The Federal Communications Commission received over 300 comments from the public regarding its proposals to allow broadcast television stations to voluntarily participate in an auction of their spectrum to mobile broadband providers and to involuntarily repack remaining television stations into a smaller television spectrum band. Broadcast television station groups, individual stations, mobile broadband providers, wireless microphone operators, proponents of unlicensed spectrum uses, equipment manufacturers, radio astronomers, wireless medical device makers, and a variety of trade associations weighed in on the Commission’s proposals. There was significant disagreement on a number of the FCC’s proposals — including the extent to which viewers’ existing television services should be preserved in the repacking, the timeframe to complete the repacking, and how to address wireless microphones and unlicensed uses in the spectrum band. However, at least three key areas of general industry agreement emerged:
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Recordkeeping Reminder for Service Providers and Equipment Manufacturers Offering Advanced Communications Services and Telecommunications Services
The Federal Communications Commission published a reminder to service providers and equipment manufacturers that provide advanced communications services — such as e-mail, instant messaging, Voice over Internet Protocol, and interoperable video conferencing services — or telecommunications services that are subject to Section 255 of the Communications Act to begin maintaining records by January 30, 2013 of the efforts they take to make their services and equipment accessible.
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FTC Settles Deception, COPPA Charges Against Social Networking App Path
Path, a social networking mobile app, has agreed to enter into a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) regarding charges that the company deceived consumers by collecting contact information from users’ mobile address books without notice and consent. The agreement also resolves charges that the company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) by collecting personal information from children under 13 years old without parental notice and consent. Path did not admit any liability by entering into the consent decree, which is for settlement purposes only.
The FTC alleged that the Path application included an “Add Friends” feature that allowed users to make new connections within the app. Users were given three options when using the “Add Friends” functionality: “Find friends from your contacts,” “Find Friends from Facebook,” or “Invite friends to join Path by email or SMS.” Regardless of which option was chosen, Path automatically collected and stored contact information from the address book on the user’s mobile phone. The FTC argued that this practice was contrary to representations made in the company’s privacy policy that only certain technical information, such as IP address, browser type, and site activity information, was automatically collected from the user. Under the settlement, Path agreed to implement a comprehensive privacy program and obtain biennial, independent privacy assessments for the next twenty years.
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Spectrum Watch: UK Completes Digital Television Transition, With Plans to Auction Freed Up Spectrum for 4G Services Within a Year
This week the United Kingdom completed its five-year transition from analog to digital broadcast television operations. The switch to digital has allowed broadcasters in the UK to offer more channels and high-definition television services to the public. In addition, the transition freed up spectrum that the UK government will auction for fourth generation (4G) mobile broadband services in the upcoming year.
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FCC Requests Comments on Petition for Reconsideration Regarding Commercial Volume Rules
The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has requested comments on a Petition for Reconsideration concerning the FCC’s commercial volume rules. These rules, which implement the 2010 Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (“CALM”) Act, require television broadcasters, digital cable operators, and other digital multichannel video programming distributors to follow a technical standard that is designed to prevent television
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FTC Proposes Additional Revisions to COPPA Rule
By Lindsey Tonsager and Shel Abramson
Earlier this morning, the FTC proposed additional revisions to the rule implementing the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). COPPA governs the online collection, use, and disclosure of children’s personal information by (1) operators of websites and online services that are directed to children under the age of 13
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