EMI said it signed a deal with Microsoft to load music videos on the latter’s coming Zune digital entertainment devices. Details were sketchy Fri. Neither the deal terms nor when videos will become available was announced.

Correction: The FCC granted appeals from school districts denied E-rate discounts but didn’t act on whether they ultimately will get the funding, instead remanding the cases to the Universal Service Administrative Co. (WID Aug 17 p6).

Correction: The FCC granted appeals from school districts denied E-rate discounts but didn’t act on whether they ultimately will get the funding, instead remanding the cases to the Universal Service Administrative Co. (CD Aug 17 p6).

The last refrain of traditional music stores is being sung as they scramble to add new categories to reduce reliance on CD sales or face bankruptcy, industry officials said. The changing image of music stores has been under way several years with the emergence of download services. But it came to the fore this month when 4 major record labels cut off CD shipments to, and froze the credit lines of, 89-store Tower Records.

The FCC Wireline Bureau agreed to fund E-rate projects at 29 schools and libraries that had been turned down by the Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC). The bureau said USAC used a standard that wasn’t in effect when it rejected the projects because of price. Before funding year 2004, the FCC followed its 1999 Tennessee Order, which said price should be an important factor in evaluating bids but other factors also can be taken into consideration to evaluate whether an offering is cost-effective. In funding year 2004, the FCC released the Ysleta Order which said price has to be the primary factor. But the 29 applicants filed for funding years 2000-2003, all prior to the Ysleta Order’s stricter requirements, the bureau said. “We find that USAC improperly denied petitioners’ funding requests because it erroneously required petitioners to give more weight to price in the competitive bidding process than to any other factor,” the bureau said in an Aug. 15 order: “These petitioners filed their applications and initiated their competitive bidding process before funding year 2004. As such, USAC should have applied the standard the Commission articulated in the Tennessee Order, rather than the standard from the Ysleta Order that it actually applied.” The 29 institutions that appealed are spread across the country and P.R. and include school districts in Boston, San Diego and Cleveland.

The FCC Wireline Bureau agreed to fund E-rate projects at 29 schools and libraries that had been turned down by the Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC). The bureau said USAC used a standard that wasn’t in effect when it rejected the projects because of price. Before funding year 2004, the FCC followed its 1999 Tennessee Order, which said price should be an important factor in evaluating bids but other factors also can be taken into consideration to evaluate whether an offering is cost-effective. In funding year 2004, the FCC released the Ysleta Order which said price has to be the primary factor. But the 29 applicants filed for funding years 2000-2003, all prior to the Ysleta Order’s stricter requirements, the bureau said. “We find that USAC improperly denied petitioners’ funding requests because it erroneously required petitioners to give more weight to price in the competitive bidding process than to any other factor,” the bureau said in an Aug. 15 order: “These petitioners filed their applications and initiated their competitive bidding process before funding year 2004. As such, USAC should have applied the standard the Commission articulated in the Tennessee Order, rather than the standard from the Ysleta Order that it actually applied.” The 29 institutions that appealed are spread across the country and P.R. and include school districts in Boston, San Diego and Cleveland.

Sen. Burns (R-Mont.) is in a dead heat, tied at 47% with Democrat Jon Tester, new data by independent pollster Rasmussen Reports showed. The Commerce Committee stalwart is no stranger to close runs. This year, though, his ties to the Abramoff scandal -- the outlaw lobbyist will do time for fraud and tax evasion, but Burns escaped indictment -- stirred bad press at home and sent some staff packing, leading some to predict Burns would flame out. Burns has been active on such issues as adult Web content, the Universal Service Fund and spyware.

Resurrecting an idea first aired several years ago, the Federal-State Joint Board asked for comments on using “reverse auctions” to distribute universal service funds in rural and other high-cost areas. The idea gained currency earlier this year when FCC Chmn. Martin voiced interest in letting phone companies bid to provide universal service in rural areas (CD March 30 p6). The term “reverse auction” sometimes is used to indicate that low bidders, not high bidders, get contracts.

USTelecom’s lobbying bill was 8 times higher in 2005 than in 2002, thanks to telecom reform bills, filings with the Secretary of the Senate showed. NCTA lobbying outlays rose 68% in the same period, a notable gain for a sector typically not maintaining a strong presence on Capitol Hill because it’s lightly regulated. The lobbying disclosure reports, which must be filed twice a year, list contacts with House and Senate members and federal agencies.

More interim changes to the Universal Service Fund (USF) contributions system simply will delay reform, VoIP providers and others told the FCC in comments filed Wed. The FCC in a June order making interim fixes (CD June 22 p1), asked if more temporary changes were due. Commenters told the FCC not to waste time on interim fixes but to replace the revenue- based system.