A recent string of state-level Buy American bills are once again sparking debate, this time not only over economic pros and cons but also National Foreign Trade Council concerns such bills violate U.S. international trade obligations and could lead to trade sanctions against the country as a whole.

The long-term effect of FirstNet board member Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald’s attack last week on how the group is doing business still remains to be seen, said current and former government officials and public safety officials in interviews this week. Fitzgerald’s comments caught many by surprise and were downplayed by other members of the board representing public safety (CD April 24 p1). But the National Sheriffs’ Association issued a statement fully supporting Fitzgerald, the sheriff of Story County, Iowa.

The FCC has approved the transfer of control of Securus’s operating subsidiaries from one holding company to another, but not before Securus agreed to stop blocking inmate-initiated calls placed via “ConsCallHome.” In so doing, the FCC rejected a petition to deny filed by several public interest groups. VoIP provider Millicorp, which runs ConsCallHome, had supported that challenge, arguing Securus was illegally blocking calls to competitive VoIP providers in violation of Sections 201(b) and 202 of the Communications Act, and the FCC’s policy prohibiting call blocking. Millicorp withdrew its opposition after Securus agreed Friday to stop the call blocking.

Mobile privacy stakeholders drafting a voluntary code of conduct on how mobile apps use short-form notices to tell users about data collection and use are working to address potential FTC concerns, Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum and one of the draft’s authors, told us ahead of Tuesday’s stakeholder meeting. At the previous meeting of the process, being facilitated by NTIA, Chris Olsen, assistant director of the FTC’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, laid out potential concerns the agency might have with the draft code. Concerns included how the code requires apps to gain consent from users when making material retroactive changes and the extent to which the code deals with app platforms (WID April 5 p1).

Mobile privacy stakeholders drafting a voluntary code of conduct on how mobile apps use short-form notices to tell users about data collection and use are working to address potential FTC concerns, Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum and one of the draft’s authors, told us ahead of Tuesday’s stakeholder meeting. At the previous meeting of the process, being facilitated by NTIA, Chris Olsen, assistant director of the FTC’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, laid out potential concerns the agency might have with the draft code, including how the code requires apps to gain consent from users when making material retroactive changes and the extent to which the code deals with app platforms (CD April 5 p7).

The privacy and civil liberties protections being included in the White House’s Cybersecurity Framework are still in the early stages of development, but policy experts at leading privacy groups tell us they do not believe the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) is likely to be a factor. Privacy groups criticized CISPA when the House passed it earlier this month because of what they saw as insufficient privacy protections (CD April 19 p6) . But those groups also see the Senate as unlikely to take up the bill, scuttling its chances of affecting the framework. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said Tuesday that he views CISPA as a “sort of useless bill” that “can’t guide us at all” (CD April 24 p12) . The committee did not respond to a request for further comment. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are collaborating to lead development of the Cybersecurity Framework, a set of standards and best practices, in response to President Barack Obama’s February cybersecurity order (CD Feb 14 p1) .

A group of East Coast states is seeking information about the potential nationwide wireless public safety broadband network, amid concerns about the network processes. The Mid-Atlantic Consortium for Interoperable Nationwide Advanced Communications, known as the MACINAC Initiative, released a 15-page request for information last week. It cited a desire to support FirstNet’s planned nationwide network as well as to look at what Mark Grubb, director of the Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security, called a cost-effective and workable solution for the Mid-Atlantic region as a whole.

The FCC may be putting too much focus on cutting abuses in the Lifeline program and not enough on making sure everyone who needs support gets it, said members of the agency’s Consumer Advisory Committee. Lifeline reform was the subject of a contentious hearing Thursday by the House Communications Subcommittee (CD April 26 p1), the day before CAC met at commission headquarters.

The privacy and civil liberties protections being included in the White House’s Cybersecurity Framework are still in the early stages of development, but policy experts at leading privacy groups tell us they do not believe the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) is likely to be a factor. Privacy groups criticized CISPA when the House passed it earlier this month because of what they saw as insufficient privacy protections (WID April 19 p1). But those groups also see the Senate as unlikely to take up the bill, scuttling its chances of affecting the framework. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said Tuesday that he views CISPA as a “sort of useless bill” that “can’t guide us at all” (WID April 24 p4). The committee did not respond to a request for further comment. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are collaborating to lead development of the Cybersecurity Framework, a set of standards and best practices, in response to President Barack Obama’s February cybersecurity order (WID Feb 14 p1).

Fresh regulations and agreements, disputes and personnel will be among major issues in the coming year for those in the trade world, said industry lawyers who spoke at an American Bar Association international law conference April 26. Recent customs protest litigation will continue to be on the minds for those in the customs world and cases before the World Trade Organization, free trade agreements and potential new heads of the WTO and the U.S. Trade Representative are expect to be other hot topics in trade policy this year, they said.