The FTC seeks comment by Oct. 18 on a safe-harbor program under the agency’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) rule from the “kidSAFE” seal program, said the commission in a news release Monday (http://1.usa.gov/17Em0Us). The COPPA-related program made the request Aug. 15 (http://1.usa.gov/18si6kt), which said it has 100-plus members for a “seal of approval” for kid-friendly websites, mobile apps, tablets and other interactive products. To be certified under the program, compliance must be shown with safety and privacy guidelines “modeled after the” revised COPPA rule, said the application. It said the rule took effect July 1. The agency may bring cases under the new rule only against blatant violations, as opposed to companies trying to be compliant, industry officials have said (CD July 1 p12). Since the initial kids-privacy rule took effect in 2001, the FTC said it has approved safe-harbor programs from Aristotle Inc., the Council of Better Business Bureaus’ Children’s Advertising Review Unit, Entertainment Software Rating Board, TRUSTe and Privo. Comments on the new request from Samet Privacy Inc.’s kidSAFE program can be filed at http://bit.ly/18pQGG9 and should mention “kidSAFE Application for Safe Harbor, Project No. P-135418,” said an FTC notice to appear in the Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/15ykeEV).

Netflix, currently projected to end Q3 with about 31 million U.S. subscribers, could top 40 million subscribers by the end of 2015, said BTIG Research analyst Richard Greenfield in a blog post. Drivers for Netflix growth are the $7.99 monthly subscription fee, which he said is roughly half HBO’s retail price, the rapid escalation in personal entertainment media devices, growing penetration of connected TVs, and a diverse content package including “compelling” kids programming and high-quality original programming. Another driver is the business model, he said. Subscribers don’t need to buy into a $75-plus video package, as they do with cable, just to be able to view movies, he said. Greenfield said Netflix earlier this month posted a one-question survey on its website before leading subscribers to the home screen, asking them how likely they were to recommend Netflix. Greenfield called that an “incredibly important question” and one he hopes will be answered on the company’s next earnings call. Meanwhile, when we accessed the website Monday, Netflix wanted to know “who’s watching” as part of an exercise designed to tailor content to each household member. That information, too, would be useful to a company that wanted to learn how many viewers tap into a single account. Queries to Netflix about plans for a tiered pricing plan based on number of users or a possible pricing change weren’t answered by our deadline. In a subsequent post Monday, Greenfield reviewed Netflix’s recently updated Long Term View on its website where it made subtle changes to company positioning. Netflix added a statement about original programming and its ability to help “retention and acquisition of members in a way that previously seen series do not,” which Greenfield saw as a positive for churn and subscription growth. The Netflix statement also reworded language about spending on original programming, changing it from “less than 10 percent” to only saying the company will “steadily grow our original content spending.” That, Greenfield said, “could be read negatively for those licensing content to Netflix."

The FCC seems receptive to Dish Network’s request to use its AWS-4 spectrum for either uplink or downlink operations, Credit Suisse analysts said. If Dish gains the flexibility to use its AWS-4 spectrum as a downlink, “we believe that if it then acquires the L-band spectrum, Dish could seek a similar waiver to use LightSquared’s spectrum for uplink only,” the analysts said in a research note (http://bit.ly/1eW9y6x). Dish petitioned the FCC for the relief and offered an H-block auction bid of about $1.6 billion if granted no later than 30 days before the auction (CD Sept 13 p13). The FCC scheduled the auction for Jan. 14 (CD Sept 16 p1). Increased AWS-4 flexibility could boost the value to a potential acquirer, “who could have more options for pairing it with other spectrum,” they said. The FCC’s scheduling the H-block auction for Jan. 14 could be another indication the commission is prepared to move Dish’s waiver request along quickly, they said.

Big-box retailers wasted no time spotlighting the upcoming arrival (CD Sept 12 p12) of the colorful, and discounted, iPhone 5c, we found in a scan of websites Monday. Target, which sent an email blast announcing the Sept. 20 arrival of the 5c, displayed 30 SKUs of the device in the full rainbow of colors, at $99 for the 16-GB version and $199 for the 32-GB model. The iPhone 5c will be available online and in stores on Friday via contracts for Sprint, Verizon and AT&T, Target said. Target is also selling 16-GB and 32-GB versions of the iPhone 5s, including the gold version, through the three carriers at $299 with two-year-contract. Walmart.com led with the iPhone 5c on its splash page Monday, also touting Friday’s launch date, and quickly followed with an ad for a $50 discount off the 16-GB iPad with Retina Display (now $449) and the 16-GB iPad 2, now $349. Walmart sweetened the pot for both iPads with a $50 iTunes gift card for the higher priced tablet and three $10 iTunes cards for the older model. Verizon offered a trade-in calculator on its website for a vast number of devices from various manufacturers and carriers. It was accepting trade-ins for Apple’s top competitor Samsung and its Galaxy S 4 for up to $189 for a 32-GB smartphone, while a 32-GB iPhone 5 on the Verizon network fetched $210. The iPhone 5’s predecessor, the 32-GB iPhone 4s, had a maximum trade-in value also of $210. On eBay, sales of the iPhone 5 jumped 44 percent in trade-in listings in the past month, said a news release issued by the online marketplace last week. As of Sept. 9, the day before Apple unveiled the 5c and 5s iPhones, the average selling price of a 16-GB iPhone 5 on eBay was more than $400. When we checked Monday, prices were still holding up for the iPhone 5 on eBay, where a 16-GB model on Verizon had a $266 price with 19 bids; a 16-GB AT&T model had 10 bids up to $315 with five minutes to go; a 32-GB Verizon model had 47 bids up to $520 with three minutes to go; and an unlocked 32-GB model was up to $555 on 42 offers with three minutes left.

The FTC will host a Dec. 4 workshop on the practice of blending advertisements with news, entertainment and other content in digital media, also known as “native advertising,” it said in a Monday release (http://1.usa.gov/1aOaPxn). “Increasingly, advertisements that more closely resemble the content in which they are embedded are replacing banner advertisements,” it said. “The workshop will bring together publishing and advertising industry representatives, consumer advocates, academics, and government regulators to explore changes in how paid messages are presented to consumers and consumers’ recognition and understanding of these messages."

The Department of Homeland Security needs a centralized social media policy, said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee, in a news release Friday night (http://1.usa.gov/1aO81jC). Thompson spoke in response to a DHS report on social media, which found that social media can enhance information sharing and situational awareness for employees and the public, he said.

MusicFIRST is now “desperate in light of the negotiated free market agreement this week between Clear Channel and RIAA-member Warner Music,” NAB Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton told us, in response to a Friday blog post from the artists’ rights group calling NAB hypocritical (CD Sept 16 p19). “Warner Music’s deal -- coupled with a bipartisan group of 171 members of Congress on record opposing a devastating performance fee on local radio -- sends the clear message that private business agreements work better than the heavy hand of government,” Wharton said.

Sixty-three percent of cellphone users use their phones to go online, twice the percentage that did so in 2009, said a study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project (http://bit.ly/16dhGIY). Thirty-four percent of those users said they mostly go online using their cellphone, Pew said, so 21 percent of Americans do most of their online browsing on a phone. Pew did its telephone survey in both English and Spanish from April to May among 2,252 adults 18 and over.

A draft bill from Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., aimed at toughening FCC authority during retransmission consent disputes demonstrates why government involvement “is more complicated than proponents of retrans reform might assert,” said Pillsbury broadcast attorney Scott Flick. Giving consumers the right to discontinue getting the broadcast programming “at any time over their cable system is not very helpful,” he said in a blog post (http://bit.ly/14GnEmy). The provision seems to concede that consumers can just use an antenna for broadcast programming rather than rely on their cable system, he said. These same consumers “can just use an antenna to avoid any retrans-based disruptions, obviating the need for the law in the first place,” he said. If the retrans agreement has expired and the cable system isn’t carrying the broadcast channel, “the cable system also isn’t paying the broadcaster for retransmission,” he said. “As a result, any money paid by subscribers for broadcast content they aren’t receiving is merely an economic windfall for the cable system."

Comcast’s Internet Essentials program has doubled the number of low-income Chicago families that have a broadband connection at home to 14,000, said the cable ISP in a news release Monday (http://yhoo.it/17E9V1J). The city of Chicago, Comcast, United Way and 12 other community organizations will launch the first “Internet Essentials Learning Zones” program, incorporating neighborhoods with large concentrations of Internet Essentials-eligible families surrounding five newly-designated Chicago public “welcoming schools,” said Comcast. Students in these schools will have access to computers and mobile devices where they will be able take notes and complete schoolwork on the devices, said Comcast.