Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, commended mobile privacy stakeholders for developing a voluntary code of conduct that would require app developers to tell users about the apps’ data collection and sharing practices via accessible notices (CD July 29 p3). “Short form notices are a great way for app developers to inform the consumer of data collection and sharing practices,” but the code doesn’t do enough to protect user privacy, he said in a news release Monday. “What about data storage practices? Would app developers not also store data?” The code is voluntary, and developers “don’t have to inform users of any data collection or sharing practices,” said Barton. He promised to “continue to work with my colleagues to champion the importance of individual privacy in the digital age."

GAO will offer two new widgets to share recent GAO reports and legal decisions, the agency said in a press release Monday (http://1.usa.gov/17Pbw3S). The widgets will provide participating Web pages with up-to-date GAO content automatically. “GAO strives to provide policymakers and the public with timely access to our findings, conclusions, and recommendations,” said Comptroller General Gene Dodaro. “Those who follow GAO’s work will now be able to set up automatic feeds of our latest work."

KVH more than doubled the capacity of its mini-very small aperture terminal broadband network in the Asia-Pacific region. It’s the company’s fourth major capacity increase in less than eight months, KVH said in a press release (http://bit.ly/1e6hcbi). The mini-VSAT broadband network provides connections for mariners at sea, it said, offering downloads of up to 4 Mbps and uploads up to 1 Mbps.

T-Mobile submitted a paper to the FCC, written by Stanford University economists Gregory Rosston and Andrzej Skrzypacz, explaining T-Mobile’s proposal for rules restricting bidding for the incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum. “We have developed a ‘Dynamic Market Rule’ ... which is a general auction framework for a contingent spectrum-aggregation limit that will allow the marketplace to determine if such a limit will impair auction revenues to the point of reducing the amount of spectrum cleared,” the paper said (http://bit.ly/1bBOx1V). “This paper provides a set of straightforward steps for DMR that are discussed in widely accepted economic terminology. This framework would test the market with the spectrum aggregation limits in place and then provide a seamless relaxation of these limits if the forward auction does not meet the revenue target.” Meanwhile, Sprint filed a paper at the FCC making a case for aggregation limits by Martin Cave and William Webb, U.K.-based economists. “There is evidence that robust competition among wireless operators benefits both customers and the wider economy by spurring innovation and lowering prices,” the paper said. “In recognition of this, governments and regulators in Europe have worked to design auctions in ways which maintain competitive pressures. This effort has led them in many cases to impose spectrum-aggregation limits on the amount of sub-1 GHz spectrum which any operator can acquire.” Mobile Future on Monday released a paper by the Analysis Group arguing against spectrum aggregation limits (http://bit.ly/14uwIIr). “Assessing data from past spectrum auctions in Europe, Canada and the United States, the analysis shows that use of spectrum caps and other bidder participation restrictions actually have been harmful to wireless consumers, as well as competition and innovation,” Mobile Future said.

Level 3 Communications will provide data center services, archival, backhaul and streaming for Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM), including its live streaming TV services, Level 3 said in a Monday release (http://bit.ly/17bbml6). MLBAM will connect with Level 3’s Premier Elite data center in Omaha, which will be MLBAM’s first major technological footprint outside New York, Level 3 said.

Mobile wireless providers have ignored the Wireless Bureau’s requests for data on the state of competition in their industry, said NAB in reply comments filed in 13-135 (http://bit.ly/13M4TPO). Instead of submitting information about how the mobile wireless industry uses its current spectrum allocation, mobile wireless carriers “focus on how the commission can and should clear more spectrum for mobile broadband use,” said NAB. The FCC needs to know “how intensely” and where licensees use spectrum to effectively manage the resource, NAB said. “In particular, the large mobile wireless carriers focus almost exclusively on future spectrum allocations while providing scant evidence that they are utilizing their existing spectrum efficiently,” said NAB. The FCC “must conduct a thorough analysis of actual spectrum usage,” NAB said.

SoundExchange praised Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., for pledging to introduce a performance royalty rates bill at a House subcommittee hearing last week, in a Friday statement (http://prn.to/13aOODx). The bill would require broadcast radio to pay recording artists and labels for the use of their songs on the air. (See separate report in this issue). SoundExchange CEO Michael Huppe said “corporate radio -- which earns $15 billion in annual revenue -- doesn’t pay a cent to the recording artists and labels who create the art that ‘draws the crowd’ to their airwaves. We are thankful for the Congressman’s actions to remedy this injustice."

Time Warner Cable will roll out usage-based plans designed for “light users” of high-speed Internet in August, said a TWC spokesman Friday. Called the “Essentials” plans, they're designed to allow customers who use less broadband to save money on their bills, the spokesman said. Customers who choose the 5 GB a month limit will save $8 off the price of their plan, while a 30 GB a month limit will save the consumer $5. Customers who go over their monthly limit will be charged a dollar per gigabyte over, up to a ceiling of $25. “This is an opportunity for customers who want value,” said the spokesman. “We wanted to offer more choices.” The Essentials plans will be available to customers on all tiers, although new customers who are still receiving a promotional rate won’t be eligible, the spokesman said. The new plans dovetail with an expanded section of the TWC website that allows customers to easily check their data usage, said TWC.

The FCC should “proceed to make additional spectrum available for mobile wireless use as swiftly as possible,” CTIA said in an FCC filing released Friday. CTIA’s comments were in response to the FCC’s public notice seeking comment on the agency’s annual wireless competition report. Comments were due Thursday. CTIA believes “competition is flourishing throughout today’s wireless ecosystem,” with consumers receiving “more value from their mobile services than ever before, and studies reveal record high satisfaction rates for wireless service.” U.S. carriers had more than $30 billion on capital expenditures during 2012, and are expected to increase their capital expenditures by double digits this year and 2014, CTIA said. Making additional spectrum available will “ensure continued competition, growth and investment in the wireless industry,” the group said (http://bit.ly/1c9AvCl). The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) said in a separate filing that the FCC should “begin collecting minority and women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) data as a necessary component to determine whether the mobile wireless industry is competitive.” MWBEs’ presence in a market boosts competition and “often serves the unique needs of communities that are traditionally underserved by major carriers,” MMTC said (http://bit.ly/13jgh2b).

Public Knowledge urged the FCC to remove from streamlined consideration Verizon’s pending Section 214 application to discontinue copper service on Fire Island, N.Y. In its meeting with aides to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Wednesday, the public interest group said the New York Public Service Commission has extended the time period for considering Verizon’s application to amend its tariff for Fire Island. “The data collected by the NYPSC has enormous value to the Commission’s evaluation of the impact of discontinuance of copper service,” PK said. “The FCC should not undermine the state process by granting approval” while the state’s public comment period is still open, it said. PK also asked the commission to more generally offer guidance to carriers about their obligations if a network is damaged or destroyed and the carrier wants to replace it with an “alternative technology."