Monthly Archives: October 2007
New “White Space” Proposal
By Mitchell Lazarus
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Much of the dispute centers on the wisdom of allowing handset-type units that a consumer can carry around, sometimes called personal/portable devices, that use TV frequencies. Unless these can be made smart enough to identify and avoid occupied TV channels when taken from one place to another, they will threaten interference to viewers' off-the-air reception. Designing in adequate protection is difficult because a ...… Continue Reading
Further Delay on Modular Rules
By Mitchell Lazarus
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The FCC has allowed certification of modular transmitters since 2000, under an informal public notice. (Modular transmitters are those intended for use inside another device, such as the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth transmitters used in laptops.)
In April 2007, the FCC released a Second Report and Order that moved the modular procedures into the rules, with slight changes. (The First R&O was about something else.) Those new rules have not yet taken effect because they entail new information collection, and hence require approval by the Office of Management and Budget.
This morning, as ...
Major League Baseball Strikes Out in Attempt to Prevent Use of Player Information by Fantasy Leagues
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Start getting those brooms out, we're headed for a sweep, I think: This week the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that baseball players - and their licensee, MLB Advanced Media - do not have the right to prohibit the use of their names and other factual information in connection with fantasy sports games. This is the 2nd time that a sports league has lost this matchup, with the National Basketball Association having been on the receiving end of a similar scoreline against Motorola in ...… Continue Reading
Bouncing Baby Boy Helps Remind Website Operators that it Pays to Designate Your Way out of Copyright Infringement Liability
By Kevin Goldberg
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Those of you outside the DC area (and perhaps those in the area that didn't read today's Business Section of the Washington Post) might be interested in an article that addresses a topic of concern to many website operators: the possibility of being sued for copyright infringement based on material that others have posted you your site.
While the specific article discusses a lawsuit relating to the unauthorized use of the Prince song "Let's Go Crazy" in a YouTube clip of a baby dancing to the song that was posted ...
Federal Shield Law Now Just a (Very Big) Two Steps from Reality
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HR 2102, also known as the "Free Flow of Information Act" passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 398-21 -- a margin that even the bill's supporters must admit exceeds their wildest dreams.
This represents the farthest progress to date for any attempt to enact a federal shield bill -- legislation to create a reporter's privilege applicable in federal proceedings. The bill would protect reporters from being compelled to testify in federal court and administrative proceedings except in very limited circumstances. It modifies ...
Senate to Look into Crystal Ball and Predict Future of Radio
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We notice that the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has noticed a hearing for next Wednesday, October 24, at 10 am in Room 253 of the Senate Russell Office Building entitled "The Future of Radio". Although, we fear that the Committee has bitten off more than it can chew in tackling such a vast topic (and we want to know what they are taking if they can accurately pull this off), it would not surprise us or anyone else if at least a few of the witnesses
House of Representatives to Vote on Reporter’s Privilege
By Kevin Goldberg
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The House of Representatives appears ready to hold a Floor Vote this coming Tuesday, October 16, on HR
2102, the Free Flow of Information Act, a bill that will create, for the first time, a reporter's shield law applicable in federal proceedings.
33 states currently have shield laws and another 17 have judicially-created reporter's privileges. Many bear resemblance to the strong dissenting opinion from Justice Potter Stewart in the key 1972
Supreme Court case of Branzburg v. Hayes. Although the Court
ruled in that case that the First Amendment does ...
FCC to NCE Applicants: Ten’s the Limit
By Harry Cole
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As we predicted here just a month ago, the FCC has adopted a limit on the number of applications which any party may file for new stations in the NCE FM window which is slated to
open on October 12 and close on October 19. The limit is TEN - count 'em, TEN -
applications for new stations. The FCC's public notice announcing this decision may be found here.
This means that any party, be that party an individual, corporation, partnership, or whatever, may ...
“White Space” Saga Lurches On
By Mitchell Lazarus
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Back on August 1, we reported that the FCC had tested two portable devices intended for use in unoccupied TV "white space" channels. The proponents claimed the devices were able to detect and avoid TV signals, thereby allowing portable use while also preventing interference to TV reception. The FCC's engineers disagreed, finding that the devices "do not consistently sense or detect TV . . . signals," and hence are "capable of causing interference to TV broadcasting . . ."
"Hey, it worked fine for us," the proponents retorted, in effect, and all but accused the FCC of breaking the device.In the meantime, the FCC chairman announced that he hoped to issue a white space order soon. This raised consternation in an industry already on edge. If based on the current test results, such an order would presumably have to disfavor portable white space devices.
Last Friday, the FCC lab announced it would test additional devices, if people wanted to send any in. No word yet on takers, or how the additional testing would affect the FCC's decision schedule. But the lab is busy these days, and testing would probably take several weeks.
The public notice on new testing is at this link.
An unrelated development concerns fixed (non-portable) unlicensed use of the white space frequencies, long thought to be headed for easy approval. FiberTower Corporation and the Rural Telecommunications Group, Inc. have submitted a white paper urging that fixed use be licensed on an exclusive basis, either by auction or by charging fees. Their filing is at this link.… Continue Reading