Nearly 150 privacy and human rights organizations, technology companies, trade associations and individual security and policy experts sent a joint letter to the White House Tuesday, defending Americans’ right to use strong encryption to protect their data and opposing the mandatory “backdoor” idea that would allow the government to access encrypted data. The debate over encryption was sparked by Apple’s announcement that new iPhones would be encrypted by default, the groups said. In response to law enforcement and intelligence officials, including FBI Director James Comey, who say Congress should legislate government access to encrypted devices, the letter said strong encryption is the “cornerstone of the modern information economy’s security.” It “protects billions of people every day against countless threats -- be they street criminals trying to steal our phones and laptops, computer criminals trying to defraud us, corporate spies trying to obtain our companies’ most valuable trade secrets, repressive governments trying to stifle dissent, or foreign intelligence agencies trying to compromise our and our allies’ most sensitive national security secrets.” They urged President Barack Obama to “reject” any proposal that would require U.S. companies to deliberately weaken the security of their products and to “focus on developing policies that will promote rather than undermine the wide adoption of strong encryption technology." Adobe, Apple, the Center for Democracy & Technology, Cisco, CEA, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Facebook, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Internet Association, Microsoft and New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute were among the signees. “The President has been letting his top intelligence and law enforcement officials criticize companies for making their devices more secure, and letting them suggest that Congress should pass anti-encryption, pro-backdoor legislation,” even though “encryption backdoors are bad for privacy, bad for security, bad for human rights, and bad for business,” New America’s Cybersecurity Initiative co-Director Kevin Bankston said in a news release. “Even the White House Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies has joined with most leading security experts to agree that strong encryption of data is necessary to protect against hacking and other computer fraud and abuse,” said Computer & Communications Industry Association President Ed Black in a news release.

The FCC's Consumer Bureau on Friday granted video relay service providers a temporary, limited waiver from a Social Security number rule. The order waives in those cases where the users have no such numbers the requirement that VRS providers obtain from new and existing users the last four digits of their Social Security numbers or their Tribal identification numbers as part of the VRS user registration process.

AT&T and Hulu signed a deal to bring the subscription streaming service to the carrier's customers through AT&T’s websites and mobile applications, said the telco in a news release. AT&T customers will be able to browse Hulu programs and watch them through an app for mobile-device viewing or an AT&T website for Internet viewing, it said. AT&T and Hulu are exploring the possibility of bringing a Hulu app to TV, said the telco Wednesday. The mobile offering will be available to AT&T customers later this year, it said.

The FCC Wireline Bureau is seeking comment on AT&T's request to grandfather, and eventually discontinue on Dec. 31, 2016, a corporate calling card service throughout the U.S. because of declining sales, a bureau notice said Tuesday. Comments are due May 27 and the request will be automatically granted within 31 days of the notice's release unless the FCC notifies AT&T the grant won't be effected.

NTIA plans a public meeting June 11 as part of its multistakeholder process to develop a consumer data privacy code of conduct for facial recognition technology, said notice in the Federal Register Wednesday. The meeting will be 1-5 p.m. in the boardroom at the American Institute of Architects, 1735 New York Ave. NW. NTIA held its first facial recognition multistakeholder meeting Feb. 6, 2014. The most recent meeting was in December. The June 11 meeting will let stakeholders continue to engage in an open, transparent, consensus-driven process to develop a code of conduct for the technology, said NTIA.

Adtran is expanding NG-PON2’s applicability for gigabit broadband beyond the smaller business and backhaul market to the wider market by removing concerns of future bandwidth exhaustion or quality of service issues, the company said in an email Wednesday. NG-PON2 is a next-generation fiber to the home or fiber to the premises access standard that will enable service providers more scale for their FTTH networks to better support gigabit service as it grows from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps, it said in a blog post. This is the first time both residential FTTH customers and early business adopters of this premium technology can be immediately supported on a single, common access architecture, it said. Adtran is streamlining the high-cost areas of 10 Gbps PON design with flexible optics architecture with multiple “cost vs. capability” options, including fixed wavelength 10 Gbps optics, the company said.

Apple and Samsung suffered double-digit Q1 shipment declines in tablets, Strategy Analytics said in a report. Despite “pockets of growth” in the market among Huawei, LG and TCL-Alcatel, the overall tablet market fell 8 percent year over year while Apple and Samsung are using 2015 as a “rebuilding year” for future growth, Strategy Analytics said. Smaller, more nimble competitors are gaining on Apple and Samsung with “innovative new features and cellular-connected tablets,” analyst Eric Smith said. The period of “phenomenal historic growth has come to an end and a much more normal growth rate is now prevailing,” he said. Apple has begun a marketing campaign to revive sales "after a five-quarter slump,” analyst Peter King said.

Microsoft is developing a new cross-Pacific cable network, which will provide faster data connections for customers and aid the company in competing on cloud costs, said a blog post from David Crowley, managing director-network enablement. Over the past nine months, Microsoft has been investing in subsea and terrestrial dark fiber capacity by engaging in fiber partnerships that span oceans and continents, he said. Microsoft Monday announced deals with Aqua Comms and Hibernia, in which Microsoft is investing in a cable with each company to connect Microsoft’s data center infrastructure from North America to Ireland and on to the U.K., Crowley said. The cables will help deliver data at higher speeds, with higher capacity and lower latency for customers, he said.

The FCC rejected the requests by Alaskan telco Adak Eagle Enterprises and subsidiary Windy City Cellular for a waiver of its universal service funding caps. In a 14-page order approved 5-0, commissioners found AEE/WCC provided "no basis" for relief despite arguments WCC could go bankrupt without more support. In a 2012 order, the Wireline and Wireless bureaus found AEE/WCC had unjustified costs and denied their waiver from a $250/line monthly high-cost support cap imposed under the 2011 USF/intercarrier compensation reform order, though it granted a temporary extension of their previous interim monthly support levels of $33,276 and $40,104 to give the companies time to adjust and avoid service disruptions. AEE/WCC filed a petition for reconsideration and application of review in 2013 seeking above-cap support levels, triggering a lengthy FCC revenue proceeding during which further temporary extensions of interim support were granted. In Thursday's denial, the full commission found AEE/WCC "continued to have excessive and unreasonable expenses." The commission upheld a bureau finding that WCC was not the only voice provider on a significant portion of Adak Island due to the presence of GCI, an alternative provider. It said AEE and GCI provide voice support to those areas of Adak Island where the vast majority of people live. The commission disputed AEE/WCC's contention that the bureau determination was based on promises of future service, concluding that it was based on "current and actual" service. The FCC acknowledged AEE/WCC's claim that without further support it could discontinue service at one cell site, causing some consumers to lose coverage in that area, but it said some trade-offs were needed to ensure USF support was used "efficiently" to expand overall national coverage to as many people as possible. "It is not a guarantee of support ... for every cell site," the order said. The agency acknowledged AEE/WCC's warning that WCC could go bankrupt without higher support, but said it couldn't justify a waiver based on such a threat. Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Mike O'Rielly issued a joint statement recognizing that "serious questions remain" despite the extensive record, but said that without "sufficient answers" the agency could not provide a waiver. "Rather than prolong this already lengthy inquiry, it is important to provide a response," they said. "We are very mindful of the potential impact on residents of Adak, but there is no evidence that they are at risk of losing access to communications services." A lawyer for the company had no immediate comment.

Public Knowledge prodded the FCC to step up efforts to educate consumers about the ongoing transformation of phone networks, particularly in light of "aggressive" transition efforts by carriers. In a Monday ex parte filing on a meeting with FCC officials, Public Knowledge said the commission needed to inform consumers about the changes affecting their communications services. The public-interest group recommended the FCC assess the information available to consumers on the phone transformation and develop and distribute new educational materials to help consumers understand the transition. Public Knowledge also said it will participate in a May 12 House Rural Telecom Policy briefing, sponsored by Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., called "The Impact of Technology Transitions on Rural Communities." The briefing will be 2-3 p.m. in Rayburn 2203.