The FCC eliminated the 40-year-old sports blackout rule in a unanimous vote Tuesday at its meeting. The FCC adopted an order saying the rule is no longer justified in light of the changes in the sports industry since the rule was adopted, it said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1ByZlFR). The FCC cited TV revenue and that blackouts are increasingly rare as reasons to end it. The full commission also approved a further NPRM that continues the effort to streamline satellite rules.

The FCC approved two NPRMs Tuesday designed to move the agency several steps closer to a TV incentive auction, still expected to take place next year. The first NPRM seeks comment on how Wi-Fi and other unlicensed transmissions will be able to use the TV spectrum post-auction. A second seeks comment on wireless mics that use the 600 MHz band. The FCC approved both on 5-0 votes.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s reference to a “statutory responsibility” to make sure schools and libraries pay a low rate for broadband connection during Monday’s speech on E-rate (CD Sept 30 p5) was to a little-noticed shift in which the agency will take a harder line on providers that charge the institutions too much for broadband connections, a Wireline Bureau official told us Tuesday. The stepped up enforcement would be one of several efforts in July’s E-rate reform order to try to bring down prices for schools and libraries, including requiring more transparency on pricing.

The Electric Power Board (EPB) of Chattanooga, Tennessee (docket 14-116), and Wilson, North Carolina (docket 14-115), struck back against opponents of their petitions to the FCC to pre-empt their states’ municipal broadband laws. Pre-emption opponents “have not successfully rebutted” the municipalities’ argument that the FCC has authority under Communications Act Section 706 “to remove State barriers to community broadband initiatives,” Chattanooga and Wilson said in separate but similar reply comments. The positions of pre-emption supporters and opponents didn’t appear to shift much based on filings available Tuesday, with state governments and multiple industry groups continuing to oppose the petitions on states’ rights grounds.

Despite its July E-rate order, FCC work to bring 21st century technology to schools and libraries is “not over,” said Chairman Tom Wheeler Monday. He said the agency will focus on closing the fiber gap in rural areas and dealing with the high cost of buildout.

The FTC could lose valuable enforcement authority under Title II reclassification, said FTC Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen during an interview on C-SPAN’s The Communications over the weekend. Ohlhausen also addressed the FTC’s recent suit against bitcoin hardware manufacturer Butterfly Labs, calling the case both novel and typical for the FTC.

The Miscellaneous Receipts Act keeps carriers from negotiating spectrum sharing with government agencies and it might make sense to reform the law, said White House official Tom Power Monday at a Mobile Future Forum. Maj. Gen. Robert Wheeler, Department of Defense deputy chief information officer, said there’s “no one-size-fits-all solution” for making more spectrum available for wireless broadband.

NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling maintained the need for ICANN to complete its accountability process before the transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), at a Media Institute event Monday (http://1.usa.gov/1vq15Ry). Some ICANN stakeholders said the scope of the accountability process shouldn’t be limited to IANA issues, in comments due Saturday (http://bit.ly/1ncHROw).

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said the FCC will take up orders at its Oct. 17 meeting on speeding deployment of distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells, an order on avoiding interservice interference, and a public notice that would suspend low-power TV construction permit deadlines in the auction. The agency also will launch a rulemaking on LPTV issues related to the incentive auction and a notice of inquiry looking at new spectrum frontiers -- the use of spectrum above 24 GHz, the subject of a speech Monday by Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel (CD Sept 23 p4). The LPTV and auction items had been expected (CD Sept 9 p4).

Navigating the Federal Aviation Administration for an exemption may well not be the only challenge for companies or groups seeking permission to operate commercial drones. A day after the FAA’s chief issued a sweeping call that his agency “is open to receiving petitions from anyone” seeking an exemption like those granted Thursday to filmmakers to operate commercial unmanned aircraft systems (CD Sept 26 p6), an industry group representing major battery suppliers issued a stern advisory warning that “companies should be aware of the stringent transportation regulations applicable to the lithium ion batteries that power virtually every” commercial drone.