Officials are studying how long the federal judiciary's funded operations could continue if there's another government shutdown after Feb. 15, said the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday. It cited an update from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts Monday that said, "Similar to how courts operated from Oct. 1, 2018, through Dec. 21, 2018, courts have been advised to limit obligations to those necessary to carry out their mission and maintain current operations." Courts sustained funded operations during the partial shutdown that began Dec. 22 by deferring "non-critical operating costs" and using court filing fees and other available funds, said the office, noting the money was expected to run out this Friday (see 1901230014) before a continuing resolution was enacted last week.

The FCC could address concerns about reimbursement for relocated low-power TV stations that received funds from third parties by reimbursing those stations last, T-Mobile told Incentive Auction Task Force Chair Jean Kiddoo, recounted a filing posted Monday in docket 18-214. The agency proposed such stations not receive repacking reimbursement funds, but T-Mobile said the LPTV stations should be able to do so if they certify they aren’t being double reimbursed. Claims funds are insufficient to reimburse all displaced LPTV, translator and radio stations are unfounded, but reimbursing the third-party stations last could help allay concerns about the amount of funds, T-Mobile said. Former IATF Vice Chair Howard Symons, now with Jenner & Block, represented T-Mobile.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals shouldn’t let Hilton Grand Vacations evade Telephone Consumer Protection Act restrictions through a "trivial distinction" to make millions of automated telemarketing calls, said consumer groups Thursday. Telemarketers aren’t allowed to use automated dialers to call cellphones without prior express written consent, but Hilton used “human clicking agents” to try to avoid the TCPA prohibition, filed (in Pacer) the National Consumer Law Center, National Association of Consumer Advocates and Consumer Federation of America in an amicus brief supporting a consumer’s appeal of a lower court ruling in Melanie Glasser v. Hilton, No. 18-14499-J. These agents repeatedly click “a single computer button, which sends telephone numbers on an already created list to an automated dialer in another state. Each time the agent clicks, another number from the list is sent to the dialer.” The autodialer calls with no humans present and computers attempt to transfer the calls to Hilton agents to make sales pitches to consumers answering on cellphones, the groups said. The system "resulted in mass unwanted automated calls,” they wrote. Glasser said she received 13 calls. A district court sided with Hilton's summary judgment motion.

Intel closed down 5.5 percent to $47.04 Friday on its announcement it missed its 2018 revenue target and is forecasting sluggish 2019 revenue growth. But 5G is a bright spot. Though 2018 revenue jumped 13 percent to $70.8 billion, that’s $400 million short of the $71.2 billion it forecast Oct. 25. The 2019 revenue outlook is for a 1 percent increase to $71.5 billion. Seven months ago, it ousted CEO Brian Krzanich for violating “non-fraternization policy” (see 1806210008). Interim CEO and Chief Financial Officer Bob Swan acknowledged the search was a “top-of-mind question” with many analysts. The board “continues to evaluate candidates for what I believe is the biggest and best open job on the planet,” said Swan. “They are proceeding with a sense of urgency while also ensuring that they make the right choice.” Meantime, 5G is a "big opportunity" for both its PC- and data-centric businesses, said Swan. At CES, Intel unveiled its new 10-nanometer-based network SoC developed "specifically for 5G wireless access and edge computing," he said. Codename "Snow Ridge will bring Intel architecture into wireless access base stations, and allow more computing functions to be distributed out at the edge of the network," he said. "We expect to be in production on Snow Ridge in the second half of this year."

Forty-three percent of U.S. broadband households say voice control is an important feature for their next smart TV or streaming media purchase, Parks Associates reported. In early 2018, the average broadband home hosted 10.4 connected devices, including 8.6 connected CE devices; 55 percent found voice control of connected entertainment devices appealing. “Consumers expect new connected entertainment products and services to offer voice as a control and search option,” said analyst Craig Leslie Tuesday, saying companies will increasingly use artificial intelligence as product differentiators.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson sidestepped questions Tuesday at a Beijing news conference about whether the U.S. risks endangering its trade talks with China if it follows through with threats to extradite Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou to the U.S. from Canada to stand trial on criminal charges. Meng was arrested Dec. 1 while changing planes in Vancouver on suspicion of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran (see 1812060042). In ordering Meng’s detention, “what the U.S. has done, with its egregious nature, severely infringes upon the legal and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens,” said the spokesperson. China urges the U.S. to “take measures to correct its wrongdoings and withdraw its arrest order for the Chinese citizen,” she said, hinting at Chinese retaliation if the U.S. fails to do so. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative didn’t comment Tuesday.

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International’s FAA UAS Symposium 2019, scheduled for February, is postponed due to the partial government shutdown, AUVSI said Thursday. New dates will be announced after furloughed FAA employees return to work, AUVSI said.

Federal judges asked the California Supreme Court to resolve a question of state insurance law affecting Telephone Consumer Protection Act litigation. A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel said it needed guidance in applying California's rules in a Yahoo TCPA liability case against an insurance company because of "tension" between state appellate court decisions. "Does a commercial liability policy that covers 'personal injury,' defined as 'injury . . . arising out of . . . [o]ral or written publication . . . of material that violates a person’s right of privacy,' trigger the insurer’s duty to defend the insured against a claim that the insured violated the [TCPA] by sending unsolicited text message advertisements that did not reveal any private information?" asked the three-judge panel Wednesday in Yahoo! v. National Union Fire Insurance, No. 17-16452. "The right to privacy is generally understood to encompass both a right 'to be free from unwanted intrusions,' known as the right to seclusion, as well as a right 'to keep personal information confidential,' known as the right to secrecy ... Because the TCPA does not implicate violations of the right to secrecy, insurance coverage of TCPA liability turns on whether 'publication ... of material that violates a person’s right of privacy' applies to the right to secrecy, seclusion, or both." Judges said Yahoo was a defendant in five putative class-action suits in California and other states when it had commercial liability insurance with National Union. "When National Union refused to tender a defense in the underlying TCPA litigation, Yahoo! commenced this action for breach of contract," they wrote. "The district court granted National Union’s motion to dismiss, concluding that the policy’s coverage of personal injury arising out of 'publication . . . of material that violates a person’s right of privacy' does not apply to Yahoo!’s TCPA liability." Verizon owns Yahoo.

Cable and telecom companies will focus more on debt reduction than mergers and acquisitions this year -- especially the largest operators dealing with record high levels of debt, S&P Global Ratings said Wednesday. Others also predicted a slower year in pay-TV and programmer M&A (see 1901040029). S&P expects continued video subscriber and wireline voice subscriber losses. It said efforts to pay down debt could run up against "mature and competitive industry conditions" and spectrum license purchases. S&P said service revenue and subscriber trends for wireless companies were buoyed in 2018 by Sprint and T-Mobile cutting back on their aggressive promotional activity, and their combining (see 1901160037) could alleviate competitive intensity in that sector.

ERI and the Broadway Green Alliance plan a free e-waste collection in New York's Times Square 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday, they said Tuesday. Among what will be accepted: cellphones, copiers, desktops and laptops, DVD players, fax machines, monitors, printers, storage media and cables.