There's reason to be “cautiously optimistic” the 3.5 GHz shared spectrum band will be a bigger usage success for the FCC than the TV white spaces have been (see 1605110015), emailed Doug Brake, telecom policy analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. “Making 150 MHz available where it is actually needed is huge,” Brake said. “There are a number of countries already using the band abroad, so we have some existing scale to work with. And there is healthy multistakeholder activity. But what deployment actually looks like is an open question. Given the short license terms, widespread investment from operators unfortunately seems out of the question -- the FCC is banking on there being enough momentum for other deployment scenarios. Carrier-neutral models are probably most intriguing, but a lot remains to be seen.” Brake said he's watching closely to see if there are any surprises in who files to be a spectrum access system administrator for the band.

Congressional, industry and advocate scrutiny has just begun on a controversial DOJ proposal to alter the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41 to expand federal judges’ ability to issue warrants for remote searches of computers outside their jurisdictions, stakeholders agreed in interviews Friday. At least one legislative challenge in the Senate is already likely. Opponents of the proposed Rule 41 revision said further attention will come, but may take time. The Supreme Court approved DOJ’s proposal Thursday as part of a larger set of changes to Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure that the court received from the U.S. Judicial Conference’s Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure. The Supreme Court forwarded the suggested revisions to Congress, which has until Dec. 1 to give its opinion on the proposals. The suggested revisions will automatically take effect if Congress doesn’t act to block them by then (see 1604280074).

Congressional, industry and advocate scrutiny has just begun on a controversial DOJ proposal to alter the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41 to expand federal judges’ ability to issue warrants for remote searches of computers outside their jurisdictions, stakeholders agreed in interviews Friday. At least one legislative challenge in the Senate is already likely. Opponents of the proposed Rule 41 revision said further attention will come, but may take time. The Supreme Court approved DOJ’s proposal Thursday as part of a larger set of changes to Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure that the court received from the U.S. Judicial Conference’s Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure. The Supreme Court forwarded the suggested revisions to Congress, which has until Dec. 1 to give its opinion on the proposals. The suggested revisions will automatically take effect if Congress doesn’t act to block them by then (see 1604280074).

The global music market achieved a “key milestone” in 2015 as digital became the “primary revenue stream” for recorded music, overtaking sales of physical formats for the first time, said the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry in its annual state of the industry report, as it sought copyright-policy changes. By the end of 2015, digital sales generated 45 percent of total revenue, vs. 39 percent for physical formats, said the report released Tuesday. RIAA recently reported that in 2015, for the first year ever, streaming was the largest component of music revenue, slightly higher than downloads (see 1603220061), and said tech companies aren't paying their share of royalties.

The global music market achieved a “key milestone” in 2015 as digital became the “primary revenue stream” for recorded music, overtaking sales of physical formats for the first time, said the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry in its annual state of the industry report, as it sought copyright-policy changes. By the end of 2015, digital sales generated 45 percent of total revenue, vs. 39 percent for physical formats, said the report released Tuesday. RIAA recently reported that in 2015, for the first year ever, streaming was the largest component of music revenue, slightly higher than downloads (see 1603220061), and said tech companies aren't paying their share of royalties.

The global music market achieved a “key milestone” in 2015 as digital became the “primary revenue stream” for recorded music, overtaking sales of physical formats for the first time, said the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry in its annual state of the industry report, as it sought copyright-policy changes. By the end of 2015, digital sales generated 45 percent of total revenue, vs. 39 percent for physical formats, said the report released Tuesday. RIAA recently reported that in 2015, for the first year ever, streaming was the largest component of music revenue, slightly higher than downloads (see 1603220061), and said tech companies aren't paying their share of royalties.

A last-minute campaign by Fight for the Future raised the public profile of the Copyright Office’s study of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s Section 512 ahead of Friday night's deadline for public feedback on the study. CO reported Monday that it collected more than 91,000 comments. Fight for the Future claimed credit Monday for generating more than 86,000 of the Section 512 comments via users who used its TakeDownAbuse.org website, which the digital rights group said had affected the performance of the federal government’s Regulations.gov website. Fight for the Future is planning to send the CO an additional 11,000 Section 512 comments collected after the filing deadline via a petition. The CO didn’t comment Monday.

A last-minute campaign by Fight for the Future raised the public profile of the Copyright Office’s study of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s Section 512 ahead of Friday night's deadline for public feedback on the study. CO reported Monday that it collected more than 91,000 comments. Fight for the Future claimed credit Monday for generating more than 86,000 of the Section 512 comments via users who used its TakeDownAbuse.org website, which the digital rights group said had affected the performance of the federal government’s Regulations.gov website. Fight for the Future is planning to send the CO an additional 11,000 Section 512 comments collected after the filing deadline via a petition. The CO didn’t comment Monday.

Law enforcement is seeing real problems as advanced encrypted technologies prevent the government from gaining access to people's communications devices during investigations, and trade-offs do need to be made, a top DOJ official said Thursday. David Bitkower, principal deputy assistant attorney general, spoke during an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) panel discussion on the encryption issue that pitted him against five others, whom he described jokingly as ranging from "extremely opposed to the government's position to really extremely opposed to the government's position."

Law enforcement is seeing real problems as advanced encrypted technologies prevent the government from gaining access to people's communications devices during investigations, and trade-offs do need to be made, a top DOJ official said Thursday. David Bitkower, principal deputy assistant attorney general, spoke during an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) panel discussion on the encryption issue that pitted him against five others, whom he described jokingly as ranging from "extremely opposed to the government's position to really extremely opposed to the government's position."