Members of the House IP Subcommittee offered suggestions Wednesday during a hearing to curb the rising number of patent disputes at the U.S. International Trade Commission. The ITC is an independent, quasi-judicial government agency tasked with assessing the impact of imports on U.S. industries and overseeing actions against unfair trade practices. Subcommittee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said the average number of ITC complaints filed annually during the past decade is nearly triple the average for the previous decade, and “bogus lawsuits” continue to proliferate despite the passage of patent reform via the America Invents Act. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., described the increasing number of patent disputes at the ITC as a “shakedown situation."

Municipalities whose federal grants for public safety networks were suspended say they remain frustrated that, more than two months after the NTIA suspended seven municipal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grants, there’s no timetable to save them. Public safety advocates and NTIA encourage patience and wise tax spending, while leaders of some of the 700 MHz projects worry about what suspending the projects has done to safety and tax dollars, they said in interviews. A prominent former Seattle official is urging the FirstNet board, once established in August, to re-engage with the BTOP grantees and kickstart their projects as a potential answer to the limbo and sense of frustration.

Verizon unleashed another volley in the continuing war between special access providers and purchasers over the state of the marketplace. The telco responded Monday to June filings by tw telecom, Level 3 and the Ad Hoc Telecommunications Committee, which “continue to mischaracterize Verizon’s special access offerings and distort the evidence of special access competition,” Verizon told the FCC (http://xrl.us/bng7vo). Verizon defended its special access discount plans it said “enhance competitive choice” and “meet the needs of many different types of special access purchasers.” The FCC intends to implement a “comprehensive data collection order” to understand the state of the marketplace before undertaking a reform, commissioners told a House panel last week (CD July 11 p1).

State utility commissioners will consider four potential telecom resolutions at NARUC’s midyear meeting in Portland, Ore., on July 22-25. The resolutions ask the FCC to revisit telecom rules, sometimes lauding the federal commission but often asking it to take action. NARUC posted both the resolution drafts (http://xrl.us/bng7ny) and the conference’s final agenda (http://xrl.us/bng7n6) online, the association said late Monday. The resolutions will, according to NARUC, be debated throughout the Portland conference and may become a part of the association’s policy if they are voted out of the telecom committee and are approved by the board July 25.

Viacom restored online access to programming that was lost when channels were dropped from DirecTV’s lineup amid a carriage fee dispute between the companies. For the season premieres of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, the cable programmer made full episodes available on the shows’ websites, it said in a blog post (http://xrl.us/bng7zy). Other networks’ shows also have been restored. Some cable and media professionals said that distributors like DirecTV likely do not want to pay a hefty sum for channels if their content will be available online (CD July 13 2012). The officials said this availability has come to play a significant role in pay-TV network carriage negotiations.

Educational improvement in STEM -- science, technology, engineering and math -- is critical and can be assisted by technology, said panelists at a Brookings Institution discussion and other experts in later interviews. “We're so behind in these areas, it’s unbelievable,” said Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska. “In order for the next generation to be successful, for this country to be successful in this new global economy we live in, the issues of STEM … [are] going to be critical.” The Obama administration had responded to U.S. students’ low international rankings in math and science by starting the Education to Innovate initiative in 2009.

The FCC will use Web services, off-site backup and dedicated hardware to make sure its online political file system works well when TV stations are required to begin using it Aug. 2, Chief Data Officer Greg Elin told broadcasters Tuesday. Along the way, the commission is working to address concerns broadcasters have raised in testing of the system so far, he said. Separately, the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) wrote the commission to endorse an alternate proposal to the requirements that a group of TV station owners proposed that the commission’s majority didn’t take up in approving political file rules in April on a 2-1 vote.

The Rural Cellular Association went on the attack against AT&T in replies to a March FCC rulemaking notice on a proposed interoperability mandate for the lower 700 MHz band. RCA said AT&T stands alone in its opposition to a mandate -- a top regulatory priority for small carriers in their advocacy before the agency. AT&T said a mandate makes no sense given movement in the market.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told members he hopes to bring cybersecurity legislation to the Senate floor sometime “between now and the time we adjourn in August,” said Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. His comments came Tuesday during a cybersecurity hearing held by his committee. We were unable to confirm the time line with staff from Reid’s office, but Senate lawmakers said they're working to wrap up the bill before the month-long recess.

A European Commission focus on potential risks of the Internet of Things (IoT) could lead to policies that stifle innovation, the European-American Business Council said in a Thursday response to an EC consultation. The EABC and other industry groups agreed that design and rollout of the IoT must take account of privacy, security, standards, governance and interoperability issues, but not through more regulation. Instead, they pressed for industry-led standards and application of existing measures, such as EU data protection rules. Separately, IPv6 Forum President Latif Ladid said the IoT should run on the newest Internet Protocol (IP) version.