The Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the Google v. Oracle intellectual property case (18-956) at 10 a.m. Oct. 7, the high court announced Monday (see 2004130019).
The FCC should reject the Wireless ISP Association’s arguments that ATSC 3.0’s greater capabilities to handle interference mean the FCC should relax interference rules for unlicensed devices operating in the TV white spaces, said broadcaster consortium BitPath in an ex parte filing Friday in docket 20-36. The “most troubling aspect” of WISPA’s stance is the idea “that the capabilities of ATSC 3.0 should be applied not to improve broadcast television service, but rather to give [white spaces device] interests more operating flexibility,” said BitPath CEO John Hane. An interference test performed by WISPA, “skips over too many inconvenient real-world facts to be taken seriously,” Hane said. Both ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 receivers must be protected from interference because there are currently few 3.0 devices and 1.0 signals are still required, Hane said. “Any conclusions drawn solely from self-serving tests of two devices would be unjustified,” he said. “Technological advances in interference modeling ensures that spectrum, that scarce public resource, is put to its best and highest use,” emailed WISPA CEO Claude Aiken. “The FCC has welcomed those technological advances in interference modeling in multiple other shared spectrum bands. WISPA merely suggests that the FCC should follow suit here as well.”
NARUC President Brandon Presley is reversing course on the Rural Broadband Acceleration Act, saying with Telecom Subcommittee Chair Karen Charles Peterson to Senate Commerce Committee leaders that he now opposes a revised version of the bill (HR-7447/S-4201) and supports the rival Accelerating Broadband Connectivity Act (S-4021). Presley endorsed an earlier version of the Rural Broadband Acceleration Act (HR-7022) in June (see 2005280048). Both versions of the bill would require the FCC to award funding by Sept. 30 to some Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I applicants in a bid to speed the release of money before a planned late October reverse auction. HR-7447/S-4201 also would eliminate a requirement companies be designated eligible telecom carriers, which doesn’t have universal stakeholder support (see 2006300010). The proposal to eliminate the ETC designation procedure “is anti-consumer and encourages abuse of the RDOF program and customers served by that program,” Presley and Peterson said in a letter to Senate Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. “It reduces program oversight and has other broad implications for the existing State-Federal universal service partnership envisioned by Congress” in the 1996 Telecom Act. “Absent a rule or statutory change, carriers that are not designated will not have to provide federal Lifeline services or comply with other ETC requirements,” the NARUC leaders said. “Even with changes, removal of the ETC designation procedure will allow the carrier to choose whether to offer customers any enhanced state Lifeline subsidy (in those states that provide additional support for low-income lifeline services). For states that conduct designation proceedings, elimination of the ETC requirement effectively takes state cops off the beat.”
A fifth of new multifamily dwelling units will have smart home technology by 2025, blogged Parks Associates Wednesday. Some 57% of U.S. multifamily home builders say smart home devices create additional revenue in their properties through increased rental value. Fifteen percent of new MDU builds have smart home tech installed, with smart locks, lights and thermostats the most common devices, said analyst Brad Russell.
A federal judge should unseal electronic surveillance orders and other records in closed investigations, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Tuesday. BuzzFeed News reporter Jason Leopold and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press sought to unseal “electronic surveillance orders and related filings in closed investigations.” In a unanimous decision, Judges Merrick Garland, David Tatel and Senior Judge Laurence Silberman reversed a decision by Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell. “The public’s right of access to judicial records is a fundamental element of the rule of law,” Garland wrote for the court. Leopold sought information on pen registers and trap-and-trace devices, which capture metadata from phone calls and messages. DOJ didn't comment.
The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence scheduled its first public meeting July 20. The meeting will be via webcast, the commission said. It’s anticipated to begin at 1:30 p.m. EDT. Further details are expected Wednesday. The group sought comment in late May on its final report on ensuring U.S. competitiveness in AI, machine learning and other emerging technologies (see 2005280054).
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg failed to commit to concrete action removing hate and disinformation from the platform, when meeting with leaders of an advertising boycott Tuesday, Free Press said. Free Press co-CEO Jessica Gonzalez, NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson, Color of Change President Rashad Robinson and Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt met with Zuckerberg, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Product Officer Chris Cox and Vice President-Global Affairs and Communications Nick Clegg. Nearly 1,000 companies are participating in the ad boycott “in response to Facebook’s failure to curtail the spread of hate and disinformation across its platform,” Free Press said. The group’s demands include hiring a C-suite level executive with civil rights expertise, submitting to independent audits and altering Facebook’s community standards. “Instead of committing to a timeline to root out hate and disinformation on Facebook, the company’s leaders delivered the same old talking points to try to placate us without meeting our demands,” Gonzalez said. Facebook didn’t comment.
The global online entertainment market is expected to have a 20.8% compound annual growth rate the next seven years, reaching $652.5 billion, reported Allied Market Research Monday. Internet traffic had 70% growth during COVID-19 lockdowns, and “most of the bandwidth has been consumed by online entertainment applications,” it said. “There has been significant rise in monthly or yearly subscriptions.”
A Swiss digital game maker "falsely claimed" participation in a Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) program, the FTC alleged in a settlement Monday. Miniclip said it was a member of the Children’s Advertising Review Unit’s COPPA safe harbor program 2015-2019, but the FTC said the membership was terminated in 2015. Miniclip is barred from misrepresenting itself again. An attorney for the company didn’t comment.
Valeo North America's waiver request to market short-range motion sensing devices for 57-64 GHz at higher power than specified in rules (see 2005070051) points to the need for the FCC to focus on the 60 GHz band, Facebook, Google, Intel, Qualcomm, Samsung and others filed, posted Thursday in docket 20-121. “A long-term solution is needed to allow for technological innovation while ensuring reasonable coexistence of all technologies operating pursuant to the Commission’s 60 GHz unlicensed rules.”