TerreStar’s bankruptcy proceeding could take a surprising humanitarian twist if ahumanright.org succeeds in buying TerreStar’s on-orbit satellite, TerreStar-1, to connect unserved populations to the Internet. The nonprofit organization has started a largely Web-based campaign to raise funds to purchase the satellite from the mobile satellite services company for Internet access in Papua New Guinea.

Chairman Julius Genachowski was expected to circulate a net neutrality item for the FCC’s Dec. 21 meeting that would forbid blocking websites and telephone applications and condemn but not ban paid prioritization, commission, public interest and industry officials said Tuesday. They said the expected item roughly tracks an aborted bill by U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., by adopting a Title I approach (CD Nov 26 p1), but it would discard Waxman’s two-year sunset provisions.

Advocates of net neutrality rules pounced on a dispute between Level 3 and Comcast, seeing an opportunity to widen the debate. “The point of this is, that at a minimum it has the strong appearance of anti-competitive behavior,” Public Knowledge spokesman Art Brodsky said. “At a maximum, there could be some net neutrality implications to it, depending on the net neutrality guidelines.” Chairman Julius Genachowski said Tuesday that FCC staffers are examining Level 3’s allegations. He declined to say more about the dispute when asked about it at a news briefing after Tuesday’s FCC meeting.

The FCC proposes to give Congress a written record to consult as it weighs legislation to allow the agency to auction spectrum in such a way that the government will share the proceeds with incumbent licensees, Chairman Julius Genachowski said. A rulemaking notice on TV spectrum, approved at Tuesday’s commission meeting, would also help the FCC by giving it some technical wherewithal to hold the incentive auctions if lawmakers authorize them, he said. Genachowski spoke with reporters after the meeting, in which a rulemaking notice on experimental licensing and an inquiry on wireless spectrum innovation were approved 5-0, as expected.

Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., may face questions from net neutrality advocates as he seeks to lead Democrats next year on the House Communications Subcommittee. Rush opposed the FCC’s net neutrality effort but has the edge by seniority to become ranking member. ColorOfChange.org this month urged Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to reject Rush’s bid because of his position on the issue (CD Nov 22 p11).

Private equity firms are willing to finance the purchase of TV stations by companies run by veteran broadcast executives, as sharply reduced lending by banks has left few other ways to pay for mergers and acquisitions, said a top industry broker and one such broadcaster. They said the continued dearth of bank financing for radio and TV station M&A means operators either need to finance deals themselves with cash on hand or find private-equity partners. The broadcaster that broke a drought in purchases of Big Four network affiliated TV stations (CD Nov 5 p11) got such private equity backing, its chairman said.

Motorola is in talks with state and local governments about public safety opportunities, Rick Keith, director of product management, said in an interview. Motorola will commercially launch LTE public safety devices in Q3 of 2011, he said.

VoIP provider magicJack is blocking some calls to its customers, in what is apparently a dispute over special access, said news reports and an industry source. Callers to magicJack customers get a recorded message: “Your phone carrier has routed this call improperly. This call is being identified as a local call, and it should be identified as a long distance call. To complete this call, please call your carrier’s customer service number.” Alternatively, the message says customers can call into a conference line to reach their party.

The FCC International Bureau extended the comment period Friday on a request by LightSquared for modification of its ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) license, after CTIA raised timing concerns Wednesday. The bureau had asked for input in a public notice that “was not available until late in the day” Nov. 19, said CTIA. The association said it asked for the extension in light of the Thanksgiving holiday and the brevity of the original 10-day comment period.

Broadcast and cable industry groups remain opposed to stricter standards for closed-captioning quality, monitoring and technical, they said in comments filed with the FCC last week. But advocates for people who are hard of hearing or deaf said industrywide standards would help improve the quality of captioning. The commission sought to refresh the record in its proceeding on closed-captioning quality (CD Oct 27 p13) to take into account technological advances since it last addressed the issue, in 2005.