The House Commerce Committee doesn’t need legislation for a GAO study on NTIA’s transition of Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions, said NTIA and Internet governance experts. Opening statements for the committee’s markup vote on the Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters (DOTCOM) (HR-4342) Act were slated to have begun Wednesday evening. The committee’s markup vote on the bill is Thursday at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn. The committee has oversight over NTIA, which opposes the bill.

The incentive auction rules to be issued at the FCC May 15 open meeting (CD May 6 p3) are more likely to face challenges on narrow issues such as reserving spectrum for wireless mics, rather than broad petitions for reconsideration of the entire order, said Drinker Biddle broadcast attorney Howard Liberman during a Digital Policy Institute webinar Tuesday. If petitions for recon are filed against specific aspects of the auction rules, it’s unlikely that it would slow the process of getting the auction off the ground, Liberman said. Protracted court challenges to the auction order also aren’t likely because the May 15 order can be termed an interim process, and only final decisions are subject to court appeal, Liberman said. “It will be difficult to appeal.”

The carriage fees Time Warner Cable is seeking for the SportsNet LA channel in Southern California are “far beyond a rational view” of the market, DirecTV CEO Michael White said Tuesday on an earnings call.

E-rate is “the most important thing we do at this agency,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said as educators and technologists met at commission headquarters Tuesday to discuss an E-rate overhaul. “What’s important is not broadband qua broadband, but what broadband enables. If we're not using that enablement to address the issue of how we educate our students and provide opportunity for our citizens, shame on us."

More than 100 lawmakers asked the FCC to broaden USF support so it would no longer be limited to the provision of voice service. They emphasized the importance of providing USF support for those companies providing stand-alone broadband service. In total, 133 lawmakers signed the Senate and House letters.

An increase in songwriting royalty rates should be prioritized as Congress continues its copyright review led by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., a member of that committee, and music royalty advocates in interviews. Collins said he’s “hopeful” that a copyright revamp will happen next year. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers held a concert at the Library of Congress Tuesday and ASCAP plans a “lobbying day” on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

Rules for the TV incentive auction must account for the growing role of unlicensed spectrum, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said Tuesday. Rosenworcel is expected to make unlicensed one of her top priorities as debate of the rules gets underway on the eighth floor at the FCC (CD May 5 p1). House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-California, told the same WiFiForward conference unlicensed should be a top regulatory priority.

As the FCC moves toward a May 15 vote on spectrum aggregation rules for the TV incentive auction, commissioners and staffers are getting two very different versions of how low-band spectrum fits in with the rest of spectrum available for commercial use. Industry officials say Chairman Tom Wheeler likely has two votes from his fellow Democrats, Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel, in favor of those rules. But carriers on both sides are making late pitches prior to Thursday when lobbying will be cut off by issuance of a sunshine notice.

There’s a lot of talk about the hypothetical next Netflix of the world being kept out of the game because it can’t afford to pay an ISP for peering (CD March 24 p1), but small players don’t need to pay for peering because they have lots of ways to get into an ISP’s network, said MIT professor David Clark at a Technology Policy Institute event Monday on Internet economics in a changing video and data environment (http://bit.ly/1rWseXs). Panelists questioned whether mandating free interconnection makes sense given the asymmetrical traffic loads involved.

CompTIA acquired TechAmerica, the information technology trade groups said in Monday news releases. CompTIA will continue to use the TechAmerica name for certain advocacy efforts and is to absorb 24 TechAmerica staffers -- “all the core staff that are delivering all the programs they're currently doing,” said CompTIA CEO Todd Thibodeaux, who will retain his position, in an interview. TechAmerica CEO Shawn Osborne will help with the coming transition, but will not take on a new role with CompTIA, Thibodeaux said. The CompTIA board will fill its last vacant slot with a to-be-determined member of the TechAmerica board, Thibodeaux said.