Former Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., called cyberwarfare the U.S.'s “greatest day-to-day threat,” during Tuesday night's Democratic presidential primary debate in response to a question about national security threats against the U.S. Webb noted the cyberthreat against the country as an example of strains in the U.S.-China relationship, noting recent incidents attributed to China like the Office of Personnel Management data breach. China doesn't “have the right to conduct cyberwarfare against tens of millions of American citizens,” Webb said. “In a Webb administration, we will do something about that.” Webb was the only candidate among those participating in the Democratic debate to mention cyberthreats as a top U.S. national security concern, while multiple candidates for the Republican nomination have called out China for its cyber tactics. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who is also a candidate for the Democratic nod, and other Democratic contenders also debated NSA surveillance powers. “I'd shut down what exists right now … that virtually every telephone call in this country ends up in a file at the NSA,” Sanders said. “That is unacceptable.” Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended her earlier support for the Patriot Act but noted that she began opposing warrantless surveillance tactics after President George W. Bush's administration “began to chip away” at privacy and civil liberties protections. Both Clinton and Sanders said they believed former NSA contractor Edward Snowden's leaks about NSA surveillance violated U.S. law but disagreed about how federal law enforcement should handle prosecuting Snowden.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) Wednesday released a software patch for the final version of the incentive auction TVStudy repacking software, said a public notice. Since the release of the TVStudy version 1.3.2, OET has “both experienced and received reports” of “minor issues related to software performance and behavior as relates to XML scenario imports and switch settings,” the PN said. The patch will correct those issues and doesn’t affect any of the baseline results released by OET in June, the PN said. “All users of TVStudy are strongly encouraged to apply this patch,” the PN said. The patched version of TVStudy is available on the commission’s Learn website in the Repacking Section.

Inmate calling service (ICS) provider Network Communications International Corp. backed the Alabama Public Service Commission's argument that the FCC shouldn't further sanction the APSC or one of its officials for their roles in the improper release of confidential data and their responses to that breach (see 1510080015). The release was an "inadvertent violation" of a protective order in the ICS rulemaking, said an NCIC filing posted Tuesday in FCC docket 12-375. NCIC noted its cost information was among the confidential data included in a public filing by APSC official Darrell Baker that aggregated the data, but it said Baker never disclosed the detailed cost support that it and other ICS providers submitted. NCIC concluded it wasn't harmed by Baker's posting, nor does it believe other providers were harmed, including Global Tel*Link, which has called for additional FCC sanctions of both the APSC and Baker (see 1510050034). "The APSC has taken a lead role and significantly influenced ICS reforms in Alabama and nationally. Therefore, it is not surprising that some ICS providers resent his contribution and the APSC’s participation in this proceeding," NCIC said. The firm said it concurred with the APSC's remedial actions to prevent future violations and it also recommended Baker be allowed to again participate in the ICS proceeding after he was barred by the FCC from doing so.

Edward Smith will return to the FCC, after an unsuccessful campaign for attorney general of Washington, D.C., to serve as wireless adviser to Chairman Tom Wheeler, including on the TV incentive auction, Wheeler said Tuesday in a news release. Acting wireless aide Jessica Almond will move over to oversee media, enforcement and public safety issues for the chairman. Wheeler aides Renee Gregory and Maria Kirby are leaving the agency. Gregory, who has been on maternity leave, was the wireless adviser to both Wheeler and former Chairman Julius Genachowski. Kirby, who had been at the FCC since 2012, also joined Wheeler’s staff when he became chairman.

The FCC plans to switch to its updated FCC.gov website later this fall, agency Chief Information Officer David Bray said in an agency blog Friday. The FCC announced plans in April for an updated site (see 1504210011), and the beta version of the modernized site is Drupal-based and responsive so as to feature different displays depending on the device being used to navigate it, Bray said. The FCC also set up a new taxonomy for classifying Web content to allow easier searches and automate lists of content, he said. The beta site also connects to the Electronic Comment Filing System and EDOCS (Electronic Document Management System) database through an application programming interface that allows real-time updates to show up in "Headlines" and "Most Active Proceedings" areas of the site, Bray said, saying applications will increasingly be cloud-based, much like the Consumer Help Desk. Everything on the current FCC.gov site is also on the beta site, though the agency continues to integrate it "into new information architecture" for improved accessibility, he said.

Several businesses in the media and digital content industries backed the pending merger of comScore and Rentrak (see 1509300031), the companies said in a news release Thursday. Among the companies expressing support for the transaction were ABC, CBS, CNN, ESPN, NBCUniversal, Spotify and Viacom. "The new company will have an improved ability to deliver what the media industry have long been asking for -- a comprehensive cross-platform measurement system that accounts for all the ways in which content is consumed," said the release.

The Alabama Public Service Commission disputed Global Tel*Link’s arguments and call for the FCC to impose further sanctions on the APSC and one of its officials who made filings in the inmate calling service rulemaking. Global Tel*Link wants the APSC and Utilities Service Division Director Darrell Baker punished for their responses his release of confidential data in violation of a protective order (see 1510050034). The remedial measures the APSC took to prevent further data breaches are sufficient, said APSC Executive Director John Garner in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 12-375. GTL “incorrectly concluded” that a Baker email, responding to an FCC staffer, violated a Wireline Bureau order barring him from participating in the ICS proceeding, Garner said. The bureau order and APSC measures prohibited Baker from making filings on substantive ICS issues, not from responding to FCC informational queries on his inadvertent release of confidential data from GTL and other ICS providers, said Garner. “The FCC order directed Mr. Baker to respond to the matters addressed herein. ... GTL's interpretation of the APSC's measures would suggest that the FCC, by directing Mr. Baker to respond, was inviting Mr. Baker to violate the APSC's remedial measures by responding to the Order. This interpretation defies common sense,” Garner said. “Mr. Baker made a mistake. The APSC has taken actions to remedy that mistake. GTL's motive in this matter appears less about the violation of the Protective Order and more about seizing an opportunity to attack an individual who has championed the ICS reform effort.” The FCC should focus on the actual data breach -- "which was a hasty mistake by an APSC employee who has devoted himself to this cause" -- and on the APSC's response, Garner said: "Great weight should be given to the fact that there have been no further instances of non-compliance with the terms of the Protective Order. Indeed, the remedial measures implemented by the APSC address the real issues in this cause and are adequate to ensure that there will be no future violations of the Protective Order."

An FCC order giving 911 providers more certification leeway will take effect Nov. 6 after the Federal Register published the commission's final rule Wednesday. The FCC issued the order July 30 giving 911 service providers flexibility to comply with certification rules intended to ensure emergency communications reliability, provided they explain how they are still reducing the risk of network failure (see 1507310010). The order responded to a request from Intrado that the commission clarify or partially reconsider a 2013 decision requiring 911 communications providers to certify annually they're taking reasonable measures to provide reliable service through "911 circuit diversity, central office backup power, and diverse network monitoring."

The FCC's Connect2Health Task Force will visit Cleveland and Detroit as a part of its Beyond the Beltway series, it said in a news release Tuesday. The task force will visit Cleveland Oct. 26 and Detroit Oct. 27-28 to discuss its "ongoing efforts to promote the transformative power of broadband technologies and next-generation communications services" to improve access to healthcare services, the FCC said. While in Cleveland, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn will keynote the Cleveland Clinic's Medical Innovation Summit, and the task force will hold a data-gathering roundtable discussion on broadband technology and the future of healthcare in urban and underserved areas. In Detroit, Chairman Tom Wheeler and Clyburn will host a broadband inclusion roundtable chat at the Henry Ford Innovation Institute Oct. 27. The following day, the task force plans a public event on reducing urban health disparities and expanding access to healthcare. The Connect2Health Task Force recently held events in Florida as a part of the Beyond the Beltway series (see 1509020060).

Commercial Network Services is preparing to file a formal net neutrality complaint against Time Warner Cable at the FCC, after informal complaints to the agency didn't succeed, said CEO Barry Bahrami Tuesday in an email. CNS hasn't received any feedback from the FCC on the substance of its informal complaints, just emails closing an informal track and outlining procedural options, Bahrami said. “The ticket was just abruptly closed. Definitely feeling let down by the informal process,” he told us. An FCC spokesman had no comment. Bahrami had informally complained to the agency in June that TWC was violating net neutrality rules against Internet throttling and paid prioritization by not providing CNS with settlement-free peering, causing streaming video of the company’s “San Diego Web Cam” to be disrupted due to network congestion (see 1506230048). TWC said CNS didn’t qualify for settlement-free treatment under its “longstanding and industry-standard peering policy.” An industry analyst and an ardent net neutrality public-interest advocate said they believed CNS was facing an uphill battle (see 1506240049). After some CNS and TWC back-and-forth in filings, Bahrami recently received an email from the commission telling him it regretted he wasn’t satisfied with FCC staff attempts to facilitate satisfactory dispute resolution. “You will receive no further status on your complaint from FCC staff,” said the email. Bahrami said, “The San Diego Web Cam will remain unavailable to TWC viewers and the virtuous cycle will continue to not run on all cylinders.” He sent an inquiry to Chairman Tom Wheeler and received an email informing him of his right to contact the FCC Market Disputes Resolution Center and file a complaint. “We are doing that now while we prepare a formal complaint,” Bahrami said. A TWC spokesman said Wednesday there wasn’t anything new to say. “As we've said before, TWC’s interconnection practices are not only ‘just and reasonable’ as required by the FCC, but consistent with the practices of all major ISPs and well-established industry standards,” he said.