First Amendment aspects of extending program carriage regulations to more types of multichannel video programming distributors, and online video distributors’ (OVD) access to cable content, were debated by MVPDs and their allies opposing changes and rule-change backers. The FCC has proposed to extend program carriage rules to more types of MVPDs, so pay-TV companies can be found to have discriminated in favor of content affiliated with other subscription-video providers over independent networks. Nonprofits cited the entry of OVDs into the market as reason to extend the rules. Comcast and its main association said competition is plentiful.
LAS VEGAS -- Investment in infrastructure is critical to turning around a slumping U.S. economy, Rebecca Blank, acting deputy Commerce Secretary, told CES Thursday. Blank spoke during a discussion on how innovation can save the U.S., that took a sometimes pessimistic turn as panelists asked whether the nation is off its game. Panelists asked whether Angry Birds, a cellphone game which has gone viral, is now what passes for innovation in the U.S.
The U.S. is well prepared and positioned for the World Radiocommunications Conference 2012, U.S. Ambassador Decker Anstrom said in a telephone conference call Thursday. Anstrom predicted “strong regional support for the U.S. positions on a number of agenda items” planned for the WRC, which takes place in Geneva Jan. 23 to Feb. 17.
GENEVA -- Momentum is building in ITU-R for further studies on ways to spur roll-out and use of cognitive radio systems in the various radiocommunication services, according to submissions to the Jan. 16 to 20 Radiocommunication Assembly. A proposal from some countries in the Americas does not preclude work on possible regulatory measures. Countries in the Asia-Pacific region will pursue their objectives at the World Radiocommunication Conference later this month if the assembly can’t agree on a way forward.
SILICON VALLEY -- The FTC’s eagerly anticipated privacy report probably will be out before April, Commissioner Julie Brill told us Thursday. “You will see themes that you saw before in the draft report carried forward, but there will be other things” in the report, too, she said at a Hogan Lovells event. The contents are still being discussed at the commission, Brill said. She told us later that there are no highly contentious points, but neither is there complete agreement in principle. “It’s a work in progress,” she said.
LAS VEGAS -- FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell said in remarks Wednesday at CES it’s unclear whether Congress will approve incentive auction legislation. All three FCC commissioners spoke at the conference, including a keynote address by Chairman Julius Genachowski, prior to a panel featuring McDowell and Mignon Clyburn. A key topic was a proposed incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum, possible only if Congress gives the agency authority.
LAS VEGAS -- The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) dominated the discussions during a congressional panel at CES Wednesday. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., a supporter of SOPA, clashed with several of her Republican colleagues. SOPA was a huge focus of the conference, given the strong opposition of CEA.
The FCC is close to adopting rules for TV shows to be captioned online. An Internet Protocol captioning order that circulated the last work day before Christmas is likely to be approved by commissioners by Thursday, and perhaps issued that day, too. This week some on the eighth floor and in the Media Bureau, which drafted the IP order, are grappling with whether to make changes after lobbying by the pay-TV and consumer electronics industries and advocates for those with problems hearing, according to commission and industry officials.
The FCC won’t require emergency alert service participants without broadband access to get and pass onto viewers and listeners EAS alerts in a new format that’s been developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A commission order released Wednesday set rules for broadcast radio and TV, satellite radio and DBS, and cable and telco-TV equipment to be certified as complying with the new Common Alerting Protocol (CAP).
Native Americans became the first parties to oppose petitions to reconsider last fall’s universal service reforms, the record on docket 10-90 showed. The National Congress of American Indians and Navajo telecom regulators filed separate, but similarly worded, briefs to oppose RLEC’s request for exemption of some of the new rules’ guidelines for deploying broadband in tribal areas (CD Oct 28 p1).