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Tribune Company -- the bankrupt owner of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and six other daily newspapers -- is interviewing bankers about selling its papers, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The company seeking an adviser for a possible sale after the company exits bankruptcy, which is slated to happen by Dec. 31, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Selling some of Tribune’s papers would bring an influx of cash to the company after four years of bankruptcy. The new owners may hold onto the larger newspapers, such as the ones in Los Angeles and Chicago, and look to sell the smaller titles more immediately, said Reed Phillips, managing partner of investment bank DeSilva & Phillips LLC.

Rep Darrell Issa (R-CA), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is concerned that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will try to step beyond its legal power to regulate anti-competitive business practices.

In a letter sent to Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz, Chairman Issa demanded a staff briefing by Dec. 21 to discuss how the FTC views its power under Section 5 of the FTC Act. Issa encouraged the FTC to issue guidelines detailing how it views its authority under Section 5. "Such guidelines would provide the regulated community the certainty it needs when contemplating business practices," he wrote. Chairman Issa expressed concern that the "Commission appears to be putting its ambitions ahead of a responsible and measured use of its Section 5 authority." He argued that the FTC should not search for a case to test the limits of its legal power. He wrote that the agency should take action only if there is a clear violation of the law — not to further bureaucratic goals. He also criticized the agency for leaking details of the Google investigation to the press, saying disclosures of sensitive information are "counterproductive to the investigative process and should be stopped."

According to multiple sources, a majority of Federal Communications Commission commissioners have voted to approve the items allowing Dish to use its satellite spectrum for terrestrial wireless broadband and opening up adjacent spectrum (the H block )for wireless use as well.

The item had been scheduled for a vote at the Dec. 12 public meeting, but will be pulled if all the commissioners vote it before then, as is likely. The item was actually circulated for a vote several weeks ago, but then added to the public meeting list. There has been some complaint that the vote was being taken out of the public eye. The item is also apparently still being vetted for any technical issues with adjacent government spectrum per a standard interagency review process, though there are not expected to be any issues.

A US Court of Appeals finally will hear a Verizon challenge to Federal Communications Commission network neutrality rules. How the court rules could lead to big changes for the broadband access business. Specifically, if the court sustains the network neutrality rules, it is possible the “best effort only” rules that now apply to fixed access providers likely will be extended to mobile service providers as well. It is conceivable that new rules could be considered that extend FCC rules over terms and conditions of service, including such items as prices or data caps.

The case, which is before the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, is Verizon’s challenge to the FCC’s controversial network neutrality rules. There is much at stake. If the Appeals Court overturns the network neutrality rules, fixed and mobile network high-speed access services with quality of service features could be created and sold, either directly to consumers or to third party application providers. On the contrary, if the rules are sustained, some think the rules will be extended to mobile networks that arguably need quality of service mechanisms to maintain end user experience. Up to this point, the legality of the network neutrality rules as applied to mobile service providers has been unclear, as the FCC has said it has the authority to apply net neutrality rules, but simply has avoided doing so.