Congress and the White House struck a compromise Tuesday to extend 15 days an electronic surveillance law set to expire Friday. The deal came as the House prepared to adjourn for a three-day retreat, making congressional approval impossible by the original deadline. The House passed the extension by voice vote. It goes to the Senate, where passage is expected. The White House put its blessing on the 15-day extension early Tuesday, House leaders said.
Congress and the White House struck a compromise Tuesday to extend 15 days an electronic surveillance law set to expire Friday. The deal came as the House prepared to adjourn for a three-day retreat, making congressional approval impossible by the original deadline. The House passed the extension by voice vote. It goes to the Senate, where passage is expected. The White House put its blessing on the 15-day extension early Tuesday, House leaders said.
SAN FRANCISCO -- The FCC should “set forward with much more clarity” the “reasonable network management” that its Internet freedom principles allow, said a former FCC commissioner now on the California PUC. The FCC has a chance to do so in response to complaints about Comcast interfering with BitTorrent P2P file-sharing traffic, Commissioner Rachelle Chong said Saturday at a net neutrality conference at the University of San Francisco.
SAN FRANCISCO -- The FCC should “set forward with much more clarity” the “reasonable network management” that its Internet freedom principles allow, said a former FCC commissioner now on the California PUC. The FCC has a chance to do so in response to complaints about Comcast interfering with BitTorrent P2P file-sharing traffic, Commissioner Rachelle Chong said Saturday at a net neutrality conference at the University of San Francisco.
Conservation groups said they will push again for state energy use standards for digital TVs and set-top boxes, even as consumer electronic products were stripped from appliance efficiency bills in New Hampshire and New Jersey. The Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships is “getting very close” to writing model laws for TVs, said Isaac Elnecave of that group. Efforts will revive once methods for measuring digital TV energy use are finalized, he said.
Conservation groups said they will push again for state energy use standards for DTVs and set-top boxes, even as CE products were stripped from appliance efficiency bills in New Hampshire and New Jersey. The Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships is “getting very close” to writing model laws for TVs, said Isaac Elnecave of that group. Efforts will revive once methods for measuring digital TV energy use are finalized, he said.
On July 27, 2007, the House passed its version of the "Farm Bill" (H.R. 2419) entitled, "Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007,'' by a vote of 231 to 191. The Senate amended and passed its own version of H.R. 2419 entitled, "Food and Energy Security Act of 2007," by a vote of 79 to 14, on December 14, 2007.
The State Department intends to intervene early with nations still lacking comprehensive Internet use policies, to get them to embrace Internet freedom, though it continues to lean on China and other regimes that already apply heavy restrictions, an agency official said Thursday. He spoke at the first meeting this year of the Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy. Several information and communication technology (ICT) conferences are on the agency calendar this year, and State plans to push the issue of Internet freedom especially in settings not yet bound by censorship.
States will have a hard time imposing energy efficiency controls on cable set-top boxes using the franchising process, attorneys said. The possibility of getting cable operators to pay for inefficient boxes’ energy use arose recently at a California Energy Commission meeting. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab data seem to suggest that cable franchise bodies could impose energy limits, said an official (CD Jan 17 p8).
Proposed DMCA-like amendments to Canadian copyright law are drawing opposition from Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart. The bill’s proposal to authorize use of DRM could raise privacy concerns, she said in a letter to Minister of Industry Jim Prentice and Minister of Canadian Heritage Josee Verner, the amendments’ advocates. The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act keeps businesses from collecting, using or disclosing personal data unless it’s “appropriate in the circumstances,” narrowly tailored, and the subject consents, she said. DRM that doesn’t phone home is privacy-friendly, but previous bids to amend the Copyright Act contained anticircumvention provisions barring consumers from blocking transmission of their information through DRM, she said. Stoddart cited Sony BMG’s infamous CD DRM that secretly installed itself on user PCs, transmitting data on the IP address, user attempts to copy the music, and other personal information. Any legislation should avoid legalizing that, she said. Stoddart also warned against reviving old proposals to require ISPs to forward copyright- infringement notices to subscribers and keep their network- use records a year. Any measure must have a threshold for issuing notices and limits on data collection and retention, she said. Bill critics are targeting MPs backing the amendments but who seem vulnerable to academic pressure. Michael Geist, Canada research chairman of Internet and e- commerce law at the University of Ottawa, compiled a list of MPs who won their last elections by 10 percent or less in districts that are home to universities. The “Copyright MPs” include 11 Liberals, 10 Conservatives and six minor-party members. The amendments to Canada’s Copyright Act are “anti- education,” and should stir not just professors but also students to action, Geist said: “In some ridings [districts], less than 1,000 votes -- roughly the size of some large first-year courses -- is needed to swing the entire riding.” For example, in 2006 Conservative MP Rod Bruinooge won his Winnipeg South district, which includes the 30,000-student University of Manitoba, by 111 votes, Geist said. “If you are Prime Minister Stephen Harper, how many ridings are you prepared to put at risk” for the bill, he asked. “While there may be relatively few Canadians who will vote for a party because of copyright, a growing number might vote against a party because of it.”