The American Cable Association urged the National Institute of Standards and Technology to clarify its approach to developing metrics as part of the agency’s work to update the 2014 Cybersecurity Framework, in comments released Tuesday. NIST collected feedback through Monday on its draft v1.1 framework update, which included metrics language aimed at starting a conversation on how to effectively measure use of the framework (see 1701100084). Other commenters urged NIST to be cautious about metrics development and urged inclusion of language in the framework on vulnerability disclosure guidelines and cybersecurity insurance (see 1704110045). The metrics language in NIST’s draft v1.1 “is confusing, and in some respects contradictory,” ACA said. “It is not nearly ready for adoption,” in part because ACA said it “fails to convey clear, definitional guidance, and this lack of clarity is likely to frustrate small operators and may lead some to give up on the Framework altogether. Moreover, based on the proposed changes, those that do attempt to implement the entire Framework, including its recommendations on measurement, may end up relying overmuch on a one-size-fits all checklist assessment created by third party consultants or auditors, rather than making the type of inward-looking, individualized approach to cybersecurity risk management that the Framework otherwise encourages.” NIST should instead “continue to work with the private sector to develop a clearer and more useful approach,” ACA said.

Altice USA is planning an initial public offering of an undetermined number of Class A shares of common stock, it said in a prospectus filed Tuesday with the SEC. Altice said that since its 2015 acquisition of Suddenlink and 2016 acquisition of Cablevision, it has made a number of operational changes for greater efficiency, upgraded its networks and expanded its 1 Gbps broadband service to about 60 percent of the Suddenlink footprint, compared to about 40 percent prior to the acquisition. It said it started its five-year fiber to the home (FTTH) buildout, which will bring speeds of more than 10 Gbps to its Cablevision footprint and part of its Suddenlink footprint. The firm said it plans to introduce a new home communications hub in Q2 that incorporates a set-top box, internet router and cable modem. In a note to investors, Pivotal Research Group analyst Jeff Wlodarczak said Altice's U.S. operations are showing "solid operating momentum" that should ratchet further upward by the FTTH move.

The deadline for selected cable operators to submit price survey data for the FCC's annual cable TV statistical report is June 2, the Media Bureau said in an order Monday in docket 92-266. The bureau said cable operators selected will have to provide information regarding average basic cable service, cable programming service and equipment rates effective Jan. 1, 2016, and Jan. 1, 2017.

CBS and some production companies are nearing private resolution of a lawsuit over alleged unpaid overtime wages brought by parking production attendants. In a joint status report (in Pacer) filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, counsel for both sides said they hoped to have a proposed case management plan submitted by May 18. CBS TV Studios, CBS Broadcasting, Eye Productions and Possible Productions are being sued by attendants responsible for securing lots and streets during productions being shot in the New York City area (see 1607280059).

The roughly 90,000 pages of documents, 35 interrogatories and seven depositions generated in discovery in Paul Jensen's 2015 lawsuit against Cablevision should be treated as if they were in response to his 2017 purported class-action suit against Cablevision and Altice, counsel for both sides said in a proposed joint discovery plan (in Pacer) filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. According to the plan, discovery from the 2015 suit "sufficiently addressed all merits- and class-certification-based issues ... and that further discovery does not need to be conducted," and counsel asked the court to enter a protective order similar to the one it entered in the 2015 case. Plaintiff's counsel said further discovery might be needed on the business relationship between Altice and Cablevision, while Altice/Cablevision counsel said they're considering limited additional discovery on a claim of violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) , which the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed in the 2015 litigation. Jensen, of Brooklyn, alleges Altice's Optimum Online Service -- by making residential broadband routers also work as a public Wi-Fi hot spot without customer authorization -- is violating CFAA and New York state law. Three counts of Jensen's 2015 complaint against Cablevision were dropped voluntarily in December, and a federal court in January dismissed the remaining count -- a violation of New York state law -- saying it no longer had jurisdiction.

Wave Broadband bought Seattle-based ISP Cascadelink, Wave said in a news release Thursday. Wave said the deal will accelerate expansion of the combined companies' gigabit service in the Seattle region.

Google's YouTube TV virtual multichannel video programming distributor service is now up in New York, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, Chicago and Philadelphia, with more U.S. markets to follow, the company said in a blog post Wednesday. Subscriptions are $35 a month, which includes live streaming of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN, Fox Sports, Comcast SportsNet and other channels; a cloud-based DVR with no storage limit; and access to YouTube Red Original series and movies, it said. It said several networks will join the YouTube TV lineup soon at no extra charge, including AMC, BBC America, IFC, Sundance TV, Telemundo, WE tv and BBC World News.

Comcast has been obtaining credit reports of people signing up for service without consent, adversely affecting credit scores, an Illinois resident alleged in a putative class action complaint (in Pacer) filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Mounang Patel alleges he contacted Comcast in March about residential broadband for his new home and paid a $100 security deposit to avoid the credit check, but Comcast subsequently ran a credit report, which lowered his credit score and negatively affected his in-the-works mortgage loan. The suit seeks to represent anyone who after Jan. 14, 2015, paid Comcast a security deposit in lieu of credit check but whose credit reports were nonetheless obtained, and said it believes that class size could be "thousands." It alleges violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and breaches of contact, promissory estoppel and unjust enrichment and asks for actual damages of $100 to $1,000 per person for each violation, plus unspecified punitive damages. Comcast didn't comment Wednesday.

Copyright Office interpretation of Section 111 of the Copyright Act isn't backed by plain text or consistently applied, FilmOn X said in a petition (in Pacer) for rehearing en banc filed Tuesday with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It said the 9th Circuit's March 21 decision that it isn't a cable system and thus eligible for a compulsory license for broadcast programming (see 1703210023) doesn't offer a workable legal standard for eligibility for a Section 111 license. It said the court's "highly deferential treatment [of Copyright Office viewpoints] invades both Congress' power to enact law and the court's duty to interpret that law." FilmOn pointed to statutory licenses given AT&T's U-Verse and Verizon Fios but not to it as examples of inconsistency in granting of statutory licenses. The ruling "mildly endorses" the CO view that a cable system is inherently localized, but it ignored evidence FilmOn restricts retransmission to local communities and thus should be eligible for such a license, it said. Counsel for the appellants, a collection of broadcasters and programmers, didn't comment Wednesday.

Traditional multichannel video programming distributors inevitably will lose significant numbers of subscribers to the growing virtual MVPD offerings, as competitive pressures of that emerging market "rise to a fever pitch," said The Diffusion Group senior adviser Joel Espelien in a TDG blog post Tuesday. That competition will push virtual MVPD providers to surpass traditional pay TV, which can't compete on price, convenience or user experience and functionality, TDG said. It said virtual MVPDs won't be able to target just niche markets since competition among them will necessitate broad marketing campaigns. It also said competition is already forcing some improvements in their offerings, pointing to PlayStation Vue cutting prices and adding ESPN and Sling TV, and DirecTV Now adding cloud DVR functionality before YouTube TV -- which promises similar cloud DVR functionality -- comes to market.