Huawei’s possible dealings with Sprint Nextel raise national security concerns, said Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and seven other Republican senators in a letter Wednesday to key members of the Obama administration. The senators cited press reports that Chinese company Huawei is bidding to supply equipment to Sprint, and is working with the Treasury Department to allow it to operate in the U.S. The Kyl letter went to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, National Intelligence Director James Clapper and General Services Administrator Martha Johnson. And it was copied to the secretaries of State, Defense and Homeland Security. Kyl and the other senators accused Huawei of having ties to Saddam Hussein, the Taliban, China’s People’s Liberation Army and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “A Chinese company with such a leading role in Iran’s economy, and close relationship with the IRGC, should not be able to do business in the U.S.,” they said. Huawei also allegedly has violated intellectual property rights of Cisco, and has received “substantial financial assistance from the Chinese government,” they said. “At worst, Huawei’s becoming a major supplier of Sprint Nextel could present a case of a company, acting at the direction of and funded by the Chinese military, taking a critical place in the supply chain of the U.S. military, law enforcement, and private sector.” Sprint declined to comment. Huawei didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mozaex’s new multiroom Blu-ray 3D server (CED Aug 10 p1) underscores the fine line between what server manufacturers consider legal when it comes to products that store movies for distribution throughout a house and what copyright-protection groups want to shut down as violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Michael Ayers, spokesman for the Advanced Access Content System, told Consumer Electronics Daily that Mozaex, like any PC manufacturer, needs no license from AACS to add a Blu-ray drive to its server. The manufacturer of the drive and the publisher of the software player application do have to be licensees, he said, and they must obey copyright laws prohibiting illegal copying of software. Mozaex’s position is that it simply makes a server and it doesn’t provide a way to rip movies to a hard disk or control what a consumer does after buying the system.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued two notices announcing the requirements that labs must meet to be accredited to third-party test the following children’s products for compliance with applicable flammability regulations under the Flammable Fabrics Act:
In July 2010, the Government Accountability Office issued to congressional requesters1 a report entitled “Electronic Waste: Considerations for Promoting Environmentally Sound Reuse and Recycling.”
An FCC proposal to require that all pay-TV providers let devices connect to their networks by 2012 without complicated or expensive equipment such as CableCARDs and get online video drew fears of content unbundling from cable programmers, telco-TV, direct broadcast satellite providers and cable operators. AT&T, Cablevision, NCTA, Verizon and a group of seven major media companies that own cable networks were among those voicing fears that the so-called AllVid regime could lead to disaggregation of video content.
An FCC proposal to require that all pay-TV providers let devices connect to their networks by 2012 without complicated or expensive equipment such as CableCARDs and get online video drew fears of content unbundling from cable programmers, telco-TV, direct broadcast satellite providers and cable operators. AT&T, Cablevision, NCTA, Verizon and a group of seven major media companies that own cable networks were among those voicing fears that the so-called AllVid regime could lead to disaggregation of video content.
A $302 million cut in the NTIA’s Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program, signed into law by President Barack Obama this week (CD Aug 12 p8), raises questions for applicants -- many of which spent tens of thousands of dollars in their efforts -- and for public safety agencies across the country that hope to use grants to build out networks in 700 MHz spectrum. RUS’s broadband program was not cut. Many applicants were surprised by the cut, which came in a bill providing $26.1 billion to states for Medicaid and teachers’ jobs.
The International Trade Commission announces that a section 337 patent-based complaint has been filed regarding certain wind and solar-powered light posts and street lamps.
The International Trade Commission announces that a section 337 patent-based complaint has been filed regarding certain flash memory chips and products containing the same.
As part of the Administration’s Export Control Reform plan announced in April, the State Department is proposing to amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to exempt from approval requirements intra-company transfers of defense articles to employees who are dual nationals or third-country nationals.