The Competitive Enterprise Institute has filed a brief arguing that the Federal Communications Commission overstepped its bounds regarding the merger between Charter and Time Warner Cable by imposing conditions regarding services not connected to the terms of the deal. CEI attorney Melissa Holyoak said CEI "has demonstrated that the FCC imposed unlawful conditions on the Charter merger that would increase costs for consumers, forcing them to foot the bill for an overreaching federal agency."

The Department of Justice reportedly may permit Disney to relinquish control of the 22 regional sports networks it acquired from Fox instead of finding a buyer for the offerings. This option may actually endanger the RSN business model and take away the incentive for cable companies to include the networks with their basic packages.

Technology policy experts in a panel discussion this week generally agreed that the Universal Service Fund program and rural broadband deployment practices need to be changed, though they differed on what those changes should be. Suggestions included reimbursing property owners who build connections themselves and funding fiber to the home.

A study by Parks Associates shows that 16% of broadband customers in the US share their login information with others, which could end up costing the industry $9.9 billion in the next two years. The report also finds that users 21 years of age and younger are sharing their passwords about 42% of the time, while the rate for millennials is only 35%.

US cybersecurity is one notable victim of the federal government's partial shutdown. Roughly half the staff in various associated departments are on furlough, and the interruption is accelerating the departure of key security talent as other options seem more appealing than unpredictable government work.

Netflix has raised the prices for its plans -- the standard plan is now $13, and the basic is $9 -- to help offset its content overhead. The move, which will go into effect immediately for new subscribers, is the first servicewide increase.

Sinclair has launched STIRR, an ad-supported, over-the-top platform that delivers live local news, entertainment and regional sports to mobile devices, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV. The company will bundle content from its almost 200 stations with that of channels including Outdoor America, Cheddar and World Poker.

The 2019 SCTE•ISBE LiveLearning Webinars™ for Professionals program continues in February on Thursday, Feb. 21, with "Rolling Out the Fiber, Fiber Deep." Sponsored by ADTRAN, Ciena, and Viavi, this session will look at cable's growing fiber diet, the opportunities that more fiber presents, and the challenges involved in upgrading the HFC plant. Register now for Feb. 21. The archived recordings of these monthly webinars are available to SCTE•ISBE members only.

Feed your career in this new year from SCTE•ISBE's CCNA menu. The Cisco Networking Academy courses are available online (or as two-day boot camps). For example, another offering of the CCNA1 online course will commence Monday, May 13, and continue through Aug. 12. It pays to be a Society member: Save $110. See the CCNA1-CCNA4 schedule and sign up. Advance your career as you accelerate the deployment of technology to drive business results.