The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion upheld the dismissal of a second amended complaint from a Virginia-based locksmith, which alleged that Google, SuperMedia Sales, Yellowbook and Ziplocal "knowingly published the names, addresses and phone numbers of unlicensed locksmiths on their websites in order to gain advertising revenue." Baldino's Lock & Key Service had appealed the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia's dismissal. That court said Baldino's hadn't proved that the defendants made "a false or misleading description or representation of fact." The court also said that Baldino's had "failed to state a claim under the Lanham Act," which is a federal statute that prohibits false advertising and trademark violations, among other things. "Rather, the locksmiths who generated the information that appeared on defendants' websites are solely responsible for making any faulty or misleading representations or descriptions of fact. Accordingly, the district court did not err in dismissing Baldino's Lanham Act claim," the 4th Circuit opinion said Friday.

The USF contribution factor will jump to 18.2 percent in Q1, from this quarter's 16.7 percent, said industry consultant Billy Jack Gregg in an update Thursday. He said the Universal Service Administrative Co. projected industry long-distance telecom revenue for Q1 at $14.93 billion, about $72 million less than in the current quarter. Combined with projected USF demand of $2.277 billion, the revenue decline caused the industry contribution (assessment) factor to spike, he said. "The drop in first quarter 2016 revenues continues the downward trend in the USF contribution base, which places upward pressure on the USF assessment factor." Gregg recently said the contribution factor could top 18 percent for the first time, depending on the projected revenue (see 1511030037).

Three petitions for reconsideration of the incentive auction Application Procedures public notice were filed and assigned a pleading cycle, the FCC said in a public notice issued Thursday. The petitions were filed by the cellular carriers that make up PBP Group, T-Mobile and Walker Broadcasting. Oppositions to the petitions must be filed within 15 days of Thursday’s PN being published in the Federal Register, and replies 10 days later, the FCC said.

The FCC Wireline Bureau admonished the Alabama Public Service Commission and a PSC staffer who the bureau said violated a protective order in the inmate calling service proceeding. In an order in docket 12-375 and in Friday's Daily Digest, the bureau said the remedies already undertaken by the PSC (see 1509300023 and 1510080015) were sufficient to preserve the integrity of FCC processes, so it imposed no additional penalties. "We continue to prohibit Darrell A. Baker from reviewing confidential documents submitted in this proceeding, or any other proceeding before the Commission, however, and also exclude him from participating further in this proceeding for at least one year," Bureau Chief Matt DelNero wrote. Global Tel*Link had said the FCC should impose further sanctions on the Alabama PSC and Baker (see 1510050034), who acknowledged he inadvertently submitted a filing with confidential information from Global Tel*Link and other ICS providers (see 1509280034).

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler took several shots at ISPs Thursday during the FCBA annual dinner speech at the Washington Hilton, speaking hours before Friday’s net neutrality challenge oral argument (see 1512040058) before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He joked that the “light of my life” and the “person who inspires me every day to get up” is Judge David Tatel, seen as a key judge in that case (see 1510280052). Wheeler called the dinner the “pre-argument tailgate” for the telecom lawyers in the room. He referred to Uber surge pricing likely that evening, and said NCTA Chairman Michael Powell “blames it on Title II,” the part of the Communications Act that Wheeler reclassified broadband under in the net neutrality order, which is under legal challenge. Title II was a running joke of Wheeler’s through the night. He singled out Comcast attendees within the first five minutes of a 38-minute speech. “If they want more wine, it’s $35 a bottle,” Wheeler declared. “And don’t consider it a wine cap. Just think of it as a wine usage plan.” He mocked ISPs again on the FCC’s order to pre-empt state laws limiting municipal broadband networks, saying ISPs opposed the order in the “hotly debated” issue. “And on the other side, you had elected officials, small business owners, innovators, entrepreneurs, policy experts, competition advocates, teachers, doctors, parents, social workers, nuns, puppies, kittens and the original Broadway cast of Hamilton.” He tallied off different industry consolidation proposals under consideration, rejected and approved from the past year. “I just worry that if Time Warner gets hurt again, they could just lock themselves in their room, listen to Adele, eat ice cream straight out of the carton and read John Malone’s old love letters,” Wheeler said of Charter Communications’ proposed buy of TWC after a failed bid by Comcast. Malone is Charter’s largest shareholder. Wheeler joked that Dish Network Board Chairman Charlie Ergen was a victim of the extramarital dating website Ashley Madison hack: “Poor Charlie Ergen … no one responded.” Wheeler judged “hilarious” Verizon suing to overturn the FCC’s old net neutrality order only to return and advocate for the very proposal when confronted later with the Title II possibility. He also alluded to the FCC’s forthcoming website electronic comment filing system: “It’s the finest ECFS in the world,” he said, assuming the bombastic rhetoric of GOP presidential contender Donald Trump. “It’s huge! We’re going to make ECFS great again.” He ribbed FanDuel and DraftKings, saying they sponsored the evening, and showed a video of “a new business venture” called “Fanta-CBA,” an imagined fantasy league showing telecom lawyers. The video featured cameos from NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling, Wheeler Chief of Staff Ruth Milkman, CTIA President Meredith Baker, Powell and Andrew Schwartzman, senior counselor at the Georgetown Institute for Public Representation. “No more guard bands to cut down interference,” Wheeler said of Trump’s imagined spectrum plan. “Instead he’s gonna build a wall. Mexico will pay for it.” He said Trump was “a very big proponent of white spaces.” Other Wheeler bits included playing Drake’s “Hotline Bling” alongside a video clip of Wheeler’s hand gestures on repeat from a congressional hearing -- he accused Drake of picking up the gestures as dance moves. He donned a smoking jacket in front of an imaginary fire at one point to tell a bedtime story: “'Twas the night before argument, and back at his home, my poor general counsel sits fretting, alone … .”

The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) outlined strategies agreed to by its member companies to address and respond to climate change, ITI said in a statement Thursday. The statement highlights three main commitments -- reducing the carbon footprint of operations, reducing the carbon footprint of products over their lifecycles and delivering ongoing innovations to transition to a "sustainable low-carbon global economy" -- to be undertaken by members. The statement also identified a commitment to supporting government policies "with the intent of both mitigating and adapting to climate change." The efforts to support certain public policies related to climate change will be done with increased public-private partnership, the statement said. "We are not an industry that is fond of the status quo, and when it comes to climate change the status quo is unacceptable," ITI CEO Dean Garfield said in a blog post. "We are determined to use our innovative minds to find solutions to these challenges and to identify the opportunities that lie ahead to reduce carbon emissions."

With the window for reverse auction applications opening next week, the Incentive Auction Task Force is stepping up educational efforts, said IATF Chairman Gary Epstein and Vice Chairman Howard Symons in a blog post Thursday. An online tutorial on the reverse auction is already available and will be upgraded in 2016 “to walk prospective broadcast bidders through the bidding system and post-auction procedures,” they said. An application process workshop is scheduled for Tuesday that will cover the pre-auction process, they said. “Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions of FCC staff following the presentation, and staff contacts are listed in the forms and materials for any follow-up questions.” Next month, the IATF will release the file formats for reverse auction round results data, wrote Epstein and Symons. “The file formats will be of interest to broadcasters that may wish to download the results of each round for each of their participating stations, but all bidders will be able to view their own round results information on the FCC’s online auction portal during the auction.” The file formats for forward auction round results will be available before the end of the year. An interactive tutorial for the forward auction application process will be released in January, the blog said.

The FCC is again delaying the U-NII-3 deadline for certifying broadband equipment. The Dec. 2 deadline for National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) devices to meet revised Section 15.407 rules in order to be certified is being pushed to March 2, the full commission said in an order Thursday. That three-month delay in implementation follows comments by the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association and others (see 1511250037) requesting that extension as part of broader review of out-of-band-emission rules adopted for the U-NII-3 band, the agency said. The deadline initially was to be June 1 (see 1507010044). The FCC said it will continue to follow the previous Section 15.247 guidelines through March 2 when certifying U-NII-3 band devices.

Without FCC action, TV stations after the incentive auction will face an “untenable” increase in regulatory fees after “hundreds” of them surrender spectrum, said NAB in an ex parte filing posted in docket 15-121 Wednesday. The FCC “has routinely reallocated fees to reflect marketplace changes,” NAB said. “Doing so for television stations following the auction would be consistent with the Commission’s principal aim that the regulatory fee process should be fair.” The FCC should reallocate a share of TV regulatory fees to wireless to “reflect the spectrum to be repurposed,” NAB said. “The auction will allow wireless providers to improve service and enlist more customers, thereby demanding more Commission oversight and justifying an attendant increase in regulatory fees.”

FCC Wireline Bureau Chief Matt DelNero outlined nine key proceedings his bureau is working on, though he said the list isn't exhaustive. First on his list is a draft order that would partially approve a USTelecom forbearance petition for ILEC relief, which is on the commission's Dec. 17 tentative meeting agenda. Speaking at the Practising Law Institute conference Thursday, DelNero said he is personally involved every day in working on separate efforts to overhaul rural rate-of-return USF mechanisms. Asked about the timetable in light of signals from a key senator that the FCC could go beyond a year-end commitment for solving the "stand-alone broadband problem" for rural carriers, DelNero said the agency is eager to complete the rulemaking but also wants "to get it right." He also invited interested parties to provide input on commission efforts to craft an NPRM on broadband privacy under Title II of the Communications Act. Among the other draft items in proceedings he cited are: a Connect America Fund Phase II reverse auction framework order, which is circulating; an order to reform Part 32 accounting rules; the 2016 broadband progress report; a Lifeline modernization order; special-access reform actions; and orders on industry transactions, including Charter Communications' proposed buys of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable, and Altice's proposed buys of Cablevision and Suddenlink. On a subsequent panel at the conference, a Netflix official sparred with officials of CenturyLink and Cox Communications over the net neutrality order. Corie Wright, Netflix director-global policy, said she believes the FCC would be upheld in court, as did Washington Utilities and Transportation Commissioner Phil Jones. Jennifer Hightower, Cox senior vice president-law and policy, said the net neutrality order is discouraging broadband investment and that her company is "more cautious than ever" due to uncertainty from the order. Melissa Newman, CenturyLink senior vice president-federal policy and regulatory affairs, agreed, saying her company doesn't know what is allowed under the Internet conduct rule's prohibitions against broadband ISP practices that create "unreasonable interference" or "unreasonable disadvantage" for other parties. Wright disputed the criticisms, which she said were contradicted by the statements and actions of industry executives and Wall Street investors. Jones also said he hadn't seen any drop in broadband investment in his state.