NTIA petitioned the FCC to require wireless carriers unlock mobile phones, tablets and other devices, said the first agency in a Tuesday news release (http://1.usa.gov/1guKbXx). “Americans should be able to use their mobile devices on whatever networks they choose and have their devices unlocked without hassle,” said NTIA Administrator Lawrence Strickling. NTIA asked the FCC to immediately initiate the process of rulemaking to protect Americans’ investments in mobile devices. “The proposed rule would shift the burden associated with device unlocking onto the carriers that imposed the locks, and ensure they consistently do so in a way that is both expeditious and transparent,” it said. The Library of Congress last year eliminated an exemption under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that let consumers unlock mobile phones without carrier permission, it said. Top telecom officials in the administration advocated in March for legislative fixes on cellphone unlocking (CD March 5 p1), and members in both chambers have introduced a number of bills on the subject (CD March 7 p6 ). House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich., and Reps. Howard Coble, R-N.C., Mel Watt, D-N.C., and Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, “applaud NTIA’s recognition of the need to restore the exemption that permits consumers to unlock their cell phones and other mobile devices without the approval of their wireless provider,” they said in a joint written statement Tuesday. “This is an issue of consumer choice and flexibility, plain and simple. We are appreciative of the support of groups like NTIA and we will all continue working to see that this issue of significant importance to most Americans is addressed.” Goodlatte’s measure on cellphone unlocking passed Judiciary in July (CD Aug 1 p6). The FCC declined to comment on the NTIA petition, but acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn addressed cellphone unlocking at the Competitive Carriers Association convention Tuesday. Clyburn said she supports policies that enable lawful unlocking. “While wireless carriers should be able to enforce their valid customer contracts, unlocking provisions, need to be grounded in common sense, and practical application,” she said. “Consumers who satisfy the reasonable terms of their contracts should not be subject to civil and criminal penalties if they want to take their device to a new carrier.” She said she asked FCC staff to “redouble their efforts” to explore ways to achieve cellphone unlocking policies.

More than 95 percent of U.S. office workers included in a recent Opinion Matters survey said they used open, public Wi-Fi connections at least once a week to access work e-mail or carry on other work-related activities, GFI Software said Tuesday. The survey, which Opinion Matters conducted for GFI Software, included 1,000 U.S. office workers who use a tablet or smartphone and travel via bus, train or subway. Eighty-three percent of those surveyed said they used their mobile device on public transportation. More than 34 percent of those surveyed said they use public Wi-Fi at least 20 times a week during their commutes; some used it up to 70 times a week. The survey results “reveal a stark and concerning trend among commuters -- one of using their personal devices to catch up on work during their commuting downtime, but doing so over highly insecure internet connections that can be easily intercepted by other users or the operator of the access point,” said GFI Software CEO Walter Scott in a news release (http://prn.to/17HwwdT).

FairPoint Communications added a carrier Ethernet connection hub in New York City to bring “one-stop access” to FairPoint’s footprint in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, said the company in a news release Tuesday (http://yhoo.it/1emuRPY). FairPoint’s next-generation Ethernet network spans more than 15,000 route miles of fiber and offers class-of-service and quality-of-service capabilities to “enable carriers to better manage their traffic demands while connecting to their customers,” said the company.

Flat Wireless, which operates under the ClearTalk Wireless brand, joined the NetAmerica Alliance. Joining the alliance provides Flat Wireless with an LTE deployment partner as part of its construction of a 4G LTE network that will initially operate out of 65 sites in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas, it said. Cities to be included in the network are: Yuma, Ariz.; El Centro, Calif.; Clovis, N.M.; and Abilene, Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland, Odessa, San Angelo and Wichita Falls, Texas. The carrier’s decision to join the NetAmerica Alliance allows it to “concentrate on building out its 4G Radio Access Network and delivering quality service to its customers,” said NetAmerica Alliance CEO Roger Hutton in the news release (http://bit.ly/1guvOCC).

FilmOn X asked the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, to review the almost nationwide preliminary injunction granted against it last week in U.S. District Court, D.C. (CD Sept 13 p22), according to a notice of appeal filed with the district court Monday. FilmOn is appealing both the injunction itself and the injunction’s scope, which bars FilmOn from streaming copyrighted content anywhere outside of the 2nd Circuit’s jurisdiction. FilmOn CEO Alki David told us after the decision was handed down that his company would continue streaming content provided by independent channels that have reached agreements with FilmOn. FilmOn and the major broadcasters that are the plaintiffs in the case have jointly asked the court to stay the case pending the outcome of the appeal, and a Friday status conference has been canceled. FilmOn and the broadcasters are already embroiled in an ongoing appeal of a similar injunction in the 9th Circuit (CD Aug 29 p5). “The courts have consistently enjoined Mr. David and FilmOn X from stealing our copyrighted content and attempting to profit from it,” said a Fox spokesman by email Tuesday. “While he is certainly entitled to appeal, we fully expect to continue to prevail."

More than 70 groups pressed the Senate Commerce Committee to question FCC nominee Mike O'Rielly on TV decency enforcement, during his nomination hearing Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in 253 Russell. Morality in Media issued the Tuesday letter (http://bit.ly/14fslp5) in a news release, saying O'Rielly “must not allow nudity and profanity on public airways.” The letter’s signatories include heads of Morality in Media, the Media Research Center, the Parents Television Council, Family Research Council and the Christian Coalition of America. The letter blasted the FCC under former Chairman Julius Genachowski for not bringing any decency enforcement actions. “After two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions,FCC v. Fox , 129 S. Ct. 1800 (200 9) (Fox I) and FCC v. Fox, 132 S. Ct. 2307 (2012) (Fox II) it is clear that the FCC has full authority to enforce the federal decency law,” the groups said. “It is thus now time for the Commission to do its job and ensure the public airwaves are not filled with nudity and profanity, especially during the times of day when children are likely to be in the viewing audience.” The groups ask that Commerce Committee members “obtain O'Rielly’s commitment to vigorously enforce the federal decency law before sending him out of committee,” Morality in Media President Patrick Trueman said in a statement.

As the FTC set a Dec. 4 workshop on “native” ads (CD Sept 17 p15), publishers and advertisers that create them increasingly face “the threshold question” of whether they should be viewed as advertising or editorial material, said four lawyers with expertise on such issues. The answer to that threshold query “has numerous legal and business implications,” wrote Davis Wright lawyers Camille Calman, Robert Driscoll, Nancy Felsten and Joanna Summerscales Monday on their firm’s blog (http://bit.ly/1f1SoEI). “The FTC’s posture with respect to native advertising is likely to mirror some of its other recent enforcement efforts, in which the FTC has sought to ensure that digital media properties include clear and conspicuous platform-neutral disclosures with respect to advertising material and that such disclosures travel with the material when it is re-posted or aggregated."

The municipal utility EBP will increase all residential and business customer service speeds to a minimum of 100 Mbps for the city of Chattanooga, Tenn., said EBP in a news release Tuesday. Residential customers who currently have 100 Mbps or higher will automatically be upgraded to 1 Gbps at $69.99 per month, said EBP. Residents whose network speeds will increase from 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps will maintain their monthly charges at $58, said the utility. Nearly 50,000 homes and businesses in the Chattanooga area will have symmetrical speeds of 100 Mbps or faster by Oct. 1. More than 1,000 jobs have been created over the past few years with tech-heavy startups and the city has “emerged as a haven for innovation and next generation businesses,” said EBP.

The FCC ordered a $6,000 forfeiture for ZGS Broadcasting for its Melbourne, Fla., station WMVJ-CD, which allegedly violated children’s TV filing requirements and failed to report the violations in its license renewal application, said a forfeiture order (http://bit.ly/167wBu4). The Media Bureau had originally proposed a $15,000 violation, but reduced it after ZGS presented evidence that many of the violations had occurred under a previous licensee. The commission also ordered a $12,000 fine for Waters & Brock Communications’ Smithfield-Selma, N.C., station WARZ-LD for the same offenses, said an agency order (http://bit.ly/14fjhQV). The bureau had originally proposed a $16,000 fine, but reduced the amount after Waters & Brock submitted financial documents as evidence that it could not pay the higher fine, said the order. The FCC also proposed $21,000 in total fines for other TV stations missing deadlines to file children’s programming reports, said Media Bureau notices of apparent liability released this week. Evansville Low-Power Partnership faces a proposed $18,000 penalty because its Evansville, Ind., stations WYYW-CD and WTSN-CD “willfully and/or repeatedly” violated children’s TV filing requirements (http://bit.ly/19b3Uc2). Mid-South Broadcasting faces a proposed $3,000 fine for its Holly Springs, Mich., station WBII-CD’s violation of the kids’ TV report rules (http://bit.ly/153zCFR).

Facing allegations of sending out 42 million-plus unwanted and deceptive text messages, a marketing company agreed to settle with the FTC, the agency said in a Tuesday news release (http://1.usa.gov/14fgKX3). Rentbro allegedly blasted messages to millions of consumers telling them they had won free gift cards to major retailers. An attached link brought users to websites “created to reinforce the deceptive gift card message,” the FTC said. It said that after being tricked into handing over their personal information, consumers then learned they had to sign up for “more than a dozen risky trial offers” -- none of which was free -- to qualify for the gift card. The FTC’s order prohibits the unlawful conduct and requires defendants to turn over all their remaining assets. There is also a “partially suspended” monetary judgment of nearly $400,000, which is what defendants received in connection with the scam, the FTC said.