The FCC and major wireless carriers unveiled an agreement Tuesday aimed at curbing the number of smartphones stolen each day in the U.S. Carriers agreed to launch a database within six months allowing the quick blocking of stolen cellphones, keeping them from being used again. Just last year, the FCC took on wireless “bill shock” by pushing through a similar voluntary agreement from the carriers.

The FCC pointed to a recent Media Bureau public notice asking questions about the definition of the terms “multichannel video programming distributor” (MVPD) and “channel” as it presented its defense of its pace of adjudicating a program access complaint brought by Sky Angel against Discovery Communications. In a response to Sky Angel’s petition for a writ of mandamus at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the commission argued that the notice represents a concrete step toward resolving the dispute.

The FCC pointed to a recent Media Bureau public notice asking questions about the definition of the terms “multichannel video programming distributor” (MVPD) and “channel” as it presented its defense of its pace of adjudicating a program access complaint brought by Sky Angel against Discovery Communications. In a response to Sky Angel’s petition for a writ of mandamus at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the commission argued that the notice represents a concrete step toward resolving the dispute.

There’s growing concern that U.S. telecommunications equipment manufacturers may be disadvantaged by the growing use of local content requirements in countries such as Brazil, India, and Indonesia, the U.S. Trade Representative said in its 2012 annual review of telecommunications trade agreements. The report also cites the use of equipment standards and conformity assessment procedures (including testing requirements) that act as barriers to entry for U.S. telecommunications equipment, including policies in the following countries: China (multi-level protection scheme), India (restrictions on use of strong encryption and onerous security requirements for the importation of telecommunications network equipment), and Brazil, China, Costa Rica and India (mandatory certification requirements and requirements for local testing).

Senate Privacy Subcommittee Chairman Al Franken, D-Minn., and several consumer privacy groups urged administration officials to create privacy rules to protect Americans’ personal data, in separate comments filed with the NTIA. But industry groups representing Internet companies and mobile application developers told the administration that data privacy laws are unnecessary and urged private discussions among some groups to deter proprietary or sensitive information leaks.

Senate Privacy Subcommittee Chairman Al Franken, D-Minn., and several consumer privacy groups urged administration officials to create privacy rules to protect Americans’ personal data, in separate comments filed with the NTIA. But industry groups representing Internet companies and mobile application developers told the administration that data privacy laws are unnecessary and urged private discussions among some groups to deter proprietary or sensitive information leaks.

Members of Congress from Louisiana, a state still recovering from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, pressed the FCC to act on a waiver request allowing early construction of a public safety network in the 700 MHz band. The letter was signed by both senators and all seven representatives from the state. Baton Rouge filed the initial petition from the state asking for “expedited” action on a waiver in July 2010.

The Court of International Trade dismissed claims by domestic plaintiffs Tampa Bay Fisheries, Inc. and Singleton Fisheries, Inc. arising from the U.S. International Trade Commission and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s denial of monetary benefits under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA, or the “Byrd Amendment”). Tampa Bay and Singleton were not included on the ITC’s list of Affected Domestic Producers (ADPs) because of a failure to check the relevant boxes on an ITC questionnaire, and were therefore ineligible to receive Byrd Amendment distributions of antidumping duties collected under AD duty orders on certain frozen warmwater shrimp from Brazil, Thailand, India, China, Vietnam and Ecuador.

It’s incumbent carriers against the world in the latest round of comments regarding the development of an IP-to-IP policy framework, addressed in the further notice of proposed rulemaking as part of the USF/intercarrier compensation order. Commenters also addressed the FCC’s ongoing transition to a bill-and-keep framework. States urged the FCC to proceed at a slower pace or even pause the implementation of intercarrier compensation rules.

Dish, NCTA and the FCC filed their final briefs in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, concerning Dish’s petition to review whether the FCC has jurisdiction to adopt encoding rules for all MVPDs, including satellite. Dish reiterated its claim that Section 629 of the Communications Act does not give the commission jurisdiction to adopt the rules. NCTA further urged the court to deny Dish’s petition.