Court of International Trade activity

The Office of Management and Budget cleared, for a period of three years, the information collection requirements of the FCC’s wireless E-911 Phase II location accuracy requirements, the commission said in a notice in Wednesday’s Federal Register (http://xrl.us/bnh6vu).

Dish Network reached a multi-year retransmission consent agreement with WFMJ-TV Youngstown, Ohio, after the NBC affiliate was dropped July 6 from the DBS company’s lineup (CD July 9 p11), according to both the broadcaster and satellite company. While carriage negotiations are difficult, “they are necessary to preserve our ability to bring our viewers the best in local news, sports and entertainment programming,” WFMJ said in a news release.

Comments are due Sept. 10, replies Sept. 28, on an FCC request for comment on issues related to the designation of Medical Body Area Network (MBAN) coordinator(s) for the 2360-2390 MHz band, following publication in the Federal Register (http://xrl.us/bnh6ur). The commission has yet to publish its MBAN rules, specifying when the rules take effect. “Although the Commission adopted a coordination requirement in the First Report and Order that was concurrently adopted in this proceeding, it also determined that additional notice and comment was required on key aspects related to the process and criteria for designating an MBAN coordinator,” said Wednesday’s notice.

Motorola Solutions’s Q2 operating earnings rose 75 percent to $278 million from the year-ago quarter. However, net earnings fell 48 percent to $182 million, due mostly to Motorola’s 2011 sale of its networks business to Nokia Siemens Networks, which netted the company $975 million in the year-ago quarter (CD May 2/11 p7). Motorola Q2 sales grew 8 percent year-over-year to $2.15 billion, led by a 14 percent rise in its government technology sales, the company said Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bnh65w).

I-wireless supported a request by TracFone that the FCC require eligible telecom carriers to retain a copy of the underlying documentation needed to determine program-based Lifeline eligibility. The agency should clarify that the length of document retention “should be consistent with overall Lifeline-related record retention requirements,” i-wireless said in comments. I-wireless said direction from the FCC is superior to guidance from the Universal Service Administrative Co. “If i-wireless is only able to fall back upon USAC’s guidance at any given period and not upon Commission regulations, then the Company is left with a somewhat subjective or evolving idea of what is acceptable, rather than an objective reality,” it said (http://xrl.us/bnh6st). “I-wireless submits that being able to retain proof documentation both protects the Company in the event of an audit and also streamlines USAC’s evaluation of proof during an audit.” Sprint Nextel also supported the TracFone petition. “Sprint believes that the proposed document retention requirement will help to ensure that Lifeline ETCs obtain and properly review the documentation needed to determine whether an end user is in fact eligible to receive the federal Lifeline benefit,” the carrier said (http://xrl.us/bnh6s7). “Sprint has no direct knowledge of any ETC that is falsely claiming to have obtained and reviewed program documentation while signing up Lifeline customers. However, as the number of Lifeline-designated ETCs increases, so too does the probability of bad action by a rogue carrier or its agents.” The Gila River Indian Community and Gila River Telecommunications opposed the TracFone request. “The document retention requirement advocated by TracFone would do nothing to increase telephone penetration rates, especially on tribal lands. This proposal will, however, increase administrative costs at a time when ETCs already are facing dramatically higher administrative costs associated with recently adopted Lifeline rules,” they said (http://xrl.us/bnh6tm).

Level 3 Communications said its Q2 net loss narrowed to $62 million from $138 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenue was little changed at $1.586 billion. Analysts said they expect Level 3 will continue to improve its earnings through Global Crossing, which it acquired last year (CD Sept 30/11 p7).

Eight House lawmakers asked nine data brokerage companies how they collect, use and sell consumer information, in letters sent Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bnh6ry). The lawmakers warned Acxiom, Alliance Data Systems, Equifax, Experian, Harte-Hanks, Intelius, FICO, Merkle and Meredith Corp. that large-scale aggregation of personal information raises “a number of serious privacy concerns.” The brokers’ ranking and classification systems could have long-term impacts on citizens’ access to education, health care, employment and other economic opportunities, the letters said. Children and teens are particularly at risk, the letters said in asking each company if they collect information on teens and children and what exactly is collected. Reps. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairmen of the Congressional Privacy Caucus; House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif.; Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C.; Steve Chabot, R-Ohio; ; Austin Scott, R-Ga.; Bobby Rush, D-Ill.; and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., asked for lists of each entity providing consumer information to the brokers and what kind of information was collected since January 2009. The letters asked each company to explain what services it offers to third parties, and whether consumers can access or correct their data. The companies were asked whether consumers can opt out of the use or sharing of their information and details on how such an opt-out is offered. The data brokers were also asked how consumer information is collected and what security is used to ensure that the data is safeguarded. Responses are due Aug. 15.

Key U.K. ISPs signed a voluntary code to keep the Internet open, the Broadband Stakeholder Group said Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bnh582). They agreed to provide full, open Internet products and not to use traffic management practices to target or degrade rivals’ services, it said. The code (http://xrl.us/bnh588) reflects that some ISPs have considered offering managed services that would allow a specific piece of content, service or application to be delivered without risk of degradation from network congestion, but that such services “are still at a very early stage and it is difficult to predict how widely they will be offered or used.” Their emergence, however, raises questions about their impact on best-efforts Internet access and whether they could lead to less-than-welcome unintended consequences, the document says. Concern about those issues has led to increased focus on ISP traffic management policies, in particular: (1) The need to give consumers clear information about traffic management practices that could be relevant to the service choices they make. (2) Users’ continued ability to access legal content, apps and services through ISP products. (3) The risk that negative discrimination by ISPs could hurt content, application and services providers. (4) The potential effect of a new managed services market on “best efforts” Internet access and the ability of the Internet to remain an open platform for innovation. The Office of Communications, in a November statement on the issues, acknowledged that traffic management can play a positive role in the Internet’s success, but that certain practices could lead to harmful consequences such as preventing users from accessing what they choose to see online, the code says. Ofcom also stressed the need to use best efforts, but said its preferred approach would be to try to ensure that the benefits of those efforts and managed service coexist, the code says. Ofcom declined to regulate, but said it would monitor ISPs’ progress in giving consumers transparent information; the ongoing quality of best-efforts access; and the prevalence and nature of products that block services, in order to assess if rules are needed, the code says. Signers believe Ofcom is “broadly correct,” but that some steps can be taken at this early stage to ensure that innovation leads to positive market outcomes and coexistence of managed services with best-efforts access, it says. Signers agreed to support the concept of an open Internet and the general principle that legal content, applications and services shouldn’t be blocked. In cases where certain classes of legal content, services and apps are unavailable on a product, they agreed not to use the term “Internet access” to describe or market the products, and to ensure they communicate any restrictions effectively to consumers. They also committed to supporting the provision of clear and transparent traffic management policies. Ofcom will monitor compliance with the commitments, and the code includes a process for raising concerns about possible negative discrimination. Signers are BE Broadband, British Telecom, BSkyB, KCOM, giffgaff, O2, Plusnet, TalkTalk, Tesco Mobile and Three. The Internet Telephony Services Providers Association welcomed the action but said it’s “unfortunate” that not all communications providers signed up. ITSPA members have long been concerned about the traffic management and transparency practices of some providers, particularly mobile operators, said Chair Eli Katz. He cheered the companies for allowing VoIP services on their networks and not adding charges. The code appears to build on Ofcom’s “pragmatic approach to net neutrality,” said Ovum analyst Matthew Howett. ISPs and over-the-top players generally recognize that managed services are needed to build and maintain a sustainable Internet model, he said. It’s an area of constant evolution and it’s “reassuring” that self-regulation is being explored, rather than a “heavy-handed and possibly premature intervention from the regulator,” he said. Howett urged the Broadband Stakeholder Group to clarify what “full Internet access” means.

The FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau sought comment on a petition by GroupMe, which allows users to communicate through standard text messages by using the GroupMe app, for clarification on two issues under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. “GroupMe claims that these clarifications are needed to address the status of these technologies and services under the statute and implementing regulations,” the CGB public notice said (http://xrl.us/bnh6rd). GroupMe and several other companies are the target of class-action lawsuits based on the TCPA’s definition of autodialer and classifications of group text-based services, the bureau said. GroupMe asked the FCC to clarify the meaning of the terms “automatic telephone dialing system” (ATDS) and “capacity,” as used in 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(1). GroupMe also asked the agency to clarify “for non-telemarketing, informational calls or text messages to wireless numbers, which can permissibly be made using an ATDS under the TCPA with the called party’s oral prior express consent, the caller can rely on a representation from an intermediary that they have obtained the requisite consent from the called party.” Comments are due Aug. 30, replies Sept. 10, in docket 02-278.

Netflix sees in itself “a once-in-a-generation opportunity ahead to build the world’s most popular TV show and movie service,” CEO Reed Hastings said in a letter to shareholders Tuesday accompanying the company’s release of its Q2 financial results. Asked on a webcast how the company can reach that goal by charging only $8 for monthly streaming subscriptions and still afford to pay content owners what they demand, Hastings said: “We've been charging $8 a month for streaming for several years and continue to grow the subscriber base and continue to grow the content. We're continuing to execute on that game plan. And that’s helped us to grow very considerably. So I don’t see what the issue is per se with an $8 service, if you get a lot of members, and that’s what we're focused on -- to be able to build up the content.” On the webcast, emailed questions were read aloud and Hastings answered them live. In Q3, viewership of the London Olympics likely will hurt new Netflix subscriber “sign-ups,” Hastings said in the letter. Netflix estimates it will have 1-1.8 million net subscriber additions in the U.S. in Q3, the letter said. “If we finish Q3 in the high end of that range, we would remain on track for 7 million domestic net additions for the year. Otherwise, it would be challenging to achieve that goal by year end. In either case, we are generating impressive growth this year in our most developed market.” In the letter, Hastings singled out HBO as having done “great work” with the HBO GO on-demand streaming service. “While we compete for content and viewing time with HBO, it is also possible we will find opportunities to work together -- just as we do with other networks,” he said. “Consumers who are passionate about movies and TV shows are quite willing to subscribe to multiple services.” Asked on the webcast to elaborate on how Netflix and HBO might collaborate, Hastings said: “I'm not sure what we would do. My point is that we're just another network, and when you have multiple networks, they often find ways of working together. So it’s a general point, that it’s not a zero-sum game between HBO and Netflix, and that in fact, there may be ways of working together. There’s nothing particularly pressing.” HBO is “not in discussions and has no plans to work with Netflix,” a spokesman said.