CommLawBlog

STELAR-mandated changes permit market modifications for satellite carriage; some cable matters tweaked, too The market modification process is about to get, um, modified, and thanks to Congress, it will be more inclusive as a result. In fact, the FCC has already signed off on the changes and some, but not all, of them are set … Continue Reading

Just two weeks after its release by the Commission, the sprawling Public Notice setting out the details of how the Broadcast Incentive Auction is to be conducted has been published in the Federal Register. (We provided an overview of the notice here.) This triggers the 30-day period during which affected parties can seek reconsideration (by … Continue Reading

Deadlines, opening bids, other procedures are now set. The FCC’s preparations for the long-in-the-works Broadcast Incentive Auction have taken the final turn and are now barreling down the stretch. With a 300+ page Public Notice (including two appendices and an attachment) setting out the auction procedures and other important details, the Commission has filled in … Continue Reading

Here’s your chance to let the FCC know how to assess the “good faith” of parties to a retrans negotiation. While many (if not most) television licensees are likely trying to sift through the several hundreds of pages of FCC materials laying out the fast-approaching incentive auction process, it’s important not to lose sight of … Continue Reading

Import declaration rules waived for second half of 2016 Regular visitors to CommLawBlog know that the FCC maintains technical rules for radio transmitters and certain other equipment. These rules typically specify power, bandwidth, frequency stability, out-of-band emissions – that sort of thing. They’re intended to minimize the likelihood that a device will cause unwanted interference … Continue Reading

Two weeks ago we let everybody know about a Federal Register notice officially announcing the deadline for responses to petitions for reconsideration in the Citizens Broadband Radio Service proceeding. Usually such notices provide a second deadline – for replies to any responses that might get filed. In this case, however, the published reply deadline happened … Continue Reading

Three parties seek service rules or waivers for the 102-109.5 GHz band. The FCC’s licensing and service rules presently provide for use of spectrum up to 95 GHz, an extremely high frequency. Now the FCC is considering requests to go even higher: to open the 102-109.5 GHz band for fixed microwave applications. Radio waves in … Continue Reading

Recent decisions resolve some questions, influence the eventual resolution of others. If you’re a webcaster, we’ve got some news for you. While the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has yet to conclude its Webcasting IV proceeding, it has issued two orders recently that wrap up some aspects of that proceeding. And the Register of Copyrights has … Continue Reading

These ideas will help prevent regulatory delay from blocking the launch of new products. A lot of new products use the buzzwords “wireless connectivity.” In old-fashioned English, they have radio transmitters. This means they must go through an FCC approval process before they can be sold to the public. The FCC understandably writes its technical … Continue Reading

You already know (because we told you last week) that the Commission has received eight petitions for reconsideration of various aspects of its new rules establishing the Citizens Broadband Radio Service. Now, thanks to a notice in the Federal Register, we know when comments (and replies to those comments) about any or all of those … Continue Reading

DMCA requires consideration of “fair use” before infringement can be alleged. Thanks to digital technology, copyright infringement is easier than ever – and the Internet provides a tempting place to display infringing uses of copyrighted material. Recognizing that, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), creating a simple mechanism by which copyright owners could … Continue Reading

The FCBA’s Annual Charity Auction, that is. If you’re going to be in Washington on November 5, be sure to clear your evening schedule. That’s the night of this year’s Annual Charity Auction hosted by the FCBA’s Young Lawyers Committee. November 5 is a Thursday, if that makes a difference to you. The place: The … Continue Reading

Petitioners’ suggestions are all over the map. We reported last May on the FCC’s adoption of preliminary rules for the Citizens Broadband Service at 3550-3700 MHz. Under those rules, a control database and automated frequency assignment mechanism, dubbed the Spectrum Access System (SAS), will assign frequencies to users on the fly in three priority levels: … Continue Reading

If you’ve been watching TV, or reading news (whether on the Intertubes or the old-fashioned way), or eavesdropping on conversations on the subway, you probably know that we’re already in the middle of the Next Election Season (even though the Next Election happens to be more than 13 months away). Because it’s never too early … Continue Reading

Fire up your computer, free up some space on your credit cards and get your FRN information ready – you’ve got until SEPTEMBER 24, 2015 to get your reg fees paid … but don’t count on paying between 6:00 p.m., September 2 and 8:00 a.m., September 8. And we thought last year – when the … Continue Reading

Surprisingly, the rights to some call signs turn on degrees of relatedness. Most of our postings here deal with grave concerns of policy and regulation. Once in a while, though, a not-so-grave item catches our eye. From one such we learned that, even in the American meritocracy, it really all depends on who you’re related … Continue Reading

Bureau reiterates view that using “deauthentication frames” to bounce hotspot users constitutes prohibited “interference”. Conference goers, rejoice! It looks like the FCC really is serious about preventing hotels and other conference venues from blocking access to the venues’ Wi-Fi networks through personal “hotspot” network devices. The Commission’s Enforcement Bureau had staked out its position on … Continue Reading

When he reported on the FCC’s proposal to overhaul its equipment authorization processes, our colleague Mitchell Lazarus observed that, “[f]or an NPRM of this scope and complexity, the comment periods are brutally short.” He was not alone in that view. The Telecommunications Industry Association, the Information Technology Industry Council, the Consumer Electronics Association and the … Continue Reading

Commission extends due dates in advance of upgrade of all electronic filing systems and electronic dockets. If you’ve got something due to be filed at the FCC between September 2-8, 2015, you just got an extension … to September 9. Happy Labor Day! For this you can thank the Commission’s IT gurus, who are going … Continue Reading

Wireless mic users must prepare to dance a spectrum hokey-pokey to adjust to spectrum reductions, new operating rules The Pope will visit the U.S. in late September, which is already prompting extensive preparations in many quarters. Among those readying themselves: news operations, professional wireless microphone operators and wireless mic frequency planners in several major cities … Continue Reading

Waiver permits Roomba manufacturer to market new self-guided lawn mower for residential use. The kid down the street who mows your lawn may have to change her business model. Automation is coming. The Roomba automatic floor cleaner, a favorite of cats everywhere, is heading outdoors. iRobot Corporation, maker of the Roomba (and the best name … Continue Reading

On again, off again, back on again. That’s story with the comment deadlines for the FCC’s proposal to preserve vacant UHF TV channel space in every geographic area of the country for use by unlicensed TV white space devices and wireless microphones. When that proceeding was kicked off, comments were due pronto. But then the … Continue Reading

Interim update on interim FAA policy As we reported earlier this year, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has opened a proceeding looking at “best practices” for the commercial and private use of drones. NTIA’s first multistakeholder confab was held here in Washington on August 3 to explore some of the questions on the … Continue Reading

… this time to a lot of his friends. [Blogmeister’s Note: A few months ago our colleague and friend, Mitchell Lazarus, used this space to thank an anonymous donor who provided blood stem cells to help treat his leukemia. Mitchell was in the middle of his treatment then, so his post left us all hanging: … Continue Reading

Forget what the rules say – this year 323s are due on December 2, NOT November 1. Get out your calendar and some Wite-Out®. We’re coming up on the deadline for full-power commercial AM, FM, TV, LPTV and Class A TV stations to file their biennial Ownership Reports (FCC Form 323) and, as tradition dictates, … Continue Reading

[WARNING! While Auction 98 has closed, strict federal anti-collusion rules remain in effect for several more weeks, until the down payment deadline, which should be announced shortly. Parties who were involved in any way in the auction – including folks who filed applications but then elected not to participate in the auction – should refrain … Continue Reading

Back in February the FCC released its new E911 standards designed to improve E911 location capability. As we reported in March, most of those new standards were to take effect in April … except for a small handful that happened to be “information collections” and thus subject to the hilariously named Paperwork Reduction Act. Thanks … Continue Reading

Last month we reported on the Commission’s proposal to preserve vacant UHF TV channel space in every geographic area of the country for use by unlicensed TV white space devices and wireless microphones. The deadlines for comments on the proposal were set tout de suite, and things seemed to be moving merrily along on the … Continue Reading

The FCC looks to plug loopholes in advance of the Incentive Auction. One never fails to marvel at the ingenuity of man. No matter what program, policy or rule the FCC adopts to further some worthy public interest goal, a clever gamesman inevitably figures out a way to manipulate the system to garner a benefit … Continue Reading