The scope of proposed waivers for videogames and Web-enabled TVs and DVRs is too broad, say some advocates for people with hearing problems who plan to oppose the advanced communications services (ACS) exemption requests when the FCC takes comments. National Association of the Deaf, and Telecom for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Inc. officials said they're among the groups concerned about what the CEA and Entertainment Software Association seek. Exempting the wide array of consumer electronics from ACS disabilities’ access rules the commission is implementing under a 2010 law would hurt the deaf too much to warrant OK, and they're not specific enough about the need, NAD and TDI lawyers said. The CEA said the waiver it wants for Internet Protocol-enabled TVs and DVRs isn’t broad.
TV stations and cable operators have differing views on whether an FCC rulemaking notice asking whether to extend viewability rules for another three years signals that the commission’s stance has long been settled. The 1992 Cable Act’s viewability provisions are at stake, the NAB said, in the agency’s forthcoming order on whether operators must continue to carry HD and standard definition versions of broadcasters guaranteed cable carriage in systems not all digital. Bright House Networks was among NCTA members that voluntarily committed to three years of what the industry terms dual carriage, and the association noted that period has ended. They said the NAB is trying to force the industry to treat that commitment as if it has no expiration.
House Democrats and the FCC are targeting cellphone theft, using efforts revealed Friday. Leading Democrats on the Commerce Committee sent letters Friday to wireless carriers, device and operating system makers, asking how they protect their customers after their cellphones are stolen. Separately, committee member Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., proposed a law requiring carriers to track stolen devices. And FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the commission is working with industry and public safety officials to address the issue. CTIA promised to cooperate with the FCC and law enforcement. But the possibility that Congress could take on legislation raised red flags for groups that don’t often agree with each other.
Public Knowledge said the FCC should ask wireless and wireline carriers a series of questions about data caps. The Friday letter follows reports that the 4G version of the new iPad 3 is a data hog, quickly pushing many subscribers to exceed their data caps, often after only a few hours of streaming video. The FCC’s lack of follow up is “simply inexcusable,” said PK President Gigi Sohn. “The FCC will continue to monitor developments in this space,” an agency spokesman said Friday.
The number of entities involved in transactions processed in the mobile space raises many concerns and issues about oversight, consumer protections and privacy as electronic payments move toward a sophisticated mobile payments system, technology policy experts said Friday on Capitol Hill. Consumer protections already exist in the traditional payment world, said Mark MacCarthy, Software & Information Industry Association vice president. “Liability of unauthorized use is limited” for credit card account holders, he said at an event by the Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus. However, there are carriers, payment card companies and other entities involved when it comes to mobile payments, he said.
AT&T criticized the FCC for 1,900 call center layoffs at T-Mobile USA, saying the jobs would have been saved if the agency had approved the carriers’ deal to combine. T-Mobile has already re-emerged as a “vibrant competitor” in the short period since the deal collapsed, the FCC said. T-Mobile is closing seven call centers in three months and plans additional restructuring, the carrier said late Thursday. “It should be obvious that AT&T is speaking for themselves and not for T-Mobile,” T-Mobile USA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tom Sugrue said. “These decisions, while difficult, are about optimizing our business to better compete for the future."
DVRs, TVs and videogames with Internet access or other advanced communications services functions aren’t primarily ACS devices and shouldn’t be subject to new FCC disabilities accessibility rules, two trade associations said. The CEA sought a waiver from ACS rules under the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act for models of Internet Protocol-enabled sets and IP-enabled digital video players that are first made anytime before July 1, 2016. The Entertainment Software Association wants an exemption under the same section of the CVAA covering at least eight years of videogames and services, under provisions of an October order (CD Oct 12 p8) from the agency implementing CVAA and setting up a waiver process.
SILICON VALLEY -- Instead of being “held hostage” by companies like Google, perhaps consumers should be paid directly for their location information, a Verizon Wireless executive said. With Google, “you have to share if you want to use location at all,” said Laura Diaz, Verizon manager-new market development and strategy. Users should own data about where they go, but instead it’s applications providers that are making money on them, she said late last week at the GPS-Wireless Conference. Diaz said it would be a “great idea” if a consumer could say in effect, “fine: Take my data,” but pay up.
An ongoing standoff in Congress over reauthorizing the U.S. Export-Import Bank puts at risk an entity that has been increasingly important for satellite projects, say industry executives. The bank, which provides loan and loan guarantees for U.S.-made exports, is facing the expiration of its congressional authorization and possibly reaching the loan exposure limits of its charter, said Phil Cogan, vice president-communications. The bank has never lost its authorization and it remains unclear exactly what would happen if it did, he said.
The FCC needs to develop an “accelerated timeframe” if it’s to meet “its own goal of bringing 300 MHz of spectrum to market by 2015,” CTIA President Steve Largent wrote the agency’s members (http://xrl.us/bmy54z) and NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling. The letters urge the FCC to release a concrete timetable for fulfilling the requirements of recently enacted spectrum legislation. The letters come the day after Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the launch of a task force to prepare for an upcoming auction of broadcast spectrum (CD March 22 p1).