The Electronic Frontier Foundation plans to urge a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles Monday to allow Human Rights Watch (HRW) to proceed with a lawsuit against the Drug Enforcement Administration, EFF said in a news release Thursday. HRW, represented by Mark Rumold, EFF staff attorney, is pursuing a lawsuit against the DEA for its collection of records of the group's phone calls to particular foreign countries. The DEA has asked the court to dismiss the case because the phone record collection program is over, the release said. The hearing will be Monday at 1:30 p.m., EFF said.

Qualcomm Global Trading, a Qualcomm subsidiary, completed its acquisition of semiconductor and software provider CSR, the company said in a news release Thursday. The $2.4 billion acquisition will complement Qualcomm's current offerings by adding products and customers in the Internet of Everything and automotive sectors, it said.

Former MIT and Harvard students are releasing One-Touch-911 to act as a data pipeline from any connected device to first responders as a part of the RapidSOS project that was originally developed to revolutionize emergency medical services, said a news release from the new company. RapidSOS is a technology platform that predicts emergencies before they occur, dynamically warns people in harm’s way, and ensures that first responders are always accessible. The One-Touch-911 system interfaces with dispatch centers in more than 135 countries -- transmitting data from a user’s phone directly to dispatchers in an emergency, the release said. The project received $5 million in financing from Highland Capital Partners, it said.

Harvard Law School professor Larry Lessig, an active voice in tech policy, is weighing a run for the Democratic nomination for president. “Today we've launched a kickstarter-like campaign, to raise the funds necessary to make a run plausible,” Lessig said in a Huffington Post column Tuesday. “If we hit our target of $1 million by Labor Day, then I will give this run every ounce of my energy.” His campaign would prioritize campaign finance overhaul, as he highlights on his 2016 website. “President [Barack] Obama should get Congress to shut down the FCC and similar vestigial regulators,” Lessig proposed in a December 2008 column for Newsweek. He has backed the net neutrality protections of the FCC under Title II of the Communications Act. “Title-II-light is the right regulatory home,” Lessig said in a different Huffington Post piece in February, lauding the White House for its advocacy and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler for his interpretation of the statute. “Unlike the old days with utility regulation, the FCC will not regulate rates, or impose tariffs, or undue administrative burdens.”

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau will host a robocall and caller ID spoofing workshop Sept. 16, the agency said Tuesday. The workshop builds on the FCC’s June declaratory ruling on implementation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which includes a provision allowing carriers to help consumers curb unwanted robocalls (see 1506180046). “The workshop will continue the Commission’s recent work helping consumers fight unwanted robocalls by examining the current state of robocall-blocking solutions, steps industry is taking to protect consumers from unwanted robocalls, and potential solutions to caller ID spoofing,” the FCC said. The all-day workshop will take place at FCC headquarters. Other details will follow.

The FCC announced a $2.96 million fine against Tampa-based Travel Club Marketing for making or initiating at least 185 unsolicited, prerecorded robocalls to more than 142 consumers, a news release said Tuesday. Those consumers hadn't consented to the robocalls and the majority of them had placed their phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, the FCC said. This is the largest forfeiture order the commission has issued for robocalling violations. “It is unacceptable to invade consumers’ privacy by bombarding them with unwanted and intrusive robocalls,” Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc said. “All companies, and their owners, who thwart the Do-Not-Call list should expect to face severe consequences.”

The FCC NPRM proposing to end a requirement that importers of radio frequency devices file certifications with Customs and Border Protection that their imports meet FCC import requirements (see 1412310022) appeared in Thursday's Federal Register. Comments are due Sept. 8, replies Sept. 21 in docket 15-170. The proposal would junk a requirement that importers file information associated with FCC Form 740 with CBP for RF devices imported into the U.S. The item was approved last month, a step toward implementing the E-Label Act (see 1507210072) and described as a way to ease the way for more IoT devices.

The FCC authorized $11.2 million in government funding for four parties to carry out experiments to provide broadband to 15,000 rural consumers, the agency announced Friday in a release. Skybeam will extend fixed wireless service in several counties of Illinois, Kansas and Texas; Allamakee-Clayton Electric Cooperative will extend hybrid fiber/fixed service in an Iowa county; Consolidated Communications Networks will extend fiber broadband in a North Dakota county; and Delta Communications will extend fiber in various Illinois counties.

The FCC online system for filing 911 reliability certifications in now available, said a public notice from the Public Safety Bureau. Those 911 service providers that are covered may now begin submitting information here for the Initial Reliability Certification due Oct. 15.

A federal court modified its remaining briefing schedule for AT&T's challenge to an FCC ruling that changed its VoIP symmetry rule to allow competitive LECs partnering with over-the-top VoIP providers to charge long-distance carriers higher end-office switching fees for connecting calls to customers. Responding to a joint motion from the parties, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an order Monday setting the due date for the FCC's reply brief on Sept. 23, for intervenors supporting the commission on Oct. 14, for petitioner's reply brief on Oct. 18 and final briefs incorporating a deferred index on Nov. 18 (AT&T v. FCC, No. 15-1059). The FCC sought more time to file its reply brief, which had been due Sept. 14, because that's the same day it is to file its response in the net neutrality case. AT&T filed its opening brief on July 23 (see 1507310057).