The FCC moved another step closer to an H-block auction, with the Wireless Bureau releasing a public notice on the auction of 10 MHz of already cleared paired spectrum at 1915-1920 MHz and 1995-2000 MHz. The H-block auction is designated Auction 96 by the commission and is to take place “by or as early as” Jan. 14, Monday’s notice said. The FCC approved a report and order on the auction at its June 27 meeting (CD June 28 p1).

Acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn circulated a rulemaking notice seeking broad comment on the future use of the 1695-1710, 1755-1780 and 2155-2180 MHz bands. The NPRM circulated before the July 4 break, but just popped up on the commission’s public circulation list, agency officials said Monday. The notice is light on “tentative conclusions” and largely follows up on last year’s spectrum law, officials said. It also mentions a CTIA request that the FCC identify spectrum for distributed antenna systems.

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., urged FCC acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn to “tread carefully” as she considers any expansion of USF, according to a letter made public on Monday (http://1.usa.gov/12QWF57). Walden said Clyburn should seek to cap the overall fund at current levels in order to “provide families some certainty and minimize fluctuations in their monthly bills,” according to the letter. Walden said any expansion proposals should be referred to the Federal-State Joint Board on “whether to adopt expansion proposals and, if so, how to implement them within the cap.”

Samsung’s acquisition of Boxee potentially signals the start of a consolidation of streaming set-top box suppliers, as consumers increasingly turn to Internet-equipped videogame consoles, Blu-ray players, tablets, smartphones and TVs for viewing content, industry officials said.

AT&T’s proposed buy of Leap Wireless for $1.2 billon is a small fraction of the size of AT&T’s failed pursuit of T-Mobile in 2011, a $39 billion deal. In fact, the $3 billion breakup fee AT&T paid T-Mobile, plus spectrum, was bigger than the Leap deal. Nonetheless, the newly proposed transaction quickly stirred up opposition and is likely to see more as regulators at the FCC and Department of Justice consider it. The announcement (CD July 15 p1) caught FCC officials mostly by surprise, though CEO Randall Stephenson made a round of calls to the commission just before the news release went out, agency officials told us.

Major ad networks announced Monday a new set of best practices (http://bit.ly/145Pdsd) for websites that are “principally dedicated to selling counterfeit goods or engaging in copyright piracy,” in a move applauded by U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) Victoria Espinel. Signatories to the set of guidelines include 24/7 Media, Adtegrity, AOL, Condé Nast, Google, Microsoft, SpotXchange and Yahoo, which are participating “with the support of the Interactive Advertising Bureau” (IAB), Espinel said in a blog post announcing the best practices (http://1.usa.gov/14TDtal). “The Administration strongly supports voluntary efforts by the private sector to reduce infringement and we welcome the initiative brought forward by the companies to establish industry-wide standards to combat online piracy and counterfeiting by reducing financial incentives associated with infringement,” she said.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano said Friday she will resign in September. Napolitano, who was one of the first cabinet officials President Obama appointed at the start of his first term in 2009, said she’s stepping down to become president of the University of California system. While Napolitano’s departure is unlikely to fundamentally alter DHS’s role in federal cybersecurity matters, it may slow progress on implementing President Obama’s cybersecurity executive order, industry experts told us.

Reports about U.S. surveillance programs “really haven’t come up” in last week’s discussions about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), said Dan Mullaney, assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and chief U.S. TTIP negotiator, during a press conference Friday. “Those conversations are taking place in another channel” and “didn’t come up” as negotiators discussed trade topics including intellectual property rights and e-commerce, he said.

Data privacy has captured the attention of states, officials and stakeholders told us. Maine enacted a law requiring warrants for location tracking of cellphone and other electronic devices last week, overriding a veto from Gov. Paul LePage (R). Montana enacted a similar law in late June, the first of its type in the nation. It also covers social networking check-ins. The Texas Legislature considered a similar provision earlier this year. With more attention to surveillance and the world of smartphones and data, states need to act, stakeholders said, describing efforts to create model bill text for other states.

T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular tried to build a case for speedy approval of T-Mobile’s proposed buy of Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum covering 29 markets in the Mississippi Valley region for $308 million from U.S. Cellular. The deal was unveiled in late June (CD July 1 p16). T-Mobile will add spectrum covering St. Louis, Nashville, Kansas City, Memphis, Lexington, Louisville, Little Rock-North Little Rock, Birmingham and New Orleans, T-Mobile said.