Opponents of the U.S. intelligence agencies' surveillance tactics criticized an opinion two years in the making and published Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Klayman v. Obama (see 1508280027) that said the plaintiffs failed to prove their individual phone records were collected by the NSA, so their Fourth Amendment rights weren't violated and they weren't harmed. The D.C. Circuit didn't rule on the constitutionality of the mass collection program. Instead, Republican-appointed Judges Janice Brown, David Sentelle and Stephen Williams voted 2-1 to send the case back to U.S. District Judge Richard Leon and allow the plaintiffs to prove their records were collected. In his dissenting opinion, Sentelle said the case should be dismissed, not remanded.

T-Mobile is clamping down on a small group of its customers who it alleges are “going out of their way with all kinds of workarounds” to use much more than their share of tethered data, CEO John Legere said in an open letter to subscribers posted Sunday, saying the carrier would contact the customers Monday. Industry observers said the latest development potentially raises some interesting questions about the FCC’s February net neutrality rules and how the agency will interpret them. The order includes a “bright line” rule against throttling (see 1502260043).

With STELAR requiring the FCC Downloadable Security Technical Advisory Committee to produce a report on a downloadable security successor to CableCARD a week after its final meeting this Friday, committee members and industry officials are divided on whether the DSTAC efforts should lead to any further action, they said in interviews this week. The Satellite Television Extension and Localization Act Reauthorization-mandated report will offer two proposals, one backed by the committee's pay-TV interests and one backed by Public Knowledge and TiVo (see 1508040062). Officials on the pay-TV side said they hope the FCC takes no further action after receiving the report. The other side wants further commission action.

With STELAR requiring the FCC Downloadable Security Technical Advisory Committee to produce a report on a downloadable security successor to CableCARD a week after its final meeting this Friday, committee members and industry officials are divided on whether the DSTAC efforts should lead to any further action, they said in interviews this week. The Satellite Television Extension and Localization Act Reauthorization-mandated report will offer two proposals, one backed by the committee's pay-TV interests and one backed by Public Knowledge and TiVo (see 1508040062). Officials on the pay-TV side said they hope the FCC takes no further action after receiving the report. The other side wants further commission action.

With STELAR requiring the FCC Downloadable Security Technical Advisory Committee to produce a report on a downloadable security successor to CableCARD a week after its final meeting this Friday, committee members and industry officials are divided on whether the DSTAC efforts should lead to any further action, they said in interviews this week. The Satellite Television Extension and Localization Act Reauthorization-mandated report will offer two proposals, one backed by the committee's pay-TV interests and one backed by Public Knowledge and TiVo (see 1508040062). Officials on the pay-TV side said they hope the FCC takes no further action after receiving the report. The other side wants further commission action.

Interim carriage could have been back in FCC consideration as it briefly faced the largest broadcast blackout in history, experts told us. That was averted Wednesday night when the FCC and both companies in a retransmission consent dispute said carriage would resume amid finalization of a new deal. A statement by Chairman Tom Wheeler earlier Wednesday indicated that, along with getting more directly involved in the loggerhead negotiations between Dish Network and Sinclair, the agency also might be willing to go beyond that.

The Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee approved a report Wednesday by its Spectrum Sharing Cost Recovery Subcommittee. As expected (see 1508210041), the CSMAC committee proposed that NTIA seek congressional action making it easier for federal agencies to pay for the costs of sharing spectrum with carriers and other users. But NTIA asked the CSMAC to take a deeper look at bidirectional sharing, in which commercial licensees would also be asked to share their underutilized spectrum with the federal government.

NTIA’s extension of its contract with ICANN to administer the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions until Sept. 30, 2016, (see 1508180068) gives ICANN stakeholders needed extra time to finalize plans for the transition, experts said in interviews. But they said the one-year extension still doesn’t leave much of a cushion for dealing with unforeseen issues. The IANA contract extension is unlikely to affect Congress’ desire to seek additional oversight of the transition process after the August recess, stakeholders said.

NTIA’s extension of its contract with ICANN to administer the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions until Sept. 30, 2016, (see 1508180068) gives ICANN stakeholders needed extra time to finalize plans for the transition, experts said in interviews. But they said the one-year extension still doesn’t leave much of a cushion for dealing with unforeseen issues. The IANA contract extension is unlikely to affect Congress’ desire to seek additional oversight of the transition process after the August recess, stakeholders said.

ASPEN, Colorado -- FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Mike O’Rielly sparred over the FCC’s privacy role Tuesday but also foresee points of possible harmony with overhaul of the Lifeline program, speaking during the Technology Policy Institute conference.