CommLawBlog

Slowly but surely the post-repack regulatory landscape for LPTVs and TV translators is getting established. Back in December, the Commission adopted a number of provisions addressing the predicaments likely to be faced by the LPTV/translator industries once the Broadcast Incentive Auction – and the consequent channel repack – and over and done with. As part … Continue Reading

Action paves way for continued equipment approvals in China, elsewhere As we’ve reported, about 18 months ago the Commission issued new rules modifying its equipment authorization procedures. Those procedures, of course, have long relied in large measure on independent labs that test devices and certify their compliance with FCC standards. In a key change, in … Continue Reading

Action paves way for continued equipment approvals in China, elsewhere As we’ve reported, about 18 months ago the Commission issued new rules modifying its equipment authorization procedures. Those procedures, of course, have long relied in large measure on independent labs that test devices and certify their compliance with FCC standards. In a key change, in … Continue Reading

With the voice of experience, the FCC’s sister Commission provides support, criticism. As we alerted you a couple of months ago, the FCC is in the process of crafting rules intended to protect the private/propriety information (PI) of those of us accessing the Internet through Internet Service Providers (ISPs). If eventually adopted, the rules would … Continue Reading

We suspect that a lot of our readers have been anxiously awaiting the D.C. Circuit’s latest decision in the Net Neutrality proceeding. Here it is, just released. We here in the CommLawBlog bunker haven’t yet had a chance to review and digest the 115-page majority opinion (co-authored by Judges David Tatel and Sri Srinivasan), much … Continue Reading

Fletcher Heald & Hildreth is proud to announce that it has become affiliated with the IURISGAL International Network of Law Firms, an independent network – the first and only network – of law firms capable of providing legal services to their clients in the Spanish language. IURISGAL presently includes nearly 40 firms located across four continents. … Continue Reading

FHH lawyer Mitchell Lazarus began his professional life as an electrical engineer … until he took a wrong turn, he says, and ended up in the law. But that hasn’t tarnished his cred among the tech audience, as demonstrated by his regular appearances in the pages of IEEE Spectrum, the leading global magazine for electrical … Continue Reading

In petitions for reconsideration, wireless Internet service providers and car manufacturers go head to head over out-of-band emissions limits. This was supposed to be a simple rule fix. Why are we still talking about it? An unlicensed band at 5.8 GHz is heavily used for Wi-Fi, among other things. It is a particular favorite of … Continue Reading

This summer, many competition-hungry spectators will flock to Rio for the Olympics. But others may prefer to stay home and watch a different competition unfold: the Spectrum Olympics, pitting Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) against Wi-Fi. The prize? Determining how best to share the 5.850-5.925 GHz band (also referred to as the “U-NII-4 band”). Two … Continue Reading

Answer: Unclear, but it could be more often that you might think. In the ongoing litigation over whether recording artists are entitled to performance right royalties for the public performance of pre-February 15, 1972 recordings, we have a new wrinkle. A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has … Continue Reading

[Blogmeister’s Note: To re-state an obvious but important point that our blogger, Kevin, has previously made, neither he nor we are “employment” lawyers. But readers and others have expressed enough interest in the coming changes to the federal minimum wage and overtime rules that he thought it a good idea to take a look at … Continue Reading

Commission seeks comment on steps to improve, expand accessibility of video-described programming Way back at the dawn of the century (the 21st Century, that is), the FCC adopted rules requiring video providers to include “video descriptions” in their transmission. “Video description” involves the insertion, into natural pauses in the program’s dialogue, of audio-narrated descriptions of … Continue Reading

Failure to respond to FCC notices can have adverse consequences. When the FCC proposed to fine Chinese company C.T.S. Technology $34,912,500 a couple of years ago for marketing jammers in the United States, we predicted it would have trouble collecting. Silly us – we underestimated the FCC’s problems in even communicating with C.T.S., which did not … Continue Reading

Bureau announces, sort of, deadline for eligibility for first post-Spectrum Auction displacement window. LPTV and TV Translator licensees have known for some time – at least since last December – that they’re going to need to be “operating” as of a certain date in order to be eligible for the first displacement window that will … Continue Reading

Three’s the charm, as the Third Circuit sends the FCC’s Quadriennial Review proceeding back to the Commission for a third time We once described the FCC’s quadrennial ownership review process as Sisyphean in nature. Keeping with that analogy, we can report that the rock has now rolled back down the hill … again. But this … Continue Reading

Just last week we reported on the FCC’s overhaul of the Lifeline program. The Commission’s sweeping decision has now been published in the Federal Register. As frequent visitors here know, that publication does a couple of things. First, it sets the effective date for some, but by no means all, of the new rules. That … Continue Reading

Congress increasingly focused on dictating spectrum use. If you have your eye on some spectrum for a particular use, you’d likely go to the FCC and participate in a rulemaking proceeding, or perhaps initiate one, proposing that the rules be revised to specify that your preferred spectrum could be used for your preferred use. Maybe … Continue Reading

FHH lawyer and CommLawBlog contributor Mitchell Lazarus recognized The National Spectrum Management Association (NSMA) is an organization of “like minded individuals who take spectrum and regulatory issues very seriously.” Many of its members have been in the spectrum business for decades. Proper stewardship of the spectrum, says their website, is not just “their job but … Continue Reading

Faster, simpler, cheaper process, but no greater support The federal Lifeline program – a program overseen by the FCC and originally designed to provide subsidized phone service to low-income households – has never been a model of efficiency or consistency. Four years ago the Commission tried to tighten things up on the Lifeline front. And … Continue Reading

If it’s May, it must be time for proposed regulatory fees – and sure enough, here they are! In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the FCC has got the ball rolling down the road that, for many regulatees, will lead us to a payment deadline sometime in September (or maybe August, but don’t count … Continue Reading

Recon, appeal deadlines also established Early last month we reported on the FCC’s “grant” of a petition by several organizations – Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, to be specific – who wanted the Commission to require the provision … Continue Reading

Three-day program in San Francisco will feature FHH’s Laura Stefani and Dan Kirkpatrick along with other eminent FCC practitioners providing insight into All Things FCC. Attention, all you Friends of CommLawBlog! San Francisco beckons, again. The American Conference Institute is presenting its second annual “FCC Boot Camp” program there from June 27-29, 2016. And this … Continue Reading

ATSC-designed transmission system promises lots of upside, minimal downside – as long as the FCC and marketplace cooperate. The broadcast television industry is resilient. Its core over-the-air technology was fundamentally changed with the transition from analog to digital transmission in 2009 and its spectrum habitat is about to shrink dramatically thanks to the Incentive Spectrum … Continue Reading

In connection with second-ever nationwide EAS test (now scheduled for September), FCC introduces new EAS Test Reporting System If you participate in the Emergency Alert System, it’s time to get out your calendars and circle Wednesday, September 28, 2016 – because we now know that that’s the day on which our friends at the Federal … Continue Reading

We recently reported on the Commission’s decision to impose numerous additional obligations upon rate-of-return regulated incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs), while leaving many rural ILECs with the same or even less compensation to satisfy the significant broadband build-out expenditures mandated by the new regulations. The FCC’s Report and Order, Order and Order on Reconsideration in … Continue Reading

We recently reported on a request for comments in which the FCC is seeking input on how it should incorporate new ANSI-adopted measurement procedures into its rules. That request has now made it into the Federal Register, which establishes the deadlines for comments and replies. Take note: the periods are shorter here than in many … Continue Reading

PMCM’s WJLP(TV), proud to be New Jersey’s full-service commercial VHF station Long-time readers will recall that, back in 2009, we reported on a mind-blowing proposal to take Station KVNV(TV), Channel 3, then licensed to Ely, Nevada, and relocate it about 2,500 miles east, to Middletown Township, New Jersey. The proposal was advanced by PMCM TV, … Continue Reading

Massive proposal would impose new limits, obligations on ISP use of private/proprietary customer data. Continuing its advance into the realm of privacy regulation, the FCC has proposed extensive rules that, if adopted, would impose a wide range of new regulations on Internet service providers (ISPs) in their provision of broadband Internet access service (BIAS). According … Continue Reading

Many readers will recall our promotional posts about the webinar on the current status of UAS regulation scheduled for last week. (Wait a minute – UAS? You may be more used to hearing about “drones”, but you’d better get used to referring to them as “Unmanned Aircraft Systems”, because that’s how the FAA refers to … Continue Reading

Cost support for ILECs goes down while network obligations go up On March 30, 2016, the FCC released a Report and Order, Order and Order on Reconsideration, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, imposing numerous additional obligations upon rate-of-return regulated incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs), while leaving many rural ILECs with the same or even … Continue Reading

Ranks of those eligible for minimum wage and time-and-a-half for overtime could swell with anticipated change in Department of Labor definition of “exempt employee” If you’re an employer or an employee, you’ll want to read this. The Department of Labor is in the process of reviewing its definition of “exempt employee” for purposes of the … Continue Reading

Public notice seeks guidance on incorporating new ANSI measurement procedures. This is one of those items that will interest only a few readers, but will interest those readers a lot. Along with technical requirements for many kinds of devices, the FCC prescribes measurement procedures for assessing compliance with those requirements. Some of these procedures are … Continue Reading