"As the cramming problem migrates to wireless bills, and as the transition to Internet protocols for voice services proceeds, even to the expected future point at which traditional landline service based on TDM technologies is eclipsed altogether, consumers increasingly need and deserve equivalent consumer protections regardless of the technology used to provide what is functionally the same voice service,” NASUCA Executive Director Charles Acquard wrote in an ex parte filing to the FCC Monday (http://bit.ly/15db3W8).
Several House lawmakers condemned the government’s monitoring of telephone and online communications and asked FBI Director Robert Mueller to justify the NSA’s broad surveillance techniques, at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday. Their comments came a week after the release of classified documents by former Booz Allen Hamilton contractor Edward Snowden that revealed how the National Security Agency is secretly collecting phone metadata and user data from online services (CD June 10 p5). Mueller testified that the government’s surveillance programs are necessary to thwart terrorist attacks against the U.S. and could have prevented the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.
A three-judge U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit panel ruled Friday that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) must hear a patent case pitting InterDigital Communications against LG Electronics; the ruling overturned the ITC’s earlier decision that the companies enter into arbitration over the dispute, which the Federal Circuit’s majority opinion called “wholly groundless.” InterDigital had filed a complaint with the ITC in 2011 claiming multiple companies, including LG, were infringing its patents on 3G wireless technology; the ITC agreed with LG’s argument that an expired patent licensing agreement between InterDigital and LG required the companies to use an arbitrator. The Federal Circuit ruled that since the licensing agreement between the companies had expired, LG no longer held a license for the 3G technology and therefore could not use the agreement to justify the ITC’s decision. The ITC and LG claimed the Federal Circuit did not have jurisdiction because it could only decide cases involving the ITC where there was a final determination. That was an “overly restrictive” description of the court’s jurisdiction, Judge Sharon Prost wrote in her majority opinion. Judge William Bryson joined the majority opinion. Judge Alan Lourie said in a dissenting opinion that while he agreed with the majority that LG’s argument for arbitration lacked merit, he did not feel the court had jurisdiction (http://1.usa.gov/195P4H6). An ITC spokeswoman declined comment, noting that the agency doesn’t discuss matters under litigation. An InterDigital spokesman also declined to comment. LG did not respond to a request for comment.
The FCC needs to work more with the states, recommended the NARUC Telecom Task Force in a preliminary document. It also clarified that “states” refers not only to public utility commissions but also as shorthand for governors, legislatures and state agencies in general. The task force released its latest draft paper (http://bit.ly/164BVdG) Monday, opening it for comments through June 20. It outlined the principles that state commissioners may codify as well as issued tentative recommendations. The Internet Protocol transition is under way and states’ regulatory roles are changing, often for the lesser, but state input remains vital for many reasons, the group said.
The FCC issued a notice of inquiry and is seeking comment on whether incumbent satellite operators are operating in ways that inhibit competition. The commission seeks information on whether fixed satellite service providers that have vertically integrated are engaging in vertical foreclosure “or other conduct that has harmed consumers of satellite communication services,” it said in the NOI (http://bit.ly/16Q5q6T). The NOI stemmed from allegations among some satellite operators in the 11th Open Market Reorganization for the Betterment of International Telecommunications Act report that Intelsat has become vertically integrated and is stifling competition from its former resellers (CD May 9 p3). The FCC said it wants commenters to help it address gaps in service, older replacement satellites, license extensions, and underutilized satellites. For commenters claiming that harmful foreclosure has occurred, commenters should detail factors like “the time period the allegations cover, the geographic routes involved, and the amount and type of space segment capacity involved,” it said. The questions are aimed at figuring out how to strike a balance “between a satellite operator’s need for flexibility in managing its fleet of space stations and the public interest benefits of protecting against warehousing,” it said. Comments are due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, with replies due 60 days after that date. The FCC also released Friday its 14th ORBIT Act report to Congress. Inmarsat’s privatization appears to have had a positive impact on the domestic market, the report said (http://fcc.us/13qxHMw). Inmarsat said it continues to introduce new services and to invest in new technologies for mobile satellite service customers, the report said. Intelsat’s privatization allowed it to compete freely for U.S. satellite business opportunities, “led to more competitive choices in the U.S. market than existed before privatization,” and encourages development of service offerings, it said. The FCC said it plans to inform Congress of the impact of the actions addressed in the NOI in its next ORBIT Act report.
An appeals court gave its nod to a 2011 FCC attempt to curb “traffic pumping” schemes, approving Friday an FCC decision forbidding a CLEC from imposing access charges on long-distance providers for calls to non-paying customers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld 3-0 the commission’s ruling that a Northern Valley tariff violated the FCC’s 2004 Access Charge Reform order. Industry officials downplayed the long-term significance of the court decision, as it dealt with an FCC action that took place before the 2011 USF/intercarrier compensation order set the industry on a glide path toward bill-and-keep. Still, some traffic pumping cases are pending before the commission under the old rules.
Senate Communications Subcommittee members agreed the government needs to work to free up more spectrum for wireless consumers and asked wireless executives about the best ways to accomplish that goal. Carriers, as expected, at the subcommittee hearing (CD June 4 p10) said lawmakers should press federal agencies to reallocate or share their spectrum holdings and urged the FCC to quickly advance the commission’s planned broadcast incentive auction.
President Barack Obama directed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to begin creating rules to require patent applicants and patent owners to “regularly” update the ownership information on file at PTO when they are involved in PTO proceedings. The rules are targeted at making “real party in interest” (RPI) disclosure a default action. Obama also directed PTO to develop strategies over the next six months to improve patent claim clarity, particularly in software-related patent applications, and train patent examiners on scrutinizing functional claims. The White House said it will build on the roundtables and workshops that PTO, the Department of Justice and the FTC held last year, announcing it would hold a series of “high-profile events” over the next six months aimed at outreach on patent-related issues and policy updates. PTO will also expand its Edison Scholars Program, which brings in scholars to work at the agency for six-month periods, to develop additional research on patent litigation abuse. PTO also unveiled a set of new education and outreach materials aimed at answering questions from the targets of abusive patent litigation (http://1.usa.gov/15yx9EC).
The European Commission is about to act to ensure net neutrality, Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes said Tuesday at a European Parliament forum on guaranteeing competition and the open Internet in Europe. While governments have largely taken a hands-off approach to Internet regulation, there are clearly problems on today’s Internet, she said. Studies show that online services are blocked or throttled for many Europeans, and that people aren’t getting the speeds or quality they paid for, she said.
Broadcasters may be dissuaded from participating in the incentive auction unless they get answers to their widely held questions (CD April 10 p9) from the FCC, said many industry executives. Among questions most frequently discussed by respondents to our informal survey is in what markets the agency seeks to reallocate some frequencies now used by TV stations for wireless broadband. Even some economists unaligned with any industry, who think the commission has done almost all it can to provide clarity to stations, agree such IDs would help. Without such details, some stations that might otherwise sell the right to some or all of their 6 MHz allotments may sit out the first-of-its-kind auction the agency hopes to hold next year (CD May 22 p1), said broadcasters who don’t expect to participate.