Google's "verbatim copying” of Oracle computer code into a “competing commercial product” wasn’t fair use, the Trump administration said in a Supreme Court filing Wednesday (see 2002190058). Also siding with Oracle in separate filings were USTelecom, the Motion Picture Association, the RIAA, the National Music Publishers' Association and the Copyright Alliance.
The “time lag” will be shorter on the release of future form 323 ownership data, said FCC Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey at an FCBA brown-bag lunch discussion Thursday, after being asked about the bureau’s recent release of 2017 ownership data. Carey and other Media Bureau officials at the event also discussed the transition from the consolidated database system (CDBS), upcoming rulemakings and ATSC 3.0. Carey said the bureau is already working on the data collected from the 2019 forms but didn’t say whether the next such report would include the most recent information.
States are responding to reports Frontier Communications might seek bankruptcy protection in the next month, said commissioners and other officials from five states in Frontier’s territory. All have ongoing or recent probes of the carrier’s service quality. Frontier has a public service “obligation to serve in their home territory, even when it’s unprofitable, even when it’s inconvenient,” said West Virginia Public Service Commission Chairman Charlotte Lane in an interview.
Seams are showing with the C-Band Alliance (CBA) that could affect selection of C-band relocation coordinator. Rather than as one alliance, the FCC's draft order should treat Intelsat, SES and Telesat as separate companies, Intelsat said in a docket 18-122 posting Wednesday. Meanwhile, Alaska carriers are pleased and Hawaii doesn't have concerns about being carved out of the FCC's C-band plan for the continental U.S.
With FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks hosting a field hearing in Puerto Rico Friday about the need for telecom network resiliency after widespread damage from hurricanes in 2017 (see 1710030057) and more recent earthquakes (see 2002130056), scheduled witnesses hope the hearing will call attention to Puerto Rico's plight and help the telecom industry strengthen its communications infrastructure. The Wireline Bureau is moving ahead with plans to allocate millions in funding to help such efforts.
Despite the broader focus on the C band and other mid-band spectrum, the FCC doesn’t appear to be moving toward action soon on the L band, industry and FCC officials said. But Ligado isn’t going away. As a result of recent financial developments, the FCC has until late 2020 to reach a decision. A lawyer close to Ligado said the company reached agreement with creditors on refinancing its debt, which buys time: The amendments extend Ligado’s cash runway and allow Ligado to defer its Inmarsat payments. All the FCC action at this point is in Chairman Ajit Pai's office and the Office of Engineering and Technology, officials said.
Reps. Donald McEachin and Abigail Spanberger, both D-Va., touted existing broadband legislation and sought input on additional measures during a Thursday event in Disputanta, Virginia. FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks noted his ongoing concerns about updated language in the commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund that won’t prevent ISPs that win bids for program funding from seeking additional support from state broadband programs but bars census block groups that received state subsidies for 25/3 Mbps from participation (see 2002070031). Industry and local representatives highlighted other barriers to rural broadband deployments.
DOJ is considering whether Section 230 creates the right incentives for platforms to maintain a safe internet, said Attorney General William Barr Wednesday. Tech companies are no longer underdog upstarts but titans of U.S. industry, he said during a workshop on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act: “Given this changing technological landscape, valid questions have been raised on whether Section 230’s broad immunity is still necessary, at least in its current form.”
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is already expanding beyond the recently released “Version 1.0”of its privacy framework, including plans to create a “guide to help small and medium-sized businesses build in privacy” using the document, said Director Walter Copan at a Wednesday Center for Strategic and International Studies event. The framework, released last month, provides a set of privacy protection practices for companies and other entities to use, along with related risk management strategies. The framework can provide a guide for federal and state lawmakers as they aim to enact privacy standards, though NIST has been careful to stress its document is meant to be entirely voluntary, officials said.
Dish Network for competitive reasons isn't ready to publicly discuss its wireless “go-to-market strategy,” said Chairman Charlie Ergen on a Q4 earnings call Wednesday. “We’re not that stupid to disclose that,” said Ergen.