CTA and member company representatives spoke with an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai urging action on a June petition to allow presale of new RF devices before authorization (see 2006030044). CTA got general support when the FCC took comments in July (see 2007100042). “The unequivocal national priority of 5G deployment warrants an expeditious launch of the requested rulemaking proceeding,” said a filing posted Friday in RM-11857: “As the winter holiday season approaches, the requested interim waivers will benefit both companies and consumers.” This would bring policies “more closely in line with today’s marketplace realities.” Amazon, Samsung and Google were among attendees.

About one-third of U.S. employees, 51 million, worked remotely in 2019, NTIA said Thursday in initial results on internet use. The survey was done in November.

Comments are due Oct. 2, replies Oct. 19, in docket 20-221 on proposed changes to FCC ex parte rules, per a notice in Wednesday's Federal Register. Under the NPRM adopted in July (see 2007100034), exemptions would include some government-to-government consultations between it and federally recognized tribal nations and communications with certain program administrators such as the toll-free numbering and reassigned numbers database administrators. The FCC also seeks comment on requiring that all written ex parte presentations be submitted before the sunshine period and replies to them be filed within the first day of that period.

There’s no definitive schedule for the Food and Drug Administration to release the proposed rule on over-the-counter hearing aids (see 2008250030), despite House Republicans telling us last week they hope FDA will quickly put the rule out for public comment, emailed an FDA spokesperson Sunday. The FDA will release its next unified agenda update in fall, posting a date when the proposed rule is expected in the Federal Register, she said. It could be after the fall, she said. The agency missed its Aug. 18 statutory deadline for releasing the proposal.

Toshiba Visual Solutions withdrew from the UHD Alliance, the association told DOJ and the FTC in simultaneous “written notifications” July 28, said Friday’s Federal Register. The change-of-membership notifications are required to extend UHDA members antitrust protections under the 1993 National Cooperative Research and Production Act, said Morris. Hisense owns the Toshiba TV rights, and positioned the brand at the entry level with smaller screens (see 2008240021).

House Republicans are aware that the Food and Drug Administration missed its statutory deadline Aug. 18 under the FDA Reauthorization Act for releasing for public comment proposed rules on a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids (see 2008200024), said an aide. “We also understand FDA has been laser-focused on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and protecting public health,” said the aide. “We are in touch with FDA on a host of issues, and we’re hopeful proposed rules will be released for public comment soon.”

Congress should create a new Digital Platform Agency to oversee the digital marketplace, said ex-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Public Knowledge Senior Adviser Gene Kimmelman in a paper released Thursday. Phil Verveer, lead counsel in U.S. v. AT&T, also co-wrote the paper. Dominant tech companies followed their own rules to the detriment of consumers, they wrote. The group recommended an agency “with a new, agile approach to oversight built on risk management rather than micromanagement.” The group envisions an enforceable code of conduct for digital activities: “These markets are so wide ranging and self-reinforcing that our existing powers are not sufficient to address them.”

IQiyi said it’s cooperating with the SEC Enforcement Division as it seeks financial records dating to January 2018, after short-seller firm Wolfpack Research alleged April 7 the company, known as the Netflix of China, was “committing fraud well before” its initial public offering two years ago. IQiyi hired “professional advisers to conduct an internal review” into the allegations, it said Thursday. IQiyi parent Baidu has “zero tolerance for fraud,” said CEO Robin Li on a quarterly call. “When there is a short-seller for an issue against our subsidiary, especially one that's quite autonomous, it is important to get an independent opinion.” This “is part of good corporate governance, and we think this validation process is important to earn investors' trust,” he said. Li isn't involved in the review, he said: “With COVID-19 in the backdrop, one should expect this process to be longer than normal. In past cases without a pandemic, we have seen investigations lasting months and sometimes beyond a year.” IQiyi shares closed 11.2% lower Friday at $19.26. Baidu was down 6.3% at $116.74.

Technology mandates can stifle innovation and often are ineffective at addressing GPS service disruptions, the GPS Innovation Alliance commented to the National Institute for Standards and Technology. Only "vigorous enforcement" can keep illegal GPS jammers out of the hands of those wanting to use the technology for bad behavior, GPSIA said Monday. NIST is probing use of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services. The GPS industry supports exploring solutions to ways GPS signals can be threatened, though those solutions done in concert with the federal government require big development over time and the federal government needs to ensure its resources continue to be principally focused on maintaining and improving the existing system, GPSIA said. Global Navigation Satellite System signals are "obviously vulnerable" to jamming, ionospheric delay, poor satellite visibility in locations such as tunnels and parking garages, and the risk of errors in the signals themselves, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation said. It advocated standards and practices for validating, authenticating and verifying PNT signals. It said to prevent signal spoofing, consideration should be given to authenticating the civilian GPS signal, and authenticated ground-based PNT should be available to supplement and back up satellite-based GPS.

A Swiss digital game maker "falsely claimed" participation in a Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) program, the FTC alleged in a settlement Monday. Miniclip said it was a member of the Children’s Advertising Review Unit’s COPPA safe harbor program 2015-2019, but the FTC said the membership was terminated in 2015. Miniclip is barred from misrepresenting itself again. An attorney for the company didn’t comment.