Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Thom Tillis, R-N.C., wants any Digital Millennium Copyright Act revamp to codify existing DMCA fair use exceptions and add potential new such categories. Tillis has been working on potential update language with an eye to releasing a draft in December (see 2006090063). Ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., is doubtful about the legislative path forward this Congress given limited legislative days (see 2006230068).
The consent decrees that govern music rights are out of date and artists should be able to enjoy the free market, said Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim in the opening address Tuesday of DOJ’s teleconferenced two-day workshop (see 2007240067). Consent decrees “don’t conduct music, but the market for music is conducted by consent decrees,” said Delrahim. The pacts need to be justified by either the current landscape or a future one, and shouldn’t be kept to serve the status quo, he said.
The Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee’s Spectrum Strategy Governance Subcommittee looked at potential major changes to federal oversight of spectrum (see 2004220059) but didn’t reach conclusions. Among possibilities was putting all spectrum decisions under the FCC or NTIA and creating a new “unity” agency. A final report is to be presented at CSMAC's meeting Thursday.
CTA’s decision to scratch CES 2021 as a physical event gives the association five months and nine days to craft an online experience that outdoes that of most virtual trade shows run during the pandemic, officials said. “Moving to an all-digital format for CES is simply the right thing to do,” said CEO Gary Shapiro by video. “Our exhibitors partners and thought leaders will now have the time to plan, to think, to create compelling ways to engage digital audiences from around the world.”
The public notice on the C-band auction, set for a commissioner vote next week (see 2007160072), is expected to be approved as circulated by Chairman Ajit Pai, industry and FCC officials said. Commissioner offices are reviewing the notice. Officials said Tuesday no one has sought changes.
Legislators so far are reacting along party lines to NTIA’s petition (see 2007270070) that the FCC help crack down on social media. Even GOP lawmakers who were somewhat supportive cautioned regulators not to run afoul of the First Amendment.
Face recognition algorithm accuracy declines substantially with masked faces, the National Institute of Standards and Technology reported Monday. For the most accurate algorithms tested, authentication failure rates increased from 0.3% for unmasked individuals to 5% when scanning digitally masked faces, NIST said.
With the FCC 27-month-and-counting freeze on new C-band fixed satellite service earth station registrations (see 1804200003), operators with stations not on the list -- particularly operators who never had a chance to register earth stations they bought after the freeze -- are concerned they'll have to shoulder the expense of the relocation. The commission hasn't said how it will handle the dozens of filings it received this month after it solicited corrections (see 2007070037). That public notice said the International Bureau won't take applications seeking to qualify for incumbent status but instead is looking for "minor corrections" such as site address or GPS coordinate fixes. The FCC didn't comment Monday.
Verizon took a 14 cents a share COVID-19 hit, said Chief Financial Officer Matt Ellis on a Friday investor call. The carrier said the pandemic sent revenue declining 5.1% to $30.4 billion mainly due to lower equipment sales amid store closures and the pandemic's impact on “customer behavior.”
Radio giants such as iHeart and Cumulus are united with low-power FM and public interest entities such as REC Networks and Prometheus Radio Project in opposition to a proposal to allow originating programming on FM translators (see 2006260029), in comments posted Friday in RM-11858. This responds to a petition from the new Broadcasters for Limited Program Origination. BLPO includes Miller Communications, Cromwell Group and Finger Lakes Radio Group.