The FBI’s use of “exigent letters” to get phone records from telecommunications companies without first going through a legal process may lead to revision of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and possibly the firing of the FBI’s top lawyer, officials indicated. The House Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee grilled FBI General Counsel Valerie Caproni at a hearing Wednesday about her office’s role in the controversy, the subject of a 300-page report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine. His office previously released reports on abuses of National Security Letters, which the FBI issued to organizations demanding phone, e-mail and other business records. Their gag-order requirement doomed the Patriot Act provision in court (CD Sept 7/07 p8).

The FCC has plenty of authority under the Communications Act to provide Universal Service Fund support for broadband deployment and move forward with other proceedings prompted by the National Broadband Plan, regardless of the decision last week in the Comcast v. FCC case by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, AT&T said in a filing Tuesday at the commission. The carrier asked the FCC to proceed with caution and reject advice that the decision means the commission must reregulate broadband as a Title II service.

LAS VEGAS -- No TV stations would be forced to participate in a spectrum auction proposed by the FCC, Chairman Julius Genachowski told the NAB convention Tuesday. The commission isn’t trying to confiscate spectrum, he said: “In fact, this is the opposite of a confiscation. It would be an economic boost to broadcasters that elect to participate.” Genachowski provided details about how the auction might be structured to protect stations that choose to participate. And he said the commission plans an “engineering forum,” involving all types of communications engineers, to look at technical elements of the FCC’s plan. “That will be followed by similar efforts involving business executives,” he said. NAB CEO Gordon Smith called Genachowski’s statements “reassuring” and said “we will reach back constructively."

The long awaited satellite TV reauthorization remains stuck in the House due mainly to a Congressional Budget Office bill-scoring issue. The license allowing satellite TV companies to import distant signals is to expire at the end of the month. Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., of the House Communications Subcommittee told us in a written statement Tuesday that “the bill is held up due to a copyright provision and it is not clear when the bill will proceed."

COLORADO SPRINGS -- Teamwork between government and industry must improve for the U.S. to continue protecting its own security and allies, Air Force Space Commander Gen. Robert Kehler said Tuesday at the National Space Symposium. “I'm not comfortable with where we are” and that matters are going in the direction “that will take us to the future we need to be in,” he said. “This needs to be a team effort. We don’t have all the answers. But do have set of conditions and approaches today that if we don’t make changes, won’t serve us well as we look to the future. … We must get this one right."

Net neutrality is becoming as much a political, economic and social issue as a technical one in Europe, a French government official said Tuesday at a summit on net neutrality held by her country’s telecom regulator, ARCEP. France started a public consultation on the topic last week, the European Council of Ministers will meet soon for an informal discussion, and the European Parliament is developing a position, said Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the French secretary of state for strategic analysis and the development of the digital economy. The European Commission will begin its own public inquiry soon, said Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

Copyright industries’ view of service providers’ obligations would gut the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and return digital service to the “climate of uncertainty” that prevailed before the 1998 law, several groups said Tuesday in a friend-of-the-court filing in the Viacom-YouTube case. Content owners’ claim that “red flag” knowledge of infringement bars use of the safe harbor goes against the DMCA’s careful phrasing, groups said. The companies have filed motions for summary judgment (CD March 19 p8).

Changes in the telecom industry spurred a partnership between the Telecommunications Industry Association and the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies, which was announced Monday, OPASTCO President John Rose said in an interview. “We want to get outside of being just a carrier [association]. Because of the future of IP networks we must broaden our base of who we work with.” The groups have signed a “friendship agreement” aimed at helping to inform their members and to collaborate on the conventions and trade shows of each association, he said. That “allows us to exchange ideas and information and understand each other’s policies and positions,” said TIA President Grant Seiffert. TIA has similar partnerships with the CEA and other organizations, he said.

An initiative to accelerate interoperability of the next release of WiMAX technology, WiMAX 2, is expected to deliver peak rates of more than 300 Mbps, comparable to LTE Advanced’s speeds, said Mohammad Shakouri, vice president of the WiMAX Forum. The effort, launched Sunday, is backed by WiMAX companies like Sprint Nextel, Clearwire, Motorola, Samsung, Intel and ZTE.

Twenty-one economists, including academics from universities across the U.S., filed a paper Monday at the FCC concluding that the economic evidence doesn’t justify the net neutrality rules the commission is considering. The paper builds on qualms expressed by Commissioners Robert McDowell and Meredith Baker, the rule opponents on the FCC.