Online content accessibility was raised for the first time in a continuing dispute (CD Oct 15 p2) between a broadcaster and cable operator when News Corp. wouldn’t let Cablevision subscribers access the Internet programming from its Fox network because of a linear content blackout, communications lawyers said. A retransmission consent impasse begun around 12:01 a.m. Saturday means all 3 million of the cable operators’ video subscribers can’t see Fox’s three New York and Philadelphia TV stations via Cablevision, and a quick resolution may not occur, industry and government officials said. For more than half the day Saturday, all of Cablevision’s 2.6 million Internet service subscribers couldn’t access any Fox content on Hulu, the video website partly owned by News Corp.

CHICAGO -- The 3.65 GHz band, which the FCC allocated for use on a hybrid, semi-licensed basis in 2005, is proving to be a “success story,” said Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp. The band rules have been seen as offering a new way for the commission to regulate spectrum, with a model that could possibly be used in other bands as well. Knapp spoke Monday at a special one-day session at a Wireless Communications Association conference.

Congress could move on spectrum legislation next year no matter which political party is in control, a telecom aide to Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, told a Law Seminars International conference Monday. A package of noncontroversial spectrum items could be attached to a reauthorization of the FCC’s auction authority, said the aide, Matthew Hussey. FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman urged Congress to quickly authorize incentive auctions to free up broadcaster spectrum.

FCC commissioners soon will consider whether to reverse course from a staff ruling, an independent arbitrator’s decision and a draft Media Bureau order from early 2009 that until recently was circulating in a case involving Time Warner Cable and the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, agency and industry officials said last week. They said agency officials will begin more-serious consideration of a new bureau draft order on whether the cable operator must distribute telecasts of Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles baseball games to its approximately 1.5 million subscribers in North Carolina. The new draft started circulating Oct. 5, replacing one that was circulated by Kevin Martin on his last business day as chairman and that would have forced carriage, agency officials said.

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., will target the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) for a major update in 2011 because the law hasn’t kept pace with technological change, his office told us Friday. The law’s definitions are broad enough to cover technology that has emerged since the law passed in 1998, said the Center for Democracy & Technology.

Industry and FCC attention has turned to the AllVid rulemaking for all pay-TV providers’ services to be accessible from consumer electronics devices, now that commissioners have approved an order making fixes in the interval until the gateway devices become available (CD Oct 15 p4). A rulemaking that could be voted on this year now becomes the focus of lobbying at the FCC concerning video devices, agency and industry officials said. No AllVid item is ready for a commission vote, and it’s unclear when such a rulemaking notice will circulate, commission officials said.

Media companies are working on new applications for Web browsers and other platforms as the popularity of mobile “apps” is spreading online and to the TV, Internet industry executives said. Some see the forthcoming Web application stores such as Google’s Chrome Web Store as a way to find more revenue from their online content, they said. “Publishers will be very keen to get involved in this,” said Alex Vlasto, vice president of marketing at Alot.com, which is developing a Web browser app bar, similar to a toolbar. “It will simply be another channel to distribute their content, and importantly a channel where … they can have an opportunity to charge for content,” he said.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski wants more subscriber notice of contractual disputes between TV stations and subscription-video providers, he said as Cablevision and News Corp. continued to negotiate carriage rights for Fox’s TV stations set to expire Friday night. Cablevision said it would submit to binding arbitration, but Fox declined. Genachowski, Chief Bill Lake and others in the Media Bureau and the commissioners’ offices have been kept informed about the talks by Cablevision and Fox, agency officials said. They said it’s unclear whether the sides will reach a new deal before carriage of several New York and Philadelphia area stations is cut off. Talks remain stalled, company officials indicated.

Fiber use for content distribution by programmers and broadcast networks will continue to increase, executives said in a Satcon panel discussion. Satellite companies will need to embrace the technology instead of trying to fight it off, they said. The consolidation of cable headends is contributing to increased reliance on fiber, they said. Expect “fiber to play a role in distribution,” said Brent Stranathan, CBS vice president of broadcast distribution. While satellite distribution has been good, “when you look at what fiber has done, networks would be doing a disfavor if they didn’t look at that,” he said.

The FCC unanimously approved a wireless “bill shock” rulemaking notice Thursday. But Commissioners Robert McDowell and Meredith Baker questioned how large a problem bill shock is and the wisdom of imposing additional regulations on carriers. The commission’s three Democrats, led by Chairman Julius Genachowski, were more enthusiastic, signaling carriers that additional regulation is likely.