Stations and cable networks are taking steps to further inform viewers that a three-minute-long, first-of-its-kind nationwide emergency alert exercise is only a test, FCC officials said Thursday. Chairman Julius Genachowski and Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett acknowledged that there could be some viewer confusion during the Nov. 9 event. They said that’s because some cable encoder-decoders can’t add in additional test disclaimers during the exercise (CD Oct 13 p9). Pay-TV providers and broadcasters have been running public service announcements and otherwise informing viewers of the test.

Fox Networks’ online attempts to tie its ongoing programming cost dispute with DirecTV to a looming broadcasting deadline amount to strong-arming and intimidation, say critics of the tactic. While Fox Networks concedes the broadcasting stations aren’t immediately vulnerable as part of the dispute, the retrans deadline is close enough on the horizon to be a factor, said a Fox Networks spokesman. DirecTV and News Corp. are in a public fight over the cost of some Fox Networks cable channels, and Fox Networks has said the loss of 20 local stations remains a possibility.

CTIA said it asked to help defend the FCC against a federal lawsuit attacking the broad wireless exemptions in last year’s net neutrality order (CD Dec 1 p1). Meanwhile, net neutrality proponents were hailing a filing by a group of AT&T shareholders who urged the company to adopt open Internet principles for its wireless networks.

SAN DIEGO -- The future role of the set-top box, standards for connected TV and preserving the traditional TV viewing experience while expanding the universe of TV apps were key topics at the “Connected TV Platforms” panel at the CEA Industry Forum Wednesday. In a world that’s becoming increasingly untethered, the question of whether the set-top box will be “disintermediated” by Internet delivery of TV programming was a recurring question.

Advertising buyers should bar discrimination against media companies they purchase ads from, the group representing such agencies recommended. The recommendation that members of the American Association of Advertising Agencies adopt a non-discrimination policy in picking vendors, and let those that feel they've been discriminated against complain about alleged violations, comes after the 4As worked for years on such an initiative, industry officials said. In 2007 the FCC banned discrimination in broadcast advertising (CD March 7/08 p9). The commission’s reach doesn’t go beyond radio and TV stations, and so the ban on so-called non-urban or non-Hispanic terms in contracts can’t be enforced for the companies that buy commercials and the agencies they use to make those purchases.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, introduced legislation Wednesday to stem online theft of intellectual property, to a mixed reception from industry stakeholders and copyright advocates. Smith said the Stop Online Piracy Act, HR-3261, promotes American jobs by giving law enforcement and copyright holders more tools to bring action against infringing websites. Opposition groups jumped on Smith’s bill, saying it would impose unfair mandates and federal regulation on the computer and Internet industries.

Rep. James Langevin, D-R.I., prefers a comprehensive bill, rather than one that is piecemeal, to establish a cybersecurity policy, he said Wednesday at a Brookings Institution event: “I'd like to see a major piece of legislation make it through the Congress this year.” However, “I don’t know how realistic that is,” said Langevin, who co-chairs the House Cybersecurity Caucus and formerly chaired the House Homeland Cybersecurity Subcommittee: “We're waiting to see what the Senate will do.” The important thing is to get something done this year, he added.

Public safety believes it has enough GOP votes on the House Communications Subcommittee to approve an amendment there that would give them the 700 MHz D-block, a top Public Safety Alliance official said Wednesday on Capitol Hill. Dick Mirgon, the immediate past president of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, and John Walsh from America’s Most Wanted urged Commerce Committee leaders to stop delaying a spectrum markup in the Communications Subcommittee. “There is no reason” for the messing around that’s going on with this, Walsh said.

The Justice Department and FCC worked very closely together to review Comcast’s purchase of control in NBCUniversal, approved by the government and completed in January, officials from both agencies said during an American Bar Association webcast Wednesday. They laid out some behind-the-scenes interagency work in reviewing the multibillion-dollar deal, with collaboration that a lawyer for Comcast called “unprecedented.” Justice continues oversight of the joint venture Comcast and NBCUniversal created with former NBCU parent General Electric to house all of their programming assets. There are regular meetings of a committee overseeing Comcast’s compliance with terms of the department’s antitrust settlement with the company. That’s according to committee member and DOJ Antitrust Division attorney Yvette Tarlov.

Sprint Nextel reduced its net loss to $301 million in Q3 from $911 million it lost a year ago, and signed a non-binding cooperation agreement with Clearwire to work on specifications for the LTE network, CEO Dan Hesse said during a conference call Wednesday. Executives expect to sell one million iPhones in Q4 and predicted $7 billion to $8 billion in value from Sprint’s four-year contract with Apple.