The federal government must adopt one definition of telehealth and eliminate cross-state licensing and payment issues hindering the expansion of telehealth, said the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) in a report released Monday (http://bit.ly/1jjCrYJ). Healthcare is “thoroughly regulated, largely at the state level,” the report said. “Because states are often reluctant to give up regulatory authority, even when their regulations favor producers over consumers and limit nationwide innovation, federal government interventions are necessary.” Lawmakers heard a similar message -- which has become a common refrain for many in the tech industry and medical community -- during a recent hearing on the issue (CD May 2 p8). The Food and Drug Administration also updated its health information technology (IT) framework to clarify its definitions of health IT devices. But the ITIF report recommended Congress go further, by passing two pending bills -- the Telehealth Modernization Act of 2013 (HR-3750) and the TELE-MED Act (HR-3077). The former would define telehealth “to include health care delivered by real-time video, secure chat, secure email, or telephone,” while the latter “would allow Medicare providers licensed in one state to provide services to Medicare beneficiaries in another,” according to the report.

Verizon shareholders voted down a proposal that would have detailed how the company is “responding to regulatory, competitive, legislative and public pressure” to ensure its network management polices and practices promote net neutrality. The proposal was up for a vote at Verizon’s annual meeting Thursday in Phoenix. Four other shareholder proposals were defeated, a Verizon news release said, dealing with lobbying activities, severance approval policy, shareholder right to call a special meeting, and shareholder right to act by written consent. The proposal was sponsored by the Nathan Cummings Foundation, a liberal think tank that owns nearly 6,000 shares (CD March 25 p13). The Verizon board “strongly disagrees” with the contention that the company “has not provided its customers with evidence” of a commitment to open Internet policies, a March proxy statement said (http://bit.ly/1h2dEvG).

The Department of Defense (DOD) and the General Services Administration (GSA) should “use caution in imposing a set of baseline cybersecurity standards,” the Telecommunications Industry Association said Monday in comments filed with the GSA (http://bit.ly/S2Wsxz). The agencies were seeking public comment on joint recommendations that the federal government institute baseline cybersecurity standards as a condition for contract acquisition awards. The recommendations were issued as part of the implementation of President Barack Obama’s cybersecurity executive order (CD Jan 30 p20). TIA said it believes “efforts to improve cybersecurity, including in federal procurement, should leverage existing standardization and related accreditation programs in all cases possible.” Cybersecurity requirements “should be outcome-driven, not focused on the process by which a contractor may innovate to get to that outcome.” Federal acquisition risk management strategies should rely on voluntary, consensus-based standards where possible, TIA said. The group said it supports the agencies’ recommendation that the government develop common cybersecurity definitions for federal acquisitions. GSA should “provide clarity” on the scope of the recommendations and ensure implementation efforts “ensure flexibility and the ability to innovate,” TIA said. Implementation should also take into account international standards, the group said (http://bit.ly/S2Wsxz).

A communications company attempting to sidestep government surveillance orders failed earlier this year, according to documents the Justice Department released Friday about phone surveillance (http://1.usa.gov/S2LojW). According to Justice and the declassified documents, a communications provider petitioned the government Jan. 22 to “vacate, modify or affirm” the Patriot Act Section 215 request, which involves passing along phone metadata of customers to the government for surveillance purposes. The provider pointed to the December decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, issued as part of a case brought by activist Larry Klayman, that said phone surveillance was likely unconstitutional, in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court shot down this argument in an order on March 20 and called that previous court decision “unpersuasive.” The FISC upheld the 1979 Supreme Court case Smith v. Maryland as the guiding case in this instance.

Nokia said Monday it expects to close the sale of its Devices & Services business to Microsoft on Friday. The deal “is now subject only to certain customary closing conditions,” it said. Microsoft agreed last year to acquire the Nokia business unit for about $7.2 billion (CD Sept 4 p5).

Cincinnati Bell announced a strategic partnership with The Brandery to provide up to 1 Gbps Internet speed to the business accelerator. The partnership will make The Brandery the only Top 10 startup accelerator in the U.S with a fiber partner and the first 1 Gbps small business customer in the Cincinnati Bell network, a Tuesday Cincinnati Bell press release said (http://bit.ly/1gGvO6i).

The National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative added AMC Networks, Disney/ESPN Media and Turner Broadcasting System on its MyTimeTV authentication platform. Offering the networks through the co-op “allows NRTC member subscribers to watch their pay TV subscription content via mobile devices in or away from home,” NRTC said in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/1jwELzd). The agreements with the networks include programming from Watch ABC Family, MLB coverage and TV Everywhere rights for AMC Networks’ Sundance and IFC, it said.

Hibernia Networks started the HiberniaCDN content delivery network, said a company news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1jZERAn). The network will assist in the delivery of “content for websites, ebooks, music, video” and other media, it said. In 2011, OnLive, a cloud computing service, selected Hibernia’s trans-Atlantic network to securely deliver bandwidth-intensive applications for OnLive’s cloud-based game service from the U.S. to the U.K..

Informa subsidiaries Ovum and Informa Telecoms & Media Research said Monday they will merge under the Ovum brand to “create the world’s largest telecoms industry research firm.” The merged firm plans to employ 275 staff, including 180 analysts, in its 23 global offices. Ovum Managing Director Steve Hotham will become CEO for the merged firm, which plans to fully integrate by the end of May (http://bit.ly/1emiLTo).

The Patent and Trademark Office’s (PTO) new Office of International Patent Cooperation (OIPC) will enable the agency “to focus dedicated resources to better implement its international patent cooperation efforts,” PTO said Thursday. OIPC will coordinate with PTO’s Office of Policy and International Affairs (OPIA) and the Office of the Chief Information Officer to provide “optimized business process solutions” to stakeholders and examiners using the international patent examination system, PTO said. OIPC “will allow us to increase certainty of IP rights while reducing costs for our stakeholders and moving towards a harmonized patent system,” said PTO Deputy Director Michelle Lee in a news release. PTO previously carried out international efforts through collaboration between programs like the Patent Prosecution Highway, Global Patent Search Network, Cooperative Patent Classification system and Global Dossier Initiative. Mark Powell, who now works in OPIA, will lead OIPC as deputy commissioner-international patent cooperation (http://1.usa.gov/1j6dh3b).