FCC probes into many major cable operators’ efforts to save bandwidth by moving channels and only distributing those channels that subscribers actively watch may give the agency a way to study a la carte, agency and industry officials said. Recent letters of inquiry from the Enforcement Bureau to cable operators on use of switched digital video and moving channels from analog to digital packages (CD Nov 3 p6) may yield information on wholesale programming deals, they said. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who championed a rulemaking notice on such deals, is thought to remain keen to make it easier for subscribers to buy channels piecemeal, though no order on the subject is circulating, they said.

The Copyright Office proposed a new fee schedule for 2009 through 2011, including a charge for a hybrid form of basic filing recently introduced by the office. Some of the largest proposed increases are for paper filings, which the office is trying to discourage, and for Copyright Act section 115 compulsory-license filings. The office suggested adding a fee for online service providers acting as agents for DMCA takedown-notice claims, based on how many domain names they handle. Most fees are rising to cover inflation. The office based the proposed schedule on an analysis of its costs from January through March. It was made available Monday and requires approval by Congress.

In an ex parte filing and a Freedom of Information Act request the Association for Maximum Service Television asked the FCC to assess the adequacy of “peer review” given an Office of Engineering and Technology report on white-spaces interference released two weeks ago. “Traditional FCC practice requires that when technical documents are published, the peer review analysis as well as the accompanying response by OET to that analysis be placed in the record,” MSTV said in a filing. “This procedure was not followed in the most recent… report.” The NAB said, “The ex parte filing, which outlines the chronology of FCC actions taken in recent weeks raises troubling questions as to whether the agency has acted in a transparent manner.”

Viacom’s use of YouTube will show that Viacom can control availability of its content on the video-sharing site, Google said in support of a motion to compel production of records from BayTSP, Viacom’s antipiracy service provider. The motion filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose - - whose territory includes Google’s and BayTSP’s headquarters -- follows a request by Viacom in federal court in New York for YouTube to turn over records that could show that YouTube employees themselves uploaded infringing content. Google filed its original subpoena to BayTSP in San Jose in Sept. 2007, then started 10 months of negotiation with BayTSP, “yet not a single document has been produced” and BayTSP continues raising “boilerplate objections,” the filing said. Google filed its 2007 request for subpoena and its second request Oct. 17 before Judge James Ware. The case has since been referred to Judge Patricia Trumbull, who will hear arguments Dec. 2. Google said NBC Universal’s top lawyer has praised YouTube’s filtering and takedown system, and that before Viacom filed suit, BayTSP had also praised YouTube’s approach, having frequently sent DMCA requests to YouTube on behalf of Viacom. Records of BayTSP’s work for Viacom and other content companies will show that they “routinely upload their own video clips to YouTube, typically without disclosing their conduct, to reap the free promotional value that the service provides,” the filing said. BayTSP had a “white list” of content from Viacom that it wasn’t supposed to remove through takedown requests, Google said. Viacom’s request for $1 billion in damages will be undercut if BayTSP documents show that the media company “knowingly allowed (and indeed desired) clips… to remain freely accessible” through other video sites and even YouTube before the suit, Google said. It was especially peeved at what the company called BayTSP’s “orchestrated delay.” At Viacom’s direction, the company continued monitoring YouTube for several months without sending takedown notices, then just before the suit was filed, BayTSP sent 100,000 requests in a single day, Google said. BayTSP can’t credibly claim to be independent party that can’t be compelled to turn over documents, because it was acting as Viacom’s enforcement agent, the filing said.

Viacom’s use of YouTube will show that Viacom can control availability of its content on the video-sharing site, Google said in support of a motion to compel production of records from BayTSP, Viacom’s antipiracy service provider. The motion filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose - - whose territory includes Google’s and BayTSP’s headquarters -- follows a request by Viacom in federal court in New York for YouTube to turn over records that could show that YouTube employees themselves uploaded infringing content. Google filed its original subpoena to BayTSP in San Jose in Sept. 2007, then started 10 months of negotiation with BayTSP, “yet not a single document has been produced” and BayTSP continues raising “boilerplate objections,” the filing said. Google filed its 2007 request for subpoena and its second request Oct. 17 before Judge James Ware. The case has since been referred to Judge Patricia Trumbull, who will hear arguments Dec. 2. Google said NBC Universal’s top lawyer has praised YouTube’s filtering and takedown system, and that before Viacom filed suit, BayTSP had also praised YouTube’s approach, having frequently sent DMCA requests to YouTube on behalf of Viacom. Records of BayTSP’s work for Viacom and other content companies will show that they “routinely upload their own video clips to YouTube, typically without disclosing their conduct, to reap the free promotional value that the service provides,” the filing said. BayTSP had a “white list” of content from Viacom that it wasn’t supposed to remove through takedown requests, Google said. Viacom’s request for $1 billion in damages will be undercut if BayTSP documents show that the media company “knowingly allowed (and indeed desired) clips… to remain freely accessible” through other video sites and even YouTube before the suit, Google said. It was especially peeved at what the company called BayTSP’s “orchestrated delay.” At Viacom’s direction, the company continued monitoring YouTube for several months without sending takedown notices, then just before the suit was filed, BayTSP sent 100,000 requests in a single day, Google said. BayTSP can’t credibly claim to be independent party that can’t be compelled to turn over documents, because it was acting as Viacom’s enforcement agent, the filing said.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA¹) greatly increases the range of products that require certificates of conformity, usually called a "supplier's declaration of conformity", for affected products manufactured on or after November 12, 2008.

In the October 23, 2008 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 42, No. 44), CBP published a notice proposing to revoke one ruling and revoke a treatment as follows:

Privacy and security concerns about health information technology will only heat up in the next year or so, panelists said Tuesday at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s annual policy forum. Continuing tension between access and protection must be considered as policies are drafted, said Jodi Daniel, director of the HHS office of policy and research in the office of the national coordinator. “Both of them are very important goals that we need to think about in tandem,” she said.

The Government Accountability Office has issued a report to Congressional requesters entitled "Combating Nuclear Smuggling: DHS' Program to Procure and Deploy Advanced Radiation Detection Portal Monitors Is Likely to Exceed the Department's Previous Cost Estimates."

With a lobbying ban looming, telecom interests are making feverish last-minute pitches to sway commissioners on possible overhauls for the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation. Unless the FCC says otherwise, lobbying on the issue ends sometime Tuesday, with release of the commission’s sunshine notice for the Nov. 4 meeting. Verizon recently joined AT&T and Qwest in endorsing comprehensive reform.