Commission's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, 
Reference Information Center, shall send a copy of document DA 17-76, 
including the

[[Page 19349]]

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis to the Chief Counsel for 
Advocacy of the Small Business Administration.

Federal Communications Commission.
Karen Peltz Strauss,
Deputy Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2017-08487 Filed 4-26-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P