CommLawBlog

Ready or not, here it comes: Campaign 2016. FHH presents the FCC’s political guru, Bobby Baker, to help broadcasters get themselves ready. If you thought 2015 was some kind of something when it came to politics, you can expect 2016 to be even more. Things are about to get considerably more serious on the campaign … Continue Reading

Short-circuiting conventional Paperwork Reduction Act requirements, the Office of Management and Budget has signed off on the strict auction-related rules just in time for the upcoming Broadcast Incentive Auction. The FCC’s Incentive Auction Report and Order, released June 2, 2014, included anti-collusion provisions forbidding– as of the close of the reverse auction application window (i.e., … Continue Reading

Appeals court tosses “disparagement” bar against registration of “offensive” trademarks Last May, our colleague Kevin “the Swami” Goldberg called readers’ attention to an interesting case wending its way through the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. It involves the rejection, by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), of an application for federal … Continue Reading

In addressing LPTV/translator future, FCC declines to loosen several regulatory leashes Low Power Television (LPTV) and TV translator stations face a difficult and uncertain future in the post-incentive auction context. Thanks to the auction (and the consequent spectrum repack), the FCC will reduce the number of channels available for television broadcasting – perhaps eliminating for … Continue Reading

Long-awaited opportunity for AMers now at hand. If you’re an AM licensee interested in taking advantage of the opportunity to file for an FM translator, get your calendar out: the Media Bureau has announced the dates for the two 2016 “modification windows” during which AM stations will have first dibs on available FM translators. These … Continue Reading

Down here in the CommLawBlog bunker, when Davina speaks, we all listen. You should, too. If you’re still feeling a bit lost when people around you start talking about the upcoming Broadcast Incentive auction, check out the podcast of our own Davina Sashkin. Available for streaming or download, free, at Washingtech.com (a relatively new addition … Continue Reading

More than six months ago we reported on some tweaks of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) that the FCC had adopted after analyzing the results of its 2011 national EAS test. While most of the changes kicked in last July, two revised sections of the rules – Sections 11.21(a) and 11.61(a)(3)(iv) – did not. That’s … Continue Reading

Terse provision slides through as part of massive annual appropriations act TV Joint Sales Agreements (JSAs) have been given a new lease on life, thanks to Congress and the President. Back in 2014, the FCC declared certain JSAs to be “attributable interests” and therefore subject to unwinding by June, 2016. But now compliance with that … Continue Reading

Copyright Office inquiry may lead to changes in the law that give consumers greater freedom over their belongings. Most people think that buying a toaster, say, lets you do anything you want with it. That may be wrong. Copyright law may limit your rights even as to products you bought and paid for. Here’s why. … Continue Reading

But District Court decision could be key to a return to the Supreme Court for Aereo-related issues FilmOn X’s fortunes have taken a turn for the worse. But for FilmOn X, that might not be a totally bad thing. Longtime readers will be familiar with FilmOn X, the Aereo doppelganger. When Aereo burst on the … Continue Reading

Online sign-ups start December 21 for hobbyists, March 31 for non-recreational drones As the final day of Hanukkah arrived and Santa’s Christmas Eve trek loomed just ten days ahead, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) complicated the lives of those of us who have given, or plan to give, their nearest and dearest this year’s Hot … Continue Reading

Irony alert: radio astronomy organization hands out fitness devices that threaten interference to radio-telescope operation. Wrist-worn activity monitors like the Fitbit are good for radio astronomers. But not so good for radio astronomy. Much as traditional astronomers use optical telescopes to see with visible light, radio astronomers use “radio telescopes” to observe distant objects by … Continue Reading

Some things to think about before you commit to buying that whiz-bang interconnected device Much has been made about the “Internet of Things” this year, in both the trade press and the popular media. As we’re placing our Amazon and Best Buy orders for holiday gifts, debating the merits of iOS vs. Android, i3 or … Continue Reading

An FCC order requires the resident either to find and fix the source of interference in his house, or else allow FCC staff to come in and do it. Mr. Edward R. Kozol of Lemont, Illinois, you have our sympathy. That cell tower south of where you live, over by I-395, is picking up interference. … Continue Reading

Way back in December of last year the Commission re-vamped its equipment certification rules. It took six months for those revised rules to make it into the Federal Register, and another month for the rules to become effective. The effective date also marked the deadline for petitions for reconsideration of the December order adopting the … Continue Reading

The 2015 elections are now in the books, but the 2016 election season, featuring federal campaigns (Presidential, Vice Presidential, Congressional) galore, is already upon us. Now’s a good time to be sure you’ve got a handle on the rules. The 2016 elections are a year away, but the race for presidential nominations is already heating … Continue Reading

As we reported yesterday, the Commission’s late-October “Second Order on Reconsideration” with respect to its channel sharing rules was published in the Federal Register on November 2, even though its predecessor, last June’s “First Order on Reconsideration” in the same matter, still hadn’t graced the Register’s pages. Whether that occurred by oversight or design, that … Continue Reading

But what happened to the First Order on Recon? its break-neck pace with respect to all things Broadcast Incentive Auction, the Commission has published its most recent order on channel sharing in the Federal Register. (We reported on that order when it was first released by the FCC just last week.). As a result of … Continue Reading

Dueling letters from SESAC and RMLC offer distinct alternatives for radio stations in their dealings with SESAC As we reported several months ago, in July the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC) reached a settlement agreement with SESAC that resolved RMLC’s antitrust lawsuit against SESAC and brought some measure of certainty and stability to the license … Continue Reading

Further evidence that the Broadcasting Incentive Auction is ramping up, and fast: the Commission has announced that it will be conducting a three-hour workshop devoted to the reverse auction process on November 17, 2015 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Representatives of the Incentive Auction Task Force, the Wireless Bureau and the Media Bureau will … Continue Reading

Translator windows, interference protection changes, MDCL … and adios to the ratchet rule Two years in the making, the FCC’s AM Revitalization decision (full name: “First Report and Order, Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, and Notice of Inquiry” – let’s just stick with Revitalization Decision, shall we?) has finally worked its way through the … Continue Reading

You can now unlock or get access to tablets, vehicle software, video games, and more – and stay within the law. Following congressional approval last year for the unlocking of cell phones, the Librarian of Congress has now adopted a broad exemption that permits the unlocking of all wireless handsets, including smart phones and “phablets.” … Continue Reading

Commission accepts back-up CSAs – with some caveats – and extends time to complete transition to shared facilities. In a further effort to encourage broadcaster participation in the reverse portion of the Broadcast Incentive Auction, the FCC has both (a) clarified its policies toward “back-up” channel sharing agreements (CSAs) and (b) increased the time available … Continue Reading

but the new rule still won’t be effective for some time. Last September we reported on the FCC’s decision to (finally) allow broadcasters to post on their websites the rules to contests they promote on the air. The Commission’s Report and Order has now made it into the Federal Register. That’s the good news. The … Continue Reading