COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Satellite executives see broadband, access to the mass market, and the blurring of civil, military, and commercial services as the source of future growth in the industry, they said at the National Space Symposium. The executives, from different parts of the satellite industry, spoke on a panel about emerging applications.

LAS VEGAS -- Three FCC commissioners told NAB they support studying retransmission consent in the wake of a petition from pay-TV operators to modify the commission’s approach to broadcast carriage disputes. But they didn’t all take a position on how the agency should move forward. “I think it’s important to study the issue,” Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said. But it’s also important to get a sense of the true scope of the problem, she said: “It’s always the 1 percent or 5 percent of the issue that draws the policy and decisions and that doesn’t always work in our best interest."

Choice is alive and well in U.S. broadband, at least when it comes to efforts by tech industry associations to broker net neutrality solutions. They've arisen in the uncertainty after a federal appeals court rejected the FCC’s claimed authority to act against Comcast in the BitTorrent case. The leaders of TechNet and the Information Technology Industry Council each said his organization has been working behind the scenes toward agreement among players including the incumbent wired broadband providers.

The FCC has plenty of authority under the Communications Act to provide Universal Service Fund support for broadband deployment and move forward with other proceedings prompted by the National Broadband Plan, regardless of the decision last week in the Comcast v. FCC case by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, AT&T said in a filing Tuesday at the commission. The carrier asked the FCC to proceed with caution and reject advice that the decision means the commission must reregulate broadband as a Title II service.

The long awaited satellite TV reauthorization remains stuck in the House due mainly to a Congressional Budget Office bill-scoring issue. The license allowing satellite TV companies to import distant signals is to expire at the end of the month. Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., of the House Communications Subcommittee told us in a written statement Tuesday that “the bill is held up due to a copyright provision and it is not clear when the bill will proceed."

Copyright industries’ view of service providers’ obligations would gut the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and return digital service to the “climate of uncertainty” that prevailed before the 1998 law, several groups said Tuesday in a friend-of-the-court filing in the Viacom-YouTube case. Content owners’ claim that “red flag” knowledge of infringement bars use of the safe harbor goes against the DMCA’s careful phrasing, groups said. The companies have filed motions for summary judgment (CD March 19 p8).

LAS VEGAS -- No TV stations would be forced to participate in a spectrum auction proposed by the FCC, Chairman Julius Genachowski told the NAB convention Tuesday. The commission isn’t trying to confiscate spectrum, he said: “In fact, this is the opposite of a confiscation. It would be an economic boost to broadcasters that elect to participate.” Genachowski provided details about how the auction might be structured to protect stations that choose to participate. And he said the commission plans an “engineering forum,” involving all types of communications engineers, to look at technical elements of the FCC’s plan. “That will be followed by similar efforts involving business executives,” he said. NAB CEO Gordon Smith called Genachowski’s statements “reassuring” and said “we will reach back constructively."

Net neutrality is becoming as much a political, economic and social issue as a technical one in Europe, a French government official said Tuesday at a summit on net neutrality held by her country’s telecom regulator, ARCEP. France started a public consultation on the topic last week, the European Council of Ministers will meet soon for an informal discussion, and the European Parliament is developing a position, said Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the French secretary of state for strategic analysis and the development of the digital economy. The European Commission will begin its own public inquiry soon, said Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

COLORADO SPRINGS -- Teamwork between government and industry must improve for the U.S. to continue protecting its own security and allies, Air Force Space Commander Gen. Robert Kehler said Tuesday at the National Space Symposium. “I'm not comfortable with where we are” and that matters are going in the direction “that will take us to the future we need to be in,” he said. “This needs to be a team effort. We don’t have all the answers. But do have set of conditions and approaches today that if we don’t make changes, won’t serve us well as we look to the future. … We must get this one right."

A consumer showcase of mobile DTV in Washington will begin May 3, the Open Mobile Video Coalition said Monday. Stations in the market have been broadcasting for weeks, and relatives and friends of employees of group members have been testing devices, but OMVC will begin recruiting consumers next week, said Executive Director Anne Schelle. The showcase will feature a mix of broadcast and cable programming, said Brandon Burgess, Ion Media’s CEO and the coalition’s chairman. “We're going to get some sober feedback about what works and what doesn’t work."