Emails among White House officials released late Friday (CD Nov 21 p1) reflect the gradual dimming of LightSquared’s prospects following the FCC’s conditional waiver grant to the company and accompanying political scrutiny. While initially discussed with optimism at the White House a year ago, as recently as September an Office of Science and Technology Policy official asked a Harbinger Capital Partners representative to stop communicating on the matter, the emails show. The emails were obtained by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington through the Freedom of Information Act (http://xrl.us/bmi7o2). The emails also show the GPS industry working hard to convince the White House of interference issues. The White House didn’t comment.

TAIPEI -- IPv6 will mean no real changes regarding privacy, experts said at the Internet Engineering Task Force last week. The new generation of Internet addresses would be as traceable as the existing IPv4 addresses. Despite that, there is a feverish production of new draft Internet proposals for source address validation, many of them being produced by Chinese experts.

A report by the FCC’s Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC) won’t offer the agency advice on how to migrate to a next-generation 911 system capable of better handling the needs of the handicapped, members of the committee agreed Friday. The EAAC also won’t offer any conclusions on whether emergency callers using a video phone should be able to see the call taker or will just see a blank screen.

The Senate is on track to finish confirmations of FCC nominees by the end of the year, multiple Senate aides and industry officials said. The Commerce Committee on Friday announced a Nov. 30 hearing for FCC nominees Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai. That’s the same day as the next FCC meeting. The hearing is at 2:30 p.m in Room 253, Russell Senate Office Building. While the nominees are thought to be uncontroversial, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has threatened to derail their confirmation over an unrelated dispute with the FCC.

Major cable operators plan to deploy more energy-efficient set-top boxes than those widely in use now. The U.S.’s six biggest cable operators plan to have at least 90 percent of all new set-tops they buy and deploy by the end of 2013 be Energy Star 3.0-compliant, NCTA executives said Friday. The association and CableLabs are setting up an energy lab to develop electricity-efficient set-tops and other gear used by consumers, and equipment used by cable companies’ networks. A CEA executive said such efforts may reduce power usage and costs, the Environmental Protection Agency said it’s a good move, and environmental groups backed it while saying more must be done by cable operators to use less power.

Traditional TV distribution business models, content discovery and reaching “cord never-havers” are challenges facing the digital video distribution world, said panelists at the Future of Television conference in New York Friday. “The demographics of people signing up for cable and satellite service is changing a lot,” said Jeff Harris, senior product manager-new product development for Verizon’s FiOS. Teenagers watch more video on computers than on TVs, he said, and that trend won’t change. “You can’t fight it, so the best thing to do is innovate and adapt” by extending TV services to as many screens as possible, he said. “Portability is a big driver,” he said. Service providers need to be prepared for the changing environment and “be where the eyeballs are migrating,” he said.

ATLANTA -- Despite fear about the new competitive threats posed by over-the-top (OTT) video, four big cable operators still see plenty of opportunities to expand cable’s traditional video business, as well as branch out into numerous new areas.

A draft version of the FCC’s declaratory ruling on third-party violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) would use agency law rather than strict liability to determine liability, said industry executives. While the draft could be changed while on circulation, the use of agency law would mark a partial win for commercial interests, such as Dish Network. Both commercial interests and the government have been meeting frequently with commissioners’ staff over the last week.

SEATTLE -- Sitting atop a pile of cash, Microsoft has opportunities to shake up the mobile space, challenge Amazon’s cloud dominance and undercut Google and Apple in content billing services, Seattle-area venture capitalists told a Washington Technology Industry Association forum late Wednesday. But the Redmond-based company’s time to strike is limited, said the VCs, who are all Microsoft alumni. VCs also gave a nod to LinkedIn as their theoretical favorite for investment among 2011’s tech IPOs, and predicted Amazon’s Kindle Fire would steal thunder from Apple’s iPad and perhaps morph into a cable TV-like service.

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., plans to keep tabs on the FCC and Federal Emergency Management Agency as the agencies investigate glitches during last week’s national test of the Emergency Alert System. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with FEMA and FCC officials Thursday, the House Communications Subcommittee chairman said he’s asked the agencies for more information but doesn’t plan any hearings. The FCC and FEMA gave a “very good and comprehensive report,” Walden said. “I think they're on it, I think they get it, and I think they want to make it work.” A broadcasting executive told us an audio problem caused a cascade-like effect during the test, while a public-access channel executive said those networks didn’t get the message.