An FCC order requiring some small carriers to implement Stir/Shaken in the IP portions of their networks by June 30 (see 2112100070) is effective Feb. 24, says an item in Tuesday's Federal Register.
NAB representatives asked the FCC to approve the notification requirements for white spaces devices, in a draft item scheduled for commissioners' vote Thursday (see 2201060057), in calls with aides to the four commissioners. NAB opposed changes sought by Microsoft (see 2201180058). The initial push notification requirement “proved unworkable, and the draft item would replace it with a requirement that devices recheck the database once per hour, concluding that this adequately balances the need to protect licensed services with considerations regarding [TV white spaces] battery life and form factor,” said an NAB filing posted Friday in docket 12-268. “Microsoft now seeks to tear up this compromise approach by insisting that the push notification requirement should be eliminated and replaced by nothing for certain classes of devices.”
Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 1201 violates the First Amendment by limiting accessibility, security and right to repair, Public Knowledge said Thursday. PK joined some 15 accessibility, security and repair advocates in an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Green v. DOJ (see 2201140045). The court will decide whether appellants can proceed with a constitutional challenge against Section 1201. The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a 2016 lawsuit on behalf of researcher Matthew Green and technologist Andrew Huang, whose fair use projects, according to EFF, could “run afoul” of the DMCA’s “anti-speech provisions.” The exemption process Congress built into Section 1201 doesn’t “provide the adequate balance between copyright protection and fair use because it overly favors rights holders,” said PK Policy Counsel Kathleen Burke.
More than 60% of U.S. broadband households used a telehealth service in the past 12 months, said Parks Associates Wednesday. Some 37% own a wearable, 29% a smartwatch and 25% have a connected health device, it said. Parks plans a virtual Connected Health Summit Thursday starting at noon EST.
The Disability Advisory Committee will meet remotely Feb. 24, starting at 1 p.m. EST, the FCC said Wednesday. The group last met in September (see 2109090065).
T-Mobile transferred its device-based IP captioned telephone service users to Hamilton Relay, effective Jan. 1, Hamilton said in a notice of substantive change Tuesday in FCC docket 03-123. This was "seamless and resulted in no disruption or loss of service," Hamilton said, noting users have access to the same devices T-Mobile offered. T-Mobile stopped offering the service that day (see 2112300025).
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a Consumers' Research motion for an extension to file its initial brief in its challenge to the FCC Q4 USF contribution factor as moot, said a letter Friday in case 21-3886 (see 2201130030). Briefing was temporarily held in abeyance until the FCC motion to hold the case in abeyance is resolved, the letter said. An attorney for Consumers' Research didn't comment.
Consumers' Research sought a 14-day extension, until Feb. 9, to file its initial brief for its challenge to the FCC Q4 USF contribution factor, in a motion Thursday before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in case 21-3886. It said the motion was unopposed by the FCC and intervening groups. It "makes little sense" to "push forward on an extensive brief raising numerous very significant constitutional issues about a multi-billion-dollar government program when the case may be stayed anyway," Consumers' Research said. The FCC recently sought to have the case be held in abeyance until it completes its report to Congress on the future of USF (see 2201110075).
CTIA filed at the FCC a new report on wireless resiliency in the face of climate change. “Wireless providers are ramping up investments that further enable wireless networks to stand up to environmental changes and disasters,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 21-346: “Providers are also investing millions in disaster recovery programs and emergency response teams, and working to create innovative solutions to preparing for disasters.”
The FCC committed an additional $361 million in Emergency Connectivity Fund support, bringing the total to nearly $4.2 billion so far, said a news release Monday. The new funding will support 802 schools, 49 libraries and eight consortiums to buy 654,000 connected devices and 313,000 broadband connections. This "will provide 700,000 more schoolchildren" with digital tools, said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel: "The need for this support is apparent in both rural and urban America," she said of "supporting communities stretching from Aniak, Alaska to New York City.”