There’s no need for legislation to change the nation’s antitrust laws, USTelecom, formerly USTA, said in comments filed late Fri. with the Antitrust Modernization Commission. The Commission was formed under a 2002 law to determine if antitrust laws should be changed. Four of its 12 members were appointed by the White House, 4 by the Senate and 4 by the House. USTelecom submitted testimony by former DoJ antitrust officials and a former FTC chmn. For example, James Rill, ex-DoJ antitrust chief, said it’s not only unnecessary but “unwarranted and unwise” to introduce legislation to modify the effect of the Trinko decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court said violations of the Telecom Act aren’t antitrust violations. Rill said Trinko was “entirely consistent with fundamental antitrust principles and strikes the right balance between antitrust and regulation.” Ex-FTC Chmn. Timothy Muris said it would be wrong to legislate rules against companies offering discounted bundled services. The history of antitrust enforcement “should give one pause about formulating aggressive rules against what is, at bottom, an important form of price competition,” Muris wrote.

A data broker snarled in a high-profile breach earlier this year has won a 5-year Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contract. ChoicePoint said Mon. the $20 million deal gives the IRS access to its custom data solutions. The award is for batch processing, which involves automated delivery and processing of data files, cutting the need for human intervention and enabling clients to generate relevant data on large populations in a timely fashion, ChoicePoint said. More than 25 federal agencies use ChoicePoint batch solutions to support their daily activities. The company in Feb. revealed the possible disclosure of data on more than 100,000 individuals in a breach, after which thieves defrauded numerous victims. Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Democrat Leahy (Vt.) called the deal “especially galling right now to be rewarding firms that have been so careless with the public’s confidential information.” ChoicePoint’s recent breach was scrutinized in recent Judiciary Committee hearings Leahy requested. “The dust has not yet settled and the investigations are incomplete on ChoicePoint’s lax security practices,” he said. “We should at least take a pause before rewarding such missteps with even more government contracts.” The senator added that Congress needs to study these contracts and the adequacy of their provisions to protect security and privacy and their penalties for failures. Leahy said the contract highlights the need for the legislation he and Chmn. Specter (R-Pa.) have drafted. The bill would place privacy and security front and center in evaluating whether data brokers can be trusted with govt. contracts that involve sensitive information.

A tuner module that can receive Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) shortwave as well DAB and analog AM/FM radio was announced by U.K. software developer RadioScape. It described its RS500 module as the basis for the affordable, integrated, multistandard digital radio receivers. The module builds on RadioScape’s radiOS architecture, which enables reuse of applications and features developed for the company’s RS300L DAB/FM module. Many features of the RS300L are in the new module, such as the PVR-like ability to pause and rewind radio and record to a memory card, as well as the ability to display and use electronic program guide data. DRM is the only global standard for the terrestrial digital broadcasting in the AM short, medium and long-wave frequency bands. It provides near-FM quality and covers great distances using lower transmission power and smaller amounts of spectrum than the analog AM frequencies. More than 20 broadcasters already are transmitting DRM, including the BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle, RTL Group, Radio Netherlands, and TDF. Receivers have been scarce, though, at least at affordable prices. “This is the breakthrough that DRM has been waiting for,” said Peter Senger, DRM chmn. and Deutsche Welle COO. “Until now there have only been a limited number of DRM receivers available. This new module from RadioScape will open up the market with easy to use, consumer priced, multistandard receivers in the same way that the company helped open up the DAB market.” Sample modules will ship in Aug., with volume production shortly after, RadioScape said. It forecast multistandard, multiband receivers based on the RS500 could be on the market for holiday at retail prices below $250 -- about 1/4 those of DRM receivers now.

Public TV stations will do what is necessary to preserve their editorial integrity, Assn. of Public TV Stations (APTS) Pres. John Lawson said. But “we have a very strong interest in not allowing this current controversy to become a partisan issue because it is not,” he told us, weighing in for the first time on the debate.

Microsoft is working with leading programmers -- “the Disneys, ESPNs, HBOs” -- on new advertising forms for IPTV, said Dir.-Partner Business Development Phil Corman. The forms will offset the risks to advertisers from viewers’ growing freedom by exploiting the constant detailed monitoring of their consumption to insert personalized ads during paused programs, offer infomercial-style long-form ads, and close sales immediately using interactivity, he said. “It’s not the death of advertising -- it’s the rebirth of new forms.” Corman also said IPTV will evolve from use of set-top boxes to systems on a chip that OEMs and CE makers will build into TV sets, but not for a few years because there’s no standard chipsets multiple vendors can deliver. “To make this happen, we need as many standards as possible.” Along the way, set-tops will move to retail and “get these off the RBOCs’ balance sheets and into Best Buy,” he said. Further along, various devices could serve as set-tops, including Microsoft Xbox’s and Media Center PCs, Corman said.

Sirius, though a year later to market than its rival XM and with less than 1/2 the subscribers, used various superlatives Thurs. to declare that it was the prime mover in satellite radio.

Battling bills in at least 10 states that seek to ban or curb their provision of broadband services, municipalities are enlisting new allies. Two reports released Mon. by groups including the Media Access Project and Consumer Federation of America counter cable and telephone incumbent arguments driving the bans. The reports followed a High Tech Broadband Coalition declaration of opposition to statewide barriers to municipal entry (CD April 8 p7).

Battling bills in at least 10 states that seek to ban or curb their provision of broadband services, municipalities are enlisting new allies. Two reports released Mon. by groups including the Media Access Project and Consumer Federation of America counter cable and telephone incumbent arguments driving the bans. The reports followed a High Tech Broadband Coalition declaration of opposition to statewide barriers to municipal entry (CD April 8 p7).

Bloggers and online political communication advocates say they're concerned about the possibility that the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) might extend campaign finance regulations to now-exempt Internet communications. Panelists at a Congressional Internet Caucus forum Thurs. said the rulemaking could affect not only extant forms of online speech, but might stifle types of communication as yet unknown. The discussion among FEC officials, bloggers and pundits followed last week’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking by the FEC (WID March 25 p1).

Around 4.5 million European homes could have Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) services by 2008, the BBC said this week. IPTV -- “telly over a phone or cable line” -- is said by analysts, experts and U.K. media regulator Ofcom to be TV’s future, the BBC said. The U.K. has 2 IPTV services. Home Choice customers have instant access to more than 10,000 hours of movies, TV shows and music. Programs can be paused and re-wound as with the Sky+ box and kindred personal digital video recorders. A 2nd IPTV service from Telco Kingston delivers programs and subscription channels via phone lines. However, the BBC doubts IPTV will become generally available without higher broadband speeds. As other technologies do, IPTV gives viewers more control over TV -- “a threat and an opportunity” in broadcasters’ eyes, the BBC said. IPTV could alter technology used to watch TV and boost convergence between devices and software, the BBC said. But Ofcom’s purview doesn’t extend to content sent via the Internet, exempting IPTV broadcasters from decency rules and the U.K.’s 9 p.m. “watershed.” The BBC noted support for a “PC tax” -- akin to the TV license fee -- charged those who don’t own a TV but watch programs online. More than 30 telcos and network operators are testing IPTV across Europe, with Italy’s Fast Web the most successful so far, the BBC said. British Telecom (BT) and other U.K. telcos plan such services; BT is talking to broadcasters about content for its broadband customers. However, BT doesn’t plan to broadcast itself, but to offer an IPTV service for time-delayed programs like football matches, the BBC said.