VIENNA -- Members of RIPE, the IP-address registry for Europe and the Middle East, moved to secure the IP address routing system with X509-certificates, which would harden the Internet network against attacks on messages that are in transit. But the 116 RIPE members voted to slow down implementation of the Routing Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI), citing potential collateral damage by the necessary centralization of the routing system. RPKI will be rolled out in the U.S. in 2012.

Judge Ellen Huvelle will allow Sprint Nextel and C Spire to pursue part of their claims against AT&T/T-Mobile, rejecting most claims but allowing two to proceed, in a complicated, 44-page decision handed down Wednesday night. AT&T, Sprint and C Spire all portrayed the decision as a win, as the Department of Justice’s case against the deal moves forward.

Judge Ellen Huvelle will allow Sprint Nextel and C Spire to pursue part of their claims against AT&T/T-Mobile, rejecting most claims but allowing two to proceed, in a complicated, 44-page decision handed down Wednesday night. AT&T, Sprint and C Spire all portrayed the decision as a win, as the Department of Justice’s case against the deal moves forward.

The FCC should backtrack on its decision to address “substantial service rules and policies” in its Aug. 9 wireless backhaul order (CD Aug 10 p3), the Wireless Communications Association said in a petition for reconsideration. “This issue was not raised in the Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for this proceeding, and thus the Commission’s consideration of the issue in the Memorandum Opinion and Order violates the notice-and-comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act,” WCA said in the petition (http://xrl.us/bmhovc). While the National Spectrum Management Association raised the issue as part of the wireless backhaul proceeding, the rules are already being examined in the commission’s license renewal proceeding, WCA said. The rules should be addressed as part of that proceeding “rather than on a piecemeal basis in other proceedings with a much narrower scope,” WCA said.

Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe stunt” at the 2004 Super Bowl still isn’t indecent, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia again ruled on CBS v. FCC. It was a 2-1 ruling touching on matters other than the First Amendment. Free speech still is expected to be front and center during oral argument at the Supreme Court later this year or early next on indecency cases involving two other broadcast networks, and Wednesday’s ruling isn’t expected to change that or affect the U.S.’s case against Disney’s ABC and News Corp’s Fox, industry lawyers said. The high court had sent back to the 3rd Circuit its earlier reversal of the $550,000 fine to CBS for showing for 9/16 of a second Jackson’s bare right breast (CD July 22/08 p1) because of the justices’ ruling on administrative law grounds on the Fox case.

DBS programming requirements could see changes to First Amendment protection if the Supreme Court takes up Dish Network’s request for review, industry lawyers said. The company seeks high court review of DBS programming requirements that could amount to significant changes to the First Amendment protection given to the service. Dish recently asked the Supreme Court to review a lower court decision not to stop a STELA provision requiring HD carriage of local public TV stations. Like most Supreme Court review requests, the odds are against a court review, though several issues raised by Dish could pique the interest of the high court, said lawyers not involved in the case. The request may also be superseded by the FCC v. Fox being considered by the court this term, the lawyers said.

The economic hardships on noncommercial broadcasters should bring changes in regulations and operations, said David Oxenford, a Davis Wright attorney. “Realistic, flexible and understandable rules need to be adopted,” the broadcast lawyer said in a blog post. One option to consider could include making clarifications and amendments to the FCC’s own rules that interpret and implement the Communications Act, he said: The underwriting rules “are not necessarily straightforward, and often lead to confusion.” Gray areas include event marketing, concert promotion and live appearances, “where such fundraising may have an incidental benefit to commercial groups,” he said. The agency raised issues about noncommercial stations involved in local marketing agreements, which allow noncommercial licensees “to retain the license and the flexibility to resume full independent operations when economic times are more robust,” Oxenford wrote. Inflexibility in this area may cause the sale of more stations in the future, he added.

Cablevision and GCI lobbied the FCC on the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation the day before and just as an order overhauling both was adopted (CD Oct 28 p1), filings posted Friday to docket 10-90 show. Those cable operators were permitted to do such lobbying, under exemptions from sunshine rules. A lawyer for GCI reported speaking with a Wireline Bureau official, at his request, at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, around the time the order was approved. “GCI’s proposed mechanism for setting and disbursing CETC support in rural Alaska under a statewide cap should take into account the fact that some carriers did not elect tribal status,” a filing said (http://xrl.us/bmhg3u). The day before, a lawyer for Cablevision spoke with an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, at the adviser’s request, a filing said (http://xrl.us/bmhg4e). It said there’s evidence in the proceeding’s record showing that ILECs persistently refuse to provide Internet Protocol-to-IP interconnections. The filing noted it was made a day late but that topics covered during the conversation had already been raised in Cablevision filings: “The opportunity to respond to a Sunshine Period ex parte presentation contemplated by same day filing requirement was made moot by the fact that the Commission acted on the day immediately following the presentation."

An FCC rulemaking on making S-band mobile satellite spectrum available for broadband would take too long and undermine the benefits of the spectrum, Dish Network said. The comments (http://xrl.us/bmhbb2) responded to critics of its transfer of control and waiver requests (CD Oct 19 p4). The company seeks to take control of DBSD and TerreStar and their 40 MHz of S-band spectrum and has sought a separate waiver from the FCC to use the spectrum terrestrially. “Shelving the waiver requests to await the outcome of rulemaking proceeding, which in turn may depend on uncertain Congressional action,” could seriously delay use of the spectrum, said Dish. The complexity and breadth of issues considered within the FCC’s MSS notice of inquiry create too much uncertainty, said Dish. The commission last year asked for input on how best to use MSS spectrum terrestrially. Without the waivers, Dish said it’s uncertain it could begin the design and construction of a terrestrial network. Concerns over potential interference raised by CTIA are misguided because the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, which included the association’s members, agreed recently on interference protection standards for LTE in the band, said Dish. It said the waivers would not create a windfall -- a jump in value of the spectrum that comes from allowing terrestrial use -- for Dish. It’s buying the companies for $2.8 billion in an auction that was open to all interested parties, the filing said. The possibility of flexible spectrum rules and the uncertainty of future regulatory changes were part of the market analysis, Dish said. While much of the arguments on the Dish waiver issue came up as part of the FCC’s review of LightSquared’s service, the focus on windfalls is relatively new in the debate at the agency, said satellite-industry consultant Tim Farrar. As the federal government looks to decrease deficit spending, the idea of spectrum fees and incentive auctions for MSS spectrum has grown more prominent, most recently as part of the American Jobs Act proposal, he said. It’s unclear if the commission will be willing to rule on the issue before a clear path is decided on the windfall issue, he said. The FCC could rule on the transfers of control first and wait to rule on the waivers issue in the future, said Farrar.

The telecom world largely responded cautiously as the FCC on Thursday adopted its Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation regime changes. But telecom officials and observers predicted lawsuits would begin pouring in after the 400-plus page order is published and digested. Meanwhile, the order itself hadn’t been finished, an FCC official told us. Staff were continuing to incorporate edits agreed upon by the commissioners late in the process but before the vote, and the order won’t be ready for release until at least the end of next week, the official said. Less-substantive changes are also still being made.