The Game Show Network (GSN) carriage complaint against Cablevision rests on the “patently absurd” idea that the network is full of programming targeting women, Cablevision said in an answer to the complaint filed at the FCC this week. GSN complained that Cablevision moved it to a pricier sports tier to reduce competition to AMC Networks’ WE tv channel on its more widely distributed tier. The Media Bureau recently declined to grant GSN interim carriage during the dispute (CD Dec 9 p10).
The National Emergency Number Association and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials agreed with wireless carriers that the FCC must move with care as it moves toward a solution that will allow consumers to send text messages to 911 call centers. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has repeatedly stressed that he sees texting to 911 as an important component of a next-generation 911 network (CD Aug 11 p1). The issue is of special significance to deaf people who otherwise have difficulty making 911 calls. Comments were due this week on a notice of proposed rulemaking approved by the FCC at its September meeting (CD Sept 23 p6).
The FCC said it will look into allegations of anticompetitive conduct against Intelsat in a coming proceeding about the structure and operation of the fixed satellite service (FSS) sector. In a satellite-market report for Congress covering calendar years 2008-2010 filed late Tuesday, the commission withheld conclusions about whether any of the industries’ sectors -- FSS, mobile satellite service (MSS) or satellite radio -- are competitive. In the two previous reports, the FCC found the industry competitive. The report was pulled from the agenda of this week’s commission meeting because the commissioners voted ahead of time to approve it. Satellite TV is covered by a Media Bureau report.
"The EU needs to become not only Cloud-friendly, but Cloud-active to fully realise the benefits of Cloud computing,” a select industry group said in recommendations Wednesday to the European Commission. Four issues are critical to the technology’s success, it said: data privacy, governance and identity management; trust, security and certification; interoperability, data portability and reversibility; and innovation and uptake. The EC said the report signals a desire on industry’s part for a more coherent legal framework for cloud services. That lack of clarity was also highlighted by responses to an EC consultation on the cloud, it said in a Dec. 5 report.
The Consumer Electronics Association supports federal legislation “encouraging” Internet retailers to collect and remit state and local sales taxes, CEA President Gary Shapiro said Tuesday. In taking that step, CEA likely becomes the first high-tech trade group to support such legislation, Shapiro said during a meeting with reporters. “Not to be called a flip-flopper, but sometimes things happen where you change your position,” Shapiro said.
The FCC changed a rule in its UnivUSF order and the change’s impact is being felt in the ongoing efforts to reform the Lifeline program. Under the USF order adopted in October (CD Oct 28 p1), an eligible telecom carrier will not meet facilities-based requirements if it uses its facilities only for directory or operator assistance.
The major area of disagreement remaining between the House and Senate on spectrum legislation is the governance structure for the national public safety network, said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore. Middle ground has been found on several other contentious issues, he told Communications Daily on Tuesday. The House was expected after our deadline to pass the original Walden spectrum legislation as part of a larger spending bill (HR-3630) to extend the payroll tax cut and other items. The bill’s spectrum language is expected to change later in the process to reflect bicameral talks.
There is an urgent need for Congress to pass a bill that curbs theft of copyrighted content and the sale of counterfeited goods online, some lawmakers, companies and associations said Tuesday on Capitol Hill. At an event, representatives of 17 companies and organizations put their support behind the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which was introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas (WID Oct 27 p1) OR (CD Oct 27 p13) OR (CED Oct 27 p8). The problem with “rogue sites” goes beyond the country’s borders, he said. “When you look at global Internet traffic today … one quarter is thought to violate copyright.” It has a negative impact on the economy and it steals innovator profits and jobs, he said.
The FCC unanimously approved at its Tuesday meeting an order implementing the CALM Act that incorporates a “safe harbor” approach backed by cable operators to lower the volume of pay-TV and broadcast ads without unduly burdening industry. The regulation also exempts smaller TV stations and multichannel video programming distributors (CD Dec 5 p9), although they may be required to perform spot checks if consumers complain to the commission.
LightSquared made the latest in a series of concessions in response to persistent objections from government and business to interference risks to GPS from the company’s proposed wholesale wireless-broadband network. By ex parte filing with the FCC late Monday, the company agreed to make the use of its spectrum closest to GPS subject to approval by a federal interagency committee in addition to the commission and to limit its increase in power on the ground over time.