The FCC adopted a report and order Friday on rules to support the deployment of Internet services on airplanes. The action establishes earth stations aboard aircraft (ESAA) as a licensed application for communication with fixed satellite service (FSS) stations, the FCC said in a news release (http://xrl.us/bn8cbe). “Rather than have to license on-board systems on an ad hoc basis, airlines will be able to test systems that meet FCC standards, establish that they do not interfere with aircraft systems, and get FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] approval.” The decision also launched a rulemaking seeking comments on a proposal “to elevate the allocation status of ESAA in the 14.0-14.5 GHz band from secondary to primary,” making the ESAA allocation equal to the allocations of earth stations on board vessels (ESV) and vehicle-mounted earth stations (VMES), it said.

As 2012 draws to a close, federal agencies were preparing to dramatically reduce their expenses, a spokesman for the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said last week while lawmakers and the White House struggled to avoid a Wednesday funding sequester deadline. The Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management told federal union groups Friday that “while they are still hopeful that a deal can be reached ... they are taking prudent action so agencies can be prepared for this contingency,” said NTEU President Colleen Kelley in a statement. NTEU represents FCC and Commerce Department employees, among others. Spokespeople for OMB, FCC, FTC, NTIA, departments of Justice and Homeland Security, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and RUS did not comment.

If the FCC ensures affordable prison phone rates, it could reduce recidivism, decrease the burden on taxpayers, and benefit society at large, commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel said Friday, as the agency released a notice of proposed rulemaking to address the expensive calls (http://xrl.us/bn8bz9). The FCC wants to know whether incentives, regulations or a combination of both will best ensure just and reasonable Inmate Calling Service (ICS) rates for end-users, while still dealing with the security concerns and expenses inherent to ICS, the NPRM said. Martha Wright petitioned for rules to address the high cost of telephone calls to her incarcerated grandson in 2003. He was released earlier this year (CD Dec 3 p16).

Two years after the FCC approved net neutrality rules by a 3-2 vote after a protracted debate, much uncertainty and controversy remains. Next year should prove a key year, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit hears combined appeals by Verizon Wireless and MetroPCS challenging the FCC’s authority to impose the regulations (CD Dec 22/10 p1).

All groups other than Asian Americans increased the number of full-power TV stations they owned over a four-year period through 2011. Our review of analyses of FCC broadcast ownership data by nonprofits opposed to media consolidation also showed African Americans were the only demographic to see ownership declines in all other types of broadcast outlets, except for low-power TV. Calculations of data from the agency’s most recent biennial ownership forms, in some instances comparing statistics companies gave the FCC to earlier figures from nonprofits’ own efforts, show all groups other than whites owned a disproportionately low share of all types of radio and TV stations.

The FCC’s Public Safety and Wireless bureaus approved New York City’s request for a waiver of the FCC’s Jan. 1 VHF/UHF narrowbanding deadline for many of the radio systems operated by city agencies. With a key deadline a few days away, waiver applications continue to be filed at the agency. FCC officials have warned that many licensees haven’t moved their systems and haven’t sought waivers, which could lead to FCC penalties down the road. The FCC also granted narrowbanding compliance waiver requests this week sought by Philadelphia and Chicago, addressing waiver requests by two other big systems that have struggled to make the changes required by the agency.

Lawmakers debated Thursday whether to pass the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) (HR-5949) to reauthorize a law that permits intelligence agencies to monitor international communications such as phone calls and emails. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., sparred on the Senate floor over whether to consider amendments that would bring more oversight and privacy protections for the communications collected under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Feinstein said the Senate should not consider any amendments to the reauthorization bill because any changes to the bill would slow down its passage and potentially disrupt ongoing intelligence activities that are critical to protecting the nation from attacks. At our deadline the Senate had not voted on the bill.

A New York cable company isn’t happy at the statements its new union has been making about its Internet speeds. New York-based Cablevision sued Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1109 and District 1 for defamation Wednesday in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, the state’s highest civil trial court, located in Mineola. The complaint named both elements of CWA as well as two people -- District 1 union organizer Tim Dubnau and Local 1109 Executive Vice President Chris Calabrese -- in their individual capacities, but the union denies any fault.

Copyright interests’ efforts to make broadband subscribers more accountable for the traffic flowing over their home networks conflicts with the aims of a group of advocates, led by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), that’s working to woo ISPs to show more leeway. The Open Wireless Movement (OWM), which began in October (CD Nov 1 p8), aims to work with ISPs to make their terms of service more friendly to subscribers who want to open their networks, EFF activist Adi Kamdar told us. The Copyright Alert System (CAS) by contrast urges ISP subscribers to secure Wi-Fi points or else suffer degraded Internet service for others’ infringement. CAS “will encourage, but not require, customers who have received a Copyright Alert to secure their wireless networks,” said Jill Lesser, executive director of the Center for Copyright Information, the organization created to design and administer CAS, in a statement.

A brief by the FCC filed last week with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit defended the agency’s decision to largely let its so-called viewability rule expire earlier this year. The rule was enacted to help must-carry TV stations retain viewers through the DTV transition, a technology change that broadcasters completed before the entire cable industry had; it required hybrid digital and analog cable systems to deliver must-carry stations to viewers in both formats. But times and technology have changed in the years since the FCC adopted the requirements in 2007, the brief said. Agape Church, the NAB and others appealed the FCC’s decision to let the rule expire and the court denied their request to stay the sunset (CD Sept 25 p18).