Streaming service Locast went dark Thursday following U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York finding it violated the copyright of local stations whose content it carried without consent. Locast ally Mitch Stoltz, Electronic Freedom Forum (EFF) senior staff attorney, told us an appeal is likely. See our bulletin on the latest move here and our report on the court ruling against the nonprofit service here.

Locast shut down service Thursday following a summary judgment court decision in favor of broadcasters suing the nonprofit streaming service for copyright infringement. In a notification on the Locast app, it said its nonprofit operating model “was designed from the very beginning to operate in accordance with the strict letter of the law” and that following the court summary judgment it's suspending operations immediately.

With the FCC setting up processes for challenging C-band accelerated clearing certification (see 2108040060), satellite and wireless interests made suggestions in docket 21-320 Monday. Verizon, warning of delayed deployment of 5G, said concerns need to be raised now with the relocation coordinator instead of via certification challenges. It urged the Wireless Bureau to clarify that the 30-day period in the challenge and reply process for announcing cert deficiencies applies to initial and refiled certifications. T-Mobile said the bureau should clarify when overlay licensees can use the 3.7 GHz spectrum in the partial economic areas where they won the auction, since there's potential for approval of different certifications at different times by various satellite operators. It said if one satellite operator submits a validated cert by the relevant accelerated relocation deadline, auction winners should be allowed to access their licensed spectrum by that deadline. It argued against challenges to refiled certs being limited to the new information, since the amendment is to replace the original. Make clear that if a C-band satellite operator can address a challenge without amending that cert, it may do so, Eutelsat asked. It said the bureau should require each challenger to demonstrate how it qualifies as a “relevant stakeholder,” and staff should let satellite operators and challengers seek confidential treatment for eligible information that's in their agreement. Intelsat said there seems to be no requirement that challenges focus on potential deficiencies specific to the C-band order's requirements and not to matters outside of phase 1 C-band clearing implementation. It sought clarity on how the bureau will screen for the entities that are “relevant” and have standing to challenge satellite operator certs. Not making that clear could "open the door to abusive challenges based on competitive or commercial motivations," it said. The process the FCC proposes could stretch the time frame for determining the validity of a certification by weeks to years, SES said, urging instead sticking with 60 days for resolution. It said amended or refiled cert shouldn't trigger a new challenge cycle.

The C-band relocation payment clearinghouse anticipates reimbursement payments starting to flow by mid-October to satellite and earth station operators clearing the band for terrestrial 5G use. It started accepting claims submissions last week through its online Coupa portal (see 2108170060), and received about 400 claims of more than $700 million that week, said Frank Banda, CohnReznick public sector managing partner. CohnReznick and subcontractors are the clearinghouse.

Discovery filed a notice of dispute with the Polish government warning of formal action over Poland's treatment of its TVN broadcast network, the programmer said Thursday. A World Bank International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes tribunal would hear such a complaint under the 1990 bilateral investment treaty between the country and the U.S. Discovery said the notification "follows Poland’s discriminatory campaign" against TVN, including not renewing TVN24's broadcasting license and a vote Wednesday in the lower house of the Polish parliament in favor of legislation that would ban upstream foreign media ownership in the country. Discovery said the legislation is "the latest assault on independent media and freedom of the press, and takes direct aim at Discovery’s TVN, the country’s leading independent broadcasting group and news provider, as well as one of the largest U.S. investments in Poland." It said absent a "positive resolution," it would start arbitration proceedings. Discovery has operated in Poland for nearly 25 years, but "the current Polish government’s damaging and discriminatory actions ... leave us no choice but to bring charges under the US-Poland bilateral investment treaty," said Discovery International CEO JB Perrette. "This legislation will have a chilling effect on U.S. and European investment into the Polish economy, and we will aggressively defend our rights.” Discovery said the 1990 treaty includes obligations of non-impairment by arbitrary and discriminatory measures, nondiscrimination in granting licenses and the prohibition on expropriation without compensation. The U.S. was "deeply troubled" by the legislation targeting TVN, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday. "Poland has worked for decades to foster a vibrant and free media [and] this draft legislation would significantly weaken the media environment the Polish people have worked so long to build," he said: It "threatens media freedom and could undermine Poland’s strong investment climate." Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn't comment Thursday.

As ISPs face a growing number of lawsuits by music labels accusing them of complacency in battling piracy by their subscribers, intellectual property and copyright experts say it's not clear whether broadband internet access service providers have modified their procedures in response or whether such contributory and vicarious copyright infringement suits will continue to be filed and potentially won for years to come.

DOJ has “grave concerns” about T-Mobile's impending shuttering of its CDMA network and what that means for Dish Network's many Boost customers left in the lurch, said a July letter to Dish and T-Mobile from DOJ antitrust acting Assistant Attorney General Richard Powers that Dish filed Monday with the SEC. Justice said it might “pursue all remedies available” if the CDMA network shutdown means either T-Mobile or Dish not taking necessary steps to ensure Boost customers aren't left stranded without a functioning network. Many think the FCC is unlikely to act on Dish's CDMA complaint (see 2105060024).

FCC-proposed two-tier regulatory fees for non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) systems (see 2012100078) are dividing the satellite industry, stirring controversy and leaving stakeholders uncertain if the agency might change course, many involved in the proceeding told us. They agreed it's not clear what the FCC might do next. Industry is lobbying bureau personnel and agency staffers.

Rebounding in-flight connectivity helped Viasat grow, though the company is "still well below pre-pandemic business levels," CEO Rick Baldridge told analysts Thursday on results for fiscal Q1 ended June 30. Satellite services revenue was $274 million, up 36% year over year, with commercial air activity picking up, it said. It expects revenue growth for the rest of the fiscal year due in part to passenger traffic trends. Overall revenue was $665 million, up $135 million. The stock closed 8.5% higher at $52.16.

June's launch of EchoStar's S-band nanosatellite is "an important step in perfecting" the company’s global S-band non-geostationary satellite spectrum rights for mobile satellite service, Chief Strategy Officer Anders Johnson told analysts during a call this week as the company announced Q2. He said the company is focused on “full integration” of S-band satellite services into 5G networks and the 2022 standards release by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project will include non-terrestrial networks and address satellite’s role in 5G. EchoStar said HughesNet lost 20,000 U.S. subscribers, a trend that will continue near term as HughesNet is capacity constrained. Hughes Network Systems President Pradman Kaul said the hybrid network architecture it’s exploring with OneWeb should let it offer a viable product that makes it eligible for federal broadband subsidies. SES CEO Steve Collar said the company is "fully on track" to complete phase 1 of the U.S. C-band clearing this year, and it expects to start receiving reimbursement compensation in coming months, on a call Wednesday as it released results. He said cruise ship and aviation connectivity is picking up and SES' video revenue improved its trajectory for the first half of the year. SES said video revenue of $622.7 million for H1 was down 3.9% from H1 2020, vs. an 8% decline a year ago. Collar said SES expects to be "flattening the curve" in the medium term with its video distribution business. Also reporting in-flight connectivity improvements, Intelsat said Tuesday in-flight helped drive network services growth, which was $221 million, up 25% year over year. It said video revenue was $184.2 million, down 9% due to a service migration by a customer from Intelsat's network to its own network assets.