Get ready for a busy autumn on spectrum legislation after Sunday’s debt limit compromise by congressional leaders and President Barack Obama, Hill and industry officials said. The debt limit agreement had no spectrum provisions. Auctions may still be an attractive option for a joint select committee set up by the proposal to find $1.5 trillion in additional savings from 2012 t0 2021 by mid-November, the officials said Monday. The House was expected to vote Monday night on the debt compromise, with a Senate vote to follow.

The International Trade Commission announces that a Section 337 patent-based complaint has been filed regarding certain products containing interactive program guide and parental controls technology.

The International Trade Commission announces that a Section 337 patent-based complaint has been filed regarding certain wireless devices with 3g capabilities and components thereof.

Comcast and the Justice Department may revisit terms of a consent decree clearing the cable operator’s multi-billion-dollar purchase of NBCUniversal (CD Jan 19 p1) after a judge who must approve the settlement expressed concerns, antitrust lawyers predicted. Judge Richard Leon of U.S. District Court in Washington, in a fairness hearing Wednesday afternoon, criticized an arbitration clause in the antitrust pact for online video distributors (OVD), The Wall Street Journal reported. Such rebukes are extremely rare, and all antitrust lawyers we interviewed said they couldn’t recall a single instance where that happened in such a hearing. Comcast and Bloomberg, meanwhile, continued to trade filings at the FCC on the first company’s adherence to one of the agency’s deal conditions.

Comcast and the Justice Department may revisit terms of a consent decree clearing the cable operator’s multi-billion-dollar purchase of NBCUniversal (WID Jan 19 p2) after a judge who must approve the settlement expressed concerns, antitrust lawyers predicted. Judge Richard Leon of U.S. District Court in Washington, in a fairness hearing Wednesday afternoon, criticized an arbitration clause in the antitrust pact for online video distributors (OVD), The Wall Street Journal reported. Such rebukes are extremely rare, and all antitrust lawyers we interviewed said they couldn’t recall a single instance where that happened in such a hearing. Comcast and Bloomberg, meanwhile, continued to trade filings at the FCC on the first company’s adherence to one of the agency’s deal conditions.

The International Trade Commission announces that a Section 337 patent-based complaint has been filed regarding certain DC-DC controllers and products containing the same.

The International Trade Commission announces that a Section 337 patent-based complaint has been filed regarding certain computer forensic devices and products containing the same.

Congress should reallocate the 700 MHz D-block to public safety as part of a debt limit agreement next week, said Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn. He spoke Wednesday at a committee hearing on emergency communications, as Congress continued to wrangle over reducing the deficit and raising the debt ceiling. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., proposed giving public safety $7 billion and the D-block in a debt proposal earlier this week (CD July 27 p2). The Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday that the Reid plan would cost much less than the Senate Commerce Committee’s proposed Spectrum Act (S-911).

The Federal Aviation Administration voiced uncertainty in a July 12 document over how well LightSquared’s revised rollout plans would mitigate potential interference with some GPS services used by civil aircraft. The FAA responded to questions from the Executive Office of the President’s Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee’s National Coordination Office. Under LightSquared’s new plan, it would begin terrestrial broadband service only in the lower part of the L-band to help reduce interference problems with GPS devices. LightSquared still needs approval from the FCC on the plan and the agency is now reviewing the LightSquared proposal and has requested public comment.

Nexstar’s allegations that Granite Broadcasting’s network affiliations and sales contracts with other TV stations in the Ft. Wayne, Ind., market violate the Sherman Act because of the company’s local ad sales market power also raise concerns about the group’s retransmission consent leverage, the American Cable Association said Tuesday. Nexstar sued Granite this week claiming the deal of Granite’s WISE-TV, which carries NBC and MyNetworkTV programming, to sell ads at ABC- and CW-affiliated WPTA-TV and WISE-TV’s Aug. 1 affiliation with the Fox network on a digital multicast stream will give it the ability to raise local ad sales rates in the market. Nexstar owns WFFT-TV Ft. Wayne, which has been the market’s Fox affiliate. With control of ad sales on all the major broadcast networks in the market, Granite “will also be able to deny valuable programming inputs to other Fort Wayne television stations by paying supra-competitive rates or other inflated consideration for key inputs -- rates that it will be able to subsidize through the charging of supra-competitive prices to advertisers,” Nexstar said in the complaint it filed against Granite in the U.S. District Court, Ft. Wayne, Ind. “Granite has already used this ability to recoup supra-competitive amounts to obtain the FOX network affiliation in Fort Wayne,” Nexstar said. Furthermore, Granite has been able to reach exclusive deals with advertisers, further hurting competing stations in the market,” Nexstar said. The consolidation of broadcast network distribution not only hurts advertisers “but it also means pay-TV providers in the market now will be subject to the unconstrained market power of the Fort Wayne triopoly or face a massive blackout … as soon as New Year’s Day of 2012,” ACA said. “As a sign of faith in the merits of its arguments that sharing agreements cause harm, Nexstar should cease coordinating retransmission consent negotiations with Mission” Broadcasting in the 13 markets where those two broadcasters have such agreements, ACA said. “While we agree with Nexstar’s lawsuit that breaks with its broadcaster brethren, Nexstar forms joint negotiating agreements itself,” it said.