Fans and foes of retransmission consent rules framed it as a diversity issue, while an aide to a House Commerce Committee member said Congress seems unlikely to change the law anytime soon. Getting paid by multichannel video programming distributors like Time Warner Cable lets Univision add to its Spanish-language programming, General Manager Alberto Mier y Teran of the broadcaster’s Los Angeles stations said. Multichannel video programming distributors have less capacity for non-English programming because retrans and related rules require stations to be on the basic tier, Time Warner Cable Vice President Fernando Laguarda told a panel Wednesday at a U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce legislative conference.

The FCC’s Communications, Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council Thursday approved three reports designed to make use of the Internet safer for users. CSRIC approved reports recommending a voluntary U.S. Anti-Bot Code of Conduct for ISPs and domain name system (DNS) best practices, aimed at beefing up security and preventing spoofing. CSRIC also approved a certified registry allowing ISPs to validate the authenticity of routing information, with a goal of blocking Internet route hijacking, in which Internet traffic is routed through potentially untrustworthy networks.

The e-commerce industry is taking steps toward increasing mobile payments, but some measures concerning security, accessibility and system implementation must be put in place, lawmakers and mobile payment advocates said Thursday. Players in the mobile landscape must “make sure our financial structure is prepared to enter the new world of mobile banking,” said Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee Chairman Shelley Capito, R-W.Va. “Some aspects [of mobile payments] have been with us and some are in the beginning stages.” Government and industry must make sure that the payments are safe and secure, she told a hearing.

As Chinese telecom investments in the U.S. face tight scrutiny, common ground might occur if the Chinese firms become more open and transparent, several panelists said at the American Enterprise Institute Thursday. As Chinese telecom companies are expected to continue to expand and remain major global players, U.S. policy on Chinese telecom investment should be a work in progress, some said. The panelists also debated the benefits and security risks of Chinese telecom firms like Huawei.

AT&T overcharged U.S. businesses millions of dollars by improperly handling and billing thousands of Internet Protocol relay calls made by Nigerian scammers, the Department of Justice alleged in a complaint filed Wednesday. The DOJ says AT&T violated the False Claims Act by seeking payment for IP relay calls made by international callers who sought to use the system for fraudulent purposes. The Telecommunications Relay Services Fund has reimbursed AT&T more than $16 million since December 2009, of which up to 95 percent of payments were made for non-compensable IP relay calls, the complaint said.

An FCC advisory panel is the latest entity to back text-to-speech emergency alert system warnings (CD March 14 p8). All levels of government can trigger EAS in a format that starts June 30 without sending audio files that take bandwidth and time for broadcasters and pay-TV operators to download, the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council said. It voted unanimously Thursday to recommend the commission rework an order on the new Common Alerting Protocol format to OK text to speech.

Set-top boxes with a “deep sleep” feature that will further improve energy efficiency will be ready for field testing in 2014, the NCTA told the Department of Energy. Opposing federal mandates on the energy uses of boxes, the association said cable operators are deploying boxes with “light sleep” capabilities and providing software upgrades to embed that feature in existing boxes, which is projected to save 350 kilowatt hours in the first year. NCTA last week commented (http://xrl.us/bmy52a) on a DOE rulemaking on possible efficiency standards for set-tops and network equipment after a finding that the devices are covered products under the Energy Act.

SILICON VALLEY -- The Defense Department is puzzling over how to get ahead of unauthorized internal use of mobile devices, a cybersecurity official said. Department policy seeks to tightly control what hardware employees use, but “I think some bring-your-own-device stuff is happening anyway,” conceded Richard Hale, DOD’s deputy chief information officer for identity and information assurance. The department hasn’t figured out how to deal with the threat, he acknowledged at the IT Security Entrepreneurs’ Forum at Stanford University. “We hope to start experimenting based on some virtualization ideas over the next year,” Hale said late Wednesday.

The FCC is launching a task force to oversee the work the agency has to do to get ready for the upcoming auction of broadcast spectrum, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Wednesday. The task force will be overseen by former Wireless Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman. The announcement came amid questions about how quickly the FCC will be able to move forward on the auction, which is expected to be the most complicated in the history of the agency.

Senators asked Comcast and Verizon Wireless to respond to fears that their spectrum and marketing deals might harm competition. Testifying Wednesday at a Senate Antitrust Subcommittee hearing, officials for the top telco and top cable company said the spectrum acquisition is about putting unused frequencies to better use, and the marketing agreement is about consumer convenience. But other witnesses painted a darker competitive landscape with higher prices and fewer competitors.