Lawyers and judges said widespread use of video and telephone conferences for civil hearings and oral arguments is causing relatively few problems and is a decent replacement for meeting in-person during the pandemic. Many told us they hope or expect such tech to be incorporated more into court proceedings even post-pandemic.
Matt Daneman
Matt Daneman, Senior Editor, covers pay TV, cable broadband, satellite, and video issues and the Federal Communications Commission for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications in 2015 after more than 15 years at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, where he covered business among other issues. He also was a correspondent for USA Today. You can follow Daneman on Twitter: @mdaneman
The 1 dB standard for determining harmful interference to GPS, pushed by the GPS industry and others opposed to Ligado's planned low-power terrestrial L-band network plans, doesn't assess harmful interference and isn't directly correlated with it, the FCC said in its 74-page Ligado order adopted Sunday (see 2004200011) and released Wednesday.
Changes to the FCC orbital debris order, as expected (see 2004170011), netted 5-0 commissioner adoption Thursday at the agency's April meeting. Some commissioners said they approved after several items were moved from the draft order to the accompanying Further NPRM.
Facing what the New York Attorney General's Office told us is an inquiry into Charter Communications' labor practices and management of employees during the pandemic, the company emailed us Wednesday that it has been "dramatically" reducing the number of workers going into the field or office "while maintaining the efficacy of our business operations." It said most office and call center workers are remote, it announced a permanent $1.50 an hour pay increase to field operations and customer service employees retroactive to their annual increase in February, and committed to a $20 hourly minimum wage in 2022. It said it has given every worker an additional 15 days of COVID-19-related flex time and promised no furloughs or layoffs for at least 60 days. The cable operator said it instructed employees to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for quarantining if sick, with full pay and benefits. The company said many workers at its corporate campuses are on a rotating schedule to allow for minimal interaction and social distancing, and it escalated routine cleanings in line with CDC guidelines. Other cablers and other ISPs are taking similar moves, we have found (see 2004100038).
Federal appellate judges were skeptical Wednesday of math the Independent Producers Group used to assert an arbitrary and capricious Copyright Royalty Board decision cost video content producers $28 million in MVPD retransmission royalties. Appellant counsel and appellee intervenor counsel told us the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit could rule in a month or two. They said IPG challenging a CRB 2019 order on distribution of cable and satellite royalties (docket 18-1337) doesn't have broader copyright royalty implications.
The FCC commissioners' approval of the long-pending Ligado plan for terrestrial use of its L-band spectrum (see 2004200011) might not be the end of the proceeding, since a legal appeal is considered possible by some proceedings watchers. The 5-0 approval of the order was announced Monday, but the order wasn't released. An FCC official said it was approved as circulated and there were no changes to the draft order.
The FCC-proposed satellite operator indemnification requirement that has been challenged by operators (see 2004140052) is likely moving from the orbital debris draft order on commissioners' Thursday agenda to the accompanying Further NPRM, satellite officials told us. An FCC official said calls for the order to be delayed instead of being part of this week's agenda seem like a long shot, however.
FCC members unanimously approved Ligado's use of its L-band spectrum for terrestrial use, the agency announced Monday morning. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called the vote "another step forward for American leadership in 5G and advanced wireless services.” The vote "reflects the broad, bipartisan support that this order has received," he said.
It took White House proxy support and concerns about commercial spectrum being essentially claimed by federal agencies to break the years-old logjam of Ligado's proposed terrestrial use of L-band spectrum with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's decision to circulate a draft approval order (see 2004160019), we were told Thursday. Swift action could be next, with multiple commissioners' offices expecting to vote on it this week. An array of primarily aerospace interests urged the FCC to close and dismiss the proceeding.
House Science Committee leaders and an industry group urged the FCC to pull the orbital debris draft order from April 23's agenda. The agency got increasing resistance to its proposed satellite rules update (see 2004140052), in docket 18-313 Wednesday. A satellite executive told us the agency seemed surprised by the amount of industry criticism.