The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that Redbox’s sharing of customer service data with Stream Global Services, the company to which it outsources that function, doesn’t violate laws against sharing customer video rental information, in an opinion released Thursday (http://1.usa.gov/ZJTgKc). “Redbox’s actions fall within the statutory exception for disclosures in the ordinary course of business,” said the opinion. Redbox has been sued by two customers who argued that providing the customer service data to a second party violated the Video Privacy Protection Act. “Congress enacted the VPPA in 1988, before the advent of automated kiosks,” and couldn’t have anticipated the need for a separate customer service company to service such kiosks, the opinion said.

Dish Network again said Comcast's planned buy of Time Warner Cable presents serious competitive concerns for the broadband and video markets and should be denied. The combined company would control half of the broadband pipes in the U.S. that have speeds of at least 25 Mbps, Dish said Thursday in an ex parte filing in docket 14-57. The company also “will be on a path to virtual dominance of the high-speed broadband market” because it will pass close to 70 percent of pay-TV households, it said. If the deal is approved, the company would offer only a single over-the-top service, “or perhaps forego altogether launching a nationwide OTT service, thus depriving consumers of important competitive choices,” it said. No conditions “would remedy the serious competitive harms posed by this merger,” Dish said. The filing pertained to meetings with several FCC staff, including from the Media Bureau, Chairman Tom Wheeler’s office and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel.

Outerwall subsidiary Redbox and Verizon signed a withdrawal agreement Oct. 19 in which Redbox withdrew as a member of Verizon and Redbox Digital Entertainment Services, according to an SEC filing (http://bit.ly/10oGHp1). Under the agreement, all of Redbox’s rights under the joint venture’s operating agreement will be extinguished and all outstanding amounts including expense reimbursements will be settled in exchange for a payment of $16.8 million to Redbox. Outerwall has made total cash capital contributions to the venture of $77 million and has received total cash totaling $70.5 million, including revenue attributable to DVD and Blu-ray rentals, the filing said. Redbox Instant by Verizon ceased consumer operations Oct. 7.

Nielsen and Adobe partnered to deliver a comprehensive, cross-platform system for measuring online TV, video and other digital content across the Web and apps. Nielsen’s digital audience measurement products will be integrated with Adobe’s digital analytics and online TV delivery platforms, they said Tuesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1zjlMD7). This lets customers have comparable metrics to measure audiences across every major IP device, including smartphones, tablets and over-the-top boxes, it said. Media companies and advertisers can use the new system in 2015, it said.

The proposed AT&T buy of DirecTV received support from Information Technology Industry Council and Washington Technology Industry Association. AT&T’s commitments to deploy fixed wireless local loop technology to new AT&T customers “is a significant step toward meeting our nation’s broadband needs,” ITI said in comments posted in docket 14-90 (http://bit.ly/1yVUl0V). The FCC should give significant consideration to the broadband investment and deployment commitments from AT&T, it said. Buying DirecTV is a “natural,” necessary, competitive response to the pressure applied by Comcast, WTIA said (http://bit.ly/1py71CB). Results from the deal include a stronger negotiating position with content creators “to ensure broader access to high value content for consumers,” it said.

Officials from Cablevision met with FCC Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake and staff from the Media Bureau and Office of General Counsel last week to discuss the “upcoming Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” on the definition of a multichannel video programming distributor, according to an ex parte filing posted online Monday (http://bit.ly/1onctgP). FCC personnel have said such an item is only in the conceptual stages (see 1410010053), though a speech by General Counsel Jonathan Sallet last week also referred to a possible rule change (see 1410170039).

“Legacy” rules like franchising and must carry requirements shouldn’t be applied to over-the-top video providers as they are to cable operators, Verizon officials said in a meeting with Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake last week, according to an ex parte notice posted online Monday (http://bit.ly/1CMjecU). If the definition of multichannel video programming distributor is changed to include online linear video providers, such rules “could be fatal” to OTT services, Verizon said. Native device rules also shouldn’t apply to OTT providers, Verizon said. “The Commission must allow OTT video providers the flexibility to adopt different technologies for providing their services rather than imposing legacy technology mandates,” Verizon said.

Rentrak received a patent for a system that measures when a set-top box is on while the TV it's attached to is off, said Rentrak in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1t532CE). “This is an important component of Rentrak's massive and passive ratings service, which will soon measure 60 million” such boxes for live and DVR viewing, said the release. Knowing when the box is on and the TV is off is “crucial” to using STBs to measure viewing, because it often occurs, Rentrak said.

AT&T and DirecTV said responses filed in the FCC proceeding on AT&T’s purchase of DirecTV confirm that the transaction is in the public interest. Opponents’ efforts to show countervailing harm to consumers are “unpersuasive” and “transparent attempts to advance parochial agendas,” the companies said in a joint opposition to petitions to deny the deal in docket 14-90. There can be no legitimate concern with the programming matters raised by some opponents, they said. There's no question “that the combined firm will not have sufficient size to exercise monopsony power in content acquisition,” they said. Because the applicants own very little content, “there is no reason to apply program-access requirements beyond those already contained in the Communications Act.” No party seriously disputes that the deal will enable the combined company to reduce the cost of acquiring content, which is the largest and most critical variable cost for multichannel video programming distributors, they said.

Fletcher Heald will present a free webinar on must carry rights and retransmission consent on Oct. 23, at 1 p.m. ET, the law firm said on its blog (http://bit.ly/1CrBF6G). The webinar will be conducted by Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Dan Kirkpatrick and cable attorney Paul Feldman. "It will address a long list of post-election issues that both TV folks and cable folks should be focused on."