The FTC is seeking public comments on a recently proposed tool from AssertID Inc. that would allow online services to obtain verifiable parental consent under the updated Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act rule, the agency announced Friday (http://1.usa.gov/1acwZbd). “Through a combination of peer-verifications and analysis of an individual’s social-graph,” the tool “can derive a quantitative score (’trust score') which is a quantitative measure of the likelihood that an individual’s self-asserted identity attributes are accurate,” AssertID wrote in its proposal (http://1.usa.gov/1cKQ1Ym). Comments due Sept. 20.

Difficult customs procedures are among the notable impediments to digital trade, or trade via the Internet, said a U.S. International Trade Commission report, Digital Trade in the U.S. and Global Economies Part 1 (http://1.usa.gov/15OPkTV). “Customs duties and complicated document preparation and processing can increase the costs associated with small online retail transactions, making it more difficult to conduct online business” especially for small- and medium-sized businesses, it said. The report noted that industry has pointed to low de minimis levels -- the value of an import shipment below which a company does not have to prepare customs documents -- as among the difficulties. Trade in products and services delivered via the Internet is on the rise globally and constitutes a growing portion of the U.S. economy, said the ITC. U.S. exports of digitally enabled services increased from $282.1 billion in 2007 to $356.1 billion in 2011, said the ITC findings. The report predicted U.S. and global companies will increase participation in digital trade sectors that include communication services, entertainment, social networking, information search/retrieval, productivity enhancement and e-commerce. All types of online content continue to grow in volume, including music, games, videos and books, said the report. It said several industries, such as retail, logistics, financial, professional, healthcare and education services, benefit from lower costs and higher efficiency potential provided by Internet technologies. The digital trade barriers and impediments to digital trade include localization requirements, divergent data privacy and protection rules, inadequate intellectual property protection and unclear legal frameworks, growing online censorship and traditional impediments, in addition to burdensome customs procedures. The report was published in July and publicly released Thursday. Part 2 is slated for publication in July 2014. The Senate Finance Committee requested the ITC to report on the digital trade role in both U.S. domestic and international commerce.

ISPs should avoid port blocking “unless they have no reasonable alternatives available for preventing unwanted traffic and protecting users,” said a Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group report. The BITAG report focused on better defining port blocking, an ISP method of identifying Internet traffic through port number and transport protocol “and blocking it entirely.” All traffic associated with a particular combination of port number and transport protocol would be affected by port blocking “regardless of source or destination IP address,” said the report, released Thursday. Although the practice has been an effective tool for wireline and wireless providers for more than a decade, it can potentially be “anti-competitive, discriminatory, otherwise motivated by non-technical factors, or construed as such,” BITAG said. If an ISP determines port blocking is necessary, it should use it only to protect its network and users, not to manage capacity, enforce non-security terms of service or disadvantage competing applications, BITAG said. ISPs should publicly disclose their port blocking policies and provide users with an opt-out provision or exception to port blocking measures if possible, BITAG said. ISPs should also make it possible to receive feedback on port blocking, said BITAG. It said they should regularly revisit their port blocking policies and make their port blocking or firewall rules user-configurable (http://bit.ly/1bDVHiE).

The FCC isn’t in a position to modify media ownership rules until it compiles a “better record” on the matter, said the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ Media and Telecommunications Task Force in an ex parte filing Thursday (http://bit.ly/13qCJvT). “If the Commission is to complete the 2014 Quadrennial Review with adequate data, the time to embark on studies and research is now.” The Form 323 data released by the commission last year wasn’t an “adequate” source of information for the commission on the impact of media ownership rules on “underserved communities,” and larger, comprehensive studies of those impacts are required to “fulfill the commission’s obligation,” said the filing. The commission should also continue reforming the Lifeline program and focus enforcement on carrier compliance, the task force said. “New e-rate proposals should not be placed in competition with the Lifeline program, which remains woefully undersubscribed."

The FCC shouldn’t grant ILEC requests for forbearance of structural separations requirements, wrote the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates in a letter Friday (http://bit.ly/16sQYkB). “Nonstructural safeguards do not provide the same level of protection against misallocation of costs as do separate affiliate requirements.” Intermodal competitive pressures won’t protect consumers, NASUCA said, criticizing the “carriers’ ultimate goal” of “elimination of all regulation” except that which “benefits individual classes of carriers, or restricts their competitors.” If and when the FCC grants the requests for forbearance, it will “further whittle away at the Commission’s own authority, contrary to the public interest,” NASUCA said.

Redesigning EchoStar’s new K77 set-top box to accommodate an analog tuner would require 12 to 16 months, increase its size by 33 percent and its price by up to $30, the company told staff from the Media Bureau and acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn’s office in a meeting Tuesday, said an ex parte filing Thursday (http://bit.ly/13qyKzB). EchoStar urged the commission to “expeditiously” approve a proposed waiver of its analog tuner requirement for the device. The K77 was originally designed for the U.K. There analog tuners are not required, the company said. The K77 would allow “budget-conscious consumers” to view and record over-the-air TV content, access online video, and use it as a DVR while avoiding subscription fees, EchoStar said. If a waiver isn’t granted by Sept. 9, EchoStar won’t be able to offer the K77 at big-box retail stores for the holidays, said the filing. If not granted by Oct. 17, “the entire product could be in jeopardy as key dates for online holiday sales, production runs, and the right go-to market timing would be missed,” EchoStar said. To address bureau concerns about informing the public that the K77 doesn’t contain an analog tuner, EchoStar promised to provide information to retailers and in product guides clearly stating that it can’t receive analog broadcast signals. Customers who buy the K77 “under the mistaken assumption” it can receive analog over-the-air signals will be eligible for a full refund for 30 days, EchoStar said. The bureau granted a similar waiver to TiVo earlier this month (CD Aug 12 p15).

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) announced changes by the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) to improve and strengthen the performance of the state’s largest electric utilities during and after major storm events, said the governor’s office Thursday (http://bit.ly/16U3kR2). These changes came from recommendations by the Moreland Commission on Utility Storm Preparation and Response released in January (http://bit.ly/17vfk9D). In addition to utility-specific recommendations, the PSC ordered utilities to address coordinating communications with gas utilities and telcos and including procedures for coordinating electricity restoration with each telco’s restoration efforts during major storm events, said the governor’s office. “From our experience with extreme weather these last few years, it is clear that New York State’s electric utilities need to improve their preparation and response for future storms and emergencies,” said Cuomo. “Today’s actions by the Public Service Commission will build upon the efforts already underway to protect our residents and businesses from future significant storm-related outages, and ensure that utilities are held accountable during these events."

During the next round of broadband performance testing by the FCC, inaccuracies could result “where a panelist has not installed a modem that is capable of receiving the subscribed-to speed,” representatives of NCTA, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Cablevision told staff from the Office of Engineering and Technology (http://bit.ly/1ddkgoj). “Only panelists with sufficient modems should be considered for benchmarking purposes,” the cable companies said in their ex parte filing. The performance delivered to panelists with legacy modems can still be tracked “on an aggregate basis,” they said. FCC officials have expressed concern in the past that some measurement data might not accurately reflect ISP capabilities. The commission noted last month that anomalies at Internet Protocol peering points operated by Cogent led to reduced testing results, which didn’t necessarily indicate a problem with the ISPs themselves (CD July 12 p3).

The FCC Wireless Bureau clarified Thursday that presentations made to the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee on the 1695-1710 MHz and 1755-1780 MHz bands are not subject to ex parte requirements, even if FCC staff are present at the meetings. “While the CSMAC’s meetings are open to the public, the FCC’s ex parte requirements could, depending on the particular factual circumstances, be triggered if FCC decision makers are present, and oral or written presentations are made,” the notice said (http://bit.ly/1eN2AxY). “Similarly, meetings of the CSMAC’s five working groups could, depending on the particular factual circumstances, be subject to the Commission’s ex parte rules when FCC decision makers are present, if oral or written ex parte presentations are made.” To prevent that, the bureau established a limited exemption in the AWS-3 proceeding from the ex parte disclosure requirements for presentations made in formally organized meetings of the CSMAC or its working groups. “This exemption does not change the nature of public CSMAC proceedings; it simply allows FCC staff to participate without triggering disclosure requirements under the Commission’s ex parte rules,” the notice said.

The FCC’s previous efforts to curb Lifeline program abuses “appear to be insufficient,” Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., told FCC acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn in a letter Thursday. A recent National Review article “suggests serious flaws in this program,” he added. He called for information on what the FCC is doing now to curb abuses, citing recent accounts of people skirting the program’s eligibility requirements. He asked 10 questions of Clyburn, focusing on the processes for verifying eligibility and how FCC makes some of its choices regarding the program. Sessions is ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee. The FCC has touted its efforts to reform the Lifeline program, intended to help people with low incomes, and crack down on abuse and waste throughout the last year. The FCC declined comment on the letter.