The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has issued a notice announcing its decision not to initiate an investigation under section 302 of the Trade Act of 1974 with respect to a petition it received from the Bipartisan China Currency Action Coalition addressing China's currency valuation policies because initiation of an investigation would not be effective in addressing the issues raised in the petition. (FR Pub 08/21/07, available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-16455.pdf)
Wireless carriers and equipment makers told the FCC it should defer any decision on tougher E-911 location standards until an industry-public safety group can gather and meet to study the changes’ technological feasibility. The companies hope that the FCC will set up a working group modeled on the Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee, which is looking at emergency alerts sent to cellphones. Comments were due this week in a second comment round on how to increase the accuracy of wireless E-911 (CD July 9 p5).
Fears of “blanket surveillance” of European citizens rose with Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act revisions expanding warrantless wiretaps of communications over U.S.- based networks between people in the U.S. and abroad, Dutch European Parliament member Sophie In’t Veld said Monday. The U.S. move is the latest in a series of infringements on Europeans’ privacy rights, she said in an interview. It also could spell trouble for electronic communications and ISPs caught between U.S. snooping and EU data protection laws, Brussels privacy attorney Wim Nauwelaerts said.
The FCC cleared the way for oral argument on a video franchise order to be heard shortly after Nov. 1, when all documents in Alliance for Community Media v. FCC are due to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. The commission, NCTA, USTelecom and other parties likely to file in the case said they won’t oppose municipalities’ request to put oral arguments on a fast track, according to court papers and a lawyer involved in the case. The 6th Circuit hasn’t decided on that. Municipal groups claim a March 5 FCC order streamlining video franchising usurped city and county oversight over Bell and other pay-TV providers. The FCC and carriers claim Communications Act authority for the FCC move. The sides expect the court to hear oral arguments because the case raises questions of federal versus local oversight (CD April 9 p3). The next deadline is Sept. 17, when respondents’ briefs are due from the FCC after a delay of about a month that the agency got. USTelecom and members including AT&T and Verizon likely will file briefs supporting the FCC, said Alan Fishel, attorney for the Alliance. Final briefs are due Nov. 1, and his client wants arguments to occur as soon as possible after that, he said. The alliance wants speedy oral arguments due to the FCC order’s potentially wide impact. “The breadth and scope of this order is staggering,” said an Aug. 13 court filing by the group. “The order preempts local laws and practices throughout the country.”
The Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued a notice announcing its intent to proceed with a pilot program1 to demonstrate the ability of Mexico-based motor carriers to operate safely in the U.S. beyond the commercial zones along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Fears of “blanket surveillance” of European citizens rose with Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act revisions expanding warrantless wiretaps of communications over U.S.- based networks between people in the U.S. and abroad, Dutch European Parliament member Sophie In’t Veld said Monday. The U.S. move is the latest in a series of infringements on Europeans’ privacy rights, she said in an interview. It also could spell trouble for electronic communications and ISPs caught between U.S. snooping and EU data protection laws, Brussels privacy attorney Wim Nauwelaerts said.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Web postings under a pen name by Whole Foods CEO John Mackey about takeover target Wild Oats could open him or his company to liability for charges of insider trading or violations of Sarbanes-Oxley disclosure mandates, the federal Lanham Act and other laws, said Houston insurance lawyer David Furlow. Whole Foods declined to comment Tuesday. A news release last month on an internal investigation said the company wouldn’t comment until the inquiry is finished.
Alaskan regulators want the FCC to investigate Verizon’s plan to stop selling calling cards to Alaskans, and recharging old ones, because service there costs so much. The Regulatory Commission of Alaska said that, before the MCI-Verizon merger, many Alaskans used MCI national calling cards, for 2.9 cents a minute. The cards, now with Verizon’s name, still are offered at that price to most Americans, but not those with Alaskan ZIP codes or phone numbers, the commission said. Verizon now plans to stop recharging old MCI cards on Sept. 4. Recharging the old cards is the only option left for MCI/Verizon users, the regulatory commission said.
Several major U.K. broadband providers have warned the BBC to contribute to the costs of streaming its TV programs over their networks or they will “pull the plug,” British media reported. Tiscali, Carphone Warehouse, and BT are among Internet service providers (ISPs) said to fret over how much bandwidth the BBC’s new iPlayer could tie up. The service lets viewers watch TV shows online on a seven-day catch-up basis, The Independent on Sunday said. The ISPs reportedly told BBC that they will consider traffic-shaping to ration iPlayer access. Internet players by Channel 4 and ITV could gobble more bandwidth, The Independent said. The Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), reportedly has been asked to speak for industry on this issue, has no official position, its spokesman told us. But in ISPA’s January bi-annual newsletter, devoted to the issue of net neutrality, ISPA Council Chairman Jessica Hendrie-Llano said ISPs are looking at options for maintaining service quality in high bandwidth use situations, including prioritization of traffic or charging content providers for network access. But, she said, contracts between ISPs and content providers raise concerns about whether access to information will be constrained by financial relationships. The industry code of practice now advises ISPs not to block or filter any service to customers unless they get clear explanations for the action, Hendrie-Llano wrote. The European Commission is considering net neutrality in a review of the electronic communications regulatory framework. With Europe’s tendency to “to take a back seat” in the net neutrality debate, the BBC scenario or something like it was needed to bring it to the top of the Commission agenda, said StrategyAnalytics digital consumer practice analyst David Mercer, asking rhetorically ISPs plan on charging. If it’s to be end-users, ISPs will have to act uniformly or wind up with some providers competing with lower prices or even free services, rendering the exercise moot, he said. And such activity is likely to invite antitrust probes, he said. And charging content providers, moreover, likely will “stir up a hornet’s nest” of discord over access rights and neutrality issues bound to land in court, Mercer said. The “balance of power lies with net neutrality now,” he said: ISPs will have trouble making prioritization stick. One way or the other, he added, “the legal profession will do well out of any dispute.”
Several major U.K. broadband providers have warned the BBC to contribute to the costs of streaming its TV programs over their networks or they will “pull the plug,” British media reported. Tiscali, Carphone Warehouse, and BT are among Internet service providers (ISPs) said to fret over how much bandwidth the BBC’s new iPlayer could tie up. The service lets viewers watch TV shows online on a seven-day catch-up basis, The Independent on Sunday said. The ISPs reportedly told BBC that they will consider traffic-shaping to ration iPlayer access. Internet players by Channel 4 and ITV could gobble more bandwidth, The Independent said. The Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), reportedly has been asked to speak for industry on this issue, has no official position, its spokesman told us. But in ISPA’s January bi-annual newsletter, devoted to the issue of net neutrality, ISPA Council Chairman Jessica Hendrie-Llano said ISPs are looking at options for maintaining service quality in high bandwidth use situations, including prioritization of traffic or charging content providers for network access. But, she said, contracts between ISPs and content providers raise concerns about whether access to information will be constrained by financial relationships. The industry code of practice now advises ISPs not to block or filter any service to customers unless they get clear explanations for the action, Hendrie-Llano wrote. The European Commission is considering net neutrality in a review of the electronic communications regulatory framework. With Europe’s tendency to “to take a back seat” in the net neutrality debate, the BBC scenario or something like it was needed to bring it to the top of the Commission agenda, said StrategyAnalytics digital consumer practice analyst David Mercer, asking rhetorically ISPs plan on charging. If it’s to be end-users, ISPs will have to act uniformly or wind up with some providers competing with lower prices or even free services, rendering the exercise moot, he said. And such activity is likely to invite antitrust probes, he said. And charging content providers, moreover, likely will “stir up a hornet’s nest” of discord over access rights and neutrality issues bound to land in court, Mercer said. The “balance of power lies with net neutrality now,” he said: ISPs will have trouble making prioritization stick. One way or the other, he added, “the legal profession will do well out of any dispute.”