Cox Communications is repeating its push for substantial conditions on AT&T's planned buy of DirecTV. The cable company said a combined company would mean "substantial dangers ... to competition for bundled video, voice, and data services." In an ex parte notice posted Friday in docket 14-90, Cox repeated and elaborated on several objections to the proposed deal and proposed regulatory steps to fix them, including that all video services offered by AT&T/DirecTV should be subject to Communications Act Section 628 rules, and requiring that AT&T/DirecTV use its own wiring -- not another provider's -- in any multidwelling unit it serves, or that it take steps to ensure it doesn't somehow interfere with a competitor's broadband service on that wiring infrastructure. AT&T/DirecTV will mean higher programming costs for smaller operators like Cox, as programmers raise prices on them to make up for the volume discounts a larger player like AT&T/DirecTV will be able to command, Cox said, repeating its request the FCC to limit those volume discounts as well to limit any exclusive programming contracts of AT&T/DirecTV. AT&T and DirecTV previously called some of the proposed conditions being put forward by deal critics “self-serving demands ... designed only to advance unrelated business interests" (see 1505270049).

Cox Communications is repeating its push for substantial conditions on AT&T's planned buy of DirecTV. The cable company said a combined company would mean "substantial dangers ... to competition for bundled video, voice, and data services." In an ex parte notice posted Friday in docket 14-90, Cox repeated and elaborated on several objections to the proposed deal and proposed regulatory steps to fix them, including that all video services offered by AT&T/DirecTV should be subject to Communications Act Section 628 rules, and requiring that AT&T/DirecTV use its own wiring -- not another provider's -- in any multidwelling unit it serves, or that it take steps to ensure it doesn't somehow interfere with a competitor's broadband service on that wiring infrastructure. AT&T/DirecTV will mean higher programming costs for smaller operators like Cox, as programmers raise prices on them to make up for the volume discounts a larger player like AT&T/DirecTV will be able to command, Cox said, repeating its request the FCC to limit those volume discounts as well to limit any exclusive programming contracts of AT&T/DirecTV. AT&T and DirecTV previously called some of the proposed conditions being put forward by deal critics “self-serving demands ... designed only to advance unrelated business interests" (see 1505270049).

The Copyright Office for the Digital Economy (CODE) Act, which was released Thursday in draft form, is likely to spur additional interest in the House Judiciary Committee addressing whether to make the U.S. Copyright Office an independent agency in standalone legislation, before the committee tackles bills that address other portions of a Copyright Act revamp, industry stakeholders told us. The CODE Act, authored by Reps. Judy Chu, D-Calif., and Tom Marino, R-Pa., would separate the CO from its current status as a Library of Congress office and would make the office’s director a White House appointee requiring Senate confirmation. Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante strongly backed making the CO an independent agency during an April 29 House Judiciary hearing (see 1504290058) and the issue has received the strong backing of committee members (see 1502260057).

Much as they disagreed on whether the FCC should have reclassified broadband as a common carrier service and impose tough new net neutrality rules, supporters and opponents of the February order disagree on how likely it is that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will issue a stay of the reclassification order and an Internet conduct rule. Public interest group officials express confidence that the order will survive and no stay will come from the court. Lawyers on the other side say a stay is often hard to get, but the order is so sweeping a stay is a strong possibility. Telco/cable groups have asked the court to impose a stay before the order takes effect June 12.

Personally identifiable information (PII) for some 4 million current and former federal employees that may have been compromised prompted the White House to push for cybersecurity legislation Friday. Experts said in interviews that the Office of Personnel Management breach isn't an outlier amid a slew of such intrusions at companies and government agencies. And while some blamed China for the OPM intrusion, others said that country may turn out to not be the culprit. OPM maintains personnel records for the federal workforce and the PII that may have been compromised includes names, Social Security numbers, date and place of birth, and current and former addresses, a spokesman told us.

Cable and telco interests are pressing the FCC to take further steps to harmonize at lower levels the pole-attachment rates they pay, while power companies, which own most of the poles, oppose such changes, according to comments filed Thursday in docket 07-245 responding to a commission public notice. FCC action is needed to reduce some pole-attachment rates for telecom providers and prevent rate hikes for cable companies now classified as telecom providers, the cable and telco parties said. But power companies said they must be able to recover their costs and warned that new FCC action lowering rates could prompt further litigation.

The Copyright Office for the Digital Economy (CODE) Act, which was released Thursday in draft form, is likely to spur additional interest in the House Judiciary Committee addressing whether to make the U.S. Copyright Office an independent agency in standalone legislation, before the committee tackles bills that address other portions of a Copyright Act revamp, industry stakeholders told us. The CODE Act, authored by Reps. Judy Chu, D-Calif., and Tom Marino, R-Pa., would separate the CO from its current status as a Library of Congress office and would make the office’s director a White House appointee requiring Senate confirmation. Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante strongly backed making the CO an independent agency during an April 29 House Judiciary hearing (see 1504290058) and the issue has received the strong backing of committee members (see 1502260057).

Personally identifiable information (PII) for some 4 million current and former federal employees that may have been compromised prompted the White House to push for cybersecurity legislation Friday. Experts said in interviews that the Office of Personnel Management breach isn't an outlier amid a slew of such intrusions at companies and government agencies. And while some blamed China for the OPM intrusion, others said that country may turn out to not be the culprit. OPM maintains personnel records for the federal workforce and the PII that may have been compromised includes names, Social Security numbers, date and place of birth, and current and former addresses, a spokesman told us.

Much as they disagreed on whether the FCC should have reclassified broadband as a common carrier service and impose tough new net neutrality rules, supporters and opponents of the February order disagree on how likely it is that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will issue a stay of the reclassification order and an Internet conduct rule. Public interest group officials express confidence that the order will survive and no stay will come from the court. Lawyers on the other side say a stay is often hard to get, but the order is so sweeping a stay is a strong possibility. Telco/cable groups have asked the court to impose a stay before the order takes effect June 12.

The FCC appears to be on the right track as it looks at impairment and spectrum clearing in the TV incentive auction planning, wireless industry commenters said. The FCC Incentive Auction Team released a public notice offering a new look at the issue last month and comments were due Wednesday at the FCC (see 1505210054). CTIA called the PN a good first step, while NAB and the Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance (ATBA) complained it doesn’t convey enough information to allow for substantive comments. Comments were posted in 12-268.