The FTC seeks public comment on a proposed verifiable parental consent method submitted by identity-verification company Imperium, the agency said Monday (http://1.usa.gov/18JXrEO). Imperium’s method for obtaining verifiable parental consent, ChildGuardOnline, “uses a combination of methods for obtaining parental consent that are currently enumerated in the [Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act] Rule as well as strengthened methodological and technological procedures that Imperium believes will further address the FTC’s requirements,” the company said in its submission (http://1.usa.gov/17LTvFd).

Clarification: Director Fred Campbell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Communications Liberty and Innovation Project watched a New America Foundation event where net neutrality was defended, and on which he commented (CD Sept 6 p5).

TV viewers spent an additional 3 minutes with TV content in Q2, compared to the same quarter last year, said a press release on TVB’s analysis of Nielsen’s 2Q 2013 Cross Platform Report (http://bit.ly/1fRt020). Viewers’ time with TV content is also up by a minute compared to viewing data from five years ago, said TVB. “Not only are consumers spending more time with television in general, but traditional television remains the dominant reach medium among American consumers, despite the proliferation of video content available across other platforms,” said TVB Chief Research Officer Stacey Lynn Schulman in the release.

Samsung’s new Galaxy Gear smartwatch features Immersion’s TouchSense technology as part of the user interface, Immersion said Monday. The technology enables the device to provide “tactile notifications and alerts to communicate information” to its users, said Immersion. It worked “closely” with Samsung’s product teams to incorporate the technology into Samsung’s first wearable device, said Dennis Sheehan, Immersion senior vice president-sales and marketing, in a news release. Immersion’s tactile feedback technology “creates a more natural user interface for wearable devices,” he said. Information about unread messages, appointments and location-based notifications can be communicated through wearable technology because the tactile effects “inform users without requiring full attention and do so without socially disruptive audio alerts or visual distraction,” said Immersion.

Microsoft expanded its Xbox Music service to Android and iOS devices via new apps for those platforms, it said. The music service is nearing its one-year anniversary, Microsoft said Monday in a news release. Microsoft is also making free streaming on Xbox Music available via the Web, it said. The music service will also launch on the Xbox One console that’s shipping Nov. 22, said Jerry Johnson, general manager-Xbox Music. It’s already available on PCs and the Xbox 360. Subscribers get unlimited access to music across all their devices for $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, said Microsoft. The addition of free streaming on the Web gives subscribers access to 30 million songs globally for free on the online Xbox Music Web player or through the Xbox Music app on all Windows 8 tablets and PCs, it said. Xbox Music “will continue to grow and evolve over the coming months,” it said. The company, for example, will add the existing Radio feature, previously called Smart DJ, to the free Web player, calling the feature a “quick and dynamic way to personalize” one’s music collection, discover new music and “create ultimate playlists by launching instant mixes based on” favorite music artists. Xbox Music will also “grow on Windows 8 when it adds the anticipated new Web Playlist tool this fall,” it said. The tool scans all the artists and music available on a given Web page and creates a custom playlist of all that music, it said. “In the coming months, additional updates” for iOS and Android will become available, including an “offline mode” that lets users save music to their device for playback without a data connection, it said.

Hughes successfully demonstrated rotary wing satellite communications capabilities, including data throughputs of up to 10 Mbps through rotor blades and over geostationary satellites to a remote hub, it said. The capability “can be adapted to various rotary platforms to enable critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data transmission ranges previously not attainable,” said the company in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1aYsMIx). The Hughes rotary wing system enables seamless transmissions through rotor blades over both Ka- and Ku-band satellite channels with zero packet loss, it said. The system operates with a variety of commercially available airborne antennas on government, military and commercial platforms “facilitating integration with existing systems for strategic ISR and tactical operations,” it said.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology released an updated version of the TVStudy software proposed to be used for checking interference during the repacking process associated with the incentive auction, said a public notice Monday (http://bit.ly/15Mc8uS). It said updated version 1.2.8 adds the capability to apply mechanical beam tilt only to stations having real antenna elevation patterns, and “adds logic to choose the higher of the radio horizon or maximum values for effective radiated power for low-power stations (including Class A).” The update also improves compatibility with Oracle’s Java Runtime Environment version 7, and “corrects an issue with scenario template exportation,” said OET. It said the update includes new source code and an updated instruction manual, but none of the software’s underlying data files need to be replaced. The office recommended that all TVStudy users apply the update so their results will match the FCC’s. NAB and CEA have clashed in the past over whether TVStudy should replace the commission’s previous repacking software, OET-69 (CD April 10 p12). NAB has said TVStudy’s data reduce the amount of coverage for many broadcasters compared to the old software, while CEA has said the newer software is easier to use and has more functionality.

Tempo Telecom is starting to offer Lifeline wireless service in Kansas and Wisconsin, said the company in a news release Monday (http://yhoo.it/1aYkrVo). It said residents are eligible for the program if they earn up to 150 percent in Kansas or up to 135 percent in Wisconsin of the federal poverty level. Customers who are eligible for the service will receive a free wireless phone with the choice of two free monthly plans that include voice, text and data, said Tempo.

The International Trade Commission said it decided to review the final initial decision of the presiding administrative law judge that found no violation of Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in investigation No. 337-TA-800, involving wireless devices with 3G capabilities and components thereof. The ITC began the investigation Aug. 31, 2011, based on a complaint filed by InterDigital Communications alleging violations of the act in the import and sale of wireless devices with 3G capabilities and components. The gear allegedly infringed U.S. Patent Nos. 7,349,540 (terminated from the investigation); 7,502,406; 7,536,013; 7,616,970; 7,706,332; 7,706,830; and 7,970,127. Named respondents included Huawei Technologies, Nokia and ZTE. Later-added respondents included LG Electronics. On June 28, the ALJ issued his final initial decision, finding no violation by respondents, saying the accused products don’t infringe most of the various patents. The ALJ, however, said the respondents failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the asserted claims of the ‘830, ‘406 or ‘332 patents were invalid in light of the cited prior art references. The ALJ also said they failed to prove they hold licenses under the asserted patents and failed to prevail on their equitable/fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory defenses. On July 15, InterDigital filed a petition for review of the initial decision, as did the commission investigative attorney and respondents. In connection with its review, the ITC is particularly interested in responses to the following question, it said in a notice to appear in Tuesday’s Federal Register: “Discuss, in light of the statutory language, legislative history, the Commission’s prior decisions, and relevant court decisions ... whether establishing a domestic industry based on licensing under 19 U.S.C. 1337 (a)(3)(C) requires proof of “articles protected by the patent.” Written submissions on the issue are due Sept. 27 and are limited to 15 pages, said the notice (http://bit.ly/1akA8TU). Replies are due by Oct. 4, and are limited to 10 pages.

The Justice Department should disclose by Sept. 30 what other potential collection items it believes Section 215 of the Patriot Act authorizes, House Judiciary Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., told Attorney General Eric Holder in a Friday letter (http://1.usa.gov/15QxiB1). Sensenbrenner authored the Patriot Act and has been a vocal critic of the government’s bulk phone data collection following recent revelations about National Security Agency surveillance. Sensenbrenner plans to introduce a bill in Congress soon addressing those concerns, his office told us last week (CD Sept 6 p5). “The administration’s interpretation to allow for bulk collection is at odds with Congressional intent and with both the plain and legal meanings of ‘relevance,'” he said in his letter to Holder. “The implications of this flawed interpretation are staggering.” The NSA has defended its collection under various legal provisions in recent months. Sensenbrenner asked Holder whether Justice believes the Patriot Act authorizes the government to collect all records of commercial transactions between Americans, to bulk-collect all records of firearm sales, to assemble a database of gun owners, whether the administration collects records in bulk other than phone records and how Justice might distinguish the collection of commercial transactions in bulk from its collection of phone records.