Although industry has “largely complied” with the FCC 2011 video description rules, consumers need increased availability and easier access to the service, said a Media Bureau report to Congress on video descriptions Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1vsrMlJ). Required by the 21st Century Video Accessibility Act, the report measures the current state of video description and explores the possibilities for providing description for video delivered over IP. The bureau doesn’t have enough information to estimate the costs to industry of providing IP video description, but “will continue to monitor developments on this front,” the report said. “We hope that industry will take the initiative to develop standards and work toward providing video description of IP-delivered programming.” On TV, consumers believe there’s a minimal amount of video described content, the report said. Top-four network affiliates in the 25 largest markets are required to provide 50 hours per quarter of video-described primetime or kids’ programming, and pay-TV providers with 50,000 or more subscribers have similar requirements, the report said. Some consumer concerns about availability could be addressed next July, when top-four network affiliates in the 26th through 60th markets will have to provide the service, the report said. If the commission decides “the need for and benefits of providing video description for television programming outweigh the technical and economic costs,” the FCC has authority two years after issuing the video description report to increase the requirement by up to 75 percent, said the bureau. Companies providing video description should coordinate with program guide providers to make sure it’s clear what programs feature video description, and train customer service staff to answer questions about the service, it said. “Costs of video description are consistent with the expectations of industry at the time of rule adoption, and covered entities do not indicate that the costs of video description have impeded their ability to comply with the video description rules."

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board planned to have released its report on the government’s Internet bulk data collection program at 9 p.m. Tuesday, said PCLOB in a news release earlier that day. The five-member board will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday in a public session to vote on the report on the surveillance programs authorized under Patriot Act Section 702, PCLOB said. The report is expected to “focus on increasing transparency to the public regarding the surveillance program,” PCLOB said. “It will address the Section 702 program’s development and operation, statutory basis, constitutional implications, and whether it strikes the right balance between national security and privacy and civil liberties, and will make recommendations for policy reforms.” The group had issued a report suggesting the government curb its bulk phone surveillance program authorized under Section 215 (http://bit.ly/1bkU5c7). Some members of the board argued for the value of the Section 215 program, in the report (CD Jan 24 p5). Since then, PCLOB has turned its attention to the Section 702 programs, holding a public meeting with civil rights advocates, international representatives and government officials (CD March 20 p4).

"There’s never been [an FCC] chairman who has understood more personally the importance of ... an open Internet,” said Chairman Tom Wheeler at a panel in Albuquerque Monday night. “I'm pro open Internet, pro innovation, pro protecting the speech the Internet enables,” he said during a live-streamed (http://bit.ly/TMsD4y) panel sponsored by the Digital Justice Coalition of New Mexico and Media Literacy Project. Wheeler said he learned the importance of access to a network when as an entrepreneur he met resistance from cable companies to granting access to an early form of pay-per-view he was pushing. An open Internet has to be accomplished without discouraging innovation, he said. State laws that pose obstacles for municipalities to create or partner with companies to build their own networks are “wrong,” because they deter competition, he said. Wheeler has been moving toward pre-empting such laws (CD June 16 p15) . Wheeler also said he’s moving through a draft E-rate overhaul order to be taken up by the commission July 11 that he says will improve broadband connections for schools and libraries in rural areas (CD June 26 p5). (See separate report above in this issue.)

Correction: Peter Hadinger’s title is Inmarsat U.S. Government Business unit president, and Inmarsat’s high-speed broadband solution is called XpressLink (CD July 1 p5).

The White House plans to tap Philip Johnson, chief intellectual property counsel for pharmaceutical and medical device company Johnson & Johnson, to lead the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, said a Friday blog post by Foley & Lardner patent lawyer Hal Wegner (http://bit.ly/1nZttEf). Citing “reliable sources,” Wegner said, “there has been an overwhelmingly positive reaction to this development amongst insiders who see in Johnson a strong, capable leader with extensive experience both in management of patents at a major pharmaceutical company as well as many years as a first chair patent litigator.” As the frequent face of the Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform, Johnson opposed a number of provisions in the recently failed patent law revamp efforts (CD April 28 p10), which many tech trade groups had supported (CD May 22 p11). The White House did not comment.

The E-rate modernization proposal to be considered by the FCC July 11 would “update and improve the program, making E-Rate dollars go farther, and streamlining the program to make it faster, simpler, and more efficient,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a blog post (http://fcc.us/1mO4SEE) Monday. “The proposal would also close the gap for Wi-Fi support that currently exists in the program -- a change that would enable an additional 6 million children, disproportionately in rural areas, to access Wi-Fi and the 21st Century educational tools it enables during the 2015 funding year.” Wheeler’s proposal calls for setting aside $1 billion annually for each of the next five years for broadband or Wi-Fi connectivity within schools and libraries (CD June 26 p5). Urban areas have historically received nearly 60 percent of internal connections support despite having fewer than 30 percent of all students, while rural applicants are crowded out, he wrote. With improved rules, over the next five years Wi-Fi funding for rural schools would be increased by 75 percent. Urban schools will also do better, seeing an increase in support of 60 percent, he wrote.

The FCC Friday delayed until 11:59 p.m. July 7 the start of sunshine prohibitions on lobbying the agency on items set for a vote at its July 11 meeting. Sunshine prohibitions are normally imposed one week before the meeting. In a public notice, the FCC gave the July 4th holiday as its reason for giving interested parties an extra business day to seek meetings with agency officials (http://bit.ly/Tqbz3W).

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, himself a former venture capitalist, met Tuesday with other VC and startup executives to discuss net neutrality and paid prioritization, said a summation filed Thursday by Wheeler aide Gigi Sohn. “The participants spoke generally of the need for the small and medium sized companies in which they invest to have access to open networks,” Sohn wrote. Participants were “specifically concerned with paid prioritization in the last mile, which they fear could have unintended consequences for start-ups.” Attending the meeting or calling in were executives from Ad Rol, Andreessen Horowitz, AngelList, Homebrew, Y Combinator and Zetta Venture Partners, said the filing (http://bit.ly/1pXtFHw) in docket 14-28. Another topic was the “relative merits” of using Title II reclassification for broadband providers, Sohn said. Ad Roll founder Jared Kopf asked whether Title II would “deliver a whole new set of opportunities for start-ups that ensure they are treated no differently than the biggest companies,” the filing said. Wheeler was managing director at Core Capital Partners before becoming chairman last year (http://fcc.us/1nN3D6r).

Correction: What determines the level of discount provided by E-rate in a school is the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunches, said an FCC spokesman (CD June 26 p5).

Correction: 4G Americas officials did not meet with Commissioner Mike O'Rielly during a recent round of meetings at the FCC (CD June 25 p18).