• Verizon in $63 Billion Faceoff With AT&T Over Family Plans [bloomberg.com]
• Comcast Denies It's Prioritizing Xbox Video [lightreading.com]
• Ofcom to Publish UK ISP Internet Piracy Initial Obligations Code in June [ispreview.co.uk]
• Telcos see BYOD demand growing 25% this year [totaltele.com]
• Judge dismisses piracy suits, says IP address doesn't confirm state [cnet.com]
• Admitted file-swapper begs Supreme Court for help, says RIAA sought huge damages to create an "urban legend." [arstechnica.com]
• Billing Error and Fraud could cost Operators nearly $300bn annually by 2016 [juniperresearch.com]
• Are some people addicted to having WiFi access? [neowin.net]
• US judge sentences two to prison over $4.4m VoIP fraud [totaltele.com]

• TV Network Execs Contemplate Going To Court To Say Skipping Commercials Is Illegal [techdirt.com]
• Meet the New US Wireless Operators [lightreading.com]
• Is Comcast prioritizing traffic or not? [gigaom.com]
• Genachowski to Focus On Broadband In Senate Testimony [broadcastingcable.com]
• Verizon LTE expansion continues with 28 more cities [networkworld.com]
• AT&T, U.S. Cellular buying 700 MHz licenses for LTE [fiercewireless.com]
• Sprint planning Direct Connect Android app, promises PTT 'renaissance' [fiercewireless.com]
• Leap to expand LTE coverage to up to 65M POPs by 2014 [fiercewireless.com]
• Android continues to conquer the world [cnet.com]
• Avira Antivirus update cripples millions of Windows PCs [zdnet.com]
• How Yahoo killed Flickr and lost the Internet [gizmodo.com]
• Virgin latest airline to try allowing calls and texting on transatlantic flights [cable360.net]

Speaking at the 40th Annual J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference this week, Leap CEO Doug Hutcheson says the company plans to expand its LTE network coverage from 20-25 million POPs (potential subscribers) by the end of this year to 60-65 million POPs by the end of 2013 or early 2014. Leap says the company expects to have enough spectrum for LTE over the next three years. In 2010 Leap signed off on an MVNO deal with Sprint, and earlier this year struck a new five-year wholesale deal with Clearwire allowing Leap to buy capacity on Clearwire's upcoming LTE network. Rumors recently indicated Leap has been in talks with AT&T about a possible acquisition, though incompatible network technology make the deal anything but certain.

Already wobbly T-Mobile took a huge financial hit during the AT&T deal, with customers who didn't want to be AT&T customers fleeing the carrier while many business activities were put into neutral. As is usually the case the lower level employees paid for T-Mobile's bad idea, the company last March announcing at least 1,000 layoffs with more in the works.

Sprint MVNO Voyager Mobile is one of several companies launching this year that hopes to be somewhat disruptive with pricing. The company, a project of a kid that's still in college, promised users unlimited texts and voice calling for $19 a month.

The latest version of the American Consumer Satisfaction Index is now out, the Index ranking everything from the airline industry to the IRS on a one-hundred point scale. For our interests, the latest May ACSI rankings offers insight on customer satisfaction with fixed line phone service, subscription TV services, wireless phone service and cellular phone manufacturers.

We've been hearing from sources for a while that the change was near, and now Time Warner Cable appears finally to be eliminating the Roadrunner brand from their product lineup. A source tells us that as of May 19, numerous markets are seeing the logo and branding eliminated by products, with existing tier names simply seeing the addition of the word "Internet." For example, the company's "standard" tier will simply become the Time Warner Cable "standard Internet" tier.

While AT&T's LTE network is actually clocking in with faster speeds that Verizon's in early deployment markets, users in some markets like Chicago are seeing notably slower speeds. Why? As Kevin Fitchard at GigaOM notes, AT&T has only 10 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum in play in Chicago while it has 20 MHz in most markets.

Many cable operators haven't deployed DOCSIS 3.0 yet (especially on the upstream side), but that obviously hasn't stopped the development of the next step in cable broadband technology. CableLabs says they're cooking up a new specification that will succeed Docsis 3.0 with a particular focus on cable's upstream speeds, the spot its weakest when compared to fiber to the home. The next standard, currently just being caleed DOCSIS 3.1 or 3.x, focuses on more effective modulation schemes. Hard technical specs aren't available just yet, but you can expect to hear more at next week's The Cable Show in Boston.

• 2.6 million join Free Mobile’s French revolution in first 80 days [gigaom.com]
• Phone companies even on satisfaction [usatoday.com]
• Finnish court rules open WiFi network owner not liable for infringement [arstechnica.com]
• EchoStar prepares to launch satellite for 'Gen4' broadband Internet service [fiercecable.com]
• Fresh study says Verizon beats AT&T in overall data speed [fiercebroadbandwireless.com]
• BT to offer 330Mbps fiber next month [cable.co.uk]
• Smartphones, Tablets Not Yet Meaningful Portion Of Total Video Viewing [multichannel.com]
• As 17 more states join class action against book publishers and Apple, new details revealed [paidcontent.org]
• Tablets generate triple the data traffic of smartphones [fiercewireless.com]
• Voyager Mobile intros unlimited wireless plans starting at $19 [bgr.com]
• Is live TV already becoming a thing of the past? [nytimes.com]
• Foxand NBC: Dish's commercial-skipping DVR 'a strange thing to do' at best,'an insult' at worst [theverge.com]

• Will Apple or Google Buy Sprint to Break Into the Wireless Network Biz? [ecommercetimes.com]
• Canadian banks issue landmark NFC payments guidelines that focus on open mobile wallets and consumer data protection [nfcworld.com]
• Nationwide wireless emergency text alert system launching this month [ubergizmo.com]
• Why is UK ISP TalkTalk’s year-old porn filter suddenly big news? [pcpro.co.uk]
• New Report Lists Top 10 Legitimate Sites Blocked by UK Adult Content Filters [ispreview.co.uk]
• Amped Wireless Unveils the Industry's Most Powerful, Long Range, Indoor Wi-Fi Solution [yahoo.com]
• LightSquared’s bankruptcy is Washington’s failure too [gigaom.com]
• Bell Mobility hit with $100-million class-action lawsuit alleging that expiry dates on its pre-paid wireless services are illegal [cbc.ca]
• Clearwire: Our LTE Advanced network will be able to hit 168 Mbps [fiercewireless.com]
• FBI Sounds Alarm on Hotel WiFi Caper [technewsworld.com]
• Why Anonymous ‘might well be the most powerful organization on Earth’ [nationalpost.com]

As had been suggested this morning, LightSquared this afternoon officially filed for bankruptcy protection this afternoon. According to a statement posted to the LightSquared website, the company hopes that the bankruptcy proceedings will give them time "to resolve regulatory issues that have prevented it from building its coast-to-coast integrated satellite 4G wireless network."

"The filing was necessary to preserve the value of our business and to ensure continued operations," interim co-CEO Marc Montagner said in a statement.

A coalition of consumer groups and companies -- most of which were instrumental in blocking the AT&T T-Mobile deal, have now joined forces to block Verizon's recent deal with the cable industry.

As we noted last December, Verizon has struck a deal with Comcast, Bright House, Time Warner Cable and Cox to acquire $3.6 billion in 700 MHz spectrum and to bundle and joint market Verizon LTE wireless services.

Both the UK and Netherlands recently joined a growing list of countries who are being pressured by the entertainment industry to start filtering websites that provide access to copyrighted content. Ignored, as usual, is the fact the filters don't work (simply change your DNS provider), the efforts do nothing to stop piracy, and they very often wind up breaking core Internet functionality.

Buffalo today became the first company to get an early splash in the 802.11ac Wi-Fi- router market, today announcing their first 802.11ac wireless router and wireless media bridge. The devices support the new 802.11ac standard (though it has yet to be ratified by the IEEE) while also being backward compatible with 802.11a, 11b, 11g and 11n Wi-Fi technology.

When most large ISPs are subpoenaed by the entertainment industry for trading copyrighted files, they hand that data over without much concern for user privacy. Occasionally you'll see a company like Time Warner Cable protest the subpoenas, albeit simply because they're annoyed by the added labor costs involved.

Late last year Iranian leaders made it a criminal offense to bypass the country's Internet filters using VPNs or any other technology. The announcement by Iranian Telecommunications Minister Reza Taghipour insisted the move was made to combat a "soft war” being waged by Western countries against Iran (read: we want to spy on our own citizens and stifle information exchange among government critics). Amusingly, Iranian leaders recently issued a fatwa about getting around the filters -- a fatwa that was immediately filtered (via Techdirt):Meanwhile, Iran has also recently made it illegal for local banks, insurance firms and telephone operators to use foreign-sourced email services like Gmail to communicate with clients.

The Wall Street Journal reports that LightSquared is preparing for a bankruptcy filing that could come sometime today. Last February the FCC denied the company a necessary spectrum waiver, all but killing the company whose LTE network build has struggled with its potential for GPS technology interference. LightSquared and the company's lenders still have until 5 p.m today to decide on a deal that could potentially keep the company out of bankruptcy, though the Journal reports that the sides are "far apart" in negotiations. LightSquared lenders hold more than half of the company's $1.6 billion in senior debt, allowing them the upper hand in blocking reorganization plans that aren't too their liking.Upate: And thar she blows.

• Largest carriers lost combined 52,000 postpaid subs in Q1 [fiercewireless.com]
• SOPA Supporters Urge White House To Use Secretive TPP Process To Insert Draconian New IP Laws [techdirt.com]
• LightSquared Moves Toward Bankruptcy [wsj.com]
• Study finds 42% gap between actual and headline broadband speeds in UK [cable.co.uk]
• Iran forbids banks and other firms from corresponding with users of Gmail and other foreign email services, moves towards national Internet [thenextweb.com]
• MP3Tunes Declares Bankruptcy Due To 'Withering' Legal Costs [techdirt.com]
• Court Goes Censorship Crazy Against Dutch Pirate Party [torrentfreak.com]
• AT&T Suspends U-verse TV On Xbox Option [multichannel.com]
• Apple Gives In, Drops iPad '4G' Tag To Avoid Lawsuits [slashdot.org]
• US carriers may get tougher with smartphones [totaltele.com]
• Broadband cap doesn't slow Suddenlink's cable modem subscriber growth [fiercecable.com]
• Comcast finds way to deliver ads to subscribers who skip commercials on DVR [fiercecable.com]

• Fight the Patriot Act and win? Check. Next? Promise privacy and a surveillance-free ISP [networkworld.com]
• Verizon to launch LTE in 29 cities on May 17th [ubergizmo.com]
• Data caps aren't perfect, but that's OK [arstechnica.com]
• Clearwire: You want fast 4G?? How’s 168 Mbps? [gigaom.com]
• Verizon Announces Major Infrastructure Upgrades [cable360.net]
• West Virginia buys 1000+ routers designed for 500+ connections at $22000/each with stimulus money, puts them in tiny 4-computer rural libraries and schools [wvgazette.com]
• U.S. Cellular interested in buying Verizon's 700 MHz spectrum [fiercewireless.com]
• Verizon leads industry in customer loyalty [tmcnet.com]
• Verizon Refuses to Identify Alleged BitTorrent Pirates [torrentfreak.com]
• Mobile devices account for nearly 10% of internet traffic [theverge.com]
• Report: 75% of Rural Dwellers Say Broadband Important to Quality of Life [telecompetitor.com]
• Read that Verizon bill very closely [wcpo.com]
• Apple Television Set Confirmed By Foxconn Boss [gizmodo.com]
• NTCA’s CEO Not Content with Universal Service Cap [telecompetitor.com]