The struggle over the Federal Communications Commission's 700MHz auction's C Block just flared up again. Google has written a stern letter to the FCC demanding that the agency force the block's winner, Verizon, to honor the spectrum region's open platform provision.

"The rule requires openness for 'Any Applications, Any Devices'—not 'Any Applications, Except on Verizon Devices,' as Verizon would interpret it," a small squad of Google attorneys told the FCC on Friday. "The Commission must ensure that Verizon understands that this license obligation means what it says: Any Apps, Any Devices."

Google wants the agency to make Verizon promise to adhere to the C Block rules—in writing. . . .  more

What will the Federal Communications Commission decide regarding the proposed XM/Sirius merger? The hell if I know.

But it's fun to come up with predictions, especially if you live 3,000 miles away from Washington, D.C. and mostly get your information via the Internet. One thing is for sure, the path is open to a decision. The Department of Justice has ok'd the union. It's up to the FCC now.

Possibility #1: The FCC will reject the merger outright

This isn't likely, I suspect, but you never know. The FCC's 1997 Order did stipulate that one entity could not own all the spectrum on the Digital Audio Radio Satellite (DARS) band. And XM and Sirius have, after all, flagrantly ignored the agency's requirement that they create an interoperable receiver that could pick up both services. And boatloads of Congresspeople have told the FCC that they hate the idea, including lots of Republicans.

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AT&T has sent a cool response to the Vuze Corporation's "Plug-In" survey of ISPs, ranked by their median rate of TCP reset activity: "Given that Vuze itself has recognized these problems with the measurements generated by its Plug-In, we believe that Vuze should not have published these misleading measurements, nor filed them with the [Federal Communications Commission]." So AT&T Vice President Charles Kalmanek Jr. wrote to Vuze CEO Gilles BianRosa, following the P2P content provider's FCC filing last week. And AT&T insists that it does not insert false reset signals into P2P packets.

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National Public Radio continues to move aggressively against Federal Communications Commission proposals that would, if not allow nonprofits to build more Low Power FM stations (LPFM), at least let existing ones survive the intrusion of new full power neighbors. NPR is quite plain about the matter in its FCC filings: it stands opposed to the Low Power exceptions, even though they might help keep FM offerings diverse. NPR charges that the FCC is putting feel-good policies ahead of the laws of physics.

"The laws of physics have not changed, and a system of full power broadcast stations serves many more listeners with less interference compared to low power broadcasting," NPR told the FCC this month. "While LPFM stations may advance the interests of localism and diversity, the Commission cannot assume that LPFM is inherently better than full power service."

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A coalition of European and United States-based consumer organizations have called for their respective governments to adopt net neutrality-oriented telecommunications policies. "Net neutrality is a state in which users have the freedom to access the content, services, applications, and devices of their choice," resolved the Trans-Atlantic Consumer Dialog (TACD) in a declaration issued recently. TACD represents 65 groups in Europe and the United States, including Public Knowledge, which helped to produce the document.

"The adoption by an influential organization such as TACD of Net Neutrality principles is a strong indication that consumers around the world are concerned about the dangers of having large communications companies controlling the Internet," declared Gigi B. Sohn, president of Public Knowledge. "We commend TACD on taking this bold stand in favor of protecting the Internet." . . . more

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed almost $4 million in fines to seven major retailers for "willfully and repeatedly" selling analog-only TV sets without labels that warn consumers that the devices may not work after February 17, 2009—the last day of analog broadcasting. The scofflaws include the Sears-Roebuck/K-Mart group, which received a fine of $1.096 million; Wal-Mart, hit with a $992,000 forfeit; and CompUSA, which took the lowest penalty at $168,000.

Ironically, some of these retail giants have repeatedly filed statements with the FCC assuring the agency that they take their digital transition (DTV) obligations with the utmost seriousness. Fry's, Circuit City, Best Buy, and Target also received fines, bringing the total up to $3,928,000. All seven retailers can appeal the decision. . . . more

A government report on broadcast media ownership released Friday concludes that television stations broadcasting in specific markets tend to offer more local news for those areas than the national networks.

"With cable and satellite service, the public can receive programming from nationwide outlets, such as CNN and FOX News, and television stations in adjacent markets," concludes the Government and Accountability Office's (GAO) new study. "However, media outlets located in a market are more likely to provide local news, public affairs, and political programming addressing the needs of residents in that market, such as coverage of local political campaigns, compared to nationwide and adjacent-market outlets." . . . more