The public Internet needs to evolve to have more capacity, quality and security to support an estimated more than 50 billion connected devices generating half of all traffic by 2030, said a report sponsored by Liberty Global (http://bit.ly/1Dm19Wj) released Thursday. IP interconnection agreements are seeing “a significant increase” and there’s “growing imbalance” of IP traffic from streaming video, the report said. Disputes concern less than 1 percent of all interconnection agreements, and the market seems well positioned for growth, investment and innovation, the report said. By 2020, most Internet use will still involve “the current ‘best effort’ public internet,” the report said. “But the public internet also needs to evolve further."

The Copyright Office needs to upgrade its services for digital interoperability and should add staff attorneys, said Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante at a House Judiciary IP Subcommittee Thursday hearing on oversight of the office (http://1.usa.gov/1AHlscs). “We can only build a sustainable system if we ensure the Office has sufficient resources and a modern IT infrastructure,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., in prepared testimony. The recording of copyright licenses or transfers is a “cumbersome and costly process that requires manual examination and data entry,” which hasn’t been changed “for decades,” said Pallante in prepared remarks (http://1.usa.gov/Zsf4KZ). “How to bring [the office’s documents] online has been a major focus.” Pallante said $28 million of the office’s $45 million budget comes from registration fees. House Judiciary IP Subcommittee member John Conyers, D-Mich., lamented that Congress has cut the office’s budget by 7.2 percent since 2010, even though the office has been asked to take on additional responsibilities. House Judiciary IP Subcommittee Vice Chairman Tom Marino, R-Pa., suggested the office be made an independent agency under the authority of the president, rather than under the Library of Congress.

Technology companies and civil liberties and privacy advocates sent yet another letter to Congress, pressing legislators to bring two email privacy bills to the floor (S-607, HR-1852) (http://bit.ly/XprPEe). The letter -- with signers ranging from Adobe to search engine DuckDuckGo to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- is the most recent letter urging congressional leaders to allow a vote on the bills, which would update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to require a warrant for law enforcement to access remotely stored data. “They would pass overwhelmingly, proving to Americans and the rest of the world that the U.S. legal system values privacy in the digital age,” the letter said.

Three Congressional Democrats back a petition to the FCC (http://bit.ly/UO5y1O) from Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and the Sunlight Foundation, they told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in a letter Thursday. “Adoption of this petition would enhance campaign disclosure by requiring cable, satellite, and broadcast radio stations to post existing political file documents to the FCC’s online database,” said the letter from Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., House Commerce Committee ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. (http://1.usa.gov/1p2Eg0g). “As of July 1, 2014, all broadcast television stations are already subject to this simple requirement which greatly improves the accessibility of the political advertising data disclosed in the political file.” The 2014 midterm elections are poised to be the “most expensive” in the history of the U.S., the Democratic lawmakers said. The FCC should “consider taking steps to enhance the accessibility of online political file documents,” they said.

The Internet Association, a tech company lobbying group, released a video Wednesday featuring House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., with whom they've disagreed on net neutrality. “We have a lot to showcase in that the Internet allows access to the market that’s frankly worldwide,” Upton said in the video, which also showed business leaders from a small business walking tour in Michigan (http://bit.ly/1uL6lxY). “These businesses may not be in business without the Internet. You don’t need to regulate the Internet -- it’s not a problem as long as it’s not regulated,” Upton says on the video.

The House Judiciary IP Subcommittee plans a hearing on oversight of the Copyright Office Thursday at 2 p.m. in Rayburn 2141 (http://1.usa.gov/1AHlscs). The subcommittee will “examine the practices and organization of the Copyright Office to ensure it is equipped to keep pace with the digital age and has what it needs to serve the American people in the 21st century,” said a joint statement Wednesday from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and subcommittee Chairman Howard Coble, R-N.C. Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante is to testify at the hearing, it said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee said it plans a hearing on sports blackouts Tuesday at 10 a.m. in 226 Dirksen. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., will preside, the committee said. The hearing is on the sports blackout legislation called Furthering Access and Networks for Sports Act (S-1721), which Blumenthal introduced last November with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who’s not a Judiciary member. The FCC will vote on the sports blackout rule at the end of the month (CD Sept 11 p2).

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., wants FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to leave Washington to hear other U.S. voices speak about net neutrality. Markey said during a Wednesday news conference at the Capitol the FCC should “reach beyond the D.C. Beltway, and tour the country to hear from consumers and stakeholders about the importance of a free and open Internet,” according to a text of his prepared remarks. “It’s time for the Chairman to hold net neutrality roundtables throughout the nation.” He appeared with Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and several industry representatives, speaking on net neutrality and the need for Title II reclassification.

The FCC is not relying on secret meetings to make decide on proposed industry acquisitions, Chairman Tom Wheeler told Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., in a letter Wednesday. Heller asked Wheeler about the ex parte exemptions and what those really mean in light of two major deals the agency is considering: Comcast/Time Warner Cable and AT&T/DirecTV. “I fully endorse the core principles you describe,” Wheeler told Heller, referring to Heller’s statement in a letter that any major orders crafted in part on secret information can be undermined due to process concerns. Wheeler cited the court cases that give the agency “flexibility” in how it reviews such transactions. The FCC, “in accord with the Administrative Procedure Act and applicable precedent, uses only information that is placed on the record when it renders a decision on whether to allow a transaction to proceed, with or without conditions,” Wheeler said. While the agency can’t rely on information given in secret, those meetings “could be used, however, to help the Commission formulate appropriate questions to applicants or other parties,” questions that can be placed on the record, he said.

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., wants to ensure TV blackouts don’t happen next year. He’s glad Time Warner Cable worked out a deal to telecast the Los Angeles Dodgers on KDOC-TV Anaheim, California, but is concerned about the broader issues, he said in a statement Monday. “We must act now to assure that the Dodgers are not blacked out for the 2015 season,” Sherman said (http://1.usa.gov/1shbcmZ). “I will continue to discuss this matter with [FCC Chairman] Tom Wheeler ... in the hopes that the FCC will use its authority to push all the parties into binding arbitration so that a panel of three neutral arbitrators can determine the price -- and let Dodgers fans see the 2015 season."