U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., Fri. remanded portion of FCC’s decision permitting SBC to offer long distance service in Kan. and Okla but emphasized that it wasn’t vacating Commission’s decision. SBC said court’s action wouldn’t affect “in any way” SBC’s services in those 2 states where it has been offering long distance since early 2001. “We're confident that when the FCC reconsiders this one narrow public interest analysis issue, the Commission will reach the same conclusion with additional documentation,” SBC said in statement.

State Dept. approved streamlined procedures for its review of applications submitted to FCC for undersea cable landing licenses. Alan Larson, undersecy. of state for economic, business & agricultural affairs, approved changes last week. State Dept. has review authority in that area under 1921 Cable Landing License Act and executive order. State said it authorized FCC to grant or revoke all submarine cable landing license applications as long as Commission notifies in writing U.S. coordinator for international communications & information policy and State doesn’t raise objections within 30 days. Among changes in existing process that such applications have undergone at State Dept. is that 30-day time line hasn’t been in place. State said it planned to continue to coordinate views on applications with NTIA and Defense Information Systems Agency at Defense Dept. Goals of new review procedures include helping U.S. companies stay competitive in telecom market without “jeopardizing national security,” State said. “These changes reflect the Administration’s ability to work together to promote competition in this important marketplace by making the government regulatory process for submarine cables more efficient,” said David Gross, U.S. coordinator for international communications & information policy. NTIA Dir. Nancy Victory said streamlining process “makes it less costly to deploy submarine cables, which benefits U.S. consumers.

In face of lingering questions from FCC, BellSouth (BS) withdrew its Sec. 271 application to provide long distance in Ga. and La. and said Thurs. it planned to resubmit filing with updated information shortly. New filing will provide Commission with additional information on operations support system (OSS) issues such as preordering and order process integration and service order accuracy, BS said. It “will comply with the FCC’s request for additional information to supplement the record,” said Margaret Greene, pres.- regulatory & external affairs, saying company built “solid case” that it had met Telecom Act requirements for long distance entry. FCC Chmn. Powell said: “The FCC cannot approve such applications by the Bell companies unless they satisfy the requirements of Section 271 of the Communications Act.” Competitors praised what they viewed as signal sent by Commission that it was insisting on complete information in long distance filings that OSS systems worked. BS said it planned to resubmit filing “promptly” to restart review process at FCC.

Purported pirate DVD of Disney movie whose picture vanished after few plays was demonstrated by British official on popular TV show there last week -- but as of Wed. neither official, show’s producers nor studio could shed any light on disappearing act that might have been staged and mistaken.

Immersive video technology developer Enroute said Mon. it signed agreement to license its FirstPerson technology to Calabasas Hills, Cal., game maker THQ. Separately, THQ said it raised additional $16 million in public offering.

FCC Deputy Gen. Counsel John Rogovin told Practising Law Institute conference in Washington that agency was “seriously hopeful” that Congress would pass legislation implementing NextWave agreement by year-end. But in response to question by panel moderator Richard Wiley, he declined to place odds on Congress’s acting in time to meet condition of settlement agreement that legislation be approved by Dec. 31. He said that beyond that date, “there can be no guarantee we will hold that coalition together. It was pretty fragile.” Under scenario in which request for certiorari before U.S. Supreme Court would move forward next year, even with ultimate ruling favorable to FCC, certainty on disposition of licenses still might not be assured until 2004, he said, citing court scheduling issues.

Legislators and regulators in Mich., Minn., Colo. and Tex. addressed no-call telemarketing lists as 2001 drew near close, while Ind. law enforcement officials warned public of telemarketing scam that exploited state’s new no-call list.

After 2 days of hearings on Copyright Office report on Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), chmn. of House panel said he still wasn’t persuaded that changes were needed to update copyright law to Internet Age. However, Rep. Coble (R-N.C.), who heads Judiciary Subcommittee on Internet & Intellectual Property, said he was “easy dog to hunt with,” so he was keeping open mind. First day of hearings last week focused on whether artists and music publishers should be able to collect royalties for RAM or buffer copies of musical works made to facilitate streamed programming. While 2nd session was mostly more of same, it included spirited debate between Webcasters and music publishers over whether buffer or server copies should be subject to mechanical license fees.

House Commerce Committee Chm. Tauzin (R-La.) is co- sponsoring standalone bill that contains language for implementing NextWave settlement agreement. Bill, filed Wed. afternoon, also is co-sponsored by Reps. Conyers (D-Mich.), Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), Thomas (R-Cal.). “It is consistent with [FCC] Chairman Powell’s recommended settlement,” said Tauzin spokesman Ken Johnson. Legislation, which wasn’t available by our deadline, is expected to include virtually all of settlement’s provisions. One caveat is that language remain intact as part of implementing legislation or deal could be renegotiated. However, several sources have indicated that if only minor changes are made, that isn’t likely to happen. Bill is standalone proposal that’s expected to reach House floor as early as today (Fri.). Speculation earlier Thurs. had been that language could be tacked onto economic stimulus bill, which also is heading to House floor. Prospects are less clear in Senate, where Commerce Committee’s ranking Republican McCain (Ariz.) and Chmn. Hollings (D-S.C.) have raised concerns about timing of deal’s needing to be approved by Congress by year-end and other issues. Standalone bill in House comes within days of joint hearings by Judiciary and Commerce subcommittees at which some members raised concerns, although Tauzin said he expected it to be passed this year. Settlement, if finalized, would provide $6 billion to NextWave for relinquishing licenses and $10 billion to U.S. Treasury, to be paid by winners of FCC’s Jan. re-auction of C-block licenses, such as Verizon Wireless. Johnson said there still were several options for how NextWave legislation could move in House now that bill had been introduced. One was that it could be attached to “must-move” legislation, he said. Legislation, “Prompt Utilization of Wireless Spectrum Act,” said it “authorizes and approves” decision by FCC and Justice Dept. to settle NextWave case. Bill would appropriate $9.5 billion to carry out settlement and contains provisions to ensure that govt. would receive its payment before NextWave. After final settlement approval, bill says NextWave would “completely relinquish” all claims to licenses and covered spectrum. It also would provide for expedited judicial review of challenges to settlement agreement and other issues.

FCC Chmn. Powell said at Wed. agenda meeting that Commission “reluctantly” withdrew scheduled vote on ultra- wideband (UWB) policy in deference to request for more time from Commerce Secy. Donald Evans, with understanding that steps would be taken to put item on Feb. agenda. Powell said agenda items “rarely” were withdrawn. FCC took order off agenda late Tues. Evans had told Powell late last month that 60 additional days are needed to complete final analysis to ensure protection of critical govt. operations and safety-of- life services. Deputy Assistant Commerce Secy. Michael Gallagher told us he was “hopefully optimistic” that unified govt. position and agreement between FCC and NTIA could be reached in time for Feb. 14 agenda meeting. “What happens next is very important,” Gallagher said. “We have a limited amount of time.” NTIA has stepped up pace of meetings it has been holding with FCC and other federal agencies on issues related to UWB, he said. In last few weeks, there has been movement on some issues, but he declined to elaborate on specific areas of progress. Gallagher, who joined NTIA in early Nov., is heading up UWB policy issues because NTIA Administrator Nancy Victory is recused from those issues. “We need to go system by system through the affected government systems, that’s the trigger point,” Gallagher said. Commerce Dept. decided to ask for additional 60 days to balance needs of federal agencies that had stake in proceeding against critical timelines faced by UWB industry. “There were a number of agencies and outside parties calling for a further notice,” Gallagher said. Instead, Commerce Dept. ultimately asked for another 2 months as time frame that was “realistic and doable and doesn’t cause this industry to fail simply because the government was unable to act,” Gallagher said. Separately, United Airlines, which has raised concerns about potential interference that UWB systems might pose for GPS, lauded move by FCC to take more time. “The FCC does not manage, nor are they responsible for, the National Airspace System,” airline said: “This is the purview of the FAA and DoT. FCC actions should not, therefore, adversely impact airline operations or put passengers at risk.” Company said introduction of UWB devices into aviation safety-of-life bands would “erode public safety” and “compromise international protections” given to these frequencies. XtremeSpectrum CEO Martin Rofheart said that while company was “disappointed” with delay, “we are not surprised, as the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 have placed extraordinarily high demands on our government and continue to do so in this unprecedented time in our nation’s history.” Rofheart said he was “confident” that FCC would issue rules within 60 days.