The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed to fine two New York men for apparently using false caller ID numbers ("spoofing") to harass the ex-wife of one of the men, said a commission release Tuesday. "We propose penalties of $25,000 each against Steven Blumenstock and Gary Braver for apparently causing the display of misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to cause harm," said a notice of apparent liability. "Over the course of four months, Mr. Blumenstock and Mr. Braver made 31 spoofed telephone calls to Mr. Braver’s ex-wife as part of a campaign of harassment and stalking of Mr. Braver’s ex-wife." Blumenstock and Braver "apparently violated the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, as codified in Section 227(e) of the Communications Act" and corresponding FCC rules, said the NAL.
Amazon efforts to drive sales of the Fire boosted its tablet market share from 0.3 percent in Q2 2015 to 4 percent this year, said a Monday IDC report. That contrasted with the direction market leader Apple and No. 2 Samsung are headed, with drops of 9.2 percent and 24.5 percent from the year-ago quarter, IDC said. Shipments in the overall tablet category sank more than 12 percent in the quarter, it said, to 38.7 million units. Sixty-five percent of tablets shipped were Android-based vs. 26 percent iOS, with Windows picking up remaining share, said the industry researcher. Consumers are looking for “more productive form factors and operating systems,” boosting detachables, said analyst Jitesh Ubrani.
The Consumer Federation of America Wednesday published an online resource guide to help advocates, media, policymakers and others better understand privacy issues. In a news release, the group said the guide offers a sampling of surveys, studies and articles on advertising, attitudes toward privacy, big data, data brokers, data security, facial recognition, healthcare, IoT, and personalized pricing and discrimination. "Consumers should not have to make a choice between energy efficiency and privacy, or worry about their children enjoying Pokémon GO because their personal information is being collected and shared for purposes that have nothing to do with playing the game,” said Susan Grant, the group's consumer protection and privacy director.
Craig Moffett, analyst at MoffettNathanson, said Verizon paid what could be a very steep price for Yahoo, $4.8 billion (see 1607250016), which could be closer to $5.9 billion after accounting for restricted stock units, he said. Meanwhile, Yahoo’s core revenue is declining by an “alarming” 11 percent per year, he said. “Finding synergies in the words behind the combination of Yahoo with AOL and Verizon is easy: Yahoo brings content,” Moffett said in a Tuesday research note. “AOL brings advertising technology (and some additional content). Verizon brings user data. Verizon is hoping that one plus one plus one equals … well, if not four, then at least three and a half. The strategy is to make Yahoo’s advertising inventory worth more -- perhaps dramatically more -- by enhancing it with location-based data about wireless users and selling it more efficiently and effectively using AOL’s ad tech and ad sales force.” The words tell “a good story,” but the numbers behind the deal might not, he said.
CTA CEO Gary Shapiro hopes the presumptive Democratic presidential ticket of Hillary Clinton and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., backs the Trans-Pacific Partnership, pointing to their past comments as reason for support now. “Honestly, if their past -- and, presumably, sincerely held -- positions are a guide for Sec. Clinton and Sen. Kaine, I certainly hope they would support TPP if elected,” Shapiro said in a statement Tuesday. He said he hopes they're not “aligning with the destructive isolationist policies espoused by Donald Trump,” the GOP presidential nominee. “We can only hope the politics of the moment are driving the Clinton-Kaine campaign's evolving rhetoric on TPP, not the substance of the deal.”
CTA, CTIA, Mobile Future, NCTA, USTelecom and the Wireless ISP Association jointly urged the FCC to back away from privacy rules for ISPs. The record doesn't support heightened privacy rules for just ISPs, the groups said Monday in a joint blog post. “Opposition to the FCC’s proposed broadband privacy rules continues to grow,” they said. “The recently filed ‘reply round’ comments, new reports, and expert submissions to the Commission, and testimony before Congress all demonstrate a growing consensus that the Commission’s proposed approach is flawed and a new course must be taken -- one that protects consumer data, encourages innovation and growth online, and provides consistent and evenhanded standards for all internet companies.” The post cites numerous filings in opposition to the rules. “Many commenters echoed a fundamental point made by Ghostery in its two visits to the Commission -- that the proposed rules’ opt-in default and other problematic measures will undermine consumer choice and stifle innovation, depriving consumers of new choices, options, and alternatives online.”
Plains Internet asked the FCC to designate it as a Lifeline broadband provider (LBP) under the agency's new federal eligible telecom carrier process for the low-income USF support program (see 1604270028). Plains is a facilities-based telecom carrier providing fixed-wireless broadband, VoIP and data services capable of reaching over 293,000 customers, said its petition posted Thursday in docket 11-42. The company seeks LBP approval to serve Lifeline-eligible customers and meets all the statutory and regulatory requirements for such designation, it said. Approval would result in a "higher level of service quality and more competitive pricing and advantageous service options" for low-income consumers, it said, proposing an effective date of Aug. 31.
Symantec won “early termination” of the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period on its proposed $4.65 billion cash acquisition of web security company Blue Coat, the FTC said in a notice Wednesday. Blue Coat CEO Greg Clark will be named CEO of Symantec after the close of the deal in Q3, succeeding Ajei Gopal, interim chief operating officer, Symantec said last month (see 1606130010).
Democrats unveiled a version of their 2016 party platform Thursday that includes all amendments. The 55-page text now showcases a significant telecom section, discussing IoT and 5G, that was added as an amendment during deliberations (see 1607110057). “Democrats will finish the job of connecting every household in America to high-speed broadband, increase internet adoption, and help hook up anchor institutions so they can offer free WiFi to the public,” the new language says. The platform backs net neutrality and the need for high-speed broadband (see 1607050058). High-speed internet connectivity "is not a luxury; it is a necessity for 21st century economic success, social mobility, education, health care, and public safety," it says. Democrats also "will take action to help America widely deploy 5G technology—the next generation wireless service that will not only bring faster internet connections to underserved areas, but will enable the Internet of Things and a host of transformative technologies," it says.
The FCC privacy proposal is bad for consumer welfare, said Free State Foundation President Randolph May on the FSF blog Thursday. May is scheduled to speak on privacy and Chevron deference panels at the NARUC meeting next week in Nashville. Consumers do value privacy, but they “also value receiving targeted information that they want enabled by the collection and use of their personal data,” May wrote. “And they value receiving such information without any payment of money or subscription fee.” But the FCC opt-in proposal presumes consumers prefer to broadly restrict collection and use of their personal data, he said. The FCC is widely expected to adopt the ISP privacy rules (see 1607070052).