The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t budge in a 61-page “superseding opinion” (http://1.usa.gov/ZQNfYN) on Universal Music Group’s copyright infringement case against video-sharing service Veoh, now owned by Israeli social-content startup Qlipso. The original ruling went to Veoh, saying the service’s “general knowledge” of infringement by users wasn’t enough to overcome its safe-harbor protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and sent the case back to trial court to consider Veoh’s request for costs. A three-judge panel reheard the case at UMG’s request, attempting to square its analysis with that of 2nd Circuit judges, whose ruling months later favoring YouTube over Viacom in their infringement case led a Warner Bros. executive to say the circuit split would confuse copyright owners.

The House Judiciary Committee is looking at “all possibilities” for addressing cybercrime as part of the greater push on Capitol Hill to address cybersecurity issues, said Sam Ramer, the committee’s senior counsel. Cybersecurity is a “top priority” for Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., Ramer said at a Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee panel Friday. He noted the House Crime Subcommittee held a hearing Wednesday on cybercrime and possible reforms to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CD Mar 14 p1). There’s no singular “keystone” to addressing cybersecurity issues because those issues “affect so many different areas of our lives -- personal, commercial, R&D, medical,” Ramer said.

FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn offered an impassioned defense of the Lifeline program, responding to critics who've attacked what they've called an “Obama Phone” program that sends multiple free cellphones to the poor regardless of whether they meet the qualifications. “Allow me to set the record straight,” Clyburn said, according to prepared remarks delivered at a Consumer Federation of America event Friday. “Without this program, 15 million low income families would literally be choosing between feeding their children or going without a dial tone that potentially could save their lives.” Clyburn also expressed support for Internet Protocol interconnection requirements for the exchange of voice traffic as the industry transitions to all-IP networks.

Industry forces battered the tentative principles put forth by the NARUC Telecom Task Force, saying they're out of touch and potentially harmful, while consumer and rural advocates praised the way they elevate the state role. The association of state regulators assembled the task force at its fall meeting (CD Nov 14 p5) and offered up an initial statement of principles for comment, which were due March 8. The comments were posted Friday. The principles outline states’ roles in overseeing consumer protection, public safety and reliability concerns, competition, broadband access, affordability and adoption, interconnection, universal service and regulatory diversity, all in a way that preserves evidence-based decision-making (http://bit.ly/VFfk6k). NARUC President Philip Jones has said the task force’s end goal will be a new version of the association’s 2005 white paper on federalism, to be issued later this year.

When the next disaster strikes, the best practices recommended by the FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council will ensure the American public has access to a reliable public safety network, Commissioner Ajit Pai told CSRIC Thursday. CSRIC approved several reports designed to improve Internet security and 911 reliability and location accuracy. Zachary Katz, chief of staff for Chairman Julius Genachowski, praised the working group that he said “moves the ball in very meaningful ways,” with 92 percent of ISPs having adopted its recommendations. Public Safety Bureau Chief David Turetsky called the CSRIC results “nothing short of spectacular."

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., said Thursday at a subcommittee oversight hearing he’s concerned the FirstNet board is not sufficiently consulting state officials as it develops the first interoperable public safety network. Walden’s comments echoed the recent complaints of state public safety officials who told lawmakers they're not adequately involved in the decisions being made by the FirstNet board. The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act requires that the FirstNet board represent the interests of a broad range of stakeholders, including: public safety; states, territories, tribes and localities; and urban and rural representation.

WealthTV lost a challenge to the FCC’s denial of the independent network’s program carriage complaint against four cable operators, exactly a week after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument on the case. Thursday’s five-page decision from the three-judge panel said even if it had found some of the arguments correct that the agency erred on technical matters, they wouldn’t have changed the outcome. Judge Paul Watford asked mostly skeptical questions of the channel during oral argument, while Leslie Kobayashi’s one question also was skeptical and the third jurist, Richard Paez, asked no questions (CD March 11 p4).

Similar to the first comment round, reply comments on rules for an incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum found deep divisions among almost 100 parties that weighed in. There has been general agreement that the FCC’s proposed band plan needs major revision (CD Jan 29 p1). But there has been little consensus on answers to many of the questions raised by the FCC in a Sept. 28 NPRM.

The government plans to rely on the private sector to help foster information sharing and civil liberties protection standards as it works to implement the Obama administration’s cybersecurity executive order, said Ari Schwartz, senior Internet policy adviser at the Commerce Department. The order, introduced last month during the State of the Union speech, will focus on expanding information sharing, protecting privacy and civil liberties, and the development of a framework to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure, he said Thursday at a USTelecom event in Washington.

Two cybersecurity bills passed the House Science Committee Thursday. Both bills -- the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act and the Advancing America’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act -- were approved by the committee after multiple amendments were added. The former requires federal science agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, to develop and present to Congress “a strategic plan based on an assessment of cybersecurity risk to guide the overall direction of Federal cybersecurity and information assurance research and development for information technology and networking systems.” The latter amends the High Performance Computing Act to require federal science agencies to conduct periodic reviews and develop a strategic cybersecurity plan.