The International Trade Commission published notices in the Sept. 25 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent, and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will appear in another ITT article):
The FCC Media Bureau is seeking comment on what expenses would be eligible for reimbursement from the $1.75 billion TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund established by the Spectrum Act, said a public notice released Monday (http://fcc.us/16CqgkV). The bureau wants input on a preliminary “Catalog of Eligible Expenses,” which contains categories and descriptions of costs broadcasters and multichannel video program distributors are most likely to incur as a result of broadcaster channel reassignments, said the PN. The proposed catalog -- issued with the PN as an attachment -- lists a wide range of possible costs, including new receiver antennas, paying attorneys to complete relocation paperwork, and renting interim facilities during the repacking. The catalog is an “initial summary of common expenses broadcasters and MVPDs may incur,” and the bureau wants commenters to “identify any additional expense categories that they believe should be eligible for reimbursement.” Along with kinds of expenses, the bureau is looking for “specific price information” for the relocation costs -- the catalog doesn’t include any dollar amounts. The PN also seeks comments on the possibility of mitigating channel reassignment costs through bulk purchasing and economies of scale. “Are there ways to encourage manufacturers and service providers to establish prices with built-in discounts that reflect the volume of business that channel reassignments will generate?” asks the PN. The bureau is also looking for comment on whether companies seeking reimbursement from the fund should be required to obtain competitive bids for costs over a certain threshold. “Should the Commission require competitive bids any time a broadcaster requests reimbursement from the Fund for a particular type of equipment or service (such as for the construction of a new tower)?” asks the PN. The bureau is also seeking comment on “ways in which broadcasters can incorporate interim equipment into their permanent facilities, thus saving the expense of potentially purchasing the same equipment twice,” the PN said. Comments on the public notice are due Oct. 31, reply comments Nov. 14, the PN said. The commission will also hold a public workshop to discuss cost and cost mitigation issues associated with relocation on Sept. 30.
The Society of Professional Journalists wants an end to the phone metadata surveillance by the National Security Agency. It joined an amicus brief from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press asking the Supreme Court to grant a preliminary injunction to the American Civil Liberties Union in the ACLU v. Clapper case, said a Friday press release (http://bit.ly/18kWkNJ). The brief made a point of “emphasizing the deleterious effect that the NSA’s program has on the media’s ability to report on highly sensitive issues that are of great interest to the public,” it said, saying “the most meaningful stories in journalism -- particularly those related to national security -- have relied on confidential sources, and that constant government surveillance makes those confidential sources increasingly hesitant to provide information to journalists knowing that their identities could easily be discovered.”
The Society of Professional Journalists wants an end to the phone metadata surveillance by the National Security Agency. It joined an amicus brief from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press asking the Supreme Court to grant a preliminary injunction to the American Civil Liberties Union in the ACLU v. Clapper case, said a Friday press release (http://bit.ly/18kWkNJ). The brief made a point of “emphasizing the deleterious effect that the NSA’s program has on the media’s ability to report on highly sensitive issues that are of great interest to the public,” it said, saying “the most meaningful stories in journalism -- particularly those related to national security -- have relied on confidential sources, and that constant government surveillance makes those confidential sources increasingly hesitant to provide information to journalists knowing that their identities could easily be discovered.”
The recent influx of subsidized Chinese hardwood plywood products to the U.S. market is devastating the local U.S. hardwood plywood industry and other industries, three lawmakers, including Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Sept. 19. Senator Wyden praised the ITC’s December 2012 preliminary investigation (here) that determined U.S. industry suffered from Chinese hardwood plywood imports. The Commerce Department previously determined Chinese subsidies on hardwood plywood products were illegal (here).
The International Trade Commission published notices in the Sept. 20 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent, and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will appear in another ITT article):
The Commerce Department is beginning antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on chlorinated isocyanurates from Japan and China, respectively, according to a Sept. 19 fact sheet released by the agency. Clearon Corp. and Occidental Chemical requested the investigations Aug. 29, alleging dumped and illegally-subsidized imports of the pool cleaning chemical from Japan and China are undercutting prices and hurting industry profits (see 13090320). CV duties against Chinese imports would come on top of an existing AD duty order issued in 2005.
The Commerce Department issued its final affirmative countervailing duty determination on hardwood and decorative plywood from China (C-570-987). Although this final determination takes effect Sept. 23, Commerce will only require CV cash deposits of estimated CV duties if it issues a CV order.
Antidumping duty cash deposit rates will rise across the board for importers of hardwood and decorative plywood from China (A-570-986), after the Commerce Department issued its final affirmative antidumping duty determination. The final determination is effective Sept. 23.
U.S. District Judge Laura Swain in Manhattan denied ABC’s motion for a preliminary injunction to bar Dish Network’s PrimeTime Anytime and AutoHop features. PrimeTime Anytime allows Dish subscribers to record prime-time shows and save them for up to eight days, while AutoHop allows them to play back those recordings commercial-free. Swain denied the motion Wednesday in an opinion and order that was sealed because many of the documents submitted for and against the injunction were marked confidential, her order said. She gave both sides until next Wednesday to request which portions of those submissions should be redacted in her final opinion and order. The denial is the third time a federal court has denied an injunction motion by one of the major broadcast networks against PrimeTime Anytime and AutoHop, Dish said. It declared the latest denial, as it had the earlier ones, a victory for consumers. ABC downplayed the ruling as “only a preliminary decision and the first step in the judicial process.” ABC still believes AutoHop and PrimeTime Anytime “breach our retransmission consent agreement” with Dish, the network said in a written statement. Those features also “infringe upon ABC’s copyrights, and unfairly compete with the authorized on-demand and commercial-free options currently offered by ABC and its licensees,” it said.