Public Knowledge kicked off a more formal campaign against the provision of the Satellite Television Access and Viewer Rights Act (S-2799) that would repeal the set-top box integration ban. The provision “would make it difficult for consumers to use devices like TiVo DVRs, which use CableCARDs to access video programming,” Public Knowledge said in a widely circulated email message Thursday. “No member of Congress should prioritize broadcast and cable company interests over the rights of the people using these services.” NCTA has strongly lobbied in favor of the integration ban repeal. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., had proposed and withdrew an amendment during the bill’s markup session last week that would have changed the integration ban provision. He blocked the Senate’s Sept. 18 attempt to pass by unanimous consent a Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act bill that included the STAVRA provisions, prompting backlash from Senate Commerce leaders of both parties (CD Sept 23 p1). That was the last day Congress was in session until mid-November, and STELA expires Dec. 31. Public Knowledge backs the Markey amendment and asked people to spread the following message on Twitter: “#STAVRA reauthorization must not hurt consumers, learn more: bit.ly/Yd6sGC @MarkeyMemo @publicknowledge.” The message links to a Sept. 17 blog post from senior staff attorney John Bergmayer blasting the STAVRA provision.

The House Commerce Committee received 50 responses to its white paper on USF policy, the committee revealed Thursday, posting all comments online (http://1.usa.gov/1lBg6gN). It had issued the white paper in August as part of the Communications Subcommittee initiative to overhaul the Communications Act, and responses were due Sept. 19. It was the fifth white paper on aspects of the overhaul issued this year. Respondents include major companies such as AT&T and Verizon as well as state groups like NARUC and NASUCA and Microsoft, which has responded to every white paper so far. Other commenters include the Nebraska Public Service Commission, the Oregon Telecom Association and the Telecommunications Association of Maine. “We urge Congress to encourage the FCC to create an inclusive environment where all eligible providers have an opportunity to compete for support with the goal of closing the gap between broadband available in urban and rural areas,” the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association told House lawmakers. Microsoft lauded the shift in focusing USF on broadband and encouraged Congress to “continue to afford the FCC with authority and flexibility to reform the mechanism for contributing to the universal service fund, as needed.” The Alaska Communications System noted that “contrary to the prevailing view in Washington,” it “has never considered the USF system as ‘broken,'” but said it’s “vital to include safeguards that ensure that available funding is used efficiently.”

The administration should revise its plans to relocate and consolidate the Department of Homeland Security headquarters, and Congress may want to consider making future funding for the project contingent on DHS and General Services Administration progress, said a GAO report. Completion of the $4.5 billion construction project at the St. Elizabeths campus in Washington is now estimated at 2026. The location is slated to eventually house senior DHS officials and Customs and Border Protection headquarters. DHS and GSA officials said the project has received $1.5 billion less than requested for FY 2009-14, GAO said Friday (http://1.usa.gov/1uH3g0F). “According to these officials, this gap has escalated estimated costs by over $1 billion -- from $3.3 billion to the current $4.5 billion -- and delayed scheduled completion by over 10 years,” said a report summary. It’s “disappointing that we don’t yet have a detailed and viable plan for the consolidation,” said Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee ranking member Tom Coburn, R-Okla., in a Monday news release (http://1.usa.gov/1wLAC04).

Low-quality software patents and certain copyright laws have hurt competition and suppressed small-business growth, said the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in comments filed Tuesday to the White House (http://bit.ly/1rndK6q) in connection with the administration’s efforts to update its Strategy for American Innovation (http://1.usa.gov/1quuBz3). A June Supreme Court decision heightened the criteria for software patents (CD June 20 p13), but legislation like the House-passed Innovation Act (HR-3309) is needed, EFF said. The digital privacy advocate also pointed to Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), “ostensibly intended to stop copyright infringers from defeating anti-piracy protections added to copyrighted works,” EFF said. “In practice, however, these provisions have been used to stifle a wide array of legitimate activities.” Several markets suffered as a result -- laser printer toner cartridges, videogame console accessories and mobile phones. The organization pressed the White House to support the Unlocking Technology Act (HR-1892), which hasn’t moved out of committee (http://1.usa.gov/1rnf6Ox).

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., applauded Monday’s summary judgment ruling for pre-1972 public performance royalties against SiriusXM in U.S. District Court (CD Sept 24 p7), in a statement Tuesday. The Los Angeles court said SiriusXM broke California copyright law by failing to license and compensate Flo & Eddie for their pre-1972 sound recordings (http://bit.ly/1wKCoyz). “Artists deserve to be compensated for their creativity,” said Blackburn, a co-sponsor of the Respecting Senior Performers as Essential Cultural Treasures Act (HR-4772) (http://1.usa.gov/1wLsXPc). The act would establish performance royalties on digital radio for pre-1972 recordings (CD June 19 p11). Blackburn said she hoped the ruling would “encourage other digital services such as Pandora to step up and voluntarily compensate artists for their pre-1972 recordings.”

House and Senate bills would give the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) the authority it needs to properly oversee the government’s surveillance programs, said lawmakers supporting the Strengthening Privacy, Oversight, and Transparency (SPOT) Act. The proposal would give PCLOB the ability to issue subpoenas itself, instead of relying on the Justice Department, and it would make the board jobs full-time positions, said a Tuesday news release. “This bill gives the board the teeth it needs to fulfill its mandate,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who introduced the measure with Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M. Under the bill, PCLOB’s jurisdiction would expand to include “all foreign intelligence activities,” said Udall, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, which funds PCLOB. Reps. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, and Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., introduced the House version. “It makes little sense to charge [PCLOB] with independently monitoring the executive branch’s actions related to privacy concerns, but require the Attorney General’s approval before issuing subpoenas,” Gowdy said.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., hopes if Republicans take control of the Senate following the November midterm elections “it will accelerate the agenda” for House Judiciary, he said during an episode of C-SPAN’s Newsmakers that was shown over the weekend (http://cs.pn/1riNhpm). He tallied the hundreds of bills passed by the House that have not been addressed in the Senate, “including some pretty important ones, like patent litigation reform and the [National Security Agency/Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] Court reform,” he said. “Top on my list would be to do the patent litigation reform and the NSA FISA Court reform because those have already passed the House in a very bipartisan way. ... These are opportunities, I think, that we shouldn’t miss.”

Don’t use USF money to build out service where providers already are providing broadband and phone service, the American Cable Association recommended to Congress. ACA also recommended that broadband service not be assessed for USF contributions but that USF should support broadband service. Distribute the support “efficiently” and “on a competitively neutral basis,” with “fiscally responsible” USF programs, it said. ACA submitted its comments to the House Commerce Committee in response to questions about overhauling USF policy. Those comments were due Friday but have not been released online by the committee (CD Sept 22 p7). It’s fine for states and state regulators to create USF programs as long as they don’t give money to regions already served and as long as “any eligible telecom carrier [ETC] can compete to obtain support on a competitively neutral basis,” it said. “For federal universal service programs, the role of the states and state commissions should be more circumscribed” and “largely to examine whether a provider is a ‘bad actor,'” ACA said. “ACA suggests that the FCC take over the ETC designation process for its programs, which it does already in select instances, and permit states to participate in that process if they have material information about the qualifications of the potential ETC.”

A bipartisan group of lawmakers warned several government agencies against allowing in-flight cellphone conversation, earning praise from the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA). The 77 House members sent a letter to the heads of the FCC as well as to the departments of Homeland Security and Transportation and Attorney General Eric Holder. Reps. David McKinley, R-W.Va., and Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill., led the Monday letter. “We urge you to continue the ban on voice calls on all commercial aircraft, and believe that your agencies must also work collaboratively to address safety and security concerns raised by the potential introduction of other wireless capabilities before they are permitted in-flight,” the lawmakers said (http://bit.ly/1tXz2si). They are “extremely concerned” over the FCC proposal “to allow the use of wireless communication devices on commercial flights that does not fully address these safety and security issues, nor does it seem coordinated with your other agencies,” they said. The FCC has said it is examining this issue from a technical standpoint, and the Department of Transportation has begun examining a potential ban of in-flight cellphone conversation. “For over ten years, AFA has been a leader in pushing for comprehensive and ongoing consideration of the risks associated with new in-flight communications technology,” AFA International President Sara Nelson said in a statement. “As first responders and the last line of defense in our nation’s aviation system, Flight Attendants remain strongly opposed to cell phone use in the aircraft cabin. ... In far too many operational scenarios, mobile broadband use could be far worse than a mere nuisance: It could have catastrophic effects on aviation safety and security.”

Congress should dig into surveillance overhaul as well as revamp of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act upon its return from long recess, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in a statement Monday (http://1.usa.gov/XXM6RS). Congress broke for recess last week and won’t return until after the November midterm elections. “When the Senate returns in November, I will continue to urge swift consideration and passage of the USA FREEDOM Act of 2014, S-2685,” Leahy said. “This is a bipartisan bill that makes important reforms to the government’s surveillance authorities, while providing the intelligence community the operational flexibility it needs to keep our country safe.” He cited backing from national security officials and “a broad coalition of privacy and civil liberties groups, the technology industry, and members of Congress from across the political spectrum.” It needs a vote in November, Leahy said. He also said Congress needs to move forward on Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization. (See separate report in this issue.) “The Leahy-Lee ECPA Reform Act updates our digital privacy laws to keep pace with new technologies, protect civil liberties, and provide guidance to law enforcement,” Leahy said. “Congress should act swiftly to pass this bill.”