The FCC should reject arguments made by AT&T against a proposal by Wilson Electronics, Verizon Wireless and other carriers for cell-booster rules, Wilson representatives said in a meeting with Wireless Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman and other FCC officials. “We reported that AT&T has endorsed nearly all of the operational requirements, interference safeguards, and technical standards” proposed June 8 by Wilson, Verizon, Nextivity, T-Mobile and V-COMM, Wilson said in an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bnieqg). AT&T subsequently told the FCC (CD July 5 p11) that Section 301 of the Communications Act “prevents the Commission from authorizing the use of third-party, consumer signal boosters on CMRS carriers’ exclusive-use spectrum without a license or licensee consent,” an argument Wilson said it countered during the meeting. “Empowering carriers to prevent consumers from using such signal boosters would defeat the purposes of establishing a safe harbor for consumer signal boosters; be wholly inconsistent with the Commission’s goal of broadening the use of properly-designed signal boosters to enhance wireless coverage for consumers; invite anti-competitive conduct by carriers; and threaten the growing market for consumer signal boosters,” Wilson said.

Half of U.S. and U.K. mobile gamers polled by Information Solutions Group for PopCap Games said they viewed mobile devices as their main home game platform, PopCap said Tuesday. PopCap, a division of Electronic Arts, estimates that there’s a 125-million mobile gamer population in the U.K. and U.S. Tablet-only players who were polled said they prefer home play on mobile devices even more, at 57 percent. The top five places to play mobile games were at home on the couch (69 percent of U.K. and U.S. gamers surveyed), at home in bed (57 percent), as a passenger in a car or on a bus or train (63 percent), waiting for an appointment (55 percent) and while watching TV (41 percent), PopCap said. Those who played mobile games exclusively on tablets said they played more at home on the couch (78 percent) and while watching TV (52 percent) than other mobile gamers, it said. Those who said they played mobile games only on a smartphone were more likely to play in situations that required waiting, such as while at a restaurant, in line at a store or at an appointment, it said. Many respondents reported playing mobile games in offbeat places. Ten percent confessed to playing mobile games in at least one of these venues: a church or other place of worship, in a car while driving, or in a theater while watching a movie, it said. But it said 3.3 percent of U.S. respondents admitted to playing a mobile game in a church or other place of worship, compared with only 0.7 percent in the U.K. Eight percent said they had played mobile games while in class at school, while 9 percent had played at a sporting event, PopCap said. Nine percent of mobile gamers surveyed said they had been late or missed an appointment, class, ride or flight because they were in the middle of playing a mobile game, it said. The results of the study were based on 2,301 online surveys that were completed in the U.S. and U.K. April 25-May 1 by people who said they owned and used a mobile phone, PopCap said. Among the mobile phone owners, 1,004 were identified as mobile gamers -- those who played a game on their mobile phone in the past month, it said. Of the mobile device owners, 712 were also identified as smartphone owners, while 361 were identified as tablet owners, it said.

Half of U.S. and U.K. mobile gamers polled by Information Solutions Group for PopCap Games said they viewed mobile devices as their main home game platform, PopCap said Tuesday. PopCap, a division of Electronic Arts, estimates that there’s a 125-million mobile gamer population in the U.K. and U.S. Tablet-only players who were polled said they prefer home play on mobile devices even more, at 57 percent. The top five places to play mobile games were at home on the couch (69 percent of U.K. and U.S. gamers surveyed), at home in bed (57 percent), as a passenger in a car or on a bus or train (63 percent), waiting for an appointment (55 percent) and while watching TV (41 percent), PopCap said. Those who played mobile games exclusively on tablets said they played more at home on the couch (78 percent) and while watching TV (52 percent) than other mobile gamers, it said. Those who said they played mobile games only on a smartphone were more likely to play in situations that required waiting, such as while at a restaurant, in line at a store or at an appointment, it said. Many respondents reported playing mobile games in offbeat places. Ten percent confessed to playing mobile games in at least one of these venues: a church or other place of worship, in a car while driving, or in a theater while watching a movie, it said. But it said 3.3 percent of U.S. respondents admitted to playing a mobile game in a church or other place of worship, compared with only 0.7 percent in the U.K. Eight percent said they had played mobile games while in class at school, while 9 percent had played at a sporting event, PopCap said. Nine percent of mobile gamers surveyed said they had been late or missed an appointment, class, ride or flight because they were in the middle of playing a mobile game, it said. The results of the study were based on 2,301 online surveys that were completed in the U.S. and U.K. April 25-May 1 by people who said they owned and used a mobile phone, PopCap said. Among the mobile phone owners, 1,004 were identified as mobile gamers -- those who played a game on their mobile phone in the past month, it said. Of the mobile device owners, 712 were also identified as smartphone owners, while 361 were identified as tablet owners, it said.

The U.S. International Trade Commission released “The Year in Trade 2011,” its annual overview of the previous year's trade-related activities. The Year in Trade 2011 includes complete listings of antidumping, countervailing duty, safeguard, intellectual property rights infringement, and section 301 cases undertaken by the U.S. government in 2010. In addition, the 2011 report covers:

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is seeking volunteers to participate in the document imaging system trial, said CBP in a CSMS message. The pilot allows importers and brokers that use ACE to submit official CBP documents and specified Participating Government Agency (PGA) forms via the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).

The Food and Drug Administration said the Office of Management and Budget approved its survey of "Health Care Providers' Responses to Medical Device Labeling." The FDA submitted the proposed information collection to OMB March 8, it said. The approval expires July 31, 2015. A copy of the supporting statement for this information collection is at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Further information: Daniel Gittleson, 301-796-5156 or Daniel.Gittleson@fda.hhs.gov.

Sound recordings protected only by state copyright law nonetheless fall under federal jurisdiction when it comes to immunity provisions protecting Internet services, New York’s highest civil trial court ruled Tuesday. The New York Supreme Court decision came in a two-year dispute between Universal Music Group and on-demand streaming service Grooveshark. UMG said Grooveshark infringed its copyrights for recordings made prior to 1972, after which recordings fall under the federal Copyright Act. It’s the second loss for a record label on the applicability of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe-harbor provisions to pre-1972 tracks, with EMI losing on the point in U.S. District Court in New York last year in the MP3tunes suit (WID Aug 24 p1).

Sound recordings protected only by state copyright law nonetheless fall under federal jurisdiction when it comes to immunity provisions protecting Internet services, New York’s highest civil trial court ruled Tuesday. The New York Supreme Court decision came in a two-year dispute between Universal Music Group and on-demand streaming service Grooveshark. UMG said Grooveshark infringed its copyrights for recordings made prior to 1972, after which recordings fall under the federal Copyright Act. It’s the second loss for a record label on the applicability of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe-harbor provisions to pre-1972 tracks, with EMI losing on the point in U.S. District Court in New York last year in the MP3tunes suit (CED Aug 24 p6).

Section 301 of the Communications Act “prevents the Commission from authorizing the use of third-party, consumer signal boosters on CMRS carriers’ exclusive-use spectrum without a license or licensee consent,” AT&T officials said in a meeting with FCC staff. The company officials took issue with part of a proposal for cell booster rules by Verizon Wireless and Wilson Electronics, said an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bndr5p). “AT&T said signal boosters are not eligible for ‘blanket licensing’ under § 1.903(c) of the rules unless a licensee consents to use of a signal booster on its network. AT&T noted that the Verizon Wireless/Wilson proposal to presume licensee consent upon satisfaction of certain technical standards directly conflicts with Section 301.” But the AT&T filing said FCC staffers responded that the commission is considering a “a signal booster licensing regime akin to blanket licensing for mobile handsets, in which licensee consent is required before a signal booster may be operated on a licensee’s network.” AT&T “expressed support for an explicit carrier consent requirement,” the filing said.

The Media Bureau’s Audio Division proposed a $3,000 fine against a winner of an FM license in Auction 91 for failing to submit a Form 301, long-form application in time. The applicant, Joseph Tesiero, had asked the commission to waive its deadline and accept his late application. In addition to proposing the fine, the bureau granted Tesiero’s waiver.