FCC Chmn Martin said a notice of proposed rulemaking that began circulating last week “tentatively concludes” that the Commission should require all telecom carriers to certify on a specific date that they have set up operating procedures to comply with proceedings to safeguard customer proprietary network information (CPNI). He made his comments at a House Commerce Committee hearing Wed. on cellphone records. He also outlined suggestions to Congress for changing the law to help combat the theft of consumer information.

A powerful committee chairman’s enthusiasm for his gift iPod has sparked a fair-use political action committee to seek a similar change of heart by other senators on copyright issues like the broadcast and audio flag. At a hearing on the flag proposals, Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) said his daughter gave him an iPod for Christmas. He asked RIAA Exec. Dir. Mitch Bainwol if Stevens could record songs from the radio and transfer them to the iPod under the audio flag (WID Jan 25 p4).

China’s growing economy has resulted in greater telecom access by the Chinese people, but the govt. has “parried all of these moves, in most cases with startling effectiveness,” by deploying technological tools that censor telephonic and Internet content, track dissidents and disseminate propaganda, the head of the U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission told a Capitol Hill briefing Wed. During U.S.-China trade talks, some hoped that expanded international commerce would be the first step toward crumbling China’s Communist regime, but the Commission’s Acting Chmn. Carolyn Bartholomew said “this hope has not been realized.”

FCC Chmn Martin said a notice of proposed rulemaking that began circulating last week “tentatively concludes” that the Commission should require all telecom carriers to certify on a specific date that they have set up operating procedures to comply with proceedings to safeguard customer proprietary network information (CPNI). He made his comments at a House Commerce Committee hearing Wed. on cellphone records. He also outlined suggestions to Congress for changing the law to help combat the theft of consumer information, which occurs increasingly on the Internet.

VeriSign gave ICANN a “last, best offer” to settle a suit over the .com domain. Changes proposed to the pact were posted for public comment Sun., after a private conference call last week involving ICANN board members and staff and Verisign representatives (WID Jan 24 p8). The proposal shows significant changes from an Oct. version that irked some in the industry who said it raised antitrust concerns and expanded VeriSign’s preeminence in the space (WID Nov 30 p1). The debate sparked a hue and cry at ICANN’s year-end meeting in Vancouver, as well as lawsuits, Congressional attention and gripes to the Justice and Commerce Depts.

The major national wireless carriers clashed with smaller carriers in reply comments at the FCC over whether to revise rules to guarantee equitable roaming rates across the U.S.. With each side accusing the other of overcharging, comments on an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking are getting close scrutiny because the FCC is interested in rural issues, sources said. Commission Democrats, in particular, have raised concerns about roaming.

The House telecom package still doesn’t “have wings” after a year of work, so lawmakers should pass video choice and other provisions that have support, Verizon Exec. Vp Tom Tauke told reporters Fri. Rather than let another year pass without a law, Tauke said, “we'd like to see the House consider some alternative approaches.” Video franchising could move quickly, while universal service, intercarrier compensation and similarly complex matters could drag on, Tauke said: “If you can’t get the whole loaf, let’s get a portion of it.”

ChoicePoint will pay $10 million in a civil penalty and $5 million for a consumer redress fund to settle FTC charges the firm violated federal laws through careless screening and information security procedures. The firm admitted last year that financial records on 145,000 consumers -- now up to 163,000, the FTC estimates -- were compromised by “fraudsters” posing as firms with “permissible purposes” for getting the records (WID March 7 p8). The settlement, the largest in agency history, should warn data brokers and others to “guard the front door… as well as guard the back door” to protect sensitive personal information, or face harsh financial and regulatory consequences, Chmn. Deborah Majoras told a press conference Thurs.

FTC Chmn. Deborah Majoras said it was illegal to obtain cellphone records from telecom firms under false pretenses, known as pretexting, in a press conference Thurs. Meanwhile, the FCC is poised to vote on a cellphone record rulemaking at its Feb. meeting and more legislation is emerging on Capitol Hill.

The FCC issued a decision on some of the technical issues raised in June in a rulemaking tied to the advanced wireless services (AWS) auction. the auction, expected to take place this summer, could raises in billions of dollars for the Treasury. The FCC sought guidance on issues such as reserve bid prices that guarantee govt. agencies will be fully compensated as they exit the spectrum put up for sale, and on options for preserving tribal land bidding credits. The Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act creating the trust fund for compensating agencies required the FCC to make changes proposed in the rulemaking. A few industry players, notably Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, had provided some advice for how the FCC should proceed in an otherwise quiet docket. Sources said there saw no major surprises in the order.