On Monday, June 23, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a public notice announcing comment and reply comment deadlines for the Identifying Foreign Adversary Ownership Stakes Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Foreign Ownership NPRM). Comments will be due on July 23, and replies will be due on August 22.
As we reported previously, the FCC unanimously voted to adopt the Foreign Ownership NPRM on May 22. The NPRM proposes to require entities holding FCC licenses, authorizations and approvals to disclose whether or not they are owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a country identified as a foreign adversary. The FCC proposes to define “foreign adversaries” consistent with the definition in 15 C.F.R. § 791.4, which currently identifies six foreign non-government persons as “foreign adversaries”:
- The People’s Republic of China (including Hong Kong and Macau)
- The Republic of Cuba
- The Islamic Republic of Iran
- The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)
- The Russian Federation
- Venezuelan politician Nicolas Maduro (the Maduro Regime).
The proposal would require entities to disclose all ownership interests of 5% or greater to the Commission, as well as the nature of their reportable foreign adversary control. Notably, the outcome of this rulemaking may result in more formal processes for how the FCC tracks and assesses foreign ownership or control over entities that hold any type of Commission license, authorization, or permit.
Please see our client alert on the NPRM for a deeper dive into the rulemaking and the specific proposals being considered in this proceeding. Our team is tracking updates to this space closely, so please reach out to us if you are interested in filing comments in this proceeding.