With an eye on speeding the rollout of wireless services in rural areas, the FCC unanimously adopted a proposed rulemaking Wed. with a wide range of possible changes, asking how to make unused spectrum available to new users and provide access to capital and equipment. The proposal also raised the possibility of allowing wireless operations with higher power levels to enter less densely populated rural areas. It tentatively concluded the cellular cross-interest rule should remain in rural service areas (RSAs) with 3 or fewer competitors, but would remove the limit in other RSAs.

The FCC voted unanimously Wed. to adopt rules governing one-way digital, cable-ready TV sets, pushing the digital TV transition one step further. The order largely accepts the technical, labeling and encoding rules in an agreement reached by the cable and consumer electronics (CE) in Dec. However, the FCC made some changes, one of which was to order that the sets include over-the-air digital tuners -- something broadcasters wanted. The order also would allow computer manufacturers and others to hook their wares up to cable systems if the devices complied with the same content protections prescribed by the FCC. FCC Media Bureau Chief Kenneth Ferree said that was “not just a rubber stamp” of the industries’ original agreement.

Faced with the challenge of raising funds to fill an expanded number of channels that come with digital conversion, some of the public TV duopolies are opting to sell their 2nd stations, and national public broadcasting leaders are worried over religious broadcasters’ moving in. “There is definitely a trend toward some sort of restructuring of public television,” Assn. of Public TV Stations (APTS) Pres. John Lawson told us. But, he said, the trend that would be “most positive for the country would be some sort of consolidation that results in public television licenses staying in public hands.”

European file-swappers are next in line for an RIAA-like legal blitz if a European Union (EU) proposal to beef up intellectual property (IP) enforcement is adopted, a British think tank said Tues.

With fanfare, CTIA unveiled Tues. a wireless industry voluntary consumer code, but it didn’t appear to quell continued criticism by some state regulators and consumer groups. Before FCC Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief Dane Snowden, House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R- La.) and the CEOs of 5 national wireless carriers, CTIA Pres. Tom Wheeler outlined 10 bulleted guidelines, including commitments to offer customers a 14-day trial period. Wheeler repeatedly stressed the code was a “floor not a ceiling.”

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Mon. over whether the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), which limits campaign ads and the money that funds them, was constitutional. The answer is critical for broadcasters, who stand to lose perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars in political ads if BCRA is upheld, officials said.

Canada plans to change its Radiocommunication Act to make it harder for people to illegally steal satellite TV signals from the U.S., Allan Rock, Minister of Industry, and Sheila Copps, Minister of Canadian Heritage, said Fri. The proposed changes include controlling the import of illegal decoders into Canada, raising penalties for satellite piracy and giving the country’s broadcasters more latitude to take civil action against people who sell illegal equipment and services. The govt. also sent a strong message to consumers of pirated equipment, saying they could face “a substantial financial loss” since their service might be terminated without notice and consumer protection laws didn’t apply to illegal goods. They also said pirated receiver cards created interference with police and search-and-rescue radiocommunication systems. The announcement followed an April 2002 Supreme Court ruling (Bell ExpressVu v. Richard Rex) that the country’s broadcasting law protected Canadian and foreign signals from unauthorized decoding by any providers other than the only 2 lawful Canadian distributors -- Bell ExpressVu and Star Choice. Canadian broadcasters applauded the proposed changes and called for quick passage of the amendments. Canadian Assn. of Bcstrs. (CAB) Pres. Glenn O'Farrell said: “We call on the government to rapidly pass the amendments before the end of this parliamentary session and to continue to aggressively enforce the Act… Over 750,000 Canadians may be illegally accessing satellite services to obtain U.S. satellite services, which translates into over $400 million (Cdn.) per year of lost revenue to the industry.”

XtremeSpectrum opposed an ultra-wideband (UWB) challenge at the FCC filed by Cingular, which urged the agency to reconsider its decision to allow unlicensed UWB operation under Part 15. Cingular had argued that the Commission’s UWB decision ran counter to Sec. 301 of the Communications Act, which bars wireless transmissions without a license and requires a license for all low-power transmission. Cingular said that meant the FCC couldn’t authorize UWB operations on an unlicensed basis. XtremeSpectrum contended Cingular’s petition for reconsideration should be rejected as repetitious because the Commission already had dismissed an earlier petition raising similar issues from Cingular and other challengers. Because a subsequent UWB order didn’t adopt the modifications Cingular sought in its initial challenge, XtremeSpectrum said the latest petition also should be dismissed: “Cingular cannot support a second reconsideration by criticizing the Commission’s denial of its first one.” XtremeSpectrum countered Cingular arguments that the FCC had ignored recommendations of its Technological Advisory Council and a legal argument that unlicensed operation such as UWB was beyond the agency’s statutory authority. Those points could have been raised earlier in the proceeding, XtremeSpectrum said. “The Commission should not allow Cingular to extend this proceeding by doling out its arguments through multiple reconsideration cycles,” it said. XtremeSpectrum sought dismissal of a Satellite Industry Assn. petition on similar grounds.

Voyeurs, spies and busy-bodies might take delight in likelihood of significant upgrade to resolution of digital video cameras in cellphones, PDAs and other tiny CE devices. Recently- published patent we've found describes means whereby lenses in such portables will be able to focus and zoom with far greater precision than previously possible. But development also is likely to heighten ruckus already raised by privacy and security advocates against so-called “smart-phones” that can record images stealthily, as we've reported (CED Aug 12 p2).

Two House Democrats are soliciting signatures for a letter to FCC Chmn. Powell urging regulations to prevent companies from blocking access to Internet content. House Internet Caucus Co-Chmn. Boucher (D-Va.) and Rep. Kind (D- Wis.) circulated a Dear Colleague letter Wed. telling fellow House members that broadband providers might be tempted to control customer access to content to favor content of interest to them: “Imagine a broadband provider blocking or slowing access to Amazon.com and instead directing you quickly to the provider’s affiliated commerce site, or preventing the use of an Internet device on the network.” In the draft letter, Boucher and Kind admit that while there might not be a concrete example of such discrimination, “as a regulatory body, the FCC has the greater responsibility of implementing rules and policies to ensure that those harms never occur in the first instance. The time for the FCC to act by appropriate regulation to prevent that harm is now.” The avenue for such an FCC rulemaking, Boucher and Kind said, would be the agency’s long-standing enforcement of open communications networks, dating back to permitting consumers to attach devices to phone networks not made by the phone company. “In the absence of assurance that principles of open network architectures will be applied to both telephone and cable broadband, concerns have been voiced that network operators will act to limit consumer activity and to limit access to content, not because of a need to manage the network to assure functionality, but because of a desire to favor content affiliated with the broadband provider.” Among those raising such concerns have been Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) Exec. Dir. Jeffrey Chester. Appealing to Hill colleagues, all of whom now carry Blackberry wireless devices, Boucher and Kind said personal digital assistants were a type of device “that will need unfettered access to ‘always-on’ high-speed connections.” Members have until Sept. 12 to sign the letter to Powell.