On July 7, 2010, Members of the European Parliament voted to approve a number of amendments with respect to the European Union’s “novel food” regulations. Some of the amendments focus on Parliament’s concerns over foods that use nanotechnology or that are from cloned animals.
The National Broadband Plan’s suggestions for transforming funding support for voice and broadband generated a sharp divide between small, rural carriers and larger carriers that serve both urban and rural districts. The FCC received nearly 100 comments Monday, the deadline for responding to a notice of inquiry and notice of proposed rulemaking on changing legacy support systems, bringing broadband to unserved areas before the Connect America Fund (CAF) is created and using an economic model to target support. The wireless industry also weighed in, with carriers making the case that reforms have to be competitively neutral, not giving wireline any advantages.
The FCC is not listening to public safety officials as it pushes forward on a plan to auction the 700 MHz D-block for commercial use while giving public safety agencies priority access to other spectrum in that band, said Charles Dowd, deputy chief of the New York City Police Department. He spoke Tuesday during a debate with FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett on a National Public Radio program in Washington. Barnett disagreed sharply. The argument presages the reaction commission officials could face next month at APCO’s annual meeting in Houston.
The FCC is working to demonstrate it received viewer complaints for each of the 235 Fox affiliates that got letters of inquiry on a January broadcast of American Dad that drew more than 100,000 gripes (CD June 4 p10), agency and industry officials said. That would respond in part to a recent request by a lawyer whose filings represent 86 percent of those affiliates, including some owned by Fox network parent News Corp. The request sought proof that each station had a complaint lodged against it by a viewer in its market.
Internet disabilities legislation in the House “is well-intentioned but would create enormous burdens on innovators seeking to introduce new products and features,” CEA President Gary Shapiro said after the House Communications Subcommittee approved an amended HR-3101 on Wednesday. Shapiro and HR-3101 sponsor Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., clashed over the bill at a hearing last month (CED June 11 p4).
On June 30, 2010, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee held a markup and approved for full committee action the Foreign Manufacturer Legal Accountability Act of 2010 (H.R. 4678).
The House Communications Subcommittee approved Internet accessibility legislation in a voice vote Wednesday afternoon, with a manager’s amendment by Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va. Boucher said he hoped to offer another manager’s amendment later to address “remaining points of difference,” including those related to video description rules. Meanwhile, disabilities rights advocates were upset after learning the amendment cut out a provision that would subsidize broadband services and equipment for people with disabilities.
The House Communications Subcommittee approved Internet accessibility legislation in a voice vote Wednesday afternoon, with a manager’s amendment by Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va. Boucher said he hoped to offer another manager’s amendment later to address “remaining points of difference,” including those related to video description rules. Meanwhile, disabilities rights advocates were upset after learning the amendment cut out a provision that would subsidize broadband services and equipment for people with disabilities.
China coerces U.S. businesses into censoring the Internet, said Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., Wednesday at a meeting of the U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission in Washington. The commission should recommend action that Congress can take to help U.S. companies push back, he said. The panel will consider the issues raised by Smith when it finalizes its report to Congress this fall on the national security implications of U.S.-China trade, said commission member Robin Cleveland.
Members of the NoChokePoints Coalition used the pending termination of price controls on AT&T’s special access lines to urge the FCC to move ahead with its special access proceeding. The telco agreed to price controls when it acquired BellSouth. They no longer apply as of Thursday. Those who purchase special access from AT&T describe the rates the company charges -- and the new rates it will charge once it’s out of its agreement -- as exorbitant. AT&T has described the current rates as “temporary rate reductions” and said Tuesday any increases would be returns to normal rates.