At least four Supreme Court justices questioned why Booking.com can’t trademark its domain as companies do with toll-free phone numbers, in oral argument Monday. Four other justices raised concerns about enabling monopoly power by granting such trademarks, which might preclude rivals like ebooking.com from using "booking" in marketing materials.
The FCC appears poised to take on the 4.9 GHz band, following up on a Further NPRM approved on a 5-0 vote in March 2018, industry and FCC officials said in recent interviews. As Chairman Ajit Pai enters what could be the homestretch of his chairmanship, he's expected to wrap up a broad number of items, including on spectrum.
The Association of American Railroads asked for changes to the FCC’s draft 900 MHz order, set for a commissioner vote May 13 (see 2004210055). The American Petroleum Institute also plans to seek changes . Gogo raised interference concerns. The order would reallocate a 6 MHz swath to broadband while keeping 4 MHz for narrowband.
Recent T-Mobile spats with the California Public Utilities Commission might portend litigation over state wireless authority, said law experts in interviews last week. A potential federal case on whether California is preempted under Section 332 of the Communications Act would likely affect other states' roles in big transactions and other issues, they said.
ICANN rejected the proposed sale of Public Interest Registry to Ethos Capital (see 2005010001), Chairman Maarten Botterman blogged Thursday night. Directors said withholding consent to the transfer "is reasonable, and the right thing to do." The deal attracted scrutiny from legislators and at least one state attorney general, and was roundly opposed by nonprofit advocates. The decision "sets a dangerous precedent with broad industry concerns," said Ethos. The rejection restores public confidence, said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D).
MVPDs and subscribers shouldn't expect rebates from programmers due to the lack of live sports content, sports and cable experts said in interviews last week. At least one cable ISP indicated it expects a rebate or discount, and multiple ones have brought up the issue with programmers. The idea of sports costs is also getting political pressure.
The FCC’s planned move to new headquarters at Sentinel Square III near Union Station in Washington has been delayed for an unknown period by COVID-19, and employees said in interviews they're more concerned about when and how they will be required to return to work than what building they will be doing it in. “Employees want to make sure that if and when they are called upon to return to the existing office either to resume duties on site or to pack up their workspaces, that health and safety precautions are taken,” said National Treasury Employees Union President Tony Reardon in a statement to us.
5G “will play a very important role in economic recovery,” Andreas Geiss, European Commission head of unit-Radio Spectrum Policy, said during a Forum Europe webinar Thursday. Any delay would be bad for the economy, Geiss said. “The crisis lets us see how important telecom networks really are.”
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wants telecom providers to extend their Keep Americans Connected pledges by an additional month and a half to June 30 (see 2004300037), the agency said Thursday. Several phone, cable and wireless providers announced extensions earlier this week (see 2004270050). March 13, Pai asked providers not to terminate service for 60 days for residential or small-business customers due to inability to pay because of disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic, waive late fees for residential or small-business customers due to COVID-related economic circumstances and open their Wi-Fi hot spots to any American who needs them (see 2003130066).
Antitrust enforcers are weighing the competitive impacts of Amazon’s collection of seller data, but it’s unclear whether it will result in concrete action, academics and antitrust attorneys told us. Amazon got antitrust scrutiny last week after a Wall Street Journal article said the company uses seller data to build products that compete with third-party sellers on the platform. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., called for a DOJ investigation, and Public Knowledge wrote Congress asking lawmakers to consider dramatic policy changes. The company didn’t comment.