Consumers should be able to determine and correct the information data brokers have about them, said FTC Commissioner Julie Brill during a Computer Freedom and Privacy keynote speech Wednesday. She suggested a “Reclaim Your Name” initiative. It “would give consumers the knowledge and the technological tools to reassert some control over their personal data,” she said.

CEA President Gary Shapiro hailed Aereo’s streaming-video service as a technology “disrupter” in his keynote Q&A with Aereo CEO and founder Chet Kanojia at CE Week. Calling Aereo’s TV service the kind of innovation that government shouldn’t “mess up,” Shapiro referred back to the Betamax case that set a precedent for a recording product to be legal “if it has significant legal uses and the legal use is recording over-the-air broadcasts.” The Sony v. Universal case opened the door for a “whole range of technology to come in,” Shapiro said. The decision defined the consumer electronics industry for the next 30 years, he said.

BRUSSELS -- The 700 MHz band will likely be harmonized globally for mobile broadband services at the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2015 but under three different band plans, speakers said Wednesday at a Forum Europe spectrum management conference. The goal of WRC-15 is to coordinate use of the 700 MHz and other bands, but the Radio Regulations don’t deal with band plans, Joaquin Restrepo, ITU Radiocommunication Bureau head of outreach and publication services division, said. If the 700 MHz band is coordinated for wireless uses, but there are separate band plans for the U.S./Canada, China and the rest of the world under the Asia-Pacific band plan, then economies of scale, roaming and interoperability will suffer, he said.

The FCC is ignoring a potential interference problem in the incentive auction and failing to drive consensus, said NAB Executive Vice President Rick Kaplan in a blog post Tuesday (http://bit.ly/17AeYn2). In response to a blog post by Wireless Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman (CD June 24 p1) endorsing a variable band plan -- in which wireless and broadcast operate use the same spectrum in different areas -- Kaplan said the FCC is not considering the widely held “consensus” belief that such a plan would lead to crippling co-channel interference. “Most notably, in [the FCC’s] unyielding quest and determination for reclaiming variable amounts of spectrum in different markets, the inherent interference consequences of a variable approach are simply being ignored,” said Kaplan. “The staff steadfastly refuses to study the issue with any rigor, model it or even ask a single question about it."

Competition in the video market is evolving, and the FCC’s reporting process on cable and video pricing should be reevaluated, GAO said Tuesday in a report (http://1.usa.gov/12nHwXG). With technological advances, companies are increasingly distributing video online, the report said. Online video distributors “are developing a variety of business models, including free and subscription-based services,” it said. But, “online viewing and revenues represent a small portion of overall media viewing hours and revenue,” it said.

Lengthy and repeated retransmission consent violations harming six TV stations owned by Disney, News Corp. and other major broadcasters led FCC members to approve a proposed $2.25 million fine against a master antenna operator. Affiliated companies known as TV Max and by other names violated retrans rules for more than a year in the Houston market, and continued after the Media Bureau in December (CD Jan 3 p11) required the firm to stop the alleged violations, said a commission notice of apparent liability Tuesday. The NAL said that after transactions to “evade responsibility for its ongoing violations,” the “flagrant,” “longstanding” and “egregious” violations didn’t lead to an even higher proposed fine because the company has “only” 10,000 customers, operates in a single market and isn’t part of a larger cable operator.

FCC staff are working behind the scenes on rules for the incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum, even as it remains unclear when Tom Wheeler will be confirmed as chairman of the FCC, agency and industry officials say. While approval of auction rules will likely have to wait for Wheeler, the staff working on the auction is expected to do what they can in coming months, so they can present the new chairman with various options on the rules, including on the 600 MHz band plan, for quick decision once he arrives.

Sprint Nextel shareholders approved SoftBank’s buy of 78 percent of the U.S.’s third-largest wireless carrier. FCC approval is expected shortly, industry and FCC officials say. Industry sources said they have been told that an order approving the merger moved from the Wireless Bureau to the office of acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn, though a spokesman for Clyburn declined to comment.

BRUSSELS -- The idea of harmonizing spectrum nationally, at the European level and even globally, is gaining ground but won’t be easy, speakers said Tuesday at a Forum Europe spectrum management conference. Europe and other regions are focused on the 700 MHz band, whose ultimate use will be a major topic at the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2015, but other bands may also be suitable candidates, they said. But some cautioned that harmonization must be better defined and that it isn’t always a good thing.

NATOA has engaged in “behind the scenes” meetings, Traylor added. “NATOA has been in contact with PCIA.” NATOA also kicked off meetings with the FCC, starting last week, he said, describing talks with Commissioner Ajit Pai in conjunction with the National League of Cities and the National Association of Counties. He recounted that meeting in an ex parte filing posted June 24 (http://bit.ly/145ktoQ). The local advocates hope to include the National Conference of Mayors in talks soon, he said. The stakeholders should look at how to help parties “come to agreements” of their own accord and develop common definitions in facing these problems, he said.