The Patent and Trademark Office will host its first trade secrets symposium Jan. 8, said a PTO news release Tuesday. U.S. government, industry and legal officials will discuss issues of trade secrets theft, including proposed legislation. The event will be at the PTO office in Alexandria, Virginia, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (see here to register).
AT&T needs to submit additional information by Monday on its proposed buy of DirecTV, including verifying that the population and density calculations for the one-square-mile areas that the telco submitted Oct. 7 are accurate, the FCC said Monday. AT&T’s Oct. 7 calculations don’t “correlate appropriately when the geographic unit of the grid is fixed at one-square mile,” the FCC said. AT&T also needs to clarify the accuracy of other data it submitted, including data on fixed wireless local loop (FWLL) coverage “in areas where no cell site is identified and cell sites where no FWLL coverage is identified,” the FCC said. The telco should provide further data explanations of several other aspects of its FWLL deployment, including its plans for sharing mobile spectrum with any spectrum proposed for the FWLL deployment and identify possible spectrum bands for the FWLL deployment, the FCC said. AT&T also needs to provide a definition of “cell edge” that includes signal strength, signal-to-noise ratio and link budget, the FCC said. AT&T is "collecting the data requested and will respond shortly," a spokesman said.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler doesn’t appear to understand how wireless carriers have long been regulated, said Fred Campbell, director of the Center for Boundless Innovation in Technology, Tuesday in a blog post. Campbell, Wireless Bureau chief under Republican Chairman Kevin Martin, cited remarks by Wheeler at last week’s FCC meeting. Wheeler said reclassifying broadband under Communications Act Title II would subject major carriers to the same rules they have lived under for 20 years, Campbell said. “Hint: It looks a lot more like case-by-case review under section 706 than ‘strong’ net neutrality rules under Title II,” he said. “Though mobile voice services are subject to the Title II ‘reasonableness’ obligations" in sections 201 and 202 of the Communications Act, "the FCC has not established per se rules to ensure that wireless carriers meet those obligations,” Campbell said. “The FCC generally relies on market forces to protect wireless consumers from unreasonable rates and unreasonable discrimination subject to a case-by-case complaint process to address potential market failures.”
The FCC should update its rules to promote competition among set-top devices that integrate pay-TV content with over-the-top services, said former FCC General Counsel Austin Schlick in an ex parte filed on Google's behalf Monday in docket 10-91. He said the FCC “should promote development of open, standard protocols that allow for devices that let consumers fully benefit from their [multichannel video programming distributor] subscriptions while integrating content accessed from the Internet.” Such rules would allow consumers to use “lower-cost or technically superior” devices and encourage innovation that “has yet to develop for navigation devices,” Schlick said. The FCC should create "open, standard protocols" for navigation devices that have "industry wide applicability," said the filing.
E-readers, whose primary purpose isn't advanced communications services, nonetheless are adding accessibility features, said a group of device makers seeking a longer waiver (see 1411120048) of FCC rules requiring accessibility. Improvements to "a number of products and services" show the commitment to accessibility by members of the waiver-extension-seeking Coalition of E-Reader Manufacturers, said that coalition in an ex parte letter posted Monday to docket 10-213. It responded to the National Federation of the Blind, which opposes a waiver extension, and other groups. The coalition said accessibility has been addressed by members including Amazon, which introduced the accessible Fire phone, and Sony, which developed entertainment access glasses with audio. Kobo is also a coalition member, and the group said the company has "maintained a number of accessibility features on its e-readers."
Programmers’ bundling of content is driving up the cost of cable packages beyond the most basic services, said Mediacom Group Vice President-Legal and Public Affairs Tom Larsen in meetings last week with FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake, aides to Chairman Tom Wheeler, aides to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, and Media Bureau and Office of General Counsel staff, said an ex-parte filing posted in RM 11728 Monday. Larsen discussed the arguments for limiting a content company’s ability to require bundles laid out in a Mediacom rulemaking petition (see 1410020048), and said the issue also makes it harder for cable operators to increase broadband capacity. “The cost demands associated with the programmers’ practices impeded expansion of broadband service into new areas,” Larsen said. Adopting rules preventing such practices is within FCC authority under the Communications Act, he said.
Comcast agreed to authenticate the HBO GO and Showtime Anytime apps on Roku streaming devices for Comcast subscribers who qualify, Roku representatives told the FCC in an ex parte filing Monday in dockets 14-28 and 14-57. Comcast and Roku have been in talks for "several months" on "a number of issues" and signed the HBO GO and Showtime Anytime agreement Nov. 25, the filing said.
The FCC sought comment Friday on its Technological Advisory Council’s Dec. 4 report on mobile device theft prevention. The Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology sought general comment on recommendations in the report, “with a particular emphasis on recommendations for industry that can be implemented in the near term to provide timely benefits to consumers,” the agency said. Mobile device theft has been a top focus for the TAC and for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler (see 1403110031). Comments are due Jan. 30, replies Feb. 17.
Pennsylvania’s two senators asked the FCC to act quickly to approve Comcast’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable. Comcast is based in Pennsylvania. “While we appreciate your commitment to a full, thorough review, we urge the Commission to act as quickly as possible,” Sens. Bob Casey, D, and Pat Toomey, R, said in a letter to the FCC Thursday. “We believe the merger between Comcast and Time Warner will produce extensive benefits to the public in terms of jobs and services for low-income households.” Comcast had informed the senators of many different benefits, they said.
Netflix wants to rest open Internet policy on a solid legal foundation, it said in an FCC ex parte filing. Netflix’s Open Connect content delivery network brings data to the locations of an ISP’s choice, “usually at common Internet exchange points or through localized caches,” it said. The filing pertains to a response to a query from Commissioner Ajit Pai (see 1412020044). Under the Open Connect program, “Netflix bears all of the costs of providing Open Connect equipment to any ISP that chooses to participate in Open Connect,” it said. “Open Connect does not prioritize Netflix data.” It helps ISPs reduce costs and better manage congestion, “which results in a better Internet experience for all end users,” it said. Netflix hasn’t impeded the use of proxy caches by changing protocols, it said. It has obscured certain URL structures “to protect our members from deep packet inspection tools deployed to gather data about what they watch online,” it said. Netflix discussed the points made in its response during an ex parte meeting last week with Pai and his staff, it said.