"Millennials” are an “active audience,” with 65 percent in that age bracket using a second device while they watch TV, Verizon Digital Media Services said in the results of a survey released Friday. Millennials are those between 16 and 34 years old, About 75 percent of those using a second device are using that device to post on Facebook, and 73 percent use it to shop online, Verizon said. Millennials watch 34 percent of their total TV online, compared with 41 percent watched on live TV and a combined 25 percent watched through DVR or on-demand services, Verizon said. Millennials “will change the TV industry by consuming content online,” Verizon said. “They consume less linear TV and more online -- but the vast majority still have service from an MVPD [multichannel video program distributor]. And those that do are much more likely to subscribe to things like premium networks.” Millennials are responsible for $1.3 trillion in annual consumer spending -- 21 percent of all consumer spending, Verizon said. Hub Entertainment Research conducted the study, which included an online survey of 1,000 consumers -- 800 were in the Millennial age bracket -- and in-home interviews with eight Millennials (http://bit.ly/1cCcesk).

Comptel supports the petition by TracFone Wireless for a waiver of rules prohibiting retention of income-based and program-based eligibility documentation for the Lifeline program. Those rules should be waived for all eligible telecom carriers providing Lifeline service, the association of CLECs said in a filing Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1drIix1): “In the event of an audit or in-depth validation review by the Universal Service Administration [sic] Company or an investigation by the Commission’s Enforcement Bureau or Inspector General with respect to whether certain Lifeline beneficiaries meet the Commission’s eligibility criteria, requiring ETCs to review but not retain eligibility documentation puts them in the untenable position of being unable to provide proof to USAC or the Commission that those beneficiaries did in fact qualify for the service."

The number of times the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court authorized the gathering of telephone numbers from 2000 to 2013, including Internet and phone metadata, was at its highest from the first half of 2004 to the same period in 2008, said the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Monday (http://bit.ly/1i4zo8D). EPIC obtained the information (http://bit.ly/1crr0C5) through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Justice Department, EPIC said. “The reports reveal a dramatic increase in the use of these [surveillance gathering] techniques in 2004 and then a significant reduction in 2008, likely the consequence of a shift to other investigative techniques,” it said. “The documents show that nearly all applications to the Surveillance Court were approved without modifications,” it said.

The U.S. Trade Representative removed Israel from the Special 301 report watch list of countries that fail to sufficiently protect intellectual property rights, said USTR Michael Froman in a Friday news release (http://1.usa.gov/1hZTz7v). It said the Israeli passage of patent legislation fulfilled commitments the country made in a 2010 agreement with the U.S. pertaining to intellectual property.

The FCC can encourage efficient bandwidth use in schools and libraries “by adopting a system-level design method of evaluating applications and incentivizing the use of technologies and connectivity arrangements that maximize bandwidth efficiency,” Microsoft told aides to all five commissioners in meetings last week, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1gNiZ7k). Microsoft said it’s important that students take advantage of E-rate funded activities without having their data collected and sold for marketing purposes. Microsoft encouraged the FCC to “consider” an attached Fordham Law School paper on privacy and cloud computing in public schools (http://bit.ly/1hZ6LcP), which it said “demonstrates the need for concomitant efforts to protect student data in the digital education environment.”

The FCC “should not interfere with the healthy growth and evolution of technology and business models by favoring localities over private investors,” the Free State Foundation said on its blog (http://bit.ly/No91RA) Monday. Criticizing FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s Feb. 19 statement raising the possibility of federal preemption of state anti-municipal broadband laws, FSF said the goal of increasing competition is worthy. But the FCC’s “'hypothesis’ that local entities can achieve that goal has been proven wrong repeatedly,” said the group. “Government-owned systems have experienced widespread failure nationwide, and the localities have passed the cost of those shortcomings onto taxpayers. In contrast, the private sector has been the central source of impressive investment and efficient broadband deployment for years.” The most recent municipal failure is Burlington, Vt.’s network, Burlington Telecom, which recently reached a settlement with Citibank in its lawsuit over BT’s delinquent loans, said FSF. Municipal broadband supporters want the FCC to use the Telecom Act Section 706 authority Wheeler cited to preempt local laws limiting broadband network buildouts (CD Feb 24 p).

President Barack Obama touted two big industry commitments to his ConnectED initiative Friday. Adobe contributed more than $300 million of free software, and Prezi is giving $100 million in its licensed software, and combined with $750 million in commitments previously announced, the ConnectED contributions now exceed $1 billion collected in the past month, the White House said. The initiative is also tied to a revamp of the E-rate program, which the FCC has considered changing to focus on faster broadband speeds. Obama spoke at the White House Student Film Festival Friday afternoon and emphasized the importance of “empowering our students with the best technology in the world,” focusing on ConnectED. Obama framed fast broadband as key to competing globally against countries like South Korea and warned of the consequences of not doing so. “That’s like waving the white flag when it comes to our global competition,” he said of such a possibility. If people demand free Wi-Fi in coffee shops, they should also demand it in schools and libraries, Obama said. He said he started “picking up the phone” to get business leaders involved, prompting the investment. A billion dollars “isn’t too shabby for one month,” Obama added.

Dell will provide up to $22 billion worth of information technology services to the Department of Homeland Security and the General Services Administration, the company said in a Wednesday news release (http://bit.ly/1ptYe6R).

AT&T received between 2,000 and 2,999 national security letters during 2013, affecting between 4,000 and 4,999 customer accounts, said the company’s first national security request transparency report (http://soc.att.com/1j8il6O). The company also received between zero and 999 content requests under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, affecting between 35,000 and 35,999 customer accounts, said the report. The company released its total criminal and civil litigation demand statistics, which revealed 248,343 subpoenas, mostly criminal, 36,788 court orders, and 16,685 search warrants. AT&T challenged or rejected 3,756 of the total 301,816 requests, the report said.

The White House and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) said they plan to “announce progress” Thursday on the set of executive actions the White House issued in June aimed at combating abusive patent litigation. Those actions mainly involved changes at PTO (CD June 5 p12). The event will highlight the Obama administration’s “commitment to strengthening the patent system to ensure it encourages innovation and invention, inspires and rewards creativity, drives investment and spurs job creation,” the White House said Wednesday in an email to reporters.