Free Press has begun campaigning against industry-backed Republican House legislation that would stop the FCC from reclassifying broadband as a Title II telecom service, as net neutrality advocates have requested. House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, last week introduced HR-4752 (CD May 30 p6), which has no co-sponsors and is referred to the Commerce Committee. “Latta’s bill is for the biggest companies that punch his campaign dance ticket, and not for the millions of people who have urged the FCC to protect the open Internet by making these same companies common carriers,” wrote Free Press Senior Director-Strategy Tim Karr in a blog post Thursday (http://bit.ly/1ku9zCo). Karr cited the $60,450 Latta has received in the 2014 election cycle from telecom and media industry players, including many “Net Neutrality haters,” as Karr called them. MapLight research “shows that the members of Congress who have been most active in opposing the idea of establishing net neutrality rules under Title II have received more than twice as much campaign money from the cable industry as the average for all House members,” President Daniel Newman told us in a statement last week when asked about Latta’s bill. Karr dismissed the legislation as “toxic” and urged people to send letters to Congress attacking it (http://bit.ly/1x1GfIY). Latta, in posting a link to industry endorsements for the legislation on his Facebook page (http://on.fb.me/1ueu74P), was widely attacked on these counts across several dozen comments. “Congrats on your new job at Comcast,” one commenter told Latta. “Thanks for nothing.” In response, Latta defended his position. “Those seeking to impose 1930’s telephone regulations on the Internet are desperately seeking a solution in search of a problem,” Latta told us in a statement. “The classification of broadband Internet access as an information service is a long-standing position I have held that has been shared by both the Federal Communications Commission and the Supreme Court. Regulating the Internet as a public utility is bad for the economy, bad for jobs, and most importantly, bad for consumers.”

AT&T’s Project VIP network investment plan continues to make progress in its second year, the company said in a news release (http://bit.ly/SqXGSU) Tuesday. The 4G LTE network now covers nearly 290 million people, and Project VIP is expected to take fiber to more than 400,000 new business locations by the end of the second quarter, the company said. In wireless, AT&T expects to report in the second quarter that postpaid subscriber net adds exceeded 800,000, that about 3.2 million AT&T Next smartphones were sold, which would make up about 50 percent of total sales, and that about half of the company’s postpaid smartphone customers are on no-device-subsidy Mobile Share Value pricing plans. Despite the “self-congratulatory pomp and circumstance,” MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett wrote investors, “AT&T’s business trends are much weaker than they appear.” Despite a much faster-than-expected transition to equipment installment plan (EIP) accounting, “AT&T’s earnings aren’t rising,” Moffett wrote. “AT&T is simply spending the one-time accounting benefit of EIP as a fig leaf to mask an aggressive and dangerous re-pricing of their subscriber base.”

Comedian John Oliver offered an extended riff on the FCC’s proposed net neutrality rules Sunday night on HBO, featuring an excerpt from Commissioner Mike O'Rielly’s comments on the rules. “Oh my God, that is the most boring thing I've ever seen -- that is even boring by C-SPAN standards,” Oliver intoned (http://bit.ly/1n55jcy), saying the FCC is seeking comments. “I would like to address the Internet commenters out there directly: Good evening, monsters,” he said. “This may be the moment you've spent your whole lives training for. ... We need you to channel that anger, that badly spelled bile that you normally reserve for unforgivable attacks on actresses you think have put on weight.” An FCC official told us Monday video of the segment had gone viral, at least inside the agency.

The Supreme Court ruled against Akamai Technologies Monday in its patent lawsuit versus Limelight Networks, saying a company can claim patent infringement against another entity only when that entity was involved in every step of the claimed infringement. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which originally ruled on the case in 2012, “fundamentally misunderstands what it means to infringe a method patent,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion (http://1.usa.gov/1hsV8ja). Oral argument was held in April (CD May 1 p16). The Federal Circuit had ruled Akamai and patent co-owner Massachusetts Institute of Technology could argue Limelight had committed “divided” or “inducing infringement” of its patents on content delivery methods by committing most steps in the infringement process and then inducing a third party -- its customers -- to take the final step in that process. The Federal Circuit’s “contrary view” would deprive U.S. law “of ascertainable standards and require the courts to develop two parallel bodies of infringement law,” the Supreme Court said. Limelight believes the Supreme Court’s ruling is a win for the entire country “by promoting clear rules governing liability for patent infringement,” a spokeswoman said. “We look forward to full resolution” of the case, she added. Akamai had no immediate comment. Supreme Court justices had spent much of oral argument debating whether a ruling on Akamai’s claim of “divided” or “inducing infringement” would have any lasting value since Akamai had the option to argue its case again before the Federal Circuit because that court hadn’t ruled on claims of direct infringement. The Supreme Court remanded the case back to the Federal Circuit, directing it to decide the direct infringement issue. Cisco, Facebook and Google were among the major tech companies backing Limelight’s case, arguing an Akamai win would open them up to more suits from patent assertion entities.

The FCC Wireline Bureau wants to “refresh the record” in its 2010 proceeding on Title II and “other potential legal frameworks” for broadband Internet access service, it said in a public notice Friday (http://bit.ly/1oSxb4f). The FCC net neutrality NPRM directed the bureau to “issue a public notice to refresh the record,” on the “best legal framework” to protect an open Internet, the notice said. Comment is sought on, “among other options, a possible ’third way’ approach that would apply a limited set of Title II obligations to broadband providers,” it said. Comments in docket GN 10-127 are due July 15, replies Sept. 10. The bureau noted that in 2010, the agency issued a notice of inquiry asking about the third-way approach, and commenters can update the agency on developments since then. The net neutrality NPRM, which foes say could create preferential Internet fast lanes, was approved on a party line vote at the last FCC meeting (CD May 16 p1).

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler congratulated Urbana-Champaign Big Broadband and iTV-3 for “making gigabit services over fiber available throughout the community,” said a statement released in Friday’s Daily Digest (http://bit.ly/1kqEvPd). “This public-private partnership provides a valuable model for communities and companies throughout the country and a demonstration of the creativity that is stimulated when localities are free to work with the private sector to improve broadband offerings.” Gig.U Executive Director Blair Levin also lauded the announcement in a statement (http://bit.ly/RMfhUM): “You are ahead of others. And you will benefit from that lead. But others will benefit from the map you have drawn.”

Correction: Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, is vice chairman of the House Communications Subcommittee (CD May 29 p6).

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology will start a 45-day public trial of a new registration system for Google’s TV band database on June 2, the agency said Wednesday. Spectrum Bridge, another approved TV band database administrator, currently manages the registration of protected entities on Google’s behalf, but Google has developed its own procedures, OET said. The test is a “limited trial” that’s intended to allow the public to access and test Google’s new registration procedures, OET said (http://bit.ly/SQYYqM). Fletcher Heald noted Wednesday that the FCC already had approved one version of Google’s database. “There’s been some movement on the white space database administrator front -- but it’s hard to call it progress,” said a blog post from the firm (http://bit.ly/1tQoKJ7).

FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief David Simpson offered advice to the public on communicating during a hurricane. As a first step, consumers should “take stock” of what kind of phones they have, Simpson wrote in a blog post (http://fcc.us/TUKo2z). “Many consumers no longer subscribe to ’traditional’ landline telephone service delivered over copper wires, which generally continues to work during a power outage.” Those who rely on wireless phones “already know the importance of battery power” and should charge their devices well in advance of a storm, he said.

The FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council, which next meets June 18, is focusing on issues including cybersecurity best practices, infrastructure sharing during emergencies and the move to next-generation 911 and wireless emergency alerts. The meeting starts at 1 p.m. at FCC headquarters said the commission in a public notice Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1he8HTo). CSRIC last met March 20.