Standardization in mobile technology is helpful for collaboration and interoperability in the marketplace, but outside forces, including the current patent system and the threat of businesses heading to non-standard environments, could hurt collaborative innovation, industry experts said Thursday at a conference on IP hosted by the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property.

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau sought comment on a petition by Colorado-based Broadnet Teleservices asking the FCC to decide Telephone Consumer Protection Act restrictions don't apply to calls made “by or on behalf of federal, state, and local governments when such calls are made for official purposes.” Broadnet raised the issue in a Sept. 16 petition to the FCC. Absent clarification from the FCC “citizens that rely on their wireless phones as their primary, or only, means of telephone communication will be deprived of important opportunities to engage with their government that wired citizens currently enjoy,” Broadnet said. “Receiving calls from the government with important information is not the type of harm from which Congress was attempting to shield consumers.” Comments are due Oct. 29, replies Nov. 13, in docket 02-278, the bureau said in a Wednesday public notice. The FCC has taken a tough stand on the TCPA, approving an order and declaratory ruling in June that industry critics said would expand the number of TCPA-related law suits (see 1506180046).

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau sought comment on a petition by Colorado-based Broadnet Teleservices asking the FCC to decide Telephone Consumer Protection Act restrictions don't apply to calls made “by or on behalf of federal, state, and local governments when such calls are made for official purposes.” Broadnet raised the issue in a Sept. 16 petition to the FCC. Absent clarification from the FCC “citizens that rely on their wireless phones as their primary, or only, means of telephone communication will be deprived of important opportunities to engage with their government that wired citizens currently enjoy,” Broadnet said. “Receiving calls from the government with important information is not the type of harm from which Congress was attempting to shield consumers.” Comments are due Oct. 29, replies Nov. 13, in docket 02-278, the bureau said in a Wednesday public notice. The FCC has taken a tough stand on the TCPA, approving an order and declaratory ruling in June that industry critics said would expand the number of TCPA-related law suits (see 1506180046).

The House Judiciary Committee passed the Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules (Smarter) Act (HR-2745), to the House floor on a 18-10 vote during a markup of the bill Wednesday, despite protests from Democrats and FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. The Smarter Act would eliminate the existing disparities between the two antitrust enforcement agencies -- the FTC and Justice Department -- and ensure that companies face the same standards and processes regardless of which federal agency reviews a merger. The Smarter Act was introduced in June by Antitrust Law Subcommittee Vice-Chairman Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, and co-sponsored by Antitrust Law Subcommittee Chairman Tom Marino, R-Pa., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.

The prpl Foundation, which has raised concerns about FCC rules that would limit a user's right to install open source firmware on wireless routers, remains convinced that a problem looms, Eric Schultz, community manager at the foundation, told us Wednesday. The FCC has received a stream of comments raising similar concerns on proposed rules for the evaluation and approval of RF devices in RM-11673 and various dockets (see 1509240021).

The prpl Foundation, which has raised concerns about FCC rules that would limit a user's right to install open source firmware on wireless routers, remains convinced that a problem looms, Eric Schultz, community manager at the foundation, told us Wednesday. The FCC has received a stream of comments raising similar concerns on proposed rules for the evaluation and approval of RF devices in RM-11673 and various dockets (see 1509240021).

The House Judiciary Committee passed the Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules (Smarter) Act (HR-2745), to the House floor on a 18-10 vote during a markup of the bill Wednesday, despite protests from Democrats and FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. The Smarter Act would eliminate the existing disparities between the two antitrust enforcement agencies -- the FTC and Justice Department -- and ensure that companies face the same standards and processes regardless of which federal agency reviews a merger. The Smarter Act was introduced in June by Antitrust Law Subcommittee Vice-Chairman Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, and co-sponsored by Antitrust Law Subcommittee Chairman Tom Marino, R-Pa., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.

The course of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) transition process is less certain since an ICANN working group meeting over the weekend on a related proposal on changes to ICANN’s accountability mechanisms and amid renewed congressional scrutiny of the transition, stakeholders said in interviews. ICANN stakeholders had planned to use a meeting Friday and Saturday in Los Angeles to move closer to a consensus on the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability’s (CCWG-Accountability) draft ICANN accountability proposal (see 1509240072), but stakeholders who participated in or observed the meeting told us they don’t believe the group made enough progress. Meanwhile, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, joined two vocal critics of the IANA transition in requesting a Government Accountability Office review of whether it’s constitutional for the transition to proceed without Congress’ approval.

The course of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) transition process is less certain since an ICANN working group meeting over the weekend on a related proposal on changes to ICANN’s accountability mechanisms and amid renewed congressional scrutiny of the transition, stakeholders said in interviews. ICANN stakeholders had planned to use a meeting Friday and Saturday in Los Angeles to move closer to a consensus on the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability’s (CCWG-Accountability) draft ICANN accountability proposal (see 1509240072), but stakeholders who participated in or observed the meeting told us they don’t believe the group made enough progress. Meanwhile, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, joined two vocal critics of the IANA transition in requesting a Government Accountability Office review of whether it’s constitutional for the transition to proceed without Congress’ approval.

Members of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) were meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill Sept. 29 to request that several specific provisions make it into a final customs reauthorization bill. The meetings were part of the NCBFAA's Government Affairs Conference. The NCBFAA hopes to see House-proposed antidumping and countervailing duty enforcement language and streamlined drawback provisions in the final bill, according to a paper distributed by the NCBFAA to its members going to the Hill. Congress is still in the process of putting together a Customs Reauthorization conference to resolve differences between customs reauthorization legislation passed by each chamber (see 1507070066).