The FCC could consider pausing future increases to minimum service standards for mobile broadband capacity to seek comment because the current formula continues to “yield increasingly high results” as data consumption increases and the availability of unlimited data plans grows, said the Wireline Bureau’s Lifeline marketplace report listed in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. The bureau said the commission could also revise the current formula for calculating increases since the majority of Lifeline subscribers are mobile wireless subscribers and 93% of subscribers use less than 4 GB monthly, and 75% less than 1 GB. The bureau will release a public notice by July 31 on the updated standard levels effective Dec. 1, as required by the 2016 Lifeline order. The bureau suggested the commission could consider modifying its phase-down in support for voice-only services due to concerns about subscribers who may want just voice-only Lifeline plans. The report suggested requiring Lifeline providers provide information about the data, speed and minutes of use associated with its Lifeline plans to better measure availability.
Steel nail importer Hilti, Inc. filed a consent motion to stay proceedings on June 30 in its Court of International Trade case challenging the legality of the expansion of the Section 232 tariffs to cover steel and aluminum “derivatives” pending a key U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit opinion on the same topic. CIT recently halted liquidation of Hilti's entries pending the resolution of the case (see 2106300032). Hilti wants to pause the case until the Federal Circuit reaches an opinion in PrimeSource Building Products v. U.S. CIT previously held in the PrimeSource case that the Section 232 tariff expansion onto derivative products violated statutory time limits. Counsel for Hilti conferred with Ann Motto of the Justice Department, who consented to the stay (Hilti, Inc., v. U.S. et al., CIT # 21-00216).
LG announced Dolby Vision HDR at 4K 120 Hz, underscoring its focus on premium gaming in the C1 and G1 series OLED TVs. Firmware version 03.15.27, now rolling out, makes LG’s C1 and G1 series OLED TVs the first capable of supporting the latest Dolby Vision update, said the company Monday. LG’s OLED Z1 series, QNED mini LED QNED99 series and NanoCell NANO99 series TVs will also get the update in July, said the company. More 2021 and 2020 TV models are being tested for Dolby Vision gaming in either 60Hz or 120Hz, it said. The firmware update also brings a game dashboard feature to 2021 LG TVs equipped with Game Optimizer. The floating on-screen menu, designed to replicate the head-up display found in many games, shows the TV’s settings and allows users to switch among genres -- standard, first-person shooter, role-playing or real-time strategy -- without pausing the action. The dashboard shows the status of other modes such as whether black stabilizer, low latency and variable refresh rate are activated. Users can launch the Game Optimizer directly from the dashboard.
A federal judge chided a Florida counsel at virtual oral argument Monday on the state’s law regulating social media regulation, asking “if you've ever dealt with a statute that was more poorly drafted.” U.S. District Court in Tallahassee Judge Robert Hinkle had a laundry list of questions for the state counsel. He plans to rule Wednesday on a preliminary injunction against the law that would otherwise take effect Thursday (see 2106250028).
A federal judge chided a Florida counsel at virtual oral argument Monday on the state’s law regulating social media regulation, asking “if you've ever dealt with a statute that was more poorly drafted.” U.S. District Court in Tallahassee Judge Robert Hinkle had a laundry list of questions for the state counsel. He plans to rule Wednesday on a preliminary injunction against the law that would otherwise take effect Thursday (see 2106250028).
A federal judge chided a Florida counsel at virtual oral argument Monday on the state’s law regulating social media regulation, asking “if you've ever dealt with a statute that was more poorly drafted.” U.S. District Court in Tallahassee Judge Robert Hinkle had a laundry list of questions for the state counsel. He plans to rule Wednesday on a preliminary injunction against the law that would otherwise take effect Thursday (see 2106250028).
Video streamers are feeling “overwhelmed” by the number of over-the-top streaming options available, said a Wednesday Horowitz Research report. Consumers are feeling the “pain” and fatigue of having too many streaming services to choose from, as content has become fragmented across multiple, access-restricted streams, it said.
The New York Public Service Commission suspended implementing the state’s broadband affordability law that was enjoined last week by U.S. District Court in Central Islip, New York (see 2106110064). Interim Chair John Howard issued a one-commissioner order Monday to pause case 21-M-0290 “pending further developments or court orders.” The stay applies to a May 20 order granting temporary exemptions to some small ISPs and a May 28 notice that sought comments by Friday on the law’s applicability to DSL services with lower than 25 Mbps downloads.
The New York Public Service Commission suspended implementing the state’s broadband affordability law that was enjoined last week by U.S. District Court in Central Islip, New York (see 2106110064). Interim Chair John Howard issued a one-commissioner order Monday to pause case 21-M-0290 “pending further developments or court orders.” The stay applies to a May 20 order granting temporary exemptions to some small ISPs and a May 28 notice that sought comments by Friday on the law’s applicability to DSL services with lower than 25 Mbps downloads.
European and U.S. former government officials said they think the U.S. and European countries will find much common ground in efforts to make trade work for working people, but that getting on the same page with China will be a challenge.