Letting cable operators scramble broadcast TV and other basic channels in all-digital systems was largely backed in comments at the FCC. Scrambling is designed to cut down on signal theft and reduce pollution by eliminating the need for technicians to visit households to turn on and off video. Operators large and small, two nonprofits that had concerns with a first-of-its-kind waiver request made two years ago by Cablevision and local regulators each backed at least some of an FCC basic-tier encryption proposal. The regulators sought more conditions than what the commission’s October rulemaking notice proposed.

Letting cable operators scramble broadcast TV and other basic channels in all-digital systems was largely backed in comments at the FCC. Scrambling is designed to cut down on signal theft and reduce pollution by eliminating the need for technicians to visit households to turn on and off video. Operators large and small, two nonprofits that had concerns with a first-of-its-kind waiver request made two years ago by Cablevision and local regulators each backed at least some of an FCC basic-tier encryption proposal. The regulators sought more conditions than what the commission’s October rulemaking notice proposed (CD Oct 17 p9).

Over the weekend the Department of Justice, the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seized 150 website domain names that were allegedly selling and distributing counterfeit merchandise, the agencies said Monday. The crackdown comes as Congress weighs two bills aimed at strengthening enforcement tools against intellectual property theft abroad. Meanwhile, Attorney General Eric Holder said he plans to launch a new public education campaign intended to increase Americans’ knowledge of the threat IP infringement poses at a White House press conference Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Google and Microsoft continue to take a different view than the MPAA on whose duty it ought to be to ensure subscription-video and broadcast TV programming is captioned when it’s sent online using Internet Protocol. The companies and the association reported in docket 11-154 (http://xrl.us/bmjc36) on meetings with staffers in the FCC bureaus working on an order to require such captions. Internet companies want the responsibility for ensuring traditional video programming is captioned when it goes online to lie with video program owners, while those representing VPOs, including the MPAA, want the responsibility to be with TV stations and multichannel video programming distributors.

Google and Microsoft continue to take a different view than the MPAA on whose duty it ought to be to ensure subscription-video and broadcast TV programming is captioned when it’s sent online using Internet Protocol. The companies and the association reported in docket 11-154 (http://xrl.us/bmjc36) on meetings with staffers in the FCC bureaus working on an order to require such captions. Internet companies want the responsibility for ensuring traditional video programming is captioned when it goes online to lie with video program owners, while those representing VPOs, including the MPAA, want the responsibility to be with TV stations and multichannel video programming distributors.

Google and Microsoft continue to take a different view than the MPAA on whose duty it ought to be to ensure subscription-video and broadcast TV programming is captioned when it’s sent online using Internet Protocol. The companies and the association reported in docket 11-154 (http://xrl.us/bmjc36) on meetings with staffers in the FCC bureaus working on an order to require such captions. Internet companies want the responsibility for ensuring traditional video programming is captioned when it goes online to lie with video program owners, while those representing VPOs, including the MPAA, want the responsibility to be with TV stations and multichannel video programming distributors.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski recommended Tuesday that AT&T’s proposed purchase of T-Mobile be set for hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). Genachowski recommended in a second order that the FCC approve with conditions AT&T’s purchase of 700 MHz spectrum from Qualcomm. He circulated the orders Tuesday morning — three weeks before the Dec. 13 FCC meeting — though they won’t necessarily be subject to a public vote by commissioners at the meeting, an FCC official said.

Career FCC staffers are gearing up work toward a draft order to make TV station and subscription-video shows be captioned when they're transmitted using Internet Protocol. They're facing a Jan. 12 deadline to finish the rules on IP captioning. The forthcoming order has been the subject of debate among various industry stakeholders. Issues include whether video programming distributors (VPD) or video programming originators (VPO) should be responsible for captions, whether there should be technical standards, and the threshold for device size to require them to display IP captions, according to industry executives and agency officials.

Career FCC staffers are gearing up work toward a draft order to make TV station and subscription-video shows be captioned when they're transmitted using Internet Protocol. They're facing a Jan. 12 deadline to finish the rules on IP captioning. The forthcoming order has been the subject of debate among various industry stakeholders. Issues include whether video programming distributors (VPD) or video programming originators (VPO) should be responsible for captions, whether there should be technical standards, and the threshold for device size to require them to display IP captions, according to industry executives and agency officials.

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Cyberwar’s hyper speed raises a need to prepare automatic responses by the U.S., said the senior lawyer at the U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade, Md. A serious attack “would be over before the second call” up the chain of command, raising the prospect of “autonomous decision-making,” Col. Gary Brown said late last week. At a University of California seminar on cyberwar law, ethics and policy, he said, “Everybody thinks Dr. Strangelove,” a Cold War black comedy involving an automatic nuclear doomsday system and the destruction of the world. “So do I,” Brown acknowledged. An automated system would involve programming in scenarios so that, for example, “if these 17 things happen, I want you to cut off Internet access to this country,” he said.