ICANN launched a process to help board members vet policy recommendations for the rollout of new generic top-level domain names, it announced Monday. During the "operational design phase," staff will develop relevant information on whether the policies are in the best interest of the community or ICANN, including potential obstacles, expected costs and the timeline for implementing new domains.

Starz is essentially arguing that the Supreme Court misinterpreted the Copyright Act statute of limitations, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit "is bound by the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the statute, not Starz’s," defendant-appellant MGM Domestic Television told the appellate court in a docket 21-55379 reply brief Friday. MGM is appealing a lower court's denial of a motion to dismiss some Starz copyright claims on MGM licensing content to other content service providers while Starz allegedly had exclusive license (see 2111040039). MGM said no court of appeals has accepted departing from the three-year limit on retrospective relief going back from the time of the suit as laid out in SCOTUS' Petrella decision, MGM said. Starz outside counsel didn't comment Monday.

Comcast doesn't plan to institute data usage plans in its Northeast markets in 2022, it told us Friday. The 1.2 TB monthly limit has been delayed more than once in the face of criticism (see 2102040024). Massachusetts State Rep. Andy Vargas (D) tweeted that he's "thrilled about this outcome. ... Ensuring fair competition and consumer choice is next."

Movie production companies suing WideOpenWest haven't given "any legal, factual, or equitable reason why WOW’s provision of Internet access, which has a multitude of perfectly legal, non-infringing uses, should subject it" to secondary copyright infringement liability, the company said Wednesday. The docket 21-cv-1901 reply in U.S. District Court in Denver was in support of its motion to dismiss the suit (see 2109210033). In the objection to the motion, the production companies said WOW's "so-called 'robust' policy [of subscriber warnings and suspensions] is a bust" and cited one subscriber whose service was only suspended after a letter from plaintiff's counsel.

Sonos supports recommendations of Chief Administrative Law Judge Charles Bullock at the International Trade Commission to slap Google with a cease and desist order, preventing it from circumventing the judge’s recommended import ban on smart speakers and other devices that he found to infringe five Sonos multiroom audio patents, said Sonos in redacted Dec. 2 comments (login required) posted Monday in docket 337-TA-1191. Google responded (login required) that the ITC should reject Bullock’s call for “sweeping remedial orders” that would deprive U.S. consumers of its “cutting-edge and life-enhancing household products.” The ITC scheduled a final decision for Jan. 6. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative would have until early March to endorse or reject the ITC’s final determination, or take no action. The filings were the companies' last chance to state their case (see 2002060070).

Copyright infringement claims by music labels (see 2111220061) fail to state facts enough to constitute a claim on which there can be relief, and the statute of limitations bars the claims because they happened outside the three-year period, Charter Communications told the U.S. District Court in Denver in an answer Tuesday (docket 21-cv-02020). Any infringement "was innocent and was not willful," and Charter didn't cause, encourage or induce the alleged primary infringement, the company said. Outside counsel for the plaintiff music labels didn't comment. The lawsuit is one of two related infringement suits against Charter by labels (see 1903250004).

The comment period for a draft policy statement on licensing negotiations and remedies for standard-essential patents subject to reasonable and non-discriminatory or fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms is extended until Feb. 4, DOJ announced Monday. DOJ extended the comment period 30 days with the Patent and Trademark Office and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The statement “seeks to promote good-faith licensing negotiations and addresses the scope of remedies available to patent owners,” DOJ said.

A U.S. District Court in Austin judge denied a Texas motion to stay, pending appeal, the court’s preliminary injunction on the state’s social media law (see 2112070044). “The State largely rehashes the same arguments this Court rejected in its Order,” Judge Robert Pitman wrote Thursday in case 1:21-cv-00840. Pitman disagreed with Texas that his injunction was too broad. The judge granted a motion by plaintiffs NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association to stay proceedings during the state’s appeal at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The “harmful” Section 301 tariffs on Chinese semiconductor imports “are exacerbating the ongoing chip shortage and slowing our economy,” and they should be eliminated, blogged the Semiconductor Industry Association, following up on Dec. 1 comments urging the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to reinstate previously extended tariff exclusions. The tariffs, “in their most direct effect,” add 25% to the cost of covered semiconductors, and subsequently contribute to inflationary price increases driven by global shortages and rising demand, said SIA Wednesday. The tariffs “are disproportionately harming the U.S. semiconductor industry and broader U.S. interests, all while failing to put real pressure on the Chinese government to change its unfair trade practices,” it said. USTR didn't comment Thursday.

Roku shares jumped 18.2% Wednesday at $256.08 after the streaming media platform provider and Google avoided a lockout, set for Thursday, of YouTube and YouTube TV on new Roku devices. The companies agreed to a multiyear extension. That's “a positive development for our shared customers, making both YouTube and YouTube TV available for all streamers on the Roku platform,” a Roku spokesperson emailed. Google’s TeamYouTube tweeted: “This means that all Roku users (existing & new) can install the @YouTube and @YouTubeTV apps from the channel store and continue to watch their favorite content.”