The First Amendment clearly protects cable distributors and programmers from laws singling out the news media for special treatment, as well as their editorial discretion in creating programming packages, cable company plaintiff appellees said Thursday in a 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals brief (docket 20-1104, in Pacer). They opposed Maine appealing a lower court's grant of a preliminary injunction on First Amendment grounds blocking a state law requiring cable operators provide programming on an a la carte basis (see 2004300011). Appellees are Comcast, A&E, C-SPAN, ViacomCBS, Discovery, Disney, Fox Cable Network Services and New England Sports Network. The governor's office didn't comment Friday.

GeoBroadcast Solutions plans demos of the zoned broadcast coverage technology it petitioned on, Xperi wrote, posted in RM-11854 Thursday (see 2005180041). “Xperi will work with GeoBroadcast to develop appropriate test plans to provide data demonstrating the ZoneCasting experience on HD Radio stations” and the tech’s impacts on that service, the FCC filing said. Move toward an NPRM on zoned broadcast coverage, Xperi asked. “The NPRM process will give all parties ample time to explore these various issues.” GeoBroadcast "has been continuously refining and simulating the models that will successfully integrate geo-targeting within HD radio, and look[s] forward to working closely with Xperi in the field," it emailed.

The Copyright Office’s recommendations on Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 512 (see 2005210057) are “ill-considered” and improperly favor views of copyright holders, Public Knowledge Policy Counsel Meredith Rose said Friday. She criticized the CO for disregarding “ample evidence that the DMCA is often abused by people looking to censor content they have no rights over.” The report properly concluded that Section 512 is unbalanced and needs to be remedied, Copyright Alliance CEO Keith Kupferschmid said Thursday.

Sharp's lawyers served documents electronically Thursday on Vizio, TPV and Xianyang CaiHong Optoelectronics in connection with the International Trade Commission’s newly opened Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into Sharp allegations that Vizio and its suppliers are infringing five Sharp LCD display patents (see 2005210041). The electronic dissemination of documents was in keeping with the ITC’s March 16 order temporarily waiving its requirement on paper filings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said a certificate of service (login required) in docket 337-TA-1201. Vizio and its suppliers have until June 10 to file responses to the notice of investigation.

The International Trade Commission voted Wednesday to open a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into Sharp allegations that Vizio, its panel maker Xianyang CaiHong Optoelectronics and TV set manufacturer TPV infringe five Sharp LCD display patents (see 2004270045), said an agency notice Thursday in docket 337-TA-1201. Vizio and the other respondents didn’t comment. They have 20 days to file a response. Administrative Law Judge Dee Lord was assigned to the case.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. hired outside counsel to “conduct legal analysis and ensure a comprehensive examination and interpretation” of new U.S. restrictions on Huawei (see 2005190030), a TSMC spokesperson emailed us Tuesday, declining to answer some of our questions about the companies' relationship. TSMC reportedly halted processing of all new orders by Huawei. Hours before the Commerce Department further stepped up controls on Huawei, TSMC announced plans to build its first U.S.-based chip factory. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and two other senior Senate Democrats pressed Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and Defense Secretary Mark Esper Wednesday to tell them about U.S. government involvement in TSMC’s decision to build the U.S. chip factory, including if any “federal subsidies” were part of the negotiations. “We have serious questions as to how this project takes into consideration national security requirements and how it aligns with a broader strategy for building a diverse U.S. semiconductor manufacturing supply chain,” the Democratic senators wrote Esper and Ross. “We ask that you cease any such negotiations or discussions until you have briefed the relevant authorization and appropriations committees with your plans, including any commitments you have made to funding, tax breaks, licensures, or other incentives.” A “one-off investment like the proposed TSMC facility is inadequate to rebuilding U.S. manufacturing capacity in microelectronics, which is essential to our national and economic security,” the senators said. “Unfortunately, there is no evidence that the Administration has a comprehensive, integrated plan for achieving this.”

Samsung joined the Advanced Audio Coding patent pool as a licensee and licensor, said Dolby Labs' Via Licensing Tuesday. The AAC audio compression standard is adopted in broadcast, CE, mobile, automotive and PC products, worldwide.

A Copyright Office request for information Friday seeks potential contractors to manage and develop a “new, web-based, cloud-hosted Enterprise Copyright System.” Responses are due June 16. The CO will use responses for planning purposes or to request more in-depth research, it said Monday.

After receiving a default judgment against named defendant Alejandro Galindo in their litigation alleging piracy by video piracy by IPTV service Nitro TV (see 2005060013), content company plaintiffs and Galindo are asking the court to set aside the default. In a stipulation filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles (in Pacer, docket 20-cv-03129), the plaintiffs and Galindo agreed to the judgment being set aside and Galindo filing an answer to the complaint.

Some 41% of U.S. broadband households are concerned about hackers accessing their devices, which could make them reluctant to buy connected products, blogged Parks Associates Thursday. Expansion of smart home adoption and online activity increases consumers’ vulnerability to cyber criminals “so all players would benefit from industry-level solutions that can deliver on the security of connected devices in the home,” said analyst Patrice Samuels. Parks plans a webinar on the need for residential IoT security standards Tuesday at 11 a.m. EDT.