The lawsuit suit claims Facebook infringed on 10 patents that protect ways to display and share content online. Yahoo says Facebook's entire social networking model is based on patented Yahoo technology. A Facebook spokesman terms the claims "puzzling". The legal challenge has drawn considerable fire on Yahoo from the tech community, with some terming the suit "patent trolling," or the practice of companies using patents to block more innovative competitors from surpassing their technology. Experts say Congress should introduce a bill that makes technical corrections to last year's patent legislation, one that would make the patent process clearer, faster and more predictable.
Dems Try to Slow House "Jobs" Bill: CQ's Ben Weyl reports that today the Senate will consider a House bill (HR 3606) designed to make it easier for small businesses to raise money and go public, but chamber Democrats are hoping to slow the bill while they add protections for investors. The bill would permit companies to use "crowdfunding," the use of social media and the Web, to finance a new business. It would also raise the limit on the number of shares an outfit could issue without being considered public. Democrats had hoped to unveil their own version of the legislation this week, but those plans changed in the face of opposition from the GOP. The White House has already signaled support for the House bill, which passed in that chamber with strong bipartisan support. FCC Chief: No Promises on Retrans: Ambreen Ali reports that Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski told a group of small and medium-sized cable firms that his agency has very little authority to reduce the charges they pay to broadcasters to retransmit programming. Genachowski touted his agency's efforts to expand broadband access and free up spectrum for wireless firms on Wednesday in front of the American Cable Association, but had little encouragement to offer on the retrans issue, which is crucial to smaller cable firms. The ACA argues the retrans process created by Congress in 1992 gives the broadcasters the upper hand in negotiations and often results in higher fees for customers. The group plans to lobby Congress this week on the issue. Quotable: “We all know that the retransmission consent law is out of date. Modernizing this law would demonstrate that Congress is capable of acting on overwhelming evidence that broadcasters are abusing their market power to swell their bottom line." — ACA chairwoman Colleen Abdoulah Program Access Rules Top FCC Agenda: The FCC released its agenda for next Wednesday's open meeting, highlighted by a revision of the agency's program access rules, which are set to expire in October. The rules require networks owned by cable providers to be made available to satellite and wired Pay-TV providers. The commission will consider whether to update, eliminate or relax the ban on exclusive content agreements. It will also discuss the implementation of the Local Community Radio Act, which encourages the creation of Low Power FM Radio stations. Agriculture Groups Bash LightSquared: A coalition of farm organizations filed a petition (PDF) with the FCC on Wednesday emphasizing the importance of the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to the nation's agriculture industry. The groups, which include the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Soybean Association and the National Potato Council, argue that GPS helps them make precise decisions on planting crops and helps increase crop yields. LightSquared had planned to build a national wireless broadband network on spectrum purchased at auction, but tests have shown that the planned network would interfere with GPS devices, prompting the FCC to pull the firm's conditional waiver and move to block the deal. Both sides are preparing for a likely legal challenge. Antitrust Subpanel Release Witness List for Verizon-Cable Hearing: The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust released the witness list for next Wednesday's hearing on proposed sale of spectrum to Verizon by several cable firms. Verizon General Counsel Randal Milch and Comcast executive vice president David Cohen will be on hand to defend the transaction, which includes marketing agreements under which the two sides agree to sell each other's products. Free Press policy adviser Joel Kelsey will also appear, likely to warn lawmakers about the possibility of collusion and reduce competition if the deal is approved. Also on the witness list: Columbia University Professor of Law Timothy Wu, who coined the term "net neutrality." On the Move: CQ Today reports that Jim Williams, formerly the commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration, is now a senior vice president for global business development at biometric ID software firm Daon. Williams also served as director of the US-VISIT program at DHS under President George W. Bush.FCC chairman Genachowski announced that his senior counsel and legal adviser Amy Levine will depart the commission and relocate from the Washington area. Charles Mathias, currently associate bureau chief of the FCC's Wireless Bureau, will be detailed to serve as acting legal adviser. Levine lost the race to succeed Rick Kaplan as chief counsel last year to current FCC chief of staff Zach Katz. She previously worked for former House Telecom Subpanel Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., and is known for specializing in spectrum policy.