State laws banning or restricting municipal entry into the communications business and aggressive marketing by wireless have resulted in municipalities passing over BPL for broadband deployments, officials said. Only 8 of the 30 BPL trials or commercial deployments are being done by municipal utilities, according to the United Power Line Council (UPLC). This is despite the fact that it’s a lot easier for municipalities to move on BPL than investor-owned utilities, said UPLC Regulatory Dir. Brett Kilbourne.

The RIAA got a qualified rebuke from an Okla. court for the “appearance” that the trade group initiated secondary infringement claims against an innocent defendant to spur a settlement, after RIAA went after her daughter as the “primary” infringer.

A 3-judge federal panel indicated Tues. it probably will uphold an FCC decision to lessen Qwest’s unbundling requirements in select Omaha wire centers, despite challenges from competitors and Qwest itself. The U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., panel asked plenty of questions during an oral argument, but appeared skeptical about the answers from attorneys challenging the FCC order. “I think they are going to affirm” the FCC’s order, said an attorney who sat in the audience, as another shook his head in assent.

Interactive Systems Worldwide (ISWI) signed a letter of intent with Techmatics for joint development and marketing of a new horse-racing Web product enabling fixed-odds exotic race betting while satisfying pari-mutuel rules, they said. Techmatics will design the product; ISWI will program. Both companies will retain marketing rights. ISWI will be entitled to royalties on use of its developed software. Techmatics will invest $1.8 million in ISWI in exchange for 2.4 million shares of common stock. The transaction is subject to the parties signing a definitive agreement, and Techmatics raising of the needed capital. Last year, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and other federal legislation made pari-mutuel horse race wagering the only legal form of online wagering in the U.S. (WID May 26 p4).

Piracy isn’t to blame for movie download stores’ poor sales -- the studios lack the “conviction to compete with piracy,” a P2P executive told MPAA’s “Business of Show Business” conference Tues. The invitation to speak at such an event may seem strange, but the official was BitTorrent cofounder Ashwin Navin, whose company struck deals with the studios for paid distribution after largely creating the environment for efficient transfer of large files online. Piracy is “paving the road for a much bigger opportunity” for the industry, if studios simply would improve the download interface and experiment more with pricing, Navin said.

Warner Bros. Chmn. Barry Meyer went on the offensive against the CE industry at MPAA’s Business of Show Business conference Tues., accusing CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro of doublespeak.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) and the Department of Interior (Interior) have issued a proposed rule to amend 15 CFR Part 303 which governs watch duty-exemption allocations and the watch and jewelry duty-refund benefits for producers in the U.S. insular possessions (the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands).

Companies seeing huge profit in broadcast white spaces want FCC rules as loose as possible, to promote a vibrant market and get gear makers to offer many devices, they said in comments filed with the FCC. With the key question being whether the spectrum will be licensed or not, some commenters warned of the risk of interference to wireless microphones and other devices already using the TV bands.

A special access provision included in the AT&T- BellSouth merger drew fire during the FCC’s visit to Capitol Hill Thurs. for the first hearing in the 110th Congress. Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Inouye (D-Hawaii) asked Martin why he voted for the merger if he had qualms about the legality of the provision, referring to a statement Martin released after the merger. “If you felt so strongly, don’t you think you had an obligation to withhold your vote?”

Companies seeing huge profit in TV “white spaces” want FCC rules as loose as possible, to promote a vibrant market and get gear makers to offer many devices, they said in comments filed with the FCC. With the key question being whether the spectrum will be licensed or not, some commenters warned of the risk of interference to wireless microphones and other devices already using the TV bands.