The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau set a fresh round of comment dates on cramming, it said in a public notice (http://bit.ly/HgXTTy). Comments are due Nov. 18, replies Dec. 2.
Verizon no longer needs to submit a report to the New York Public Service Commission to justify its decision not to repair its damaged copper facilities, said the PSC order released Thursday (http://bit.ly/1dtgjhl). The PSC authorized Verizon to offer its Voice Link service as an interim and alternative to basic landline service due to extensive damage from Superstorm Sandy, said the order. In lieu of Verizon repairing its network, the PSC directed the company to file a comprehensive report evaluating the quality and reliability of Voice Link to Fire Island customers by Nov. 1, said the PSC. Verizon reversed its decision after public outcry over Voice Link’s quality of service, and the company will install a fiber-to-the-premises network in Fire Island by Memorial Day (CD Sept 12 p3). PSC staff will continue to investigate Voice Link, especially how it relates to the “company’s commitment to make timely repairs to its wireline service, said the order.
OSHEAN completed its 450-mile fiber infrastructure network to connect more than 100 community anchor institutions in Rhode Island, said the nonprofit in a news release Friday (http://bit.ly/1dtgjhl). Beacon 2.0 was funded with $21.7 million from NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program and $10.7 million in private funds, said OSHEAN. The new network will enable telemedicine and online learning certification training in addition to a disaster recovery platform for emergency management, said the nonprofit. Beacon will give researchers access to Internet2 to collaborate on national and global research and education, and for cloud-based digital learning tools, said OSHEAN.
The Copyright Royalty Board is seeking comments on partial distribution of 95 percent of the 2009-2011 Digital Audio Recording Technology Musical Works Fund royalties. Comments are due Nov. 25, CRB said in a Federal Register notice (http://1.usa.gov/18TNaZ9). The proceeding stems from a motion for partial distribution by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, The Harry Fox Agency and others, the CRB said. If the Copyright Royalty Judges determine that no claimant who is entitled to receive any of the 2009-2011 Musical Works funds has stated a reasonable objection to the partial distribution, “then the judges may order the requested partial distribution,” it said.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted an amicus brief asking the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a contempt-of-court finding against now-shuttered encrypted email service Lavabit for resisting a government subpoena and search warrant to turn over information the company argued would give the government access to its customers’ sensitive information (http://bit.ly/18RN8Rr). Lavabit’s encryption service relied on HTTPS, EFF said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1eOh16D), which employs a public key to encrypt communications to a service provider and a private key to decrypt communications. Anyone can use the public key, but only the service provider can use the private key. Lavabit was worried giving the government’s its private key for access to one user’s communications would have given the government potential access to all of Lavabit’s users, according to EFF. So the company shut down and “the certificate authority GoDaddy revoked the key per standard protocol, rendering the secure site effectively unavailable to users,” EFF said. Forcing companies to turn over private keys sets a dangerous precedent, the organization said. “Obtaining a warrant for a service’s private key is no different than obtaining a warrant to search all the houses in a city to find the papers of one suspect,” said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Jennifer Lynch. “This case represents an unprecedented use of subpoena power, with the government claiming it can compel a disclosure that would, in one fell swoop, expose the communications of every single one of Lavabit’s users to government scrutiny.” It is believed the government was seeking access to government surveillance program leaker Edward Snowden’s communications as he reportedly used Lavabit’s email service, EFF said.
Eight House members cautioned the FCC to keep in mind international coordination with Canada and Mexico before reassigning broadcast frequencies as part of the voluntary incentive auction. Referring to the FCC’s answer to a letter these members sent earlier in the year, they wrote, “Your response implies that the Commission may proceed with the reverse auction and channel allocations prior to having completed negotiations with Canada and Mexico,” they said in a Thursday letter to FCC acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn (http://bit.ly/1a5DU0c). If so, the FCC should make sure those border customers “continue to have access to the free over-the-air broadcast signals they currently receive,” the members said, asking the FCC how it plans to accomplish that. Signers include House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo and Rep. Doris Matsui, both California Democrats.
Christian Television Corp. in Largo, Fla., requested a license for a C-band earth station to provide delivery of digital video programming to affiliated stations. The earth station “includes one C-band antenna which is used only for communication with U.S.-licensed satellites,” it said in its application to the FCC International Bureau (http://bit.ly/16yvu6P).
The FCC Wireless Bureau delayed the deadline for filing comments on the development of rules for review of positive train control wayside facilities construction under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The due date is being delayed from Nov. 6 to Nov. 15, the bureau said (http://bit.ly/1bmDx3R). The system is designed to protect trains from collisions with other trains, overspeed derailments and other threats to rail safety.
The FCC’s Technological Advisory Council will meet Dec. 9, the FCC said Friday. The group was headed by Tom Wheeler before he was nominated by President Barack Obama as the next chairman of the FCC. The meeting is to start at 1 p.m. EST at FCC headquarters. TAC “will review progress on work proposals made at the TAC’s inaugural meeting for the year on March 11,” a public notice said (http://bit.ly/1ad48nq).
Public Knowledge organized a Capitol Hill lobbying day Friday, one day before the Stop Watching Us rally protesting National Security Agency surveillance. The day brought 118 citizens from around the country into contact with more than 50 congressional offices, PK said in a news release (http://bit.ly/18kE6bA). “Congress has heard from tech companies, the administration, and from the National Security Agency,” said PK Vice President-Government Affairs Chris Lewis in a statement. “Now is the time for constituents to come to the Hill and tell their leaders that unwarranted surveillance and bulk collection can’t continue.” The Hill lobbying targeted “some of the bigger offices” on Capitol Hill, such as those of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and “a slew of other people on Intelligence and Judiciary,” with a focus on leadership, a PK spokesman said, noting the 570,000 signatures in support of the Stop Watching Us petition (http://bit.ly/H7ipWb). “The whole point is to put a face to the signatures.” Public Knowledge didn’t pass out specific talking points about bills, but its broader talking point is, “This is what this means to me, this is how it impacts my life,” said the spokesman. The Stop Watching Us coalition also plans Hill briefings for the House at 9:30 a.m. Monday and the Senate at 2 p.m. (http://bit.ly/17iXwnj). The coalition includes groups such as Public Knowledge, the American Civil Liberties Union, Free Press, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, TechFreedom and others.