The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has posted to its Web site a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) requesting comments by October 6, 2005 on possible changes to its tariff publication exemption provided to non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) in NVOCC Service Arrangements (NSAs).
The America Channel (TAC), which failed for 2 years to get cable carriage, signed a deal with Verizon to be part of its FiOS fiber pay-TV service. Some media activists said the deal raises competitive issues. The upstart network, 1 of 5 that Verizon said Mon. it will air, has fought against Adelphia’s takeover on grounds that it will further stifle programming competition (CD Aug 5 p9). The success of Verizon’s deal with the fledgling network will indicate whether programmers can succeed without help from major cable operators, said Media Access Project Senior Vp Harold Feld.
In carrying out the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act (CSEA) and changing its bidding rules, the FCC should ensure that it doesn’t jeopardized the timing and outcome of the advanced wireless service (AWS) auction, the wireless industry told the FCC. That message was clear as wireless carriers commented on rule changes needed to implement CSEA.
The Journal of Commerce reports that the Coast Guard had closed all ports from New Orleans to the Florida Panhandle ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Katrina on the morning of August 29, 2005. The article reports that the Coast Guard set Hurricane Condition X-Ray or Condition Three, for affected ports on Saturday, meaning the ports were open for departing vessels, but no vessels were allowed to come into port with the exception of inland barge traffic. (JoC Online, dated 08/29/05, www.joc.com.)
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued a new final rule, which replaces, effective October 1, 2005, the 2003 final rule governing hours of service (HOS) for property-carrying commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. This final rule addresses requirements for driving, duty and off-duty time, a recovery period, sleeper berths, and short-haul drivers.
Three defendants in an international porn spam case were indicted by a federal grand jury Thurs., and a man charged previously was sentenced. Jennifer Clason, Jeffrey Kilbride and James Schaffer were brought up on charges of violating the CAN-SPAM Act and criminal conspiracy, the Justice Dept. said. Kilbride and Schaffer also face charges of interstate transportation of obscene material and money laundering; Schaffer is accused of operating adult websites without keeping records of performers on those sites. AOL received more than 600,000 complaints Jan.-June 2004 about porn spam attributed to the defendants, and Spamhaus identified the operation as one of the world’s 200 largest, DoJ said. The indictment said the defendants advertised porn sites in e-mail messages -- with graphic embedded images -- to earn commissions on traffic sent to those sites. DoJ said the spam was sent from IP addresses registered in the Netherlands and domain names registered in Mauritius, with the “From” line in messages falsified; the computers were based in the Netherlands but controlled from the U.S., the indictment alleges. Kilbride and Schaffer were said to have used bank accounts in the Isle of Man and Mauritius to launder and distribute money raised from the e-mail messages. The defendants face varying sentences if convicted, up to: (1) 20 years in prison for money laundering. (2) 5 years each for obscenity, CAN-SPAM violation and criminal conspiracy. (3) 2 years for improper recording keeping. An earlier defendant who pleaded guilty, Andrew Ellifson, was the first to be convicted on charges of sending porn spam. Ellifson agreed to forfeit money received for helping run the computer network, an unsealed plea agreement shows. He faces up to 5 years in prison for each charge of spamming and criminal conspiracy, and is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 26. The Family Research Council, a strong supporter of antipornography initiatives at DoJ, praised the indictments and conviction. “Until now, Internet pornographers have been given carte blanche to do as they please,” Senior Legal Counsel Patrick Trueman said in a statement. “But a new day is dawning at the Department of Justice.”
An FCC mandate that VoIP providers disconnect customers who don’t acknowledge notices warning them of E- 911 limitations has ignited concern among providers and Congress. The VON Coalition in a letter Thurs. urged the FCC to reconsider the plan or at least extend the disconnection deadline. At the same time, key members of Congress plan to send a letter to the FCC today (Fri.) making a similar request. “This is the first time to our knowledge that the FCC has ordered basic service disconnected,” said an aide to Rep. Gordon (D-Tenn.). Gordon and Sen. Nelson (D-Fla.), who have sponsored bills on E-911 access by VoIP services, are the main proponents of the letter to the FCC, which other lawmakers probably will sign as well.
The Journal of Commerce reports that in July 2005, Representative Dave Weldon (R-Fla) introduced H.R. 3319, the "Short Sea Shipping Tax Exemption Act of 2005" in order to exempt coastwise container, ferry or roll-on, roll-off traffic moving between U.S. mainland ports from paying the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT, or HMF), which is seen by advocates as one of the major barriers to developing coastwise shipping as an alternative to land freight transport. (JoC, dated 07/25/05, www.joc.com )
States believe an absence of industry consensus on issues such as financing dim chances for federal e-waste legislation. That was the “generic perspective” among lawmakers at last weekend’s National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) annual meeting in Seattle, said NCSL Federal Affairs Counsel Michael Bird. He said he expects next year to see another slew of state-level e-waste bills.
Industry and consumer groups pledged support for an FCC “Strategic Plan” in comments released last week, but many weren’t shy about pushing favorite regulatory issues. Under the 1993 Govt. Performance & Results Act, the FCC must devise a plan outlining its future direction. In its July 5 release of a draft 2006-2011 plan, the FCC asked for comments by Aug. 5 and last week released 19 comments filed on the plan.