Oral arguments on whether a nationwide preliminary injunction against Aereo should be issued while the broadcasters’ case against the streaming service is tried on the merits will be in U.S. District Court in Manhattan Wednesday, said court filings in the case. Aereo has “paused operations nationally” on its own, but has argued that the court should not issue such an injunction, and argued that it should receive the same compulsory copyright license issued to cable companies. "Aereo is entitled to a compulsory license under the Copyright Act, and no preliminary injunction should issue on remand," Aereo has said. Aereo’s argument is based on the majority opinion in the ABC v. Aereo U.S. Supreme Court decision in broadcasters' favor in June (ref:1409040014), which said Aereo’s service bore a close resemblance to a cable system and should therefore be bound by the same copyright and retransmission consent rules. The U.S. Copyright Office has said it doesn't believe Aereo is eligible for a compulsory copyright license. Aereo has also taken to the FCC its argument that it's a multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD), meeting with Chairman Tom Wheeler, Commissioner Ajit Pai, and numerous commission staffers, including Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake, General Counsel Jonathan Sallet, and aides to Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Jessica Rosenworcel and Mike O’Rielly. The meetings concerned reports that the commission is re-opening a proceeding on whether over-the-top video providers should be considered MVPDs, said an ex parte filing Friday (http://bit.ly/1z89QEa). “We believe that clarifying the MVPD definition to narrowly include linear online video services like Aereo’s would have clear benefits to consumers, creators and distributors alike,” said Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia in a post on the Aereo website. Meaningful competition for regular MVPDs from over-the-top providers “can only materialize and develop into a sustainable business in a stable and certain regulatory environment,” said the ex parte. “Timely” FCC issuance of an NPRM on redefining online services as MVPDs action “is crucial” to Aereo’s ability to bring a competing OTT service to market, the ex parte said.
Antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on boltless steel shelving units prepackaged for sale from China will continue, after the International Trade Commission on Oct. 10 unanimously voted that there is a "reasonable indication" that U.S. industry is being injured by dumped and illegally subsidized imports. The next step is the Commerce Department’s preliminary determination, at which point AD and CV duty cash deposits may be required on imports of steel shelving from China. Commerce’s preliminary findings are due Nov. 19 in the CV duty investigation, and Feb. 2 in the AD duty investigation.
The Commerce Department issued the final results of its countervailing duty administrative review on magnesia carbon bricks from China (C-570-955). The agency calculated new CV duty cash deposit rates for about 125 Chinese exporters. These final results will be used to set final assessments of CV duties on importers for entries between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2012.
Oral arguments on whether a nationwide preliminary injunction against Aereo should be issued while the broadcasters’ case against the streaming service is tried on the merits will be in U.S. District Court in Manhattan Wednesday, said court filings in the case. Aereo has “paused operations nationally” on its own, but has argued that the court should not issue such an injunction, and argued that it should receive the same compulsory copyright license issued to cable companies. "Aereo is entitled to a compulsory license under the Copyright Act, and no preliminary injunction should issue on remand," Aereo has said. Aereo’s argument is based on the majority opinion in the ABC v. Aereo U.S. Supreme Court decision in broadcasters' favor in June (ref:1409040014), which said Aereo’s service bore a close resemblance to a cable system and should therefore be bound by the same copyright and retransmission consent rules. The U.S. Copyright Office has said it doesn't believe Aereo is eligible for a compulsory copyright license. Aereo has also taken to the FCC its argument that it's a multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD), meeting with Chairman Tom Wheeler, Commissioner Ajit Pai, and numerous commission staffers, including Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake, General Counsel Jonathan Sallet, and aides to Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Jessica Rosenworcel and Mike O’Rielly. The meetings concerned reports that the commission is re-opening a proceeding on whether over-the-top video providers should be considered MVPDs, said an ex parte filing Friday (http://bit.ly/1z89QEa). “We believe that clarifying the MVPD definition to narrowly include linear online video services like Aereo’s would have clear benefits to consumers, creators and distributors alike,” said Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia in a post on the Aereo website. Meaningful competition for regular MVPDs from over-the-top providers “can only materialize and develop into a sustainable business in a stable and certain regulatory environment,” said the ex parte. “Timely” FCC issuance of an NPRM on redefining online services as MVPDs action “is crucial” to Aereo’s ability to bring a competing OTT service to market, the ex parte said.
The Commerce Department issued the final results of its antidumping duty new shipper review on fresh garlic from China (A-570-831). In this review, Commerce is setting new individual cash deposit rates for two companies, Jinxiang Merry Vegetable Co., Ltd., and Cangshan Qingshui Vegetable Foods Co., Ltd., that were previously subject to the China-wide rate.
The "user-oriented subsystems" of the Tesla Model S electric vehicle "have more in common with a tablet or smartphone than they do with a conventional automobile," IHS said Tuesday in a preliminary "teardown" report (http://bit.ly/1vZVLDO). In designing the Model S, Tesla "really wanted to do things differently and employed virtual controls -- rather than physical knobs and buttons -- to take over the user experience," IHS said. "This approach required a major investment in big displays and touch panels, similar to the approach Apple took when designing the iPhone and iPad." The electronics "cost structure" of the Model S, the use of large displays in the cabin and its use of touch-screen controls make "the Tesla experience more like a media tablet or high-end smartphone than a traditional automobile," it said. "It’s like looking at the components from the latest mobile device from an Apple iPad or Samsung Galaxy product. When it comes to the user-facing segment of the Model S’s electronics, the company has radically departed from business-as-usual in the automotive market." The "huge" 17-inch display and touch screen on the Model S are "much larger than the average automotive infotainment interface," it said. Use of an Nvidia Tegra 3, 1.4-GHz quad-core processor gives the Model S "computing power in the same league with recent smartphone and tablet designs," it said.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website Oct. 10, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at http://adcvd.cbp.dhs.gov/adcvdweb.
The Commerce Department published notices in the Oct. 10 Federal Register on the following AD/CV duty proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The Commerce Department issued its final determination in the antidumping duty investigation on non-oriented electrical steel from Germany (A-428-843). This final determination is effective Oct. 14.
The Commerce Department issued its final determination in the antidumping duty investigation on non-oriented electrical steel from Japan (A-588-872). The agency will refund retroactive cash deposits it collected on all Japanese exporters except JFE Steel and Sumitomo, after partially reversing its finding of critical circumstances. This final determination is effective Oct. 14.