FCC and state regulators need to put protections in place to solve interconnection issues in Internet Protocol technology, said industry experts at a CompTel event Thursday. Speakers from Verizon and tw telecom said regulations could hurt technological innovation because the industry development is going much faster than regulatory procedure. “We want a public shared network where everyone has to interconnect with each other,” said Rochelle Jones, tw telecom vice president. “As we move to new technologies, we all still need to interconnect and take advantage of new technologies."
Emergency motions to stay and limit a nearly nationwide preliminary injunction against streaming TV service FilmOn X were denied in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said Judge Rosemary Collyer in an opinion filed Thursday. “The conduct prohibited by the Preliminary Injunction is uncompensated infringement of those holders’ exclusive right to public performance of their works, and the public interest is not harmed by requiring FilmOn X to cease infringement.” Collyer agreed with broadcasters that Aereo’s wins in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals don’t mean that FilmOn will win its D.C. case. “FilmOn X has simply recycled the same arguments that this Court rejected,” said the broadcasters’ opposition motion, pointing to FilmOn’s contentions that the injunction undercuts other courts and will harm its business. “The mere existence of two non-controlling, widely-criticized cases supporting FilmOnX does not create a strong likelihood that the D.C. Circuit will reverse the injunction.” FilmOn had argued that being enjoined throughout the nation -- except in the jurisdiction of the 2nd Circuit -- will cause it to lose customers to similar service Aereo, which isn’t enjoined anywhere. That’s “unsupportable” said the plaintiff filings: “FilmOnX’s argument boils down to the plea that it should be allowed to continue to infringe because there is another infringing service in operation.” Filings by FilmOn also show that it has a substantial international following that would be unaffected by the injunction, broadcasters said. The court should also reject FilmOn’s argument that the injunction bond the broadcasters are required to pay should be increased from $250,000 to $2.75 million, the filing said. FilmOn X hasn’t presented any evidence “beyond the mere say-so of counsel that $250,000 would not be sufficient to cover its potential losses, and Plaintiffs have more than sufficient resources in the unlikely event that the injunction was erroneously issued and FilmOn X incurs more than $250,000 in losses,” said Collyer. “It doesn’t really harm us,” FilmOn CEO Alki David told us in an email. His service has many agreements with independent channels that won’t be affected by the injunction, and will still be able to stream the major broadcasters in the 2nd Circuit, where the injunction doesn’t apply, he said. “The Networks are a must have to be a real pro service but we can wait to get them … no biggie.” David said he will wait for Aereo to win the copyright case brought against it by Hearst in Boston, where FilmOn already has an “antenna farm.” Fox praised the decision and said it fully expects to “continue to prevail,” in an email. David’s attorney Ryan Baker, of Baker Marquart, confirmed his client will abide by the court’s order to cease streaming copyrighted material, but will appeal the decision.
Nominees for the FCC and FTC advanced a step in the Senate this week, but it remains unclear when the agencies will get new commissioners. The Senate Commerce Committee set its hearing on FCC nominee Mike O'Rielly and FTC nominee Terrell McSweeny for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in 253 Russell (CD Sept 12 p1). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., “is going to want to move all of them together,” Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld told us, referring to the FCC nominees being paired and put forward with McSweeny. “That could conceivably happen at any time.” Observers were optimistic about how fast Congress might advance the FCC nominees while remaining cautious on the FTC nominee.
Concern raised by lawmakers during hearings on the Satellite Television Extension Localism Act indicate a change is coming to the retransmission consent model, said consumer groups and pay-TV groups Thursday during a teleconference by the American Television Alliance. They said they're encouraged by lawmakers’ remarks and a draft version of the Video Choice Act introduced this week by House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. There’s no need for Congress to change laws around retrans, NAB said during a separate teleconference.
Nominees for the FCC and FTC advanced a step in the Senate this week, but it remains unclear when the agencies will get new commissioners. The Senate Commerce Committee set its hearing on FCC nominee Mike O'Rielly and FTC nominee Terrell McSweeny for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in 253 Russell. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., “is going to want to move all of them together,” Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld told us, referring to the FCC nominees being paired and put forward with McSweeny. “That could conceivably happen at any time.” Observers were optimistic about how fast Congress might advance the FCC nominees while remaining cautious on the FTC nominee.
The “Connected Continent” telecom overhaul package approved Wednesday by the European Commission would enshrine net neutrality into law, bar incoming roaming charges and require governments to coordinate their spectrum assignment plans. If adopted by the European Parliament and Council, the EC said it will be a major step toward creating a single European telecom market that could one day include an EU e-communications regulator. The proposal, subject of intense debate as various draft documents leaked, is likely to face strong opposition, based on early criticism. Before the final version emerged Wednesday, it was attacked by the Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Council Europe, German Association of Telecommunications and Value-Added Service Providers (VATM) and French citizens’ advocacy group La Quadrature du Net.
The “Connected Continent” telecom overhaul package approved Wednesday by the European Commission would enshrine net neutrality into law, bar incoming roaming charges and require governments to coordinate their spectrum assignment plans. If adopted by the European Parliament and Council, the EC said it will be a major step toward creating a single European telecom market that could one day include an EU e-communications regulator. The proposal, subject of intense debate as various draft documents leaked, is likely to face strong opposition, based on early criticism. Before the final version emerged Wednesday, it was attacked by the Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Council Europe, German Association of Telecommunications and Value-Added Service Providers (VATM) and French citizens’ advocacy group La Quadrature du Net.
Lawmakers should pass Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation this year in order to reinforce the Congressional-Executive Branch partnership, enable U.S. public and private officials to tackle emergent trade issues, and confront ongoing trade pact negotiations, said a group of trade associations in a Sept. 9 letter (here). The letter was addressed to Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., Finance Ranking Member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah., House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., and Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin, D-Mich. The letter said the U.S. trade community faces new challenges since the crafting of the last TPA in 2002, an authority that expired in 2007. Congress and the administration need TPA to close high profile, docketed trade pacts, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, it said.
The Echelon interception system was a child’s toy compared to the National Security Agency’s Prism, the U.K.’s Tempora and other mass spying systems, said Jacob Appelbaum, a member of the Tor Project and investigative journalist. Speaking Tuesday at the first of a series of hearings on electronic mass surveillance of EU citizens before the European Parliament Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Committee, Appelbaum described the various spy systems, including another program, not yet revealed, that involves sending operatives to people’s homes to break into their wireless networks.
The Echelon interception system was a child’s toy compared to the National Security Agency’s Prism, the U.K.’s Tempora and other mass spying systems, said Jacob Appelbaum, a member of the Tor Project and investigative journalist. Speaking Tuesday at the first of a series of hearings on electronic mass surveillance of EU citizens before the European Parliament Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Committee, Appelbaum described the various spy systems, including another program, not yet revealed, that involves sending operatives to people’s homes to break into their wireless networks.