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On November 30, the major TV broadcasters made their second attempt to shut down Aereo, the digital TV service that was funded in great part by Barry Diller and launched this past March.
Arguing before a 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals panel, the challenge for the broadcasters was clear: They needed to convince the judges that a technology that already has been judicially certified as likely to irreparably harm the broadcasters also ran afoul of copyright laws. To this end, attorneys for the broadcasters spoke of Congress' intent when lawmakers crafted the legal underpinnings of the modern television industry. They also attempted to distinguish Aereo's system from a judicially blessed technology that was reviewed four years ago by the same appellate circuit.
TV Broadcasters Tell Appeals Court to Shut Down Aereo
Did you know which apps are looking at your contacts list? Your calendar? Your location? Even when apps provide information on what data they access, the notifications are often so cumbersome to read that users skip right over them. To curb that problem, app developers and privacy advocates have collaborated to come up with ways to better display privacy policy information and cut through the long, legal liability documents.
The App Developers Alliance (ADA), Consumer Action, World Privacy Forum and American Civil Liberties Union will present mock-ups of screens that offer quick-scan information on what data app developers collect and that who else has access to that data. The groups will present their proposal Nov 30 in Washington at a National Telecommunications and Information Administration meeting on app privacy and transparency. Jon Potter, president of the App Developers Alliance, said that it’s in developers’ best interests to let people know what data the apps use. “App developers have no interest in fighting with consumers,” Potter said. “We want them to be comfortable with using apps.”
App developers, privacy advocates work out suggestions for policy disclosure
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said that his goal is still to vote the Dish item by the end of the year. That is the FCC decision to open up satellite spectrum -- including that held by Dish -- for terrestrial mobile broadband use, but with restrictions Dish says could "cripple" its business plans. Asked at a press conference about the Dish item, which the chairman has circulated for a vote by the other commissioners, Chairman Genachowski said that if he did succeed in getting it voted by then it would be "by far the fastest the commission has ever resolved a rulemaking like this," but added: "We are still committed to getting this done by the end of the year." According to reports, he has already voted to approve the item, along with fellow Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel.
Chairman Genachowski Still Wants Dish Item Voted by Year's End
SoftBank and Sprint have filed applications seeking Federal Communications Commission consent to the transfer of control of various wireless licenses and leases, domestic section 214 authority, international section 214 authorizations, earth station authorizations, interests in submarine cable licenses, and cable television relay service station licenses held by Sprint and its subsidiaries, and by Clearwire to SoftBank. Additionally, Sprint and SoftBank, have filed a petition requesting a declaratory ruling that it is in the public interest for the foreign shareholders to hold foreign ownership and voting rights in Sprint and its post-transaction direct and indirect licensee subsidiaries in excess of the 25 percent foreign ownership benchmarks in section 310(b)(4) of the Communications Act.
The Applicants assert that the proposed transaction will benefit consumers by promoting greater wireless competition and broadband innovation and deployment. The Applicants also contend that, because SoftBank and Sprint are not competitors, and SoftBank has no attributable interests in any other U.S wireless carriers, its acquisition of a controlling interest in Sprint will not have adverse competitive effects or other public interest harms.
The FCC seeks public comment on the applications. Petitions to deny are due January 4; Oppositions are due January 22; and Replies are due February 1, 2013.
SoftBank and Sprint Seek FCC Consent on Wireless Deal
The Federal Trade Commission announced publication of an Interim Final Rule on identity theft “red flags” that narrows the circumstances under which creditors are covered by the Rule.
Congress directed the FTC, along with several banking agencies to develop regulations requiring “financial institutions” and “creditors” to develop and implement a written identity theft prevention program. By identifying “red flags” for identity theft in advance, businesses can be better equipped to spot suspicious patterns that may arise -- and take steps to prevent potential problems from escalating into a costly episode of identity theft. Under the Rule, Red Flag Programs must have four parts. First, the Program must include reasonable policies and procedures to identify signs – or “red flags” – of identity theft in the day-to-day operations of the business. Second, the Program must be designed to detect the red flags of identity theft identified by the business. Third, the Program must set out the actions the business will take upon detecting red flags. Finally, because identity theft is an ever-changing threat, a business must re-evaluate its Program periodically to reflect new risks from this crime. The agencies promulgated the Red Flags Rule in 2007. In December 2010, Congress enacted legislation narrowing the definition of “creditors” covered by the Rule. The amended Red Flags Rule now provides that a creditor is covered only if, in the ordinary course of business, it regularly:
- Obtains or uses consumer reports in connection with a credit transaction;
- Furnishes information to consumer reporting agencies in connection with a credit transaction; or
- Advances funds to or on behalf of a person, in certain cases.
The Commission is seeking comment on the Interim Final Rule for 60 days. After the expiration of the 60-day comment period and a review of the comments received, the Interim Final Rule will become final.
FTC Issues Amended Rule on Identity Theft “Red Flags”
House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) welcomed five incoming Republican members to the committee, including the return of former committee member Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX).
The new Republican members are:
- Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL)
- Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC)
- Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX)
- Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH)
- Rep. Billy Long (R-MO)
Chairman Upton Welcomes New Republicans to House Commerce Committee
Election year spending poured $3.1 billion into the broadcast television business, according to an analysis of Kantar Media's CMAG data by Marci Ryvicker, senior analyst at Wells Fargo.
About $2.9 billion was spent on local TV ads. The rest went to network and national spots. In October alone, there was $1.27 billion spent. The biggest contributor to spending was the presidential race, which contributed 41.8% of the ad dollars. Another 21.9% was spent in support of ballot initiatives. The markets that got the most political ad dollars were Los Angeles, Washington, Cleveland, Las Vegas and Denver.
Election Tally: $3.1B Spent on TV Ads
U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo ruled that Facebook has the right to exclude users if they install a program that alters the look of its website and swaps out its ad offerings.
In a ruling issued in San Diego, Judge Bencivengo dismissed an antitrust complaint filed by Sambreel, a controversial advertising company that offers products with names like PageRage that let users tweak the look of their Facebook page. The companies got in a bitter fight earlier this year after Facebook “gated” users who had downloaded the Sambreel products — meaning the users had to remove PageRage software before they could log on to the social network. Sambreel responded with an aggressive legal and public relations campaign, arguing that Facebook broke antitrust laws.
Judge Bencivengo, however, was having none of this:
There is no fundamental right to use Facebook; users may only obtain a Facebook account upon agreement that they will comply with Facebook’s terms, which is unquestionably permissible under the antitrust laws. It follows, therefore, that Facebook is within its rights to require that its users disable certain products before using its website.
Judge says “no fundamental right to use Facebook,” tosses antitrust case
Just like with static display ads online, we have become used to seeing targeted video ads on the web, mobiles and tablets. Now video ad targeting will come to the living room, when the UK’s two big pay-TV operators will soon start showing targeted ads to viewers in 2013. The launches could improve effectiveness of a TV advertising business that is still growing strong thanks to its mass broadcast appeal but which could wring out even more dollars by guaranteeing advertiser outlay.
Coming in 2013 – targeted TV ads
[Commentary] Sometimes Commissioners aren’t content to just vote on the orders the Federal Communications Commission issues. Instead, they feel the need to issue their own “separate statements”, explaining, justifying, hedging, etc., etc. their votes. We read a lot of those statements – it’s an occupational hazard.
As far as we can tell, such statements usually don’t add much to the Greater Good. After all, the FCC’s decision is the FCC’s decision, and the individual musings of one or another Commissioner may be marginally interesting, but they don’t affect the decision. They often seem intended primarily to bestow kudos on Commission staff members, members of Congress, various other notables, while articulating observations that, apparently, couldn’t garner a majority of the Commission (otherwise, presumably, they would have been included in the actual order, obviating the need for a separate statement). Which brings us to a separate statement of a different stripe. The Commission voted to close up a quasi-loophole in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a loophole that some members of the bar (other lawyers might refer to them as “brethren” but, frankly, we’d rather not) have apparently used to justify class action suits of dubious validity. And Commissioner Ajit Pai issued a separate statement in connection with the decision. We salute Commissioner Pai’s statement and commend it to our readers’ attention. It is a model of concision and directness. There is elegance (the order “ends the legal lacuna and the courtroom arbitrage it has inspired”), reference to the actual record before the FCC, and avoidance of the obvious cliché. And then there’s the citation which references a quote from The Big Lebowski. And it’s a righteous, on-the-money quote. Separate Commissioners’ statements don’t often rely on such sources.
Commissioner Pai: The Dude Abides.