TVs in other markets also don't correctly tune to the desired station when receiving a signal from a station transmitting with a major channel number program and system information protocol in the same area where a different station is transmitting on the same over-the-air channel, PMCM said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in FCC docket 14-150. The Media Bureau assigned PMCM's WJLP Middletown Township, New Jersey, to virtual channel 33, though PMCM is seeking to be assigned virtual channel 3.10. But many viewers trying to watch WJLP on channel 33 are instead receiving WCBS-TV New York, which broadcasts on that channel, PMCM said (see 1510010031). Testing by PMCM shows that if WJLP were on the channel PMCM wants, most TVs would allow viewers to choose which channel they tune to when entering the virtual channel number, rather than automatically selecting one or the other, PMCM has said. The tests mentioned in the latest ex parte filing show that this works in other markets as well, PMCM said.

Samsung Chief Marketing Officer WP Hong will deliver a CES keynote at 9 a.m. Jan. 7, said CEA Wednesday. The keynote, at the Venetian Palazzo Ballroom in Las Vegas, will cover Samsung’s efforts in IoT data security and mobile payment, said CEA.

CEA is accepting proposals for the CES Asia 2016 conference program through Nov. 20, it said. CES Asia will be May 11-13 at the Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre and Kerry Hotel in Shanghai, with more than 50 conference sessions over three days, CEA said. Speakers will reach a global audience, CEA said, with 1,000 media and more than 30,000 attendees expected at the show.

CEA announced Monday the first eCommerce Marketplace, presented by MasterCard, which it’s billing as a “one-stop showcase” for products and services disrupting the traditional consumer shopping model. The e-commerce industry is “transforming the way companies do business and interact with consumers,” CEA President Gary Shapiro said, “and the possibilities are endless.” In addition to the new marketplace, CES and Living in Digital Times plan the first Digital Money Forum, also presented by MasterCard. The forum will look at financial tools and solutions that are “shaping the digitization of money,” including e-wallets, mobile payment systems, virtual currency and cryptographic technology, CEA said. The half-day conference targets retail and manufacturers, government agencies and regulators, financial services and banking organizations, high-tech developers, news media, investors and transaction processors, CEA said.

Amazon reached agreement with the National Association for the Deaf to caption 100 percent of its Prime online video content, and by the end of 2016 to put captions on 100 percent of online video content viewed more than 10 times within the previous 90 days, NAD said in a news release. The agreement includes adding captions to titles that don’t already have them, NAD said. Amazon already has captions on “the vast majority” of titles and the agreement will result in “more than 190,000 titles made available with closed captions in Amazon’s catalog,” NAD said. The deal is “an enormous step in making online entertainment accessible to the 48 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the United States alone,” NAD CEO Howard Rosenblum said in the release. “We have already undertaken, at our own expense, to provide captions on titles that content providers have not provided,” Amazon Video Vice President Jim Freeman said. “As a result, all content available through Prime Video has been captioned since the beginning of this year.” Amazon has been criticized before by NAD and others for not captioning all content, violating what the groups said were FCC rules (see report in the March 11, 2013, issue).

Apple, AT&T, Cox Enterprises, Dell, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard, Intel and Microsoft are among the 81 companies that signed the White House’s American Business Act on Climate Pledge and support an agreement being reached to reduce carbon emissions and achieve a sustainable future at the U.N. Climate Change Conference beginning next month in Paris, a White House fact sheet said Monday.

The FCC will temporarily waive its Form 740 certification requirements for RF devices imported after Customs and Border Protection's automated commercial environment (ACE) filing system becomes mandatory for FCC-regulated products July 1, the full commission said in a Monday order. The waiver, which will remain in effect until Dec. 31, 2016, allows time for the FCC to consider its proposal to eliminate importer declaration requirements entirely (see 1507210072), without imposing “significant burdens” on importers that would otherwise be forced to file on paper once ACE is required, the FCC said. Given the complexity of the FCC rulemaking, it’s possible the commission will be “unable to reach and publish a final determination” by July 1, when CBP will no longer accept electronic filing of FCC Form 740 via its legacy Automated Commercial System, it said.

Mozilla released Firefox 41.0.2 to address a security vulnerability that may allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information from an affected system, said a Thursday alert from the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team. US-CERT also issued an alert Thursday saying Apple released security updates for Keynote, Pages and Numbers for OS and for iOS to address multiple vulnerabilities that may allow a remote attacker to take control of an affected system.

In a pre-CEDIA Expo announcement, ProSource said Tuesday it signed a strategic alliance with commercial buying group CI Edge. ProSource Director of Business Development Andy Orozco said the alliance gives ProSource members focused on the commercial market “buying programs, education and best practices to support their commercial integration efforts.” Orozco said ProSource is the only CE buying group that serves both commercial and residential markets.

The Washington, D.C., City Council’s proposal to heavily regulate Airbnb is an “atrocious public policy” that will stifle innovation and prevent necessary competition in the hospitality industry, said CEA President Gary Shapiro in a news release Thursday. "Airbnb helps D.C. visitors find affordable accommodations, while allowing D.C. citizens to earn supplemental income while sharing their love of this city,” Shapiro said. “Legislating higher prices and fewer choices” will harm D.C.’s reputation as a tech-friendly, pro-business city, he said.