February 2014

The Federal Communications Commission announced it would adopt new rules to ensure better location accuracy results for wireless 911 calls. But while public safety advocates have applauded the move, the industry is urging caution, citing technology concerns.

CTIA -- The Wireless Association, which represents the major wireless carriers, has called for the FCC to base its rules on verified data, not aspirational goals. CTIA pointed to results from the Communications, Security, Reliability & Interoperability Council (CSRIC)’s Location Accuracy Test Bed in 2013 that indicates further technology development is needed to locate indoor wireless callers. Brian Josef, assistant vice president, regulatory affairs, for CTIA, said that arguably the best-performing technology in the test bed only located a call coming from the correct building one-third of the time. “The concern from the industry standpoint is, you’re going to subject carriers to enforceable rules that are not consistent with the technology as it exists today, but also don’t reflect a viable timeline [to get the technology more reliable],” Josef said. “That’s why we believe that these rules, as proposed, are aspirational. That’s the reluctance on the part of the industry.”

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) says there is not a majority on the panel to support giving private companies custody of the federal government’s database of phone-call metadata.

Chairman Rogers said he doesn’t think such a proposal, which he opposes, would clear his panel -- the first time he’s made such a statement. “Given my conversations, I think, today, that would have a hard time passing,” Chairman Rogers said, adding that he’s spoken with both Republicans and Democrats. Still, he said, the proposal is “still on the table.”

Apple and Samsung Electronics, which have sued each other around the globe over patents, joined together to tell the European Union to cut down on the ability of companies that license patents to win court rulings limiting product sales.

Apple and Samsung are among 19 companies and associations that told the EU in a letter that a new court should limit the ability of companies that license technology to win court injunctions when the validity of the underlying patent is in dispute. The proposal would bring the EU closer to the US, where it’s almost impossible for patent owners who don’t make products to block the sales based on a finding of infringement. Even direct competitors like Apple and Samsung have been stymied in their efforts to halt sales of infringing devices in the US.

The landmark deal between Comcast and Netflix resolves a simmering dispute over who will support America's growing Internet video habit. Netflix has agreed to pay Comcast for a direct connection to the cable operator's broadband networks to ensure that Netflix customers receive an uninterrupted viewing experience when streaming movies and TV shows.

The agreement comes after Netflix customers complained about deteriorating service, as videos they tried to watch stuttered and stalled in midstream. The difficulties highlight the increasing problem of Internet network congestion. The nation's data lines were not designed with enough capacity to handle today's crush of traffic — particularly during peak hours. Experts for years have been warning about a looming online traffic jam. Netflix gobbles up about 30% of Internet traffic during evening hours, and that percentage is expected to swell as more people subscribe to the popular streaming service. The company is undergoing one of the fastest growth spurts in the industry, boasting more than 33 million subscribers in the U.S. -- a nearly threefold increase from four years ago. But video streaming quality had become a problem. To improve the quality of its streaming service, Netflix had been commissioning third parties, such as Cogent Communications, to deliver its video traffic across the Internet to Comcast and other Internet providers. But Netflix wanted to cut out the middleman and deal directly with Comcast.