Deutsche Telekom (DT) is “surprised” by the further investigations by the European Commission into the global market for Internet peering because previous allegations “have all turned out to be unfounded,” a company spokesman said. The unannounced inspections at several telecom companies that provide Internet connectivity services were based on concerns that the telcos may have violated antitrust laws prohibiting the abuse of a dominant market position, the EC said (CD July 12 p14). But DT said similar investigations carried out by national regulators, who have also dealt with the issue in great detail, were abandoned. DT “faces fierce competition on the global market for Internet traffic,” the spokesman said. The field is dominated by major providers based in the U.S., “which means we are not the right target for these investigations,” he said. The company is “cooperating closely” with authorities to clarify the matter, he said.

The Patent Litigation and Innovation Act (HR-2639), introduced Wednesday by Reps. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, and Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., would protect end users of technology from patent infringement lawsuits brought by patent assertion entities, Farenthold said in a news release (http://1.usa.gov/1dnOBOo). The bill would institute heightened pleading requirements that would disclose additional information on a lawsuit’s claims during the litigation process, which proponents of the bill said will increase transparency when “patent trolls” send out cease-and-desist letters. The bill would also allow for stays in the discovery process to allow more court scrutiny. “Americans need to know they are safe from abusive litigation when they buy a product off the shelf and use it for its intended purpose,” Farenthold said. The bill “focuses like a laser beam on the important issue of frivolous lawsuits brought by patent trolls,” Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro said in a statement. “This legislation will allow legitimate companies to protect their patents, while discouraging abusive litigation.” “It’s exciting to see lawmakers proposing new solutions to help curb abuses of the patent system -- in this case lawsuits that target consumers,” said Matt Levy, Computer and Communications Industry Association patent counsel, in a statement. “Another very interesting idea in the bill is to treat patent cases more like securities cases in that judges would have to do a review at the end of the case to determine if the attorneys satisfied their obligations to not file frivolous papers with the court."

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai declined to take a position on whether there should be a “drop dead date certain” for turning off TDM networks and moving the U.S.’s telecom infrastructure entirely to Internet Protocol. “That obviously is the $64,000 question, which I hope the task force confronts,” he said at a Wednesday evening Phoenix Center event. Pai said he doesn’t have a preconceived view of where the task force should end up. If it hastens the industry’s transition to IP, that’s something the agency should consider, he said. But consumer protection remains important, he said: Consumers don’t want to think about the technology they use to call 911. Pai also said the agency should exercise its forbearance authority more robustly. “It shouldn’t take us 12 months to figure that a regulation imposed by the FCC’s telegraph division in 1936” about money orders “no longer remains relevant in 2013,” he said. As the commission considers issues relevant to the incentive auction, it’s “critical” that he hear from industry members “who know the nuts and bolts” of how spectrum works, how auction design should work and how repackaging should work, he said. “Most appealing” to Pai are people who come in and acknowledge their policy perspective while acknowledging “indisputable facts.”

The FCC changed its rules to authorize the use of the 78-81 GHz band by foreign object debris (FOD) detection radar equipment at airports, in an order released Thursday. FOD equipment will be licensed under Part 90 of the commission’s rules. The presence of FOD in an airport’s air operations area “poses a significant threat to the safety of air travel,” the order said (http://bit.ly/189Sp5f): “Foreign object debris on taxiways and runways has the potential to damage aircraft during the critical phases of takeoffs and landings, which can lead to catastrophic loss of life and at the very least increased maintenance and operating costs.” In December 2011, the FCC approved a waiver for the use of FOD detection equipment manufactured by San Diego-based Trex Enterprises. Trex explained how its technology works in a 2012 meeting at the FCC (http://bit.ly/15z81z8) and a slide from that presentation shows a Trex detector mounted on the roof of an SUV as it cruises down an airport runway. The band is allocated on a primary basis to federal and non-federal radio astronomy and radiolocation systems. The commission said it may ask more questions in a forthcoming rulemaking. “The Commission may, in rulemaking proceedings regarding other uses of the 78-81 GHz band, consider whether to adopt additional rules governing FOD detection radar in the band (such as the adoption of technical specifications) in order to ensure compatibility between FOD detection radar and other uses ... including those that may operate on an unlicensed basis under Part 15 of the Commission’s rules,” the agency said. “Until such technical specifications or other rules are adopted, we will consider the technical parameters required under the waiver when authorizing FOD equipment. During this period we will also accept applications for equipment authorization for devices using similar or more conservative parameters than those specified in the waiver.”

The FCC Media Bureau granted two Time Warner Cable petitions this week to exempt it from municipal rate-setting for basic-video and some other prices for 32 communities in New York, said Media Bureau orders released Thursday. TWC’s petition cited video competition from DirecTV and Dish Network. The deregulation affects about 42,000 households, including the communities of Big Flats, Southport, Groton and Binghamton (http://fcc.us/11Gwzag, http://bit.ly/12pCChX).

Correction: Matt Wood’s title at Free Press is policy director (CD July 11 p8).

The FCC should issue a rulemaking notice on whether the sports blackout rule remains in the public interest, the Sports Fan Coalition told an aide to acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn, said an ex parte filing released Thursday. It referenced a June letter from Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., making the same request (CD p12 June 20). Lifting the rule may not have a “practical effect” because of restrictive retransmission consent agreements that keep multichannel video programming distributors from using a broadcaster’s signal in “out-of-market” areas and “compulsory copyright licensing regimes that limit MVPDs’ ability to import distant network signals to households throughout a given” market, the ex parte said. The coalition and FCC staff also discussed whether the commission has statutory authority to revise the blackout rule, since “Congress never directed the Commission to issue the Sports Blackout Rule in the first place,” the ex parte said (http://bit.ly/16vhNPQ).

The FCC Wireless Bureau extended by 10 days the July 15 deadline for replies to a public notice seeking comment on the agency’s annual wireless competition report. The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council asked the bureau to extend the deadline. “As the Bureau’s interest is in developing a full record, we see no harm in allowing parties an additional 10 days in which to file reply comments,” the bureau said (http://bit.ly/16vgq3A).

SoftBank completed its buy of 72 percent of Sprint Nextel and it will now be called just Sprint. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse remains in that position, with Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of SoftBank, as chairman, and Ronald Fisher, president of SoftBank Holdings, vice chairman. The three all are on the Sprint board, along with new director Adm. Michael Mullen and three directors left over from the old board -- Robert Bennett, Gordon Bethune and Frank Ianna. “SoftBank and Sprint have not yet determined the remaining members of the Sprint Corporation board of directors,” said a news release (http://bit.ly/18QjbCK). Larry Glasscock, James Hance, Janet Hill, Sven-Christer Nilsson, William Nuti and Rodney O'Neal resigned from the board upon the completion of the merger.

Inmarsat’s Alphasat satellite is being prepared for a July 25 launch from French Guiana. It’s the first satellite to use the high-power Alphabus platform, “Europe’s response to market demand for more broadcasting services,” said Inmarsat in a news release (http://bit.ly/13Q81LX). The satellite will be placed into orbit at 25 degrees east and deliver new capabilities to Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, it said. The satellite will provide 50 percent more accessible spectrum “with double spectral efficiency and nearly 20 percent more channels than an Inmarsat-4 satellite,” Inmarsat said.