The biggest remaining challenge for the shift to IPv6 is transitioning consumer electronics (CE) to support the platform, said representatives from the CE, cable and Internet industries in interviews this week. They said work remains for ISPs and some Web content providers, but many available connected devices don’t yet support IPv6. Over-the-top applications such as Facebook and Google are driving global Internet traffic, and if all ISPs shifted to IPv6 the entire Internet would run on the updated technology, said IPv6 Forum Chairman Latif Ladid. Obstacles to IPv6 takeup remain despite its huge potential for value creation via the Internet of Things, smart grids and other uses, he said.

FirstNet board member Paul Fitzgerald, sheriff of Story County, Iowa, sharply criticized the leadership of the board Tuesday for keeping public safety on the sidelines as plans for the network are taking shape. Fitzgerald is one of only three active first responders on the board. The board voted to table a resolution by Fitzgerald, which was sharply critical of the work done by the board. In another major development, FirstNet board Chairman Sam Ginn announced that Bill D'Agostino, a former Verizon Wireless executive, was selected as FirstNet general manager after a lengthy search.

The White House backed the Marketplace Fairness Act, as senators that support the bill said S-743 is needed to level the playing field between brick-and-mortar stores and online sellers. Buyers are supposed to pay in-state sales tax on out-of-state purchases through their tax returns, but states don’t have the authority to require sellers to collect and remit that tax. Critics claimed the bill would place burdens on online sellers. The Senate was scheduled to vote to invoke cloture on the bill after our deadline Monday.

The White House backed the Marketplace Fairness Act, as senators that support the bill said S-743 is needed to level the playing field between brick-and-mortar stores and online sellers. Buyers are supposed to pay in-state sales tax on out-of-state purchases through their tax returns, but states don’t have the authority to require sellers to collect and remit that tax. Critics claimed the bill would place burdens on online sellers. The Senate was scheduled to vote to invoke cloture on the bill after our deadline Monday.

A recent filing by the Justice Department on spectrum and competition isn’t consistent with last year’s Spectrum Act, top Republican members of the House Commerce Committee said in a letter to FCC commissioners. If the commission adopts spectrum aggregation limits as part of incentive auction rules, it could doom the auction to failure, the legislators wrote.

Public-private partnerships are important to improving cybersecurity within the global information and communications technology (ICT) supply chain, said Joe Jarzombek, director-software assurance in the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of Cybersecurity & Communications. Such partnerships, including DHS's Software Assurance program, are critical when "you realize that those running our critical infrastructure have the same needs we have," he said April 18 at a Brookings Institution event.

Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse went on the attack against his two biggest competitors, Verizon Wireless and AT&T, during a keynote Thursday at the Competitive Carriers Association’s spring show. Hesse said the FCC needs to protect competition as the IP transition moves forward and called on the FCC to wrap up its spectrum aggregation rulemaking before the incentive auction.

The Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act is a “major step forward to address our nation’s shortage of high-skilled workers,” CEA President Gary Shapiro said Wednesday in a statement. “CEA believes that enactment of the following policy principles are vital and central to strategic immigration reform: address the current shortage of high-skilled workers by increasing the number of H-1B visas available for high-skilled foreign workers; allow foreign-born, U.S.-educated immigrants to remain in America upon graduation with a science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) graduate degree; and grant visas to foreign-born entrepreneurs who want to start businesses in the United States, provided they raise sufficient capital and hire American workers,” he said.

Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro commended the introduction of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, said a news release Wednesday. The legislation is a “major step forward to address our nation’s shortage of high-skilled workers,” Shapiro said. “CEA believes that enactment of the following policy principles are vital and central to strategic immigration reform: address the current shortage of high-skilled workers by increasing the number of H-1B visas available for high-skilled foreign workers; allow foreign-born, U.S.-educated immigrants to remain in America upon graduation with a science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) graduate degree; and grant visas to foreign-born entrepreneurs who want to start businesses in the United States, provided they raise sufficient capital and hire American workers,” he said.

CEA President Gary Shapiro commended the introduction of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, said a news release Wednesday. The legislation is a “major step forward to address our nation’s shortage of high-skilled workers,” Shapiro said. “CEA believes that enactment of the following policy principles are vital and central to strategic immigration reform: address the current shortage of high-skilled workers by increasing the number of H-1B visas available for high-skilled foreign workers; allow foreign-born, U.S.-educated immigrants to remain in America upon graduation with a science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) graduate degree; and grant visas to foreign-born entrepreneurs who want to start businesses in the United States, provided they raise sufficient capital and hire American workers,” he said.