Cox Communications' "sham" Digital Millennium Copyright Act defense and its attempt to obfuscate through discovery abuses drove up the cost of litigation, so it can't complain about having to bear those costs, said BMG Rights Management and Round Hill Music in a supplemental principal and response brief (in Pacer) filed Friday with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Cox, fighting BMG's motion for $10.48 million in attorney's fees and $2.92 million in expenses (see 1610030005), never addresses those behaviors that caused the lower court to award fees, they said. They said Cox argued the torrent piracy lawsuit raised novel issues, but the 4th Circuit and the Supreme Court in its 2016 Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons decision rejected "novelty" as protection from avoiding fees. Counsel for Cox didn't comment Monday.

Cox Communications' "sham" Digital Millennium Copyright Act defense and its attempt to obfuscate through discovery abuses drove up the cost of litigation, so it can't complain about having to bear those costs, said BMG Rights Management and Round Hill Music in a supplemental principal and response brief (in Pacer) filed Friday with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Cox, fighting BMG's motion for $10.48 million in attorney's fees and $2.92 million in expenses (see 1610030005), never addresses those behaviors that caused the lower court to award fees, they said. They said Cox argued the torrent piracy lawsuit raised novel issues, but the 4th Circuit and the Supreme Court in its 2016 Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons decision rejected "novelty" as protection from avoiding fees. Counsel for Cox didn't comment Monday.

ICANN's status as a California nonprofit headquartered in the U.S. has raised hackles for years, and now a working group is exploring if location affects accountability and policies. In February, the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability's jurisdiction subgroup sought input. It received about 20 responses, most citing no difficulties, and posted a list of proposed issues for the subgroup to consider. Two key concerns are whether U.S. foreign policy hampers ICANN from approving registries and accrediting registrars, and what impact jurisdiction has on delegation of country code top-level domain names (ccTLDs).

The FCC is considered likely to act on updating its rules on FM translator interference with full-power stations through an upcoming adjudication rather than through a rulemaking, several radio industry officials said in interviews. The FCC has a pending application for review on an interference complaint between an FM translator and full-power station in Indiana that involves the issues (see 1611040051) raised in recent petitions for rulemaking from NAB and Aztec Capital Partners (see 1706010063), industry officials said. The FCC’s latest FM translator license application window, which opened Wednesday, is likely to exacerbate interference issues between translators and full powers, industry officials said.

ICANN's status as a California nonprofit headquartered in the U.S. has raised hackles for years, and now a working group is exploring if location affects accountability and policies. In February, the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability's jurisdiction subgroup sought input. It received about 20 responses, most citing no difficulties, and posted a list of proposed issues for the subgroup to consider. Two key concerns are whether U.S. foreign policy hampers ICANN from approving registries and accrediting registrars, and what impact jurisdiction has on delegation of country code top-level domain names (ccTLDs).

Parts of the Trump administration’s international policy remain in disarray. Key positions remain unfilled at the State Department, including U.S. coordinator for international communications (CIC) and information policy. FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly Tuesday urged changes (see 1707250049) at the ITU, which holds the World Radiocommunication Conference every four years.

Commenters were split over possible FCC broadband regulation in apartment buildings and other residential and commercial multiple tenant environments (MTEs). Incompas, Sprint and others supported regulatory efforts to identify and remove barriers to broadband deployment and competition. Property owners, NCTA and others voiced concern about possible new broadband regulation. Initial comments were posted Monday and Tuesday in docket 17-142 on a notice of inquiry on the state of the MTE broadband market and whether the commission should act (see 1706220036).

Commenters were split over possible FCC broadband regulation in apartment buildings and other residential and commercial multiple tenant environments (MTEs). Incompas, Sprint and others supported regulatory efforts to identify and remove barriers to broadband deployment and competition. Property owners, NCTA and others voiced concern about possible new broadband regulation. Initial comments were posted Monday and Tuesday in docket 17-142 on a notice of inquiry on the state of the MTE broadband market and whether the commission should act (see 1706220036).

Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, tasked by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai with overseeing changes to rules for the 3.5 GHz band, expects new rules in early 2018, he told a Free State Foundation conference Tuesday, where new Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale also spoke.

Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, tasked by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai with overseeing changes to rules for the 3.5 GHz band, expects new rules in early 2018, he told a Free State Foundation conference Tuesday, where new Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale also spoke.