As the FCC Wireline Bureau races to complete proposed final UNE rules by Dec., it needs concrete information and proposals from industry, bureau staff said at an FCBA brown bag lunch Wed. There isn’t much time left to work on the rules, Deputy Bureau Chief Michelle Carey told the group. The record “closes” Oct. 19 and the bureau plans to have a proposal before the Commission for action at the Dec. agenda meeting, she said. Work on the TRO rewrite will take priority over some reconsideration requests, although the agency is likely to take up at least one raised by BellSouth relating to broadband rules, she said.

ISPs and fair use advocates have little to fear from an antipiracy bill pending in the House, according to the bill’s conference report filed by the House Judiciary Committee Fri. HR-4077, by Courts, Internet & Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chmn. Smith (R-Tex.), is a patchwork of legislative approaches to piracy. It calls for an education program by the Dept. of Justice, reduces thresholds for prosecution, targets distribution of prerelease works and camcording of movies, and protects a company whose technology allows viewers to skip racier parts of DVD movies. That last provision drew a separate critique from committee Democrats, led by ranking Democrat Conyers (Mich.) and subcommittee ranking Democrat Berman (Cal.).

Two financial analysts offered differing views of how telecom competition will play out. During a Brookings Institution panel Fri., Precursor Group CEO Scott Cleland predicted a major revolution soon based on burgeoning intermodal broadband competition, but Medley Advisors Senior Policy Dir. Jessica Zufolo said such developments would be more pertinent to investors if broadband were more widespread in the U.S.

Nextel late Tues. filed the most detail so far on its discussions at the FCC after the Commission’s release of the 800 MHz rebanding order Aug. 6. A Nextel spokesman said the company wanted to put an end to any accusations that the company was trying to renegotiate the report and order after the fact. The Nextel filing contains in some detail the carrier’s arguments on valuation of its spectrum and on how the FCC erred. The filing also confirms meetings this week between CEO Timothy Donahue, Senior Vp Robert Foosaner and 4 members of the FCC (CD Sept 22 p5). Nextel officials also met with FCC Chief of Staff Bryan Tramont.

Auctioning off a nationwide block of spectrum is an “interesting opportunity,” a senior FCC official said Thurs. In a Communications Daily audioconference, Bryan Tramont, chief of staff for Chmn. Powell, said the Commission is considering that in a future auction, which would be welcome news for national carriers and their Wall St. backers. Tramont and 2 former FCC officials also engaged in a debate over the future role of designated entities (DEs) in spectrum auctions. Tramont made clear that the FCC is on schedule with its Auction 58 of 234 10- MHz licenses, many of which are coming from NextWave. The conference took place a week after the FCC dismissed concerns of some carriers about moving forward with its H- block auction (CD Sept 10 p1).

CTIA indicated it will likely take the FCC to court over the National Programmatic Agreement (NPA) on tower siting, which was released by the Commission Fri. (CD Sept 13 p1). Sources said CTIA has been looking for some time for an opportunity to file an appeal on the federal “undertaking issue” - which involves the ability of the govt. to assert authority over an issue, and has implications for other issues as well. The NPA case presents CTIA with the chance to raise the issue, they said.

The Wireless Communications Assn. called on the FCC to rethink a key part of its order reallocating 2.5 GHz spectrum to spur growth of wireless broadband. WCA said for the order to accomplish its goals FCC must remove the Big LEO MSS satellite downlink allocation from the 2496- 2500 MHz band. Sprint and Nextel also filed petitions for reconsideration citing similar concerns. Meanwhile, Globalstar said it deserves a hearing, under Section 316 of the Communications Act, based on the extent of the impact to Globalstar’s system from all the sharing it will do in the S-band (2496-2500 MHz) and the L-band (1618.25- 1621.35 MHz).

An order on a National Programmatic Agreement (NPA) on wireless tower citing -- based on a late Aug. compromise proposal by the National Trust for Historic Preservation (CD Sept 7 p3) -- was nearly ready late Wed., sources said. “I hear it will be on the agenda,” said an attorney who represents carriers. “It’s going down to the wire,” a carrier source said. Even if it doesn’t make the agenda, both said it will likely be voted out by the Commission in days. At least 2 carrier groups were at the FCC Wed. for last-minute lobbying. A CTIA-led group met with Wireless Bureau staff. Members of the new Tower Policy Siting Alliance met with legal advisers to Comrs. Martin and Abernathy to discuss whether tower siting should be classified as an “undertaking” under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) before adopting rules for siting. The 2 commissioners had concerns about this issue, first raised by carriers. The alliance said the FCC should be able to approve the NPA without first addressing this issue. - HB

Senior Senate Judiciary Committee staffers, U.S. Copyright Office officials such as Assoc. Register Jule Sigall, and industry representatives including Sarah Deutsch and Kathy Zanowic of Verizon were meeting at our deadline Tues. regarding proposals to modify legislation targeting inducement of copyright infringement. A draft proposal by the Copyright Office circulated last week generated opposition among the high-tech and fair-use community (CD Sept 7 p6, Sept 3 p4). Critics have called it overbroad, with several groups instead urging consideration of a proposal CEA offered in Aug. (CD Aug 26 p7). Inducement language could be included with new authority for the Dept. of Justice in a broader copyright bill aimed at clearing Congress this year, according to Hill sources.

Senior Senate Judiciary Committee staffers, U.S. Copyright Office officials such as Assoc. Register Jule Sigall, and industry representatives including Sarah Deutsch and Kathy Zanowic of Verizon were meeting at our deadline Tues. regarding proposals to modify legislation targeting inducement of copyright infringement. A draft proposal by the Copyright Office circulated last week generated opposition among the high-tech and fair-use community (CED Sept 7 p4). Critics have called it overbroad, with several groups instead urging consideration of a proposal CEA offered in Aug. Inducement language could be included with new authority for the Dept. of Justice in a broader copyright bill aimed at clearing Congress this year, according to Hill sources.