A report by the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee enforcement subcommittee recommends the FCC and NTIA reach an “overarching” memorandum of understanding requiring each agency to enact parallel enforcement dispute resolution tools. The report is to be presented by the subcommittee Tuesday at the CSMAC meeting. “Each agency would agree to use these tools/remedies in the event of an unresolved dispute between the parties,” the report said. “It is also recommended that NTIA develop the mechanisms to have an MOU between federal and non-federal users and would contain a provision subjecting both users to the enforcement tool kit adopted by the FCC and NTIA.” The report also recommends that NTIA offer a procedure for getting correct and relevant information to consumers on steps for intervention if needed in the event of interference. “Though it is possible for a licensed operator to take pro-active action to prevent interference, similar action may not be always possible for average consumer devices,” the subcommittee said.

A University of Colorado Law School clinic petitioned the FCC to launch a rulemaking aimed at developing a “fact-based, transparent, and timely adjudication process for spectrum interference disputes.” Under the Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law & Policy Clinic proposal, a private party would be permitted to file a spectrum interference complaint against another private party directly with the FCC Office of Administrative Law Judges. The clinic proposed that the FCC set deadlines for resolving complaints and “make resources available as and where needed such as providing support staff, hiring or loaning additional ALJs and a spectrum advisor, or engaging experts and policy advisors to ensure the adjudication process is fact-based and timely.” University of Washington Research Fellow Pierre de Vries also signed the petition. “Under the Commission’s existing rules, an operator that brings a claim asserting that another operator is causing harmful interference cannot be certain whether, when, or how its claim will be resolved,” the petition said. “Operators caught up in unresolved spectrum disputes are thereby unable to make full economic use of their spectrum and may ultimately suffer economic losses.” Spectrum licenses are “limited and valuable resource,” the petition said. Commission practices “do not guarantee a fact-based, transparent, and timely process to resolve these disputes,” it said. “The Commission is struggling to fulfill its responsibilities and may not have enough resources to devote to these disputes, which means that spectrum rights are not always used in the best interests of the public.” The FCC posted the petition Monday.

The Council of Better Business Bureaus and the Direct Marketing Association will extend their ongoing independent oversight of Digital Advertising Alliance principles on browsers to the mobile space beginning Sept. 1, the DAA said in a Thursday news release. DAA Mobile Guidance includes new guidance specific to mobile such as cross-app data, precise location data and personal directory data, the DAA said. Companies that collect and use data across sites or apps for interest-based advertising, including carriers, apps, ad networks, brands, agencies and publishers, will be required to demonstrate compliance, DAA said. DAA principles “provide consumers with enhanced notice and choice about such data collection and use,” DAA said. “By extending our accountability program into the mobile application space and creating new web- and app-based tools, we have created a robust and enforceable industry-wide regime that covers existing and emerging technologies in the evolving multi-screen world,” DAA Executive Director Lou Mastria said. “As consumers increasingly rely on their mobile devices for information, purchases, and entertainment, it is crucial that they have confidence that companies will provide them with the same level of transparency and choice in the mobile space that they enjoy on their desktops,” Council of Better Business Bureaus CEO Mary Power said. “The DAA Principles encourage innovation while assuring consumers that they have controls and safeguards over their privacy,” said DAA General Counsel Stu Ingis.

Don't overlook privacy and security issues associated with application programming interfaces of mobile devices, as APIs have been abused by some apps, wrote Nithan Sannappa, an attorney in the FTC Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, in a blog post Thursday. Unlike with desktops, “With the rapid evolution of the internet and the spread of malware, it soon became clear that not all applications could be trusted,” he wrote. In computing, “privilege” is the right to perform an action like accessing a device resource while “sandboxing” is implementing the privileges necessary to “complete the job,” Sannappa said. Though “nearly all modern mobile operating systems feature sandboxing,” there are various approaches on how and when an app should be permitted to access things like a device camera or mic, or a user’s contacts or calendar, Sannappa said. APIs decide which resources a developer needs and how users should be informed of that access. Mozilla’s Firefox OS prevents third-party applications from accessing the device’s telephony API, Sannappa said. “According to its documentation, Mozilla restricted access to this API in order to prevent the creation of malicious applications that surreptitiously dial premium phone numbers, a practice known as ‘toll fraud,’” Sannappa said. “Google’s Android operating system provides developers with a telephony API, as well as many other APIs that are not accessible on other operating systems,” he said. “Providing developers with too much flexibility can create privacy and security risks.” The FTC previously filed a complaint against HTC America alleging a vulnerable application pre-installed on the company’s Android devices copied sensitive personal information, such as location data and text messages, to the system log, potentially exposing this information to third-party applications, Sannappa said. He also cited 2013 comments from Facebook that developers were copying Facebook user IDs to their system logs, and that after Apple began in 2010 a policy prohibiting developers from collecting users' personal information like contacts and calendars, apps continued to abuse these APIs.

Verizon countered NTCH arguments that responses filed under seal by Verizon in response to FCC interrogatories in a dispute between the companies over roaming rates should be available for viewing by staff for the smaller carrier. NTCH said the documents should be labeled “confidential,” rather than “highly confidential,” so its employees can see the responses. “The designation was appropriate,” Verizon countered. “This is competitive data that includes rates and traffic volumes Verizon receives from and pays to dozens of other carriers -- some of which (including Verizon) compete directly with NTCH. The Commission has consistently treated such data as highly confidential. Allowing NTCH business personnel access to this data would give NTCH a significant competitive advantage over other carriers and would impair Verizon’s business.” NTCH said it had attempted to “resolve this dispute without the need for FCC intervention but was unable to do so.” The filings were made in docket 14-212.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Friday rejected an appeal by the nation’s largest flight attendants union unhappy with a directive from the Federal Aviation Administration permitting airlines to change their rules so passengers don’t have to put away their iPads or other portable electronic devices during take-off and landing. The challenge was made primarily on procedural grounds, by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. In October 2013, the FAA issued FAA Notice N8900.240, which said airlines could allow passengers to keep reading their tablets throughout the flight. Two months later, the union challenged it, arguing that the FAA "impermissibly and substantially altered and effectively amended” regulations for carry-on baggage on aircraft “without adhering to the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act,” the court said. The APA is not implicated, said the decision, written by Senior Circuit Judge Harry Edwards. “Notice N8900.240 does not alter this regulatory regime,” Edwards wrote. “The Notice merely provides guidance to aviation safety inspectors who enforce FAA regulations. Moreover, Notice N8900.240 creates no rights or obligations, and generates no legal consequences. No airline need alter any policy in response to it. The Notice does not eliminate the discretion of safety inspectors or require that any particular carry-on baggage program be approved or denied. And the Notice does not contradict existing regulations regarding stowage of carry-on baggage.” CTIA saw the decision as good news for consumers. It means “Americans will be able to use their mobile devices during take-off and landing since the FAA found there is no threat of interference to airplane communications or public safety,” said Jot Carpenter, vice president-regulatory affairs.

The Chicago Board of Education urged the FCC to act on Blackboard’s petition seeking clarification of Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) rules on calls to wireless phones (see 1503230070). Blackboard, which provides a mass notification platform for schools, argues that its clients should be able to send texts on emergency weather closures, threat situations, event scheduling or “other important education-related information” without worrying about violating the TCPA. “As the initial comments demonstrate, the TCPA does not apply to the mass notifications [Chicago Public Schools] and other educational institutions send to the school community to provide education-related information,” the board of education said. “These messages directly affect the health and safety of America's school children, as well as their parents and guardians.” The comments were posted in docket 02-278.

Bluetooth Low Energy beacons are key building blocks for indoor location, a market that’s expected to reach 1 million retail deployments by 2020, ABI Research said in a report. Beacons are spreading into all 11 retail/venue verticals in the ABI database with the fastest growth occurring in QSR (quick-service restaurant) and convenience stores at 84 percent and 47 percent clips, said ABI. Total beacon shipments, said ABR, are expected to approach 200 million by 2020 as categories including connected home, personal tracking and enterprise take hold. Google's UriBeacon technology is expected to have a big impact on those verticals, it said. Other indoor location technologies such as Wi-Fi, audio/ultrasound and small cells/LTE are also viable, said ABI.

BlackBerry and T-Mobile announced a partnership to bring the BlackBerry Classic to the Un-carrier’s Data Strong network, said T-Mobile in a Thursday news release. The partnership brings together the productivity and security of the BlackBerry Classic and T-Mobile’s Un-carrier for Business initiative, the release said.

Mozilla counseled officials in India about the dangers inherent in zero rating, in response to a consultation by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Internet services, said a blog post Tuesday by Denelle Dixon-Thayer, senior vice president-business and legal affairs. Zero rating offers limited Internet access at lower rates and was one of the most sensitive issues before the FCC as it finalized net neutrality rules in February (see 1502250064). “The impact of zero-rating may result in the same harms as throttling, blocking, or paid prioritization,” Dixon-Thayer wrote. “By giving one company (or a handful) the ability to reach users at no cost to them, zero-rating could limit rather than expand a user’s access to the Internet and ultimately chill competition and innovation. The promise of the Internet as a driver of innovation is that anyone can make anything and share it with anyone. Without a level playing field, the world won’t benefit from the next Facebook, Google or Twitter.” The Mozilla official conceded there are many unknowns about zero rating. “There may be markets where affordability hurdles to access remain so significant that mobile networks can’t reach economies of scale to keep prices down,” she said. “It may be possible that access to zero-rated services will help to give previously unconnected users a ‘taste’ of the Internet leading them to demand access to the open Internet itself. The truth is we don’t know.”