The International Trade Commission announces that a Section 337 patent-based complaint has been filed regarding certain dynamic random access memory and NAND flash memory devices and products containing same.
The FCC should expand its oversight and enforcement of some children’s TV rules to cover multichannel video programming distributors, the GAO recommended in a report on the agency’s implementation of the Children’s TV Act. Broadcasters self-report compliance with the rules, mainly by disclosing how many and what sort of ads run during kids’ programming. Cable and DBS operators aren’t required to self-report in the same way, resulting in far more fines against broadcasters than MVPDs “even though they televise much more children’s programming than broadcasters,” last week’s report said.
WealthTV asked the FCC to reconsider the dismissal of its complaint (CD June 14 p10) against four cable operators alleged to have favored affiliated programming over the independent network. The indie now alleges that what it contends is a pattern of FCC personnel including Commissioner Meredith Baker leaving to work for the cable industry raises fresh questions about the agency’s handling of its program carriage complaint. The defendants were Bright House Networks, Comcast, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable. WealthTV said the commission’s response to its Freedom of Information Act request (CD May 13 p1) for materials on Baker’s recusal during the time she was a commissioner and considering employment with Comcast, where she went to work, was incomplete. “Answers have not been provided” about the involvement of Baker’s staff on the program carriage case during her month-and-a-half-long recusal, WealthTV said in a petition for reconsideration filed Wednesday in docket 08-214 (http://xrl.us/bkz22j). “Unfortunately, questions pertaining to Commissioner Baker’s or her staff’s otherwise prohibited participation seriously underscore questions about the ‘revolving-door’ involvement of Commission employees in this matter, which have risen to a level that cannot be ignored. For example, in addition to the situation of former Commissioner Baker, Christina Pauzé, a former Legal Advisor for Media Issues to Commissioner McDowell and now working at Time Warner Cable was personally and substantially involved in the WealthTV complaint proceeding and had numerous interactions with WealthTV.” The agency should review the conduct of Baker; Pauzé; Rudy Brioche, a former aide to ex-Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein who now works for Comcast; and Rick Chessen, ex-aide to Commissioner Michael Copps who now works for NCTA. Spokespeople for the NCTA and Time Warner Cable had no comment. “Wealth TV’s program carriage claims and multiple ancillary motions and filings have been fully litigated and rejected at every stage of the proceeding,” a Comcast spokeswoman said. That includes “a strong, comprehensive opinion by the independent administrative law judge.” Richard Sippel issued the recommended decision against WealthTV and for Comcast and the other three cable-operator defendants in 2009, and the commission’s decision last month to uphold his recommendation wasn’t voted on by Baker because she had recused herself from all proceedings. The regulator should see if their “actions run afoul of the letter or spirit of the federal ethics rules,” WealthTV said of the former commission personnel. “Given known facts, reconsideration of this matter is appropriate to ensure that the Commission’s ‘adjudicatory processes remain above reproach'” A spokeswoman for the Media Bureau, which wrote the WealthTV order dismissing its complaint, declined to comment. WealthTV asked the regulator to reopen its decision to adopt an administrative law judge’s finding against the program carriage complaint “and remand the matter for further proceedings, including re-hearing, as may be appropriate, or such other proceedings as may be necessary or appropriate."
The House Judiciary Committee passed the Wireless Tax Fairness Act with two amendments that call for exemptions and studies on the HR-1002’s potential impact and phone cramming. The bill, which will go to the floor, would ban state and local taxes on wireless for five years.
The Food and Drug Administration has posted a blog by Deputy Commissioner for Foods Taylor on his recent meetings with Mexican counterparts. Taylor states that like the U.S., Mexico has embraced food safety as a priority and is in the process of establishing new mandatory food safety regulations, including produce safety regulations. Some of the themes that were emphasized throughout their discussions were consumer protection, science- based standards, the need for importer controls, and the importance and role of third- party certification. The trip was part of a larger strategy to reach out to stakeholders, both domestic and foreign, to explain the background and implementation strategies for the new Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and to listen to issues raised by stakeholders.
The International Trade Commission announces that a Section 337 patent-based complaint has been filed regarding certain portable electronic devices and related software.
The FCC should reject calls to regulate the “thriving” online video distribution marketplace and leave online video distributors (OVDs) free from rules, Comcast said. The marketplace is working fine but its existence doesn’t give “the Commission any authority to apply, or indeed any factual support for applying, outdated regulations to either OVDs themselves or to MVPDs that interact with OVDs” it said. Public Knowledge and DirecTV have both raised the issue in comments with the agency.
The FCC should reject calls to regulate the “thriving” online video distribution marketplace and leave online video distributors (OVDs) free from rules, Comcast said. The marketplace is working fine but its existence doesn’t give “the Commission any authority to apply, or indeed any factual support for applying, outdated regulations to either OVDs themselves or to MVPDs [multichannel video programming distributors] that interact with OVDs,” it said. Public Knowledge and DirecTV have both raised the issue in comments with the agency.
The FCC should reject calls to regulate the “thriving” online video distribution marketplace and leave online video distributors (OVDs) free from rules, Comcast said. The marketplace is working fine but its existence doesn’t give “the Commission any authority to apply, or indeed any factual support for applying, outdated regulations to either OVDs themselves or to MVPDs that interact with OVDs” it said. Public Knowledge and DirecTV have both raised the issue in comments with the agency.
The International Trade Commission announces that a Section 337 patent-based complaint has been filed regarding certain electronic digital media devices and components thereof.