The House will vote this weekend on HR-3223, sponsored by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., and Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., with 151 cosponsors, to retroactively pay federal workers furloughed due to the government shutdown, once the shutdown ends. The White House “strongly supports” the bill’s passage, according to a statement Friday from the Office of Management and Budget.
Three islands affected by Superstorm Sandy in New Jersey need to get Verizon FiOS service, R.W. Speer, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 827 president, said in an interview Friday. Verizon decided to offer its FiOS service in Fire Island, N.Y., starting Memorial Day (CD Sept 12 p3), but the company hasn’t announced plans to install a fiber service in Bay Head, Mantoloking and Brick, N.J. Speer, who attended a New Jersey Board of Public Utilities public hearing Thursday on the renewal of Verizon’s cable television franchise agreement, asked Verizon representatives why they have not replaced Voice Link service in New Jersey. “Voice Link does not perform like FiOS,” said Speer. “Verizon never put out a price on how much it would cost to get the copper repaired.” Verizon representatives said they are going to come out with Voice Link service with 4G data coverage. “This will cost customers more, and it does not do enough for the customers that can’t afford it,” said Speer.
The International Society for Technology in Education, in light of the shuttered FCC, offered to assist educators in filing their comments on E-rate reform. Due to the “unfortunate” budget impasse, the FCC’s “electronic filing system will be unavailable until normal government operations resume,” ISTE said in a notice to its members (http://bit.ly/19nlhum). “To assist educators who want to file comments” before the Oct. 16 deadline, ISTE “has created a simple and easy-to-complete, online form,” the group said. The form is at http://bit.ly/1fOIxVA.
Eutelsat ceased operation of Eutelsat 28A at 28.5 degrees east, said a German filing. That allows SES to smoothly operate additional satellite spectrum at the 28.2/28.5 degrees east orbital arc, the companies said in a joint press release (http://bit.ly/16nIfiz). SES was given the right to use the German Ku-band orbital frequencies at that position following a decision by an arbitral tribunal with the International Chamber of Commerce of Paris (CD Sept 17 p15). “All transponders using other frequency bands on Eutelsat 28A continue full operations.” SES and Eutelsat are continuing discussions to find a solution on the subject matter of the arbitration, they said.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week showcased “a misreading of the law and a failure of leadership,” ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told Clapper in a letter Friday (http://1.usa.gov/GANPUB). Clapper had testified about cumulative risks to U.S. national security that grow each day of the government shutdown, which affected more than 70 percent of the workforce of the country’s intelligence agencies (CD Oct 3 p6). “There appears to be no reason why the fundamental national security of the nation should be compromised during the partial government shutdown,” Grassley said. “In fact, it is your role as Director of National Intelligence to ensure that the work the IC [intelligence community] performs that is necessary for the nation’s security continues uninterrupted.” Clapper had mentioned that he was considering recalling furloughed employees, but Grassley said if so, they should not have been furloughed in the first place. If Clapper is really worried, it’s his duty to press the government to enact emergency legislation to change that, Grassley said.
Federal information technology provider Indus will deliver IT services for the Library of Congress and its end-user community, said Indus in a Friday release (http://prn.to/1dZL2jC). The contract includes potential orders of up to $80 million, it said. Indus will provide asset management, knowledge management, technical documentation and service desk best practices, it said.
Gogo partnered with Magnolia Pictures for a service offering movies to airline passengers. Gogo Vision allows passengers to rent movies and TV shows and stream them to their Wi-Fi enabled devices, Gogo said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1gaH0qI). “The content will include pre-theatrical and theatrical release titles, which is a first for Gogo.” Passengers can choose from a library of more than 100 programs from major Hollywood studios, Gogo said.
Scripps Networks Interactive is starting a digital lifestyle site and distribution platform to curate videos from the company’s brands, Scripps said in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/GAJcdi). Ulive will curate videos from HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and Great American Country in addition to more than 70 new original video series from Scripps talent and social media stars and bloggers, said the company. Users will be able to watch the videos on any media devices, said Scripps.
The CBS App for full-episode streaming is now available to Android and Windows 8 users, said CBS Interactive in a news release Friday (http://bit.ly/18WInG3). Users will be able to view every episode of CBS’s prime-time entertainment series lineup eight days after broadcast via the app, said CBS. The app will also offer episodes of classic CBS shows such as Macgyver, Star Trek and Perry Mason, said CBS. The app will be coming to BlackBerry 10 before the end of 2013, said CBS.
Four Media General stations were scheduled to be back on Dish Saturday at 6 a.m. until Sunday, 12:01 a.m. in markets affected by a retransmission dispute with Dish Network. Media General asked Dish Network to restore a number of its stations to provide local TV viewers with important information about Tropical Storm Karen, Media General said in a press release. WJTV, Jackson, Miss.; WHLT, Hattiesburg, Miss.; WKRG, Mobile, Ala.; and WVTM, Birmingham, Ala., will return to the Dish lineup during that period, the broadcaster said. Dish subscribers in markets including Birmingham, Ala., Augusta, Ga., and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., lost Media General broadcasts Oct. 1 (CD Oct 3 p13). The company said it will continue the conversation with Dish to resolve the expired retransmission consent agreement. American Television Alliance urged Media General to restore its signal to Dish Network subscribers in the projected path of the storm. The blackouts come “despite broadcasters’ repeated claims that the retransmission consent system should not be changed because it helps them, in part, provide severe weather information to local communities,” ATVA said in a press release (http://bit.ly/16vweqk). “Yet, with a tropical storm looming over the region and a hurricane watch issued from Louisiana to Florida, Media General continues to black out Dish subscribers.”