Federal appellate judges reversed and remanded a lower court ruling that granted a Verizon arbitration motion in a contract dispute with a customer over an early termination fee. "The district court erred by failing to fully apply Virginia law as per the parties’ clear intent reflected in the contractual choice of law provision in [a] 2010 Agreement," said the per curiam opinion Thursday of a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Jason Klein v. Verizon, No. 14-1660). Klein in 2010 contracted with Verizon and subsidiaries to receive internet and phone services, agreeing to initial terms of service, including a "choice of law" provision saying Virginia law governed any contractual dispute, said the opinion. They agreed to new terms of service in 2011 with the same "choice of law" provision, but first Klein terminated the 2010 agreement, leading Verizon to charge him a $135 early termination fee (ETF). The company in 2012 emailed Klein to notify him of term changes, including a new provision to arbitrate disputes. Klein then filed a class-action complaint alleging Verizon's ETF violated Virginia law, and the carrier moved to compel arbitration under the 2012 notification. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria granted the telco motion, saying the 2012 notification terms controlled the dispute. "We take issue with the path the district court took to reach this conclusion," the 4th Circuit panel wrote. "It failed to abide by the choice of law provision in the 2010 Agreement and apply Virginia law to the question of whether the 2010 Agreement was, in fact, modified by the 2012 Notification. Therefore, we remand with instructions that the district court apply Virginia law, pursuant to the 2010 Agreement, to determine whether that agreement was effectively modified." The opinion was listed as "unpublished," meaning it doesn't set binding precedent in the circuit.

Columbia University, Intuitive Research and Technology and Abside Networks joined the National Spectrum Consortium, while Expression Networks, Hughes Network Systems, Disney-ABC TV Group, Constellation Data Systems, Shenandoah Research and Technology, Ideal Innovations, Arizona State University, Haigh-Farr, RWC and Metric Systems have left, said a notice published Wednesday in the Federal Register. Broadcom left the DVD Copy Control Association, said a separate notice.

The FCC tentatively set March 21 for its Disability Advisory Committee's next meeting, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the commission meeting room, said a Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau public notice Thursday. Subsequent meetings are tentatively targeted for mid-June and mid-October.

Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson's “exit memo” to mark the impending close of President Barack Obama's administration noted “tangible improvements” to the DHS' record on cybersecurity during the Obama administration and said “more work remains.” DHS was one of several federal agencies that touted cybersecurity progress in their exit memos. The Department of Commerce noted the success of the National Institute of Standards and Technology-facilitated Cybersecurity Framework (see 1701050012). DHS' cyber progress includes the establishment and growth of the department's National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, Johnson said in his memo. NCCIC's mission expanded last year after the 2015 Cybersecurity Act mandated that the center become the main civilian hub for cyber information sharing. Seventy-four entities, including 12 federal agencies, were connected to NCCIC's automated indicator sharing platform as of October, Johnson said. DHS established an “aggressive timetable” for improving federal agencies' cybersecurity under Obama's Cybersecurity National Action Plan, including work on agencies' adoption of the Einstein 3A cyber monitoring program, Johnson said. DHS also successfully established the Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team and is an active participant in international cybersecurity partnerships, Johnson said.

President-elect Donald Trump has said little about cryptography directly, but he made it "very clear" he was on the side of the FBI during its court battle to force Apple to unlock an iPhone used by a mass shooter (see 1607260037), wrote Electronic Frontier Foundation senior staff attorney Nate Cardozo in blog post reviewing crypto law activity in 2016. He quoted Trump as saying, “'To think that Apple won't allow us to get into [the shooter's] cellphone? . . . Who do they think they are? No, we have to open it up.' He also called for a boycott of Apple until Apple caved. But like so much else, Trump has offered no specifics." Cardozo said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Trump's pick for attorney general, "is widely speculated to be anti-crypto," although the senator has offered no specifics. On the FBI vs. Apple fight, Cardozo wrote Monday that if the law enforcement agency had won, the U.S. government could have gotten legal authority to order American tech companies to create back doors into their products (see 1612210005). "Indeed, the FBI’s demand was never about 'just that one phone' and was all about creating legal precedent," he said.

The U.S. Trade Representative “will still obviously be the principal negotiator on trade deals,” transition spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters Wednesday. Spicer will work as the press secretary in the incoming Trump administration. In recent weeks, transition officials have talked about the significance of the role of commerce secretary nominee Wilbur Ross, with one saying Ross would “ultimately direct” the incoming administration’s trade policy (see 1612200017). Expect “a much greater team effort” on trade in the new administration, with Ross and others such as Peter Navarro, an adviser appointed by President-elect Donald Trump as director of trade and industrial policy, playing an “instrumental role” and addressing “an agenda and a policy” in this realm, said Spicer. Trump said Tuesday that Jason Greenblatt will be special representative for international negotiations, but that’s a role that will be “bigger than just trade,” Spicer told reporters Wednesday. Trump hasn't named an nominee for the USTR position.

AT&T said the company’s Q4 2016 results will be released after the New York Stock Exchange closes Jan. 25. At 4:30 p.m. EST the same day, AT&T plans a conference call to discuss the results, the company said in a Tuesday news release.

The recent meeting between President-elect Donald Trump and tech executives (see 1612140060) is hopefully “the beginning of a new chapter” for Trump on telecom policy, said Sara Solow, who advised Trump’s Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton on telecom issues, in an opinion piece published Saturday by Wired. She cited several recommendations for Trump, based on what Clinton proposed over the past year of campaigning. “We should settle for nothing less than universal, high-speed broadband for every household,” said Solow. “To ensure people can get online through free wifi, we should replicate and extend programs like e-rate, which was successful at hooking up public schools and libraries to the internet, to places like train stations, recreation centers, and airports. And the next administration should do what it can through spectrum-allocation policies and public investments to help foster the evolution from 4G to 5G wireless and other next-generation systems.” Trump should embrace the FCC net neutrality rules and not undo them, she said.

President-elect Donald Trump was scheduled to meet with officials involved in cybersecurity and mergers and acquisitions, transition spokespeople told reporters Thursday. One meeting was to involve Tom Bossert, a cyber-risk fellow at the Atlantic Council and president of risk management firm Civil Defense Solutions Consulting. Bossert was an official in the George W. Bush administration, working on homeland security issues and for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Another meeting was to involve Jay Clayton, an attorney with Sullivan & Cromwell focused on M&A. Elsa Murano, a former Texas A&M University president and Agriculture Department official under George W. Bush, is “going to be a candidate for Agriculture,” said transition spokesman Sean Spicer.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, marking its silver anniversary this week, "remains the best legal tool we have to protect and empower consumers," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a news release Wednesday. “Consumers want and deserve control over the calls and texts they receive. With strong rules, vigilant enforcement and support for new tools like robocall blocking, the FCC plays a vital role in ensuring that this law protects and empowers consumers as it was intended.” The agency said it "has renewed its commitment to a strong, pro-consumer reading" of the law in recent years by addressing loopholes such as in its 2015 order and TCPA implementation declaratory ruling (see 1506180046).