Seven rent-to-own computer lenders and a software firm spied on customers who rented computers, through screenshots, keylogging, geolocation tracking and even webcams, the FTC said Tuesday. It announced settlements with DesignerWare, the software company, and Aspen Way Enterprises, Watershed Development Corp., Showplace, J.A.G. Rents, Red Zone, Inc., B. Stamper Enterprises and C.A.L.M. Ventures, none of which carries fines or monetary penalties. DesignerWare software included a “kill switch” the stores could enable to disable a stolen computer or one whose renter wasn’t making timely payments, but an add-on program called “Detective Mode” went further, the FTC alleged. Pitched as a method for stores to track down computers and collect late payments, the mode also logged keystrokes, captured screenshots and took webcam pictures, and a “fake” registration screen prompted renters to provide their contact information, the complaint said. Illicitly collected data included usernames and passwords for email, social media and financial-institution accounts, Social Security numbers, medical records and doctor communications, bank and credit card statements and “webcam pictures of children, partially undressed individuals, and intimate activities at home,” the agency alleged. The proposed settlements, which are subject to public comment for 30 days (http://xrl.us/bnrdra), would ban DesignerWare and the stores from using software similar to Detective Mode, using deception to collect information from consumers including through fake registration screens, or using geolocation tracking without consumer consent. The stores wouldn’t be able to use “improperly” collected contact information to collect debts, and the FTC would monitor compliance with the orders for the next 20 years. “There is no justification for spying on customers,” said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, whose office partnered with the FTC in the investigations. Madigan entered into a separate “assurance of voluntary compliance” with Illinois-based Watershed Development, a franchisee of Aaron’s, her office said Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bnrdr5). An FTC spokeswoman told us the agency can’t levy fines under the FTC Act, but can collect civil penalties of $16,000 per violation, per day but only for violation of an order’s provisions. Its recent $22.5 million fine to Google for alleged circumvention of browser privacy controls was based on Google’s claimed violation of its Buzz consent order with the commission (CD Aug 10 p3). FTC Commissioner Thomas Rosch told us he abstained from the 4-0 vote because the settlement proposal includes an “unfairness count.” That’s “contrary” to what the commission told Congress in 1980 and 1982, “and I thought that unfairness was an elusive concept that would detract from, not add, certainty, which I think is important in all privacy cases,” he said. Rosch said he had the same disagreement with the FTC’s complaint against the Wyndham Hotels chain in June for lax data-security practices, but filed a concurrence with a dissent rather than abstaining.
Alaska Communications Systems Group defended the value of the state’s Rural Health Care support program and its primary support mechanism. The defense came in a meeting with FCC officials, said a Monday ex parte FCC filing (http://xrl.us/bnrdof). Satellite middle mile connectivity is crucial, the group argued. It urged the FCC to amend Sections 54.609(d)(1) and (d)(3) to help with the costs associated with building out in Alaska. The group also praised the virtues of long-term contracts.
A public safety deployment of CDMA in southern California “may have caused -- and may continue to cause -- interference to public safety networks that have not yet been reconfigured,” said the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties, and the National League of Cities in Tuesday comments with the FCC (http://xrl.us/bnrdms). But that problem shouldn’t lead to the deployment’s downfall, they said. The commenters ask the FCC not to dismiss the Orange County Sheriff’s Department request for reconsideration as others have done, the filing said. The FCC should reconsider its report and order 12-55, as Orange County suggests, and perhaps put “additional protections in place to prevent harmful interference to public safety systems” if need be, they said. Southern California shouldn’t lose the public safety measures of CDMA because lives are at stake, they said.
Members from three minority congressional caucus groups warned FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski against implementing spectrum auction rules that they said could result in a loss of broadcast services for minority communities. The request came in a letter sent last week by Reps. Judy Chu, D-Calif., chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus; Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., chair of the Congressional Black Caucus; and Charles Gonzalez, D-Texas, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The members said they're concerned that the commission’s broadcast spectrum auction rulemaking could drive the relocation of local broadcast television stations that choose not to sell their spectrum. As a result they urged Genachowski to implement the auctions in a transparent and inclusive way that “ensures our constituents have uninterrupted access to their local broadcast stations,” the letter said.
Spacenet will showcase its full suite of emergency communications solutions for law enforcement and public safety agencies at the International Association of Chiefs of Police 119th Annual Conference and Exposition in San Diego. Spacenet’s satellite-based connectivity for emergency communications services “enable users to establish and maintain Land Mobile Radio, data, voice and video communications when other land-based technologies fail,” the company said in a press release (http://xrl.us/bnrdne). It delivers connectivity on a “pay-as-you-use” basis, “making emergency communications affordable for budget-sensitive public safety agencies,” it said. The event takes place Sept. 29-Oct. 3.
Urging support of the Internet Radio Fairness Act, Pandora founder Tim Westergren said in an email Tuesday. Lawmakers in the House and Senate on Friday introduced the Internet radio bill, aimed at aligning the differing broadcast platform royalty payments under the same standard used to establish rates for cable and satellite radio services (CD Sept 24 p1). Westergren thinks the “bipartisan bill will correct the incredible inequity in how different digital radio formats are treated under the law when it comes to setting royalties,” he said. That difference “is quite extraordinary,” he said. Last year, for example, Pandora paid more than half its revenue in performance royalties, while Sirius XM paid less than 10 percent, he said. “As a lifelong musician, I'm fully supportive of artist compensation, but this situation can’t continue. Internet radio is bringing millions of listeners back to music, and is playing the songs of tens of thousands of promising artists who would otherwise never be heard. It should be given a fair chance to succeed.” Pandora also flexed its subscriber muscle in 2007 in a failed bid to overturn higher Copyright Royalty Board rates through legislation (CD May 2/07 p13).
The Mississippi government wants the FCC to clarify “the narrow circumstances in which eligible service bundled with end user equipment may be fully eligible without requiring cost allocation of the end user equipment costs,” the State E-Rate Coordinators’ Alliance said in a Monday petition (http://xrl.us/bnrdke). The FCC’s current rules suggest deals that seem “too good to be true” and that the bundled services will charge more for E-rate eligible service, the alliance said. This would happen because vendors would charge a higher monthly fee to offset the “amortized” costs of equipment, it continued. The petition criticizes “the current climate of uncertainty” and cautions of the risk that it claims now exists for those who contract for bundled service along with end user equipment.
Eutelsat completed its purchase of the GE-23 satellite from GE Capital. The satellite was renamed EUTELSAT 172A and is part of Eutelsat’s fleet, “with technical and commercial teams working to ensure a smooth transition for existing customers,” Eutelsat said in a news release (http://xrl.us/bnrdkk). It said the satellite will help Eutelsat expand its footprint to high-growth Asia-Pacific markets.
The FCC settled a complaint against Communications Options (CO). Another telco filed a complaint that said CO refused to transfer a customer’s phone number because of a billing dispute, said a consent order in the settlement released Monday. Service providers cannot obstruct or delay a transfer of a customer’s number to a new service provider, according to FCC policy. CO agreed to pay $65,000 to the U.S. Treasury and implement a plan to comply with the FCC’s policy.
RCN starts carrying Shalom TV Wednesday in markets including Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, the cable programmer said in a news release Tuesday. It said the company’s VOD programming can be seen in more than 40 million U.S. households.