The White House asked Congress to allow the FBI to obtain records of people’s online activity without court orders in terrorism and other intelligence cases, The Washington Post reported. The administration recommended Thursday changing the Electronic Communications Privacy Act by adding electronic-communication transactional records to a list of items that can be seized without a warrant. If the proposal is enacted, the FBI could issue national security letters to ISPs, directing them to turn over details like “addresses to which an Internet user sends e-mail,” and “times and dates e-mail was sent and received,” the Post said. The proposal “to change ECPA to cover electronic communication transaction records raises serious privacy and civil liberties concerns,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. “While the government should have the tools that it needs to keep us safe, American citizens should also have protections against improper intrusions into their private electronic communications and online transactions. We must also address past government abuses of these authorities."
The FCC is ready to handle payphone-compensation problems as needed, Wireline Bureau Chief Sharon Gillett told a commission symposium looking at ways to streamline and improve the dial-around compensation process for payphone calls. A dial-around call is made using an access code or toll-free number instead of coins. “Payphones are very important today, as ever, particularly in times of emergency or for consumers who don’t have access to any other form of wireline or wireless telephone service,” Gillett said. Section 276 of the Communications Act requires payphone service providers (PSPs) be compensated fairly for calls, she noted: “Our challenge today is to ensure that PSPs are compensated for all completed calls, including dial-around calls.”
The Senate may hotline a disabilities communications bill in a unanimous consent vote as soon as Tuesday, a Senate staffer told us. The House was expected to pass its own version Monday night, industry officials said. The House considered HR-3101 in the afternoon, but postponed votes until after our deadline. Monday was the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Senate may hotline a disabilities communications bill in a unanimous consent vote as soon as Tuesday, a Senate staffer told us. The House was expected to pass its own version Monday night, industry officials said. The House considered HR-3101 in the afternoon, but postponed votes until after our deadline. Monday was the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Senate may hotline a disabilities communications bill in a unanimous consent vote as soon as Tuesday, a Senate staffer told us. The House was expected to pass its own version Monday night, industry officials said. The House considered HR-3101 in the afternoon, but postponed votes until after our deadline. Monday was the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Legislation decriminalizing online gambling will be marked up Tuesday by the House Financial Services Committee, announced committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass. But the ranking member Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Miss., said he would “do everything in my power to stop it.” Frank introduced HR-2267 in May 2009 to overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which bans the use of certain payment systems for online wagers (WID July 23 p7). The bill would establish a federal regulatory framework to license online gambling operations and give states a way to opt out and block Internet gambling within their jurisdictions. A companion bill by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., would tax Internet gambling. Frank’s staff didn’t return calls for comment.
The Senate Commerce Committee approved Thursday a spectrum bill to streamline relocation for federal users. By voice vote, the committee reported S-3490 to the full Senate with a substitute amendment by sponsor Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Roger Wicker, R-Miss. The legislation aims to set up a more orderly process for moving federal users off bands that would be reviewed by a three-member technical panel reporting to the FCC and the NTIA. At the markup, Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said the bill would ensure that relocation is open and transparent. But it may need further adjustments before it hits the Senate floor, he said. Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and John Kerry, D-Mass., have concerns, but Warner and Wicker plan to work with them before the next vote, said Warner. The Wireless Broadband Coalition, representing AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Cisco and Qualcomm, welcomed approval by the committee. The bill “doesn’t make spectrum allocation decisions, but it does make future spectrum allocation decisions easier to implement,” said the coalition’s executive director, David Taylor. “Delays in the AWS spectrum relocation process have slowed broadband deployment. The WBC believes that Federal policy should seek to promote infrastructure investment and broadband deployment, not slow it down.” The Warner-Wicker bill will spur broadband deployment and investment and create jobs, and the coalition believes it “can and should be enacted into law this year.” The legislation “will make the spectrum relocation process more predictable and transparent, thereby producing a more efficient relocation process for all parties and advancing the broadband deployment goals we all share,” said CTIA President Steve Largent. “We hope the full Senate will act on S. 3490 as soon as possible.” The spectrum bill is similar to House legislation HR-3019 by Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., but it addresses some concerns that had been raised by the White House (CD June 17 p6). The House Commerce committee passed the Inslee bill in March.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a proposed rule to establish new mandatory consumer product safety standards for full-size and non-full-size1 baby cribs as required by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA).2
Internet accessibility legislation cleared the House Commerce Committee by a unanimous voice vote Wednesday. The committee reported the bill (HR-3101) to the full House with amendments addressing industry concerns, expanding video description requirements, and establishing an annual $10 million fund to subsidize equipment for the deaf-blind. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., reaffirmed he wants to see the bills on the House and Senate floors next week in time for the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Senate Commerce Committee passed its own version of the bill (S-3304) last week (CED July 16 p5).
Internet accessibility legislation cleared the House Commerce Committee by a unanimous voice vote Wednesday. The committee reported the bill (HR-3101) to the full House with amendments addressing industry concerns, expanding video description requirements, and establishing an annual $10 million fund to subsidize equipment for the deaf-blind. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., reaffirmed he wants to see the bills on the House and Senate floors next week in time for the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Senate Commerce Committee passed its own version of the bill (S-3304) last week (CD July 16 p5).