Almost 90 percent of participants in a Commtouch webinar said their organizations had an IP address appear on a blacklist during the past 12 months, said the Internet security technology provider. The Dec. 4 poll, conducted during the webinar, found that outbound spam was the most common reason an IP address ended up on a blacklist. Blacklisting can have a significant business impact, up to and including damage to a business’s reputation, Commtouch said. Nearly half of the respondents said their organization’s operations department was able to get an IP address removed from a blacklist through phone calls and emails, while another 38 percent said they “make it up as we go along.” Another 13 percent use automated processes to request removal from a blacklist, Commtouch said (http://bit.ly/1iZIvvO).
Aereo is nearing agreements with two consumer electronics manufacturers to build its live TV streaming service app into smart TVs starting in 2014, CEO Chet Kanojia said Tuesday at a UBS investor conference in New York.
The U.S. needs to sustain its involvement in the intellectual property treaty process, and “90 percent” of compliance issues surrounding IP need the force of the private sector, said World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry at a George Washington Law School lecture Thursday night. He outlined a host of “shifts” facing the IP community, including how corporations are investing overwhelmingly in intangible goods, and the explosion of IP investment in such countries as China, Japan and Korea. Gurry said multilateral organizations like WIPO need to “resize” the scope of their “ambitions” to better serve the “extraordinarily dynamic” arena of IP.
Pennsylvania residents could see major changes to their wireline services in the state if the Legislature votes for a bill that would eliminate carrier of last resort obligations (COLR) for local exchange carriers in competitive areas and limit the USF, said industry, two Pennsylvania Public Utility commissioners, the state’s consumer advocate and other interested parties at a House Consumer Affairs Committee hearing Thursday. House Bill 1608, sponsored by Rep. Warren Kampf (R), would remove the PUC’s oversight of ILECs, and it would allows ILECs to self-declare whole exchanges as competitive. The bill would end the state’s USF on Jan. 1, 2019, and prevent the PUC from raising the amount of money contributed to the fund each year.
The FCC is committed to advancing 911 location accuracy rules beyond the last update approved in 2011, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said Monday during a day-long 911 location accuracy workshop at FCC headquarters. “I have been pro-911 and pro-911 location since the beginning of the location challenge,” said Wheeler, who paid an unscheduled visit to the workshop. States led by California have raised concerns that current requirements aren’t good enough. Carriers have been locked in a fight with the Find Me 911 Coalition, which they say is funded by technology provider TruePosition and has been spreading bad information to the states. On Monday, the FCC waded into the fight.
Two senators and a House member introduced legislation to cut the frequency of sports blackouts. The Furthering Access and Networks for Sports Act of 2013 (http://1.usa.gov/17sVXmH) ties the public benefits that sports leagues receive in licensing their games to broadcast stations, cable, satellite and over the Internet to how available games are. An FCC draft rulemaking notice proposed ending the agency’s 38-year blackout rule, circulated on acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn’s last day before Chairman Tom Wheeler took over (CD Nov 4 p3).
Sony is seeing “very high demand” initially for the content on its Video Unlimited 4K service since its launch last month, said Nick Colsey, Sony Electronics vice president-business development. The amount of content being bought and rented as well as the length of time users are spending to watch the available content “outstrip” those of other HD services with similar content, he said. Customers are “hungry for 4K content and we are giving them the biggest and best selection available anywhere,” said Colsey. The TV show Breaking Bad has been the most popular title, he said. More than 70 full-length feature films and TV shows were initially made available through the service, and more than 100 such titles will be available in 4K before the end of the year, said Sony, including the current 70. Movies available now include This is the End, After Earth, Moneyball, Think Like A Man, Premium Rush, Ghostbusters and The Amazing Spider-Man. Coming titles will include the movie Elysium, said Sony. The download service also offers short-form videos and all the content is in native 4K Ultra HD resolution for download by consumers with a Sony Ultra HD Media Player and Sony 4K Ultra HD TV, it said. The cost for TV episodes is $3.99, while feature films start at $7.99 for a 24-hour rental or $29.99 for a purchase. Select purchased titles include an UltraViolet digital version of the movie or TV show, allowing consumers to view their content on the go in HD or standard definition, said Sony. The vast majority of the 53 feature films available in 4K on the service Friday were from Sony Pictures. But Sony said two independent movies were also available: Saints and Soldiers and Life Cycles. Asked Friday if there were any plans to expand the service to more non-Sony titles, especially movies from other major Hollywood studios, Colsey said Sony was “always exploring the possibilities,” but there was “nothing to announce at this point.” There were also 20 episodes of Breaking Bad on the service Friday, along with 38 shorts, music videos and other short-form content, said Sony. Owners of the Sony 4K Ultra HD Media Player (FMP-X1) will receive updated content over the Internet, enabling them to rent or buy the latest titles, the company said.
A draft rulemaking notice proposes ending the FCC’s 38-year-old sports blackout rule, said agency officials in interviews Friday. Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn on Friday, her last business day before Tom Wheeler is to start as permanent chairman (CD Oct 31 p1), said she circulated a rulemaking notice to address the rule. Several nonprofits and groups saying they represent fans sought a proceeding to change the rule in 2011 (CD Nov 15/11 p3), with the NAB, NFL and affiliate groups of three of big four broadcast networks opposing the change. Some backing the rule change think the NPRM will be approved without much controversy within the FCC, while a foe said he’s not so sure that will be the case.
AT&T should be allowed to buy Leap Wireless only if it’s also required to divest spectrum in some markets and provide voice and data roaming on terms at least as favorable as those offered by Leap, the Competitive Carriers Association said in reply comments on the proposed deal. The FCC posted replies Friday on AT&T/Leap, wrapping up the comment cycle on a deal that is expected to be an early test of FCC merger policy under new Chairman Tom Wheeler. AT&T and Leap rebuked initial arguments against the deal in an Oct. 23 opposition (http://bit.ly/1ghoJcW).
More Minnesota businesses are using technology to maximize revenue opportunities in the state, said a Connect Minnesota report released Tuesday (http://bit.ly/HuKwP5). Twenty-four percent of Minnesota businesses, or more than 34,000 businesses, don’t use a broadband service, down from 27 percent in 2011, said the report. Online sales account for $38 billion in business revenue annually in the state, and 38 percent of businesses earn revenue from online sales, said the report. Thirty percent of all Minnesota businesses allow employees to telework, said Connect Minnesota. The report is based on a phone survey of 801 businesses across the state. Connect Minnesota will host a summit on broadband access, adoption and use on Dec. 4 in Roseville, Minn.