Category: General

I am very pleased to announce that I received word today that I have been officially accepted into the Northeastern University School of Professional Studies Doctor of Law and Policy program.   I will commence my cohort studies in July, 2014.  I’ll be traveling to Boston every month for two years to complete in-class coursework, which will be supplemented by studying between the in-class sessions.

Having completed my Masters of Law degree in Information Technology and Telecommunications Law at Strathclyde University just last year, this next step will be my final and terminal academic degree.

I want to thank three people in particular for supporting me in my next life endeavor: Fred Polner, Associate Master of Trumbull College at Yale University; Ken Fellman of Kissinger & Fellman in Denver; and Dr. Konstantinos Komaitis of the Internet Society and Strathclyde University, all of whom were kind enough to write strong letters of recommendation on my behalf.

April 2, 2014 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. EDT – Telecommunications – Event Code: T50

Cell Tower Leasing

Cell Tower site leasing/licensing for local governments is an excellent way to produce new long term non-tax revenues, but crafting the right terms and drafting the proper documents are fraught with potential legal landmines.  John Pestle, Esq. and Jonathan Kramer, Esq. are both deeply experienced with crafting and enforcing municipal cell tower site agreements.  In this 90-minute webinar, they will identify those legal landmines, discuss industry boilerplate provisions, and offer useful practice pointers to guide you through the process.  The program will cover both key aspects of cell leases, and the potential sale by municipalities of such leases and long-term leasing rights. Extensive handouts in PDF format will be provided to participants.

Speakers: John Pestle and Jonathan Kramer

Cost: $99 for IMLA Members; $199 for non-members.

CLEs: Available for an additional processing charge of $65.

Here is a link to download the registration form:  http://imla.org/images/2014Webinar/2014WebRF2.pdf

Over the objections of local governments in Missouri, Governor Jay Nixon signed SB 650 into law on Thursday. At the same time, Governor Nixon signed into law three additional telecom bills: SB 649, SB 651, and SB 653.

SBs 649 and 653 regulate how the public rights-of-way are managed and also how utility poles are accessed.   SB 650 places hard limits on the wireless approval process in Missouri ostensibly to encourage investment in wireless/broadband services. SB 651 provides legal immunity for telecommunications providers during emergencies and requires disclosure of user location information to public safety officers.

The four bills singed into law yesterday contained various provisions of former telecommunications bills enacted in 2013 in violation of the state Constitution, and enjoined from enforcement by the Cole County Circuit Court.

Interestingly for those of us outside of Missouri, SB 649 includes “every cable television service provider” as a “public utility” under that state’s law.

Taken together, the bulk of the Senate Bills take away substantial planning powers that were formerly and traditionally in the hands of local governments to protect community aesthetics. The likely result will be the industrialization of wireless facilities in zones previously protected from that type of industrialization.

I have grouped together all four laws into a single PDF file (about 1 MB in size) which you can immediately download from here by filling out the following request form.  Once you submit the form, the PDF will be automatically emailed to you.

I really love flying Southwest Airlines, especially after flying UAL for over 800,000 lifetime miles.  I’ll never make Million Miler status on UAL because of…well, if you fly UAL you know the rest of that sentence.

Southwest is simply far less of a hassle, even when they screw up. And they have a sense of humor.  That’s one of the reasons I record the safety announcements on virtually every flight.

Every so often you’ll hear a gem like the one here, which I recorded on a flight back to L.A. from a meeting in Denver.