The federal government needs to do more to push voter registration online and to make government documents available for free through the Internet, said Eugene Huang, FCC director of government performance and civic engagement. At an event late Monday at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Future Civic Media, he backed a Department of Defense pilot program for military personnel to vote online and other recommendations expected to be part of the National Broadband Plan.

The federal government needs to do more to push voter registration online and to make government documents available for free through the Internet, said Eugene Huang, FCC director of government performance and civic engagement. At an event late Monday at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Future Civic Media, he backed a Department of Defense pilot program for military personnel to vote online and other recommendations expected to be part of the National Broadband Plan.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau could face a tough fight should it impose new conditions on the 700 MHz licenses sold in the 2008 auction, former FCC officials and other industry experts said Monday. Bureau officials indicated last week the National Broadband Plan would propose subjecting 700 MHz licensees to new requirements that they offer roaming and priority service to public safety if so requested (CD Feb 26 p1).

Slap a copyright warning on a CD and the law’s “innocent infringer” defense vanishes for any infringing activity, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week in a long-running P2P case. The panel overturned part of a San Antonio ruling that said Whitney Harper’s claimed ignorance of copyright law in downloading songs “presented a disputed issue of material fact” suitable for trial. Record labels then sought and received the $200-per-work minimum damages available for innocent infringement, but the parties appealed. A P2P defense lawyer not involved in the case said the 5th Circuit was misinterpreting in the statute the term “access” to a copyright notice.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The FCC’s broadband report will prompt 20-30 FCC rulemaking notices, predicted cable lawyer Daniel Brenner of Hogan & Hartson. A great many lawyers outside communications practices “are going to be affected” by the report, because it will cover very broad territory, Brenner said Wednesday at a Practising Law Institute seminar. “Keep an eye out for how it affects” several Cabinet departments, he said. President Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge said the report will emphasize energy, health care and jobs and other economic matters.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The FCC’s broadband report will prompt 20-30 FCC rulemaking notices, predicted cable lawyer Daniel Brenner of Hogan & Hartson. A great many lawyers outside communications practices “are going to be affected” by the report, because it will cover very broad territory, Brenner said Wednesday at a Practising Law Institute seminar. “Keep an eye out for how it affects” several Cabinet departments, he said. President Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge said the report will emphasize energy, health care and jobs and other economic matters.

Slap a copyright warning on a CD and the law’s “innocent infringer” defense vanishes for any infringing activity, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week in a long-running P2P case. The panel overturned part of a San Antonio ruling that said Whitney Harper’s claimed ignorance of copyright law in downloading songs “presented a disputed issue of material fact” suitable for trial (WID Aug 12/08 p4). Record labels then sought and received the $200-per-work minimum damages available for innocent infringement, but the parties appealed. A P2P defense lawyer not involved in the case said the 5th Circuit was misinterpreting in the statute the term “access” to a copyright notice.

The government needs a new Children’s TV Act to account for changes in media technology, said Sesame Workshop, formerly the Children’s TV Workshop, in response to an FCC public notice about empowering parents as new media technologies evolve. “Just as Congress passed the Children’s TV Act of 1990, today we need to rethink how media is harnessed in innovative ways to enhance and support our children’s education,” it said. “Instead of focusing on just television, we need a ‘Children’s Media Act’ that modernizes the intent of the law and reflects on how children are using digital media well beyond just the television set.” The FCC should limit its focus to promoting parental empowerment tools, Google said. “While there may be a temptation to go further and adopt actual regulations, the Commission’s statutory jurisdiction to regulate broadcast television does not extend to Internet content and online media,” Google said. The notice also attracted comments on TV rating systems and the regulation of cable and broadcast kids programming. There’s no need for additional regulation involving the V-chip, CEA said. For those who use it, the V- chip is an easy, effective tool, the group said. But it’s just one of the parental control tools available, and that should be considered with figures on awareness and use of the technology, CEA said. Parents should have access to independent TV ratings, said Common Sense. TV ratings should also be easier to understand and use, it said. “Encouraging industry rating systems to use a common code would help more parents understand the ratings and would increase the usage of the parental control tools that rely on those ratings,” the group said. Meanwhile, the market encourages pay-TV providers to give parents information and control, making unnecessary government requirements of technologies, Comcast said. TiVo recommended that the commission avoid mandates “that create additional confusion or complication.” But the FCC should encourage technologies that help parents find quality children’s programming and encourage content providers to attach ratings with commonly understood definitions, TiVo said. The FCC’s power to regulate cable programming is limited, the NCTA said, a contention raised by several other commenters (CD Feb 25 p8). “The commission has certain narrowly-defined statutory obligations when it comes to regulating children’s programming on cable television,” NCTA said. “Any effort to expansively regulate in this area would raise serious jurisdictional and constitutional concerns.” The NAB also raised constitutional qualms about the FCC’s increasing its role in broadcast programming for kids. “Increased FCC involvement in determinations as to whether particular programs meet children’s educational and informational needs would raise serious First Amendment concerns,” the group said.

The government needs a new Children’s TV Act to account for changes in media technology, said Sesame Workshop, formerly the Children’s TV Workshop, in response to an FCC public notice about empowering parents as new media technologies evolve. “Just as Congress passed the Children’s TV Act of 1990, today we need to rethink how media is harnessed in innovative ways to enhance and support our children’s education,” it said. “Instead of focusing on just television, we need a ‘Children’s Media Act’ that modernizes the intent of the law and reflects on how children are using digital media well beyond just the television set.” The FCC should limit its focus to promoting parental empowerment tools, Google said. “While there may be a temptation to go further and adopt actual regulations, the Commission’s statutory jurisdiction to regulate broadcast television does not extend to Internet content and online media,” Google said. The notice also attracted comments on TV rating systems and the regulation of cable and broadcast kids programming. There’s no need for additional regulation involving the V-chip, CEA said. For those who use it, the V-chip is an easy, effective tool, the group said. But it’s just one of the parental control tools available, and that should be considered with figures on awareness and use of the technology, CEA said. Parents should have access to independent TV ratings, said Common Sense. TV ratings should also be easier to understand and use, it said. “Encouraging industry rating systems to use a common code would help more parents understand the ratings and would increase the usage of the parental control tools that rely on those ratings,” the group said. Meanwhile, the market encourages pay-TV providers to give parents information and control, making unnecessary government requirements of technologies, Comcast said. TiVo recommended that the commission avoid mandates “that create additional confusion or complication.” But the FCC should encourage technologies that help parents find quality children’s programming and encourage content providers to attach ratings with commonly understood definitions, TiVo said. The FCC’s power to regulate cable programming is limited, the NCTA said, a contention raised by several other commenters (WID Feb 25 p6). “The commission has certain narrowly-defined statutory obligations when it comes to regulating children’s programming on cable television,” NCTA said. “Any effort to expansively regulate in this area would raise serious jurisdictional and constitutional concerns.” The NAB also raised constitutional qualms about the FCC’s increasing its role in broadcast programming for kids. “Increased FCC involvement in determinations as to whether particular programs meet children’s educational and informational needs would raise serious First Amendment concerns,” the group said.

Legislation by California state Sen. Joe Simitian (D) that would hike fines for using a cellphone while driving appears to be a revenue grab, rather than good public policy, The Los Angeles Times said in an editorial. The bill would increase the fine for a first offense from $20 to $50, and for a subsequent offense from $50 to $100. “The 2006 state law that bans using a hand-held cellphone while driving is spottily enforced and, judging from anecdotal evidence, widely disregarded; moreover, there’s no indication that its passage has had any impact on safety,” the paper said. “We've got to suspect that Simitian’s latest bill is more about raising money than improving public safety. We don’t have a problem with hiking the fine for texting while driving (a spectacularly reckless act), and we're open to laws that would genuinely reduce the risk of phone-related accidents. But relentless increases in traffic fines by cities and Sacramento are already turning California into a revenue- trap state. The Legislature should hang up on the hands- free bill.”