July 2014

Congress passes cellphone unlocking legislation

The House unanimously voted to make it easier for consumers to take their mobile phone with them when they switch carriers or travel overseas.

Because of a quirk in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, "unlocking" cellphones so they can be used on other networks is illegal, as it involves circumventing the technological protections of copyrighted software on the phones.

President Barack Obama said, “I applaud Members of Congress for passing the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act. The bill Congress passed today is another step toward giving ordinary Americans more flexibility and choice, so that they can find a cell phone carrier that meets their needs and their budget.”

Working to Ensure Public Safety Has Cutting-Edge, Reliable Communications

The US Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is working to ensure our nation’s first responders have access to the most advanced communications when responding to an emergency or natural disaster.

NTIA is working closely with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), an independent authority within the agency, as it works towards creating a nationwide public safety broadband network. In support of that effort, NTIA also is working to ensure states are prepared to take full advantage of this network once it is deployed.

[Fletcher, Associate Administrator, Office of Public Safety Communications]

FCC Requests Comment On Implementation Of CSRIC III Cybersecurity Best Practices

In March 2012, the FCC’s third Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC III) unanimously adopted voluntary recommendations for Internet service providers (ISPs) to combat three major cybersecurity threats: (1) botnet attacks; (2) domain name fraud; and (3) Internet route hijacking.

The FCC seeks comment from ISPs, the Internet community, consumer organizations, and the broader public on the implementation and effectiveness of the CSRIC III recommendations and/or alternatives that stakeholders have developed since the time of the CSRIC’s original work to address these challenges; and on the implementation status and effectiveness of voluntary recommendations, or alternatives, by ISPs and other members of the Internet community.

The FCC is particularly interested in comment on the following questions as they relate to the four broad areas of CSRIC’s best practices:

What progress have stakeholders made in implementing the recommendations?
What barriers have stakeholders encountered in implementing the recommendations?
What significant success stories or breakthroughs have been achieved in implementing the recommendations?
What are stakeholders’ views and/or plans for full implementation of the recommendations?
How effective are the recommendations at mitigating cyber risk when they have been implemented?

FCC Approves Frontier Communications' Acquisition of AT&T's Connecticut Wireline Operations

The Federal Communications Commission has approved Frontier’s proposed acquisition of AT&T's local wireline, broadband and video operations in Connecticut.

The company is currently seeking approval from the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), and has already received Justice Department approval. Pending PURA approval, the company expects to close the Connecticut acquisition transaction in the fourth quarter.

Holding onto the triple play: How costs, caps and contracts will keep ISPs flush

As customers are finding more entertainment value in broadband -- either because they are spending all night on reddit or because they are streaming movies via Netflix or Apple’s iTunes -- they are increasingly questioning the value of the cable package.

And while these people may not be the dreaded cord cutters or cord nevers, they may attempt to cut the costs of cable by going for an economy package or signing up for service and then dropping it a few months later.

Together the combination of broadband data caps, contracts and cost reductions are helping cable companies transition from being in the pay TV business to being in the broadband business while attempting to keep their margins intact. It’s a thin line, but it’s one that its rivals in the telecommunications world walked a few years ago as they transitioned from wireline voice to mobile services.

Rep Latta Urges Senators to Pass STELAR

Rep Bob Latta (R-OH), vice chairman of the House Communications Subcommittee, has asked Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Committee Ranking Member John Thune (R-SD) to vote on and approve the House version of the STELA Reauthorization Act, which passed in the House.

Reps Latta and Gene Green (R-TX), who also signed the letter, point out that the House bill was bipartisan, that STELA needs to pass by the end of 2014 and that it includes targeted video reforms.

NFL Drive to Save Sports TV Blackouts Gains Steam

Some professional football fans have been flooding federal regulators with pleas to save a rule that keeps local National Football League games from being televised when the hometown stadium doesn’t sell out, thanks to a new push by the NFL to keep the restriction in place.

More than 500 comments have been filed at the Federal Communications Commission since July 21 and commissioners have been getting inundated with e-mails about the issue, according to agency officials. The NFL has convinced some fans that the rule is a good idea, arguing it will help prevent owners from moving games onto cable channels and off free local TV broadcasts.

Cities Seek FCC Help to Expand Broadband

[Commentary] Chattanooga (TN) and Wilson (NC) simultaneously petitioned the FCC to pre-empt laws in their states that ban the cities from expanding their high-speed Internet networks. The petitions are a move to lift all statewide bans on municipal broadband networks. More than 130 cities operate their own Internet networks, according to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance while some 21 states restrict such networks.

The state laws restricting municipal broadband have been backed, and sometimes written, by telecommunications companies led by AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Verizon Communications and Comcast. They argue it is unfair for them to compete with government, which doesn’t have to make a profit or pay taxes.

Court Finds FilmOn in Contempt

New York District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald has found FilmOn in contempt for continuing to deliver network TV station signals over the Internet after the Supreme Court found similar service Aereo in violation of copyright.

Judge Buchwald said, "FilmOn is not entitled to a license under § 111, and its retransmissions clearly and unambiguously fall under the scope of conduct barred by the Injunction." FilmOn will appeal the decision.

After moving money around, Google paid tiny amount in European taxes

Google continues to expand its use of legal, but questionable, tax shenanigans as a way to minimize its overseas tax burden.

According to Irish media reports, in 2013 Google Ireland Limited paid an effective tax rate of just 0.16 percent on €17 billion ($22.8 billion) revenue, which came to a mere €27.7 million ($37.2 million). Google paid €11.7 billion in “administrative expenses,” which The Irish Times reports “largely refers to royalties paid to other Google entities, some of which are ultimately controlled from tax havens such as Bermuda.”

Benton

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