Adam Bender

The Electronic Frontier Foundation will “have the last laugh” in a bout with NeoMedia Technologies over the validity of a NeoMedia patent for technology for interpreting camera phone images of bar codes, EFF attorney Jason Schultz said. EFF wants the Patent office to invalidate NeoMedia’s patent because it covers a simple technology and ultimately shuts out competition, Schultz said. NeoMedia said Tuesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office twice rejected EFF petitions to destroy the patent (CD July 25 p16), due to omissions and other “technical glitches” in EFF’s submission, Schultz said. The patent office has not assessed the petition’s substance, he added. The EFF has refiled and hopes to get a decision within three months, he said.

A judge rejected a Bush administration effort to stop state investigations of phone carriers alleged to have given customer records to the National Security Agency. But U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco left open chances of a different outcome after an appeals court rules in Hepting v. AT&T, the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s fight with the nation’s largest telco. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, also in San Francisco, is to hear oral argument in that case Aug. 15.

Voting unanimously, the IEEE 802.20 Working Group on Mobile Broadband Wireless Access accepted a new draft standard to be forwarded for a Working Group letter ballot, IEEE said Tuesday. The decision came after the IEEE 802 Executive Committee changed the group’s voting system to one vote for each entity participants are affiliated with. The group once had a one-person, one-vote system. The change is the latest in a series of IEEE actions since a 200y inquiry into the working group’s “lack of transparency, possible dominance, and other irregularities,” IEEE said. The working group “has made significant progress after being reorganized in September 2006 to ensure a clearly neutral leadership,” said Paul Nikolich, IEEE 802 committee chair. Assessing the working group, the IEEE Standards Board found that one company or a group of companies dominated the process, an IEEE spokeswoman said. The board didn’t issue a finding on which company was dominant because that wasn’t necessary, she said. “Concerns about dominance have continued, however,” he said. “While work on the standard has continued to move forward since the reorganization, this change in voting approach will put the IEEE 802.20 Working Group in a better position to move forward quickly in a fair, open and consistent manner.” The group is creating an air-interface standard to deliver voice, video and data services to portable computers and other mobile devices at wired broadband levels. The standard will raise data rates in wireless metropolitan area networks to 1 Mbps or more, at a range of at least 15 km from a base station for users traveling up to 250 km an hour, IEEE said. “The initial draft has evolved considerably and now has broader consensus support than the original,” said working group chair Arnie Greenspan. A revised draft of the standard will be ready for formal ballot “in the near future,” he said.

A strong iPhone launch, more U-verse IPTV deployment and BellSouth integration savings gave AT&T its ninth straight quarter of double digit growth in earnings per share, the company said Tuesday. AT&T had $29.5 billion revenue and $2.9 billion profit in the second quarter. Earnings per share were 70 cents, up 12 cents from a year earlier. AT&T Chief Financial Officer Rick Lidner reported the company’s second quarter results in a Tuesday conference call. He steered clear of political issues involving the 700 MHz auction and an International Trade Commission ban on Qualcomm chips.

Amp'd delayed its potential close-of-business date to July 31 after winning a one-week reprieve Monday in a Wilmington, Del., bankruptcy court. Amp'd and Verizon reached an interim agreement, with Verizon continuing to provide its network for Amp'd use for one week, a Verizon spokeswoman said. Verizon could terminate service on July 31 or August 1, pending results of an Amp'd assets auction, she said. Amp'd ended customer service Monday, using its Web site and text messages to tell customers service could end the next day (CD July 24 p8). Amp'd updated that Q&A after the parties signed the interim agreement. Amp'd did not comment.

Bankrupt Amp'd Mobile shut down its customer service Monday and may suspend its U.S. operations altogether today (Tuesday). Amp'd announced its possible demise Monday through text messages and its Web site, which provides an end-of-service Q&A. The company is in discussion with several carriers about a takeover, it said. Amp'd did not comment. Amp'd filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. At the time of filing, the company was more than $100 million in debt and owed $41 million in network use fees to Verizon Wireless, which created Amp'd in a joint venture with Vodafone. Amp'd has since added more than $15.6 million to its Verizon debt. Last Tuesday, Verizon asked the Wilmington court to let it cut off service to Amp'd, which it said had failed to secure “debtor-in-possession” financing. The judge set Monday for a hearing, which a Verizon spokeswoman said was still in progress at our deadline. Amp'd customers must still pay their outstanding bills, the company said on its Web site. “Failure to pay a delinquent balance may result in reporting to a credit agency,” the company said on its Web site. Customers awaiting a rebate, refund or other unpaid credit must file a claim, it said. There will be no termination fee owed to move to another carrier, and purchased Amp'd songs, ringtones and videos will still be accessible on the customer’s memory card, it said. Amp'd was still advertising its plans and phones on its Web site Monday. A link to the end-of-business notice labeled “Amp'd Customer Q&A” appeared at the bottom of the page.

A vulnerability in the iPhone’s Safari Web browser could open the device to malicious attacks, SPI labs said. Hackers could exploit an iPhone Safari feature letting users enter digits appearing on Web sites by tapping them, it said. Hackers could spoof numbers so the tap instead send users to a different phone number, or manipulate the phone to track calls made on it, to place calls without a confirmation dialog, to enter the phone into infinite loop of call attempts or to lock the phone from making calls altogether, it said. Attacks can be done from a malicious Web site or a legitimate one hacked with a worm, it said. SPI has not heard reports of attacks “in the wild,” but someone is bound to figure it out, said SPI researcher Billy Hoffman. SPI reported the problem to Apple on July 6. Last week Apple worked with SPI on the problem and a fix in on the way, SPI development manager Bryan Sullivan said. It is a software problem unrelated to AT&T’s network, Sullivan said. Palm Treos and Windows smart phones may have similar vulnerabilities; SPI plans to look into those devices next, Sullivan said. Apple did not comment.

The U.S. Appeals Court, Federal Circuit, dismissed a petition by Qualcomm and carriers and handset makers to stay an International Trade Commission ban on Qualcomm chips that infringe on Broadcom patents. The court lacks jurisdiction to review the June 21 ITC order until the presidential review period ends Aug. 6, it said.

Sprint Nextel and Clearwire will partner to build a nationwide WiMAX mobile broadband network, launching commercial service the first half of 2008, the companies said Thursday. No cash was exchanged, and the companies did not comment on whether an acquisition or similar deal was on the horizon. The arrangement is positive for both companies, with Clearwire benefiting most, analysts said.

The FCC should hold a series of E-911 hearings before deciding whether to impose tougher location accuracy standards, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said at an E-911 Institute roundtable Thursday. “Our ultimate goal of advancing 911 may not be well served if the proceeding, regardless of how well intentioned, rushes to judgment by issuing a series of tentative conclusions without even beginning to conduct necessary due diligence,” he said. “The FCC needs to make a more collaborative approach… We need to listen to what those who are closer to the issue say.”