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BlackBerry sues Facebook, claims messaging apps infringe on multiple patents

The company may be trying to force Facebook to negotiate a licensing deal.

Greg Sterling on March 7, 2018 at 1:16 pm
Marketing Land

BlackBerry has sued Facebook for patent infringement in federal district court in California. The claim is that Facebook’s various messaging tools, including WhatsApp, are using and infringing on BlackBerry’s intellectual property.

Reportedly, the companies were involved in licensing discussions, which didn’t produce the desired outcome for BlackBerry. The suit states seven counts of infringement. The various infringement claims cover messaging security, UI, messaging and gaming, power consumption innovations and other features.

The complaint states:

Defendants have used BlackBerry’s own intellectual property to compete with it in the mobile messaging space. These applications are ever expanding, including Facebook Messenger, Facebook Messenger Lite, Facebook Pages Manager, Facebook.com and Facebook Workplace Chat, the WhatsApp Messenger application made by WhatsApp Inc., and the Instagram application made by Instagram, Inc. The importance of mobile messaging is emphasized by the reported $19 billion dollars Facebook spent to acquire WhatsApp.

Facebook general counsel Paul Grewal provided a statement to CNBC, saying, “Blackberry’s suit sadly reflects the current state of its messaging business. Having abandoned its efforts to innovate, Blackberry is now looking to tax the innovation of others. We intend to fight.”

BlackBerry is seeking monetary damages including lost profits and injunctive relief. As the quote above indicates, Facebook has said it will fight the suit.

BlackBerry was founded in 1984 in Ontario, Canada, as a paging company and eventually began making smartphones. Together with Nokia, it dominated the market from 2000 to roughly 2013, until Apple and Android eventually forced the company to change its model and abandon its proprietary OS business.

BlackBerry today does a number of things but is primarily a mobile software and licensing company. BlackBerry devices still exist, but they’re made by third parties and run Android OS (like Nokia’s phones).

The company’s long history in the mobile messaging space and its many patents suggest the case may not be simple or quickly resolved for Facebook. [Source: Marketing Land]

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Wireless Messaging

This doesn't mean that nothing is ever published here that mentions a US political party—it just means that the editorial policy of this newsletter is to remain neutral on all political issues. We don't take sides.

A new issue of the Wireless Messaging Newsletter is posted on the web each week. A notification goes out by e-mail to subscribers on most Fridays around noon central US time. The notification message has a link to the actual newsletter on the web. That way it doesn’t fill up your incoming e-mail account.

There is no charge for subscription and there are no membership restrictions. Readers are a very select group of wireless industry professionals, and include the senior managers of many of the world’s major Paging and Wireless Messaging companies. There is an even mix of operations managers, marketing people, and engineers — so I try to include items of interest to all three groups. It’s all about staying up-to-date with business trends and technology.

I regularly get readers’ comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the Paging, and Wireless Messaging communities. You are welcome to contribute your ideas and opinions. Unless otherwise requested, all correspondence addressed to me is subject to publication in the newsletter and on my web site. I am very careful to protect the anonymity of those who request it.

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First Responders Serve and Protect

GLENAYRE INFRASTRUCTURE

I would like to recommend Easy Solutions for Support of all Glenayre Paging Equipment. This Texas company is owned and operated by Vaughan Bowden. I have known Vaughan for over 35 years. Without going into a long list of his experience and qualifications, let me just say that he was the V.P. of Engineering at PageNet which was—at that time—the largest paging company in the world. So Vaughan knows Paging.

GTES is no longer offering support contracts. GTES was the original group from Vancouver that was setup to offer support to customers that wanted to continue with the legacy Glenayre support. Many U.S. customers chose not to use this service because of the price and the original requirement to upgrade to version 8.0 software (which required expensive hardware upgrades, etc.). Most contracts ended as of February 2018.

If you are at all concerned about future support of Glenayre products, especially the “king of the hill” the GL3000 paging control terminal, I encourage you to talk to Vaughan about a service contract and please tell him about my recommendation.

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Advertiser Index

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The GL3000 is the most prolific paging system in the world and Easy Solutions gladly welcomes you to join us in providing reliable support to the paging industry for many more decades in the future.

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Please see our web site for exciting solutions designed specifically for the Wireless Industry. We also maintain a diagnostic lab and provide important repair and replacement parts services for Motorola and Glenayre equipment. Call or e-mail us for more information.

Back To Paging

Still The Most Reliable Protocol For Wireless Messaging!

Rick McMichael has some equipment for sale — left over from the inventory of his business that he recently sold.

If you are interested, please e-mail Rick directly by clicking here.

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Variety of Grants Available to Help Agencies with Technology Needs

By Danny Ramey, Web Editor
Thursday, February 15, 2018

Both technology-focused and non-technology-focused grants can help local law enforcement agencies acquire or improve their technology, including First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) services, with the right planning and approach.

“A lot of them don’t say technology in the name of the grant, but they’re what we call technology-friendly grants in that they can include a significant amount of technology if you as the applicant decide that a technology-rich or technology-empowered program is the way you want to go forward to achieve the objectives of the grant,” said Michael Paddock, CEO of Grants Office, during a webinar hosted by the National Sheriff’s Association (NSA).

One of the keys to a successful grant application is focusing on the goals and outcomes of the proposed project instead of the product or technology, said Ashley Schultz, a grants development consultant for Grants Office.

“It’s the project that gets funded, not the product,” Schultz said.

The technology shouldn’t be the main purpose of the grant but a means to achieving specific goals or addressing specific needs of the law enforcement agency,” Schultz said. For a strong grant application, she suggested targeting a specific crime or geographic area in the community.

For example, the Phoenix Police Department bought body-worn cameras for its patrol officers using grant funding. The department assigned the cameras to officers in neighborhoods that had high rates of sexual and domestic violence. The cameras were used for more than sexual and domestic violence calls, but the focus provided the police department with data that showed the program was achieving a specific outcome to address sexual and domestic violence, Schultz said.

In another example, the Henderson (Nevada) Police Department determined that there was an increased number of stolen items appearing on quick trading websites such as Craigslist and realized that its officers were spending a lot of time following leads on those websites.

The agency applied for a grant and partnered with the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) to create a data-mining tool that could collect and analyze data from those sites and identify stolen items for sale.

Many grants, whether they’re specifically related to technology or not, could help agencies with costs related to FirstNet services, Paddock said.

For example, an agency could leverage existing grant programs focused on criminal justice, traffic security or homeland security preparedness as a way to improve communications in those areas, Paddock said. He also suggested looking at grants such as the Department of Agriculture’s (DOA) rural broadband grants, which are focused on improving broadband coverage in rural areas across the country.

As with other technology, the key in applying to use some grant funding for FirstNet services or related costs, such as training, is again to focus on how those services will assist the agency in achieving specific goals or outcomes, Paddock said.

Agencies can look toward a variety of different grant opportunities to help fund technology. Many of the major law enforcement grant funding opportunities come from either the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the Department of Justice (DOJ), Paddock and Schultz said.

About half of the DHS grant funding generally goes to high-density, high-threat urban areas, through programs such as the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI), Paddock said.

For agencies not in those particular urban areas, state homeland security grants are an option. The money comes from the federal government, but is distributed by the states so deadline, matching fund requirements and other details are determined by the states, Paddock said.

DOJ grants mainly come from three of its offices — the BJA, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW).

The BJA’s Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants (JAG) are the DOJ’s largest provider of law enforcement grant funding, distributing more than $260 million per year, Schultz said.

Because the JAG program supports a variety of activities from basic law enforcement to corrections to technology improvement programs, the funds can be used on many different types of equipment, Schultz said.

Last year, the JAG program specifically called out items such as body-worn cameras, storage and policy development as priority areas for funding, Schultz said. “I will be very curious to see if that funding priority comes around again,” she said.

JAG funding is determined by a formula that takes into account population and Part 1 violent crime statistics. Agencies eligible to receive more than $10,000 in funding receive their grant funding directly from DOJ, and the anticipated application deadline will likely be sometime in June, Schultz said.

For agencies eligible for less than $10,000 funding, generally smaller agencies, the funding is distributed through states, and those agencies must apply to their state for funding. Funding priorities and deadlines generally vary from state to state, Schultz said.

Schultz highlighted the Improving Criminal Justice Response to Sexual Violence and Reduce Sexual Violence on Campuses grants from the OVW as potentially technology-friendly grants.

Both grants are focused on bringing together agencies such as law enforcement, courts, nonprofit organizations, and universities and their staff to collaborate in solving issues related to sexual violence.

There is a variety of potential technology that could help support the goals and objectives of those particular grants, Schultz said. For example, under the Improving Criminal Justice Response to Sexual Violence grant, a police department could use some of the funding to improve or expand its infrastructure so that it could more easily or efficiently share large amounts of data with a local prosecutor’s office.

Both grants have quite a few moving parts because they require bringing together disparate groups to collaborate. The grants are due soon, at the end of February and in mid-March, so Schultz suggested that agencies interested in the grants that have not planned for them focus on the 2019 grant cycle to ensure that they have a foundation for collaboration for their grant application.

Grants such as the COPS Office Anti-Heroin Task Force and Anti-Methamphetamine programs, which provide funds for agencies to investigate and combat activity related to the manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs, can also be used to leverage technology, Paddock said. For example, an agency might use a portion of the funding to invest in GPS technology to help track potential illegal activity.

Grants such as the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Smart Policing Initiative (SPI), which Phoenix and Henderson used for their projects, and the Technology Innovation for Public Safety (TIPS) are more directly focused on technology than some of the other grants, Schultz said. The SPI focuses on innovative and cost-effective solutions to address local crime and requires that grantees partner with a research partner to evaluate the effects of the solution, Schultz said.

The TIPS program is focused on strategic information between agencies to address specific problems related to fighting crime. Because of the nature of the program, the grant funds can generally be used on a variety of technology that promotes collaboration between different agencies.

Paddock and Schultz also encouraged law enforcement agencies to look at grant opportunities outside of the DHS and DOJ from organizations such as the Department of Transportation (DOT), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the E9-1-1 State Grant Program. All of those programs offer opportunities for partnerships that can include technology, Schultz said.

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Prism-IPX Systems products include full-featured radio paging systems with VoIP input, IP based transmitter control systems and paging message encryption. Other options include e-mail messaging, remote switch controllers, Off-The-Air paging message decoders and logging systems.

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Specialists in sales and service of equipment from these leading manufacturers, as well as other two-way radio and paging products:

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Disaster-Proven Paging for Public Safety

Paging system designs in the United States typically use a voice radio-style infrastructure. These systems are primarily designed for outdoor mobile coverage with modest indoor coverage. Before Narrowbanding, coverage wasn’t good, but what they have now is not acceptable! The high power, high tower approach also makes the system vulnerable. If one base station fails, a large area loses their paging service immediately!

Almost every technology went from analog to digital except fire paging. So it’s time to think about digital paging! The Disaster-Proven Paging Solution (DiCal) from Swissphone offers improved coverage, higher reliability and flexibility beyond anything that traditional analog or digital paging systems can provide. 

Swissphone is the No. 1 supplier for digital paging solutions worldwide. The Swiss company has built paging networks for public safety organizations all over the world. Swissphone has more than 1 million pagers in the field running for years and years due to their renowned high quality.

DiCal is the digital paging system developed and manufactured by Swissphone. It is designed to meet the specific needs of public safety organizations. Fire and EMS rely on these types of networks to improve incident response time. DiCal systems are designed and engineered to provide maximum indoor paging coverage across an entire county. In a disaster situation, when one or several connections in a simulcast solution are disrupted or interrupted, the radio network automatically switches to fall back operating mode. Full functionality is preserved at all times. This new system is the next level of what we know as “Simulcast Paging” here in the U.S.

Swissphone offers high-quality pagers, very robust and waterproof. Swissphone offers the best sensitivity in the industry, and battery autonomy of up to three months. First responder may choose between a smart s.QUAD pager, which is able to connect with a smartphone and the Hurricane DUO pager, the only digital pager who offers text-to-voice functionality.

Bluetooth technology makes it possible to connect the s.QUAD with a compatible smartphone, and ultimately with various s.ONE software solutions from Swissphone. Thanks to Bluetooth pairing, the s.QUAD combines the reliability of an independent paging system with the benefits of commercial cellular network. Dispatched team members can respond back to the call, directly from the pager. The alert message is sent to the pager via paging and cellular at the same time. This hybrid solution makes the alert faster and more secure. Paging ensures alerting even if the commercial network fails or is overloaded.

Swissphone sets new standards in paging:

Paging Network

• It’s much faster to send individual and stacked pages digitally than with analog voice.
• If you want better indoor coverage, you put sites closer together at lower heights.
• A self-healing system that also remains reliable in various disaster situations.
• Place base station where you need them, without the usage of an expensive backhaul network.
• Protect victim confidentiality and prevent unauthorized use of public safety communications, with integrated encryption service.

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• Reliable message reception, thanks to the best sensitivity in the industry.
• Ruggedized and waterproof, IP67 and 6 1/2-feet drop test-certified products.
• Battery autonomy of up to three months, with a standard AA battery.
• Bluetooth enables the new s.QUAD pager to respond back to the dispatch center or fire chief.

Dispatching:

• Two-way CAD interfaces will make dispatching much easier.
• The new s.ONE solution enables the dispatcher or fire chiefs to view the availability of relief forces.
• A graphical screen shows how many of the dispatched team members have responded to the call.

Swissphone provides a proven solution at an affordable cost. Do you want to learn more?
Visit: www.swissphone.com or call 800-596-1914.

Friday, March 9, 2018	Volume 6 | Issue 48

Reject Our Tower? See You in Court, Verizon Says

Following the rejection of its special-use and wetlands permits for the construction of a new tower to bridge a critical coverage gap, Verizon Wireless has filed suit against the city of Philipstown, NY in U.S. District Court in White Plains, requesting that the court grant the denied permits and authorize work to begin on the new tower, as reported by WestfairOnline.com.

In Verizon Wireless et al v. Town of Philipstown, et al, the carrier alleges that neither the conservation board nor the zoning board provided sufficient evidence to warrant the denial of the permits, in breach of the federal Telecommunications Act. The suit, which names the zoning board of appeals, the town and conservation boards, and the town’s building inspector and natural resources review officer, alleges that the town engaged in discriminatory practices, levied excessive fees, unreasonably delayed the project, and violated federal and state laws, according to a report from WestfairOnline.com.

The conflict began in May of 2017, when Verizon applied for permits for a new 180-foot pole at 50 Vineyard Road to replace a 120-foot tower nearby; its signal is occluded by the local topography, according to WestfairOnline.com. As noted in Verizon’s complaint, Philipstown’s consulting engineer confirmed that the existing tower could not solve the signal gap, even if the tower were elevated to 210 feet. Verizon contends in the suit, that the proposed project met all requirements, but that town officials “were intent on catering to a small but vocal group of politically influential objectors” and unreasonably delayed mandated public hearings and attempted to impose new fees.

Two members of that “small but vocal” group are zoning board member Paula Chair, who described cell towers as “an abomination,” to WestfairOnline.com, and board member Vincent Cestone, who is concerned about towers’ impacts on real estate values. However, Philipstown’s fire department stands behind the proposed tower, noting that it is needed to bridge gaps in emergency communications, according to Verizon’s complaint.

Selected portions [sometimes more — sometimes less] of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update and/or the BloostonLaw Private Users Update — newsletters from the Law Offices of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP — are reproduced in this section of The Wireless Messaging News with kind permission from the firm. The firm's contact information is included at the end of this section of the newsletter.

Accessibility Recordkeeping Compliance Certification Due April 1

Since April of 2013, all providers of telecommunications services have been required to file with the FCC an annual recordkeeping certification under Section 14.31 of the FCC’s rules, certifying under penalty of perjury that the company maintains records about its efforts to consult with individuals with disabilities; the accessibility features of its services and products; and information about the compatibility of its services and products with specialized peripherals. The certification is filed electronically at https://apps.fcc.gov/rccci-registry, and you will need the company's FRN and associated password to log into the RCCCI system.

Filing the required certification is the easy part: Clients must also implement the system of keeping the records described in the certification. BloostonLaw has prepared a compliance manual to help clients understand the requirements and implement their own recordkeeping system. BloostonLaw is also available to assist with the certification process.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy and Sal Taillefer.

Headlines

FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for March Open Meeting

On March 1, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the January Open Commission Meeting, which is currently scheduled to take place on March 22:

• Wireless Infrastructure Streamlining Order: a Second Report and Order that would clarify and modify the procedures for NHPA and NEPA review of wireless infrastructure deployments. (WT Docket No. 17-79)
• Reassigned Numbers Database: a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to address the problem of unwanted calls to reassigned numbers. (CG Docket No. 17-59)
• Location-Based Routing for 911 Calls: a Notice of Inquiry examining location-based routing of wireless 911 calls to ensure that calls are routed to the proper 911 call center. (PS Docket No. 18-64)
• 4.9 GHz Band: a Sixth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to stimulate use of and investment in the 4.9 GHz band. (WP Docket No. 07-100)
• Streamlining Television Satellite Station Reauthorization: a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes to streamline the reauthorization process for television satellite stations that are assigned or transferred in combination with a previously approved parent station. (MB Docket Nos. 18-63, 17-105)
• Consumer Signal Boosters: a Second Report and Order that would remove the personal use restriction for Provider-Specific Consumer Signal Boosters and a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks comment on ways to further expand access to Consumer Signal Boosters. (WT Docket No. 10-4)

The Open Meeting will be streamed live at www.fcc.gov/live and can be followed on social media with #OpenMtgFCC. Continuing with the FCC’s pilot program, public drafts of each item described above is linked within the description. One-page cover sheets are included in the public drafts to help summarize each item. These are not final drafts and may be different than what the FCC ultimately considers and adopts.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and John Prendergast.

FCC Provides Further Guidance on Reporting for CAF BLS Recipients

On March 1, the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau issued a Public Notice providing additional guidance and clarification regarding FCC Form 477 and High Cost Universal Broadband (HUBB) reporting obligations. As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom update, in the 2016 Rate-of-Return Reform Order, the FCC directed the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to develop an online system (later named the HUBB) to accept high-cost carriers’ broadband location information and related certifications. Connect America Fund-Broadband Loop Support (CAF-BLS) recipients with less than 80 percent pre-existing deployment in their study area as of December 31, 2015 are subject to defined deployment and HUBB filing obligations. CAF-BLS recipients with 80 percent or more pre-existing deployment are not subject to defined deployment and HUBB filing obligations.

Corrected FCC Form 477 Data. In its Public Notice, the FCC clarified that any CAF-BLS recipient that believes its pre-existing deployment percentage is incorrect due to an error in its filed 2015 FCC Form 477 Data must refile corrected data. However, corrected 2015 FCC Form 477 data that shows a carrier 80 percent or more deployed will not convert a CAF-BLS carrier with a defined deployment and HUBB filing obligations into a carrier without these obligations.

Process to Demonstrate Full Deployment. Additionally, the FCC clarified that any CAF-BLS carrier will be able to voluntarily certify to USAC that it is fully deployed (and thus has fulfilled its buildout obligation) because it has deployed qualifying broadband to all locations in its study area that do not result in its total support per line exceeding the $250 per-line per-month cap or the carrier’s Maximum Average Per Location Construction Project Limitation.

Separate Duties. Finally, the FCC clarified that carriers’ annual reporting and deployment obligations are separate and independent duties, and that carriers with HUBB filing obligations must submit locations information and make related certifications on an annual basis until the end of their support term, regardless of whether they have already met their final deployment obligation.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy and Mary Sisak.

NTIA Identifies Additional Mid-Band Spectrum for Potential Wireless Broadband Use

To meet the growing need for 5G, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in coordination with the Department of Defense (DOD) and other federal agencies, has identified 100 megahertz of mid-band spectrum for potential repurposing to spur commercial wireless innovation. This spectrum, which is in the 3450-3550 MHz (3.4 GHz) band, is immediately adjacent to the 3550-3700 MHz (3.5 GHz) Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum.

In the United States, military radar systems currently operate in the 3450-3550 MHz band. This band is also part of the 3300 to 3500 MHz band that is allocated on a secondary basis for Amateur Radio use. According to a recent blog post by NTIA Administrator David Redl, DOD plans to submit a proposal under the Spectrum Pipeline Act to carry out a comprehensive radio-frequency engineering study to determine the potential for introducing advanced wireless services in this band without harming critical government operations.

“We hope the result of this hard work will be a ‘win-win,’ enabling the continuing growth of the U.S. wireless industry while protecting radars that are vital for national security,” wrote Redl.

The FCC, in coordination with NTIA and DOD, has already adopted rules for shared wireless broadband use of the 3.5 spectrum allocated to CBRS. These rules call for protection of incumbent users, and control/management of the shared spectrum by a real-time sensing and database (known as the “SAS”), and expand upon the non-exclusive nationwide licensing and site registration procedures for the 3.65 GHz band that were adopted in 2005. General Authorized Access (“GAA”) tier operations in the 3.5 GHz band could begin as soon as 4Q of this year once a certified SAS is available. An auction of 3.5 GHz Priority Access Licenses (or PALs) is expected sometime thereafter, but has not yet been scheduled by the FCC. At this point, a 2019 auction date for 3.5 GHz PALs appears likely. Next steps for a PAL auction include completion of an FCC rulemaking to determine the optimal geographic size for PAL licenses (census tracts versus Partial Economic Areas) and FCC Public Notice procedures to establish an appropriate auction design.

It would appear that the 3.4 GHz band spectrum could be folded into the CBRS, but a fair amount of work still needs to be done by NTIA and DOD to study the feasibility of sharing or finding alternative spectrum for DOD radar operations. This work is likely to take at least another year if not more. Thereafter, assuming the spectrum can be made available, the FCC would need to conduct a rulemaking to determine how the spectrum should be allocated and licensed. Portions of the 3.4 GHz band have been slated for auction in the UK later this year, and the 3.4 GHz band has been identified as central to 5G rollout across Europe.

Together with the 3.7-4.2 GHz spectrum (the satellite “C Band”), which FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has been promoting for terrestrial use as part of the Mid-Band Spectrum NOI, the allocation of the 3.4 GHz band would conceivably make a total of 800 megahertz of contiguous spectrum (3.4 – 4.2 GHz) available for a variety of fixed and mobile 4G and 5G services.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Cary Mitchell and John Prendergast.

Law & Regulation

Verizon, Straight Path Pay $600 Million Civil Penalty to Settle FCC Violations

On February 28, the FCC announced that Straight Path Communications and Verizon Communications have paid a civil penalty of over $600 million dollars in connection with a January 2017 settlement that Straight Path entered into with the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau—prior to the sale and transfer of its licenses to Verizon. According to a Press Release, this is the largest civil penalty ever paid to resolve a FCC investigation.

The settlement resolved an investigation into allegations that Straight Path failed to use the spectrum it was awarded, and thus violated the FCC’s buildout and discontinuance rules in connection with approximately 1,000 licenses in certain millimeter wave spectrum bands. The settlement required Straight Path to sell its licenses and remit 20 percent of the overall proceeds of the transaction to the U.S. Treasury. Verizon and Straight Path entered into an agreement on May 11, 2017 to transfer the licenses, and on January 18, 2018, the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau approved the transfer.

This payment is in addition to $15 million that Straight Path previously paid to the U.S. Treasury, and its earlier relinquishment of 196—approximately 20 percent—of its licenses to the FCC that were not included in its transaction with Verizon.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and John Prendergast.

Congress Announces Agreement on FCC Reauthorization Bill

On March 2, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD), and Ranking Minority Member Bill Nelson (D-FL) announced a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on legislation reauthorizing the FCC. The legislation, RAY BAUM’S Act (H.R. 4986), was approved in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. The Senate Commerce Committee passed its own bipartisan FCC reauthorization bill last Congress.

The legislation, if passed into law, would:

• Reauthorize the FCC and include reforms to ensure the FCC continues to improve its efficiency and transparency.
• Enact key provisions from the Senate-approved MOBILE NOW Act (S. 19) to boost the development of next-generation 5G wireless broadband by identifying more spectrum – both licensed and unlicensed – for private sector use and reducing the red tape associated with building wireless networks.
• Authorize a repack fund to address the shortfall in funding available to relocate broadcasters being displaced following the successful Incentive Auction, and set up new relocation funds for translators, low-power television, and radio stations that will be impacted by the repack – supplemented by a consumer education fund.
• Include a spectrum auction deposit “fix” which allows the FCC to deposit upfront payments from spectrum bidders directly with the U.S. Treasury. This step is important as future auctions are in limbo until the upfront payment mechanism is resolved.
• Direct the FCC to craft a national policy for unlicensed spectrum that includes certain specific considerations and recommendations.
• Advance proposals that would help the FCC and law enforcement protect consumers from fraudulent telephone calls, and to educate Americans about their options to stop these illegal calls.

The bill is named for former Energy and Commerce Committee Staff Director Ray Baum, who lost his battle with cancer last month.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and John Prendergast.

Chairman Pai Announces $954 Million Fund for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

On March 6, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed to direct approximately $954 million toward restoring and expanding communications networks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Specifically, he proposed to create a $750 million Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund (Bringing Puerto Rico Together Fund) and a $204 million Connect USVI Fund. Each of these funds would provide additional short-term assistance for restoring communications networks in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria and longer-term support for expanding broadband access throughout the islands.

According to a Press Release, the plan includes:

• An immediate infusion of approximately $64 million in additional funding for short-term restoration efforts.
• A proposal to allocate approximately $631 million in long-term funding for the restoration and expansion of fixed broadband connectivity in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• A proposal to allocate approximately $259 million in medium-term funding for the restoration and expansion of 4G LTE mobile broadband connectivity in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• The immediate conversion of the advanced funding the FCC provided last year to carriers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands into new funding by declining to offset that advanced funding against future universal service support payments.

The plan would reportedly be funded by providing approximately $256 million in new funds as well as repurposing universal service support currently directed to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, Mary Sisak, and Sal Taillefer.

Hearing Aid and Compatibility Rules Effective March 30

On March 6, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing that its amended the hearing aid compatibility (HAC) rules governing wireline and wireless handsets will go into effect on March 30, 2018. As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, in its October 24, 2017 HAC Order, the FCC approved a new wireline HAC volume control standard, adopted a requirement for volume control in wireless handsets, and eliminated an obsolete wireless handset standard, among other things.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Cary Mitchell and John Prendergast.

Industry

FCC and FTC To Host Joint Forum on Robocalling

On March 7, the FCC, in conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announced two upcoming events “aimed at furthering the fight against illegal robocalls and caller ID spoofing.” On March 23, the two agencies will co-host a Policy Forum at FCC headquarters to discuss the regulatory challenges posed by illegal robocalls and what the FCC and FTC are doing to both protect consumers and encourage the development of private-sector solutions. The live video feed and other information related to this event will be available at: www.fcc.gov/news-events/events/2018/03/fighting-scourge-illegal-robocalls.

On April 23, the FCC and FTC will also co-host a Technology Expo for consumers at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery in Washington, D.C. This event will feature technologies, devices, and applications to minimize or eliminate the illegal robocalls consumers receive. The FCC and FTC have worked closely with phone companies, tech innovators, and others to find solutions for consumers to the problems of illegal robocalls and malicious spoofing. More information on this Expo, including how innovators can seek to participate, will be available at: www.fcc.gov/news-events/events/2018/04/stop-illegal-robocalls-expo.

“Scam robocalls and deceptive spoofing are real threats to American consumers, and they are the number one consumer complaint at the FCC,” said FCC Chairman Pai. “We’re committed to confronting this problem using every tool we have. I’m pleased to announce these efforts in our continued work with the FTC to protect consumers.”

“Consumers are fed up with illegal robocalls that disturb their privacy and often pitch scams,” said Acting FTC Chairman Ohlhausen. “We’re going to expand our fight against this scourge through initiatives like the upcoming Technology Expo and Policy Forum, which amplify our impact through close coordination with the FCC and other partners.”

Deadlines

MARCH 31: STREAMLINED INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT CAPACITY REPORT. No later than March 31, 2018, all U.S. international carriers that owned or leased bare capacity on a submarine cable between the United States and any foreign point on December 31, 2017 and any person or entity that held a submarine cable landing license on December 31, 2017 must file a Circuit Capacity Report to provide information about the submarine cable capacity it holds. Additionally, cable landing licensees must file information on the Circuit Capacity Report about the amount of available and planned capacity on the submarine cable for which they have a license. Last year, the FCC eliminated the requirement for U.S. International Carriers that owned or leased bare capacity on a terrestrial or satellite facility to show its active common carrier circuits for the provision of service to an end-user or resale carrier, including active circuits used by itself or its affiliates.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy.

APRIL 1: FCC FORM 499-A, TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORTING WORKSHEET. This form must be filed by all contributors to the Universal Service Fund (USF) sup-port mechanisms, the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund, the cost recovery mechanism for the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA), and the shared costs of local number portability (LNP). Contributors include every telecommunications carrier that provides interstate, intrastate, and international telecommunications, and certain other entities that provide interstate telecommunications for a fee. Even common carriers that qualify for the de minimis ex-emption must file Form 499-A. Entities whose universal service contributions will be less than $10,000 qualify for the de minimis exemption. De minimis entities do not have to file the quarterly report (FCC Form 499-Q), which was due February 1, and will again be due May 1. Form 499-Q relates to universal and LNP mechanisms. Form 499-A relates to all of these mechanisms and, hence, applies to all providers of interstate, intrastate, and international telecommunications services. Form 499-A contains revenue information for January 1 through December 31 of the prior calendar year. And Form 499-Q contains revenue information from the prior quarter plus projections for the next quarter. (Note: the revised 499-A and 499-Q forms are now available.) Block 2-B of the Form 499-A requires each carrier to designate an agent in the District of Columbia upon whom all notices, process, orders, and decisions by the FCC may be served on behalf of that carrier in proceedings before the FCC. Carriers receiving this newsletter may specify our law firm as their D.C. agent for service of process using the information in our masthead. There is no charge for this service.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy and Sal Taillefer.

APRIL 1: ANNUAL ACCESS TO ADVANCED SERVICES CERTIFICATION. All providers of telecommunications services and telecommunications carriers subject to Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act are required to file with the FCC an annual certification that (1) states the company has procedures in place to meet the recordkeeping requirements of Part 14 of the Rules; (2) states that the company has in fact kept records for the previous calendar year; (3) contains contact information for the individual or individuals handling customer complaints under Part 14; (4) contains contact information for the company’s designated agent; and (5) is supported by an affidavit or declaration under penalty of perjury signed by an officer of the company.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy, Mary Sisak, and Sal Taillefer.

MAY 31: FCC FORM 395, EMPLOYMENT REPORT. Common carriers, including wireless carriers, with 16 or more full-time employees must file their annual Common Carrier Employment Reports (FCC Form 395) by May 31. This report tracks carrier compliance with rules requiring recruitment of minority employees. Further, the FCC requires all common carriers to report any employment discrimination complaints they received during the past year. That information is also due on May 31. The FCC encourages carriers to complete the discrimination report requirement by filling out Section V of Form 395, rather than submitting a separate report.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Richard Rubino.

Calendar At-a-Glance

March
Mar. 27 – Reply comments are due on national television audience reach cap review.
Mar. 30 – Deadline for CAF Phase II Auction Applications.
Mar. 31 – FCC Form 525 (Delayed Phasedown CETC Line Counts) is due.
Mar. 31 – FCC Form 508 (ICLS Projected Annual Common Line Requirement) is due.
Mar. 31 – Streamlined International Circuit Capacity Report is due.

April
Apr. 1 – FCC Form 499-A (Annual Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet) is due.
Apr. 1 – Annual Accessibility Certification is due.

May
May 1 – FCC Form 499-Q (Quarterly Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet) is due.
May 31 – FCC Form 395 (Annual Employment Report) is due.

Brad Dye, Ron Mercer, Allan Angus, Vic Jackson, and Ira Wiesenfeld are friends and colleagues who work both together and independently, on wireline and wireless communications projects.

Click here for a summary of their qualifications and experience. Each one has unique abilities. We would be happy to help you with a project, and maybe save you some time and money.

Note: We do not like Patent Trolls, i.e. “a person or company who enforces patent rights against accused infringers in an attempt to collect licensing fees, but does not manufacture products or supply services based upon the patents in question.” We have helped some prominent law firms defend their clients against this annoyance, and would be happy to do some more of this same kind of work.

Some people use the title “consultant” when they don't have a real job. We actually do consulting work, and help others based on our many years of experience.

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— Chinese Proverb

Wireless Network Planners
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Telephone: 631-786-9359
www.wirelessplanners.com
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[Off topic, but very interesting.]

Bones discovered on a Pacific island belong to Amelia Earhart, a new forensic analysis shows

An undated portrait of Amelia Earhart. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

By MARWA ELTAGOURI
The Washington Post
Published: March 8, 2018

Amelia Earhart's story is revolutionary: She was the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean, and might have been the first to fly around the world had her plane not vanished over the Pacific Ocean in 1937.

After decades of mystery surrounding her disappearance, her story might come to a close.

A new scientific study claims that bones found in 1940 on the Pacific Island of Nikumaroro belong to Earhart, despite a forensic analysis of the remains conducted in 1941 that linked the bones to a male. The bones, revisited in the study "Amelia Earhart and the Nikumaroro Bones" by University of Tennessee professor Richard Jantz, were discarded. For decades they have remained an enigma, as some have speculated that Earhart died a castaway on the island after her plane crashed.

The bones were uncovered by a British expedition exploring the island for settlement after they came upon a human skull, according to the study. The expedition's officer ordered a more thorough search of the area, which resulted in the discovery of several other bones and part of what appeared to be a woman's shoe. Other items found included a box made to hold a Brandis Navy Surveying Sextant that had been manufactured around 1918 and a bottle of Benedictine, an herbal liqueur.

"There was suspicion at the time that the bones could be the remains of Amelia Earhart," Jantaz wrote in the study.

When the 13 bones were shipped to Fiji and studied by Dr. D. W. Hoodless of the Central Medical School the following year, Jantz argues that it is likely that forensic osteology — the study of bones — was still in its early stages, which therefore affected his assessment of which sex the remains belonged to. Jantz, in attempting to compare the lost bones with Earhart's bones, co-developed a computer program that estimated sex and ancestry using skeletal measurements. The program, Fordisc, is commonly used by forensic anthropologists across the globe.

Jantz compared the lengths of the bones to Earhart's measurements, using her height, weight, body build, limb lengths and proportions, based on photographs and information found on her pilot's and driver's licenses. His findings revealed that Earhart's bones were "more similar to the Nikumaroro bones than 99 [percent] of individuals in a large reference sample."

"In the case of the Nikumaroro bones, the only documented person to whom they may belong is Amelia Earhart," Jantz wrote in the study.

Earhart's disappearance has long captivated the public, and theories involving her landing on Nikumaroro have emerged in recent years. Retired journalist Mike Campbell, who authored "Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last," has maintained with others that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were captured in the Marshall Islands by the Japanese, who thought they were American spies. He believes they were tortured and died in custody.

But Ric Gillespie, director of the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) spoke to The Washington Post's Cleve R. Wootson Jr. in 2016 about how he too believes the bones found on Nikumaroro belong to Earhart.

In 1998, the group took Hoodless' measurements of the Nikumaroro bones and analyzed them through a robust anthropological database. They determined the bones belonged to a taller-than-average woman of European descent - perhaps Earhart, who at 5 feet 7 to 5 feet 8, was several inches taller than the average woman.

In 2016, the group brought the measurements to Jeff Glickman, a forensic examiner, who located a photo of Earhart from Lockheed Aircraft Corp. that showed her with her arms exposed. It appeared, based on educated guesses, that Earhart's upper arm bone corresponded with one of the Nikumaroro bones.

Glickman, who is now a member of TIGHAR, told The Washington Post at the time that he understands some might be skeptical about his findings, as they were based 76-year-old medical notes. But the research made clear, he said, that Earhart died on Nikumaroro.

Both Gillespie and Glickman could not be immediately reached by The Post for comment on Jantz's findings.

In June 2017, researchers traveled to Nikumaroro with dogs who had been specially trained to sniff the chemicals left behind by decaying human remains. They thought they might discover a bone, and were especially hopeful when the dogs seemed to detect the scent of human remains beneath a ren tree. But there were no bones.

A week later, the History Channel published a photo suggesting Earhart died in Japan. Based on a photograph unearthed from the National Archives, researchers said Earhart may have been captured by the Japanese after all, as the photo showed Earhart and Noonan, in Jaluit Harbor in the Marshall Islands after their disappearance.

In the photo, according to The Post's Amy B Wang, "a figure with Earhart's haircut and approximate body type sits on the dock, facing away from the camera. . . . Toward the left of the dock is a man they believe is Noonan. On the far right of the photo is a barge with an airplane on it, supposedly Earhart's."

After the History Channel program aired, a Japanese-military-history blogger matched the photo to one first published in a 1935 Japanese travelogue, two years before Earhart and Noonan disappeared.

The History Channel released a statement addressing the discrepancy.

"HISTORY has a team of investigators exploring the latest developments about Amelia Earhart and we will be transparent in our findings," the statement read. "Ultimately, historical accuracy is most important to us and our viewers."

Gillespie still stands by his theory, he told Wootson in 2017 after the photograph's discovery. His group, TIGHAR, has tried to debunk the photo, and Gillespie still thinks the "overwhelming weight of the evidence" points to Nikumororo.

Faith Ako — Blue Bayou