USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter urged the House and Senate intelligence committees' leaders Monday to “pay special attention to the FCC’s mission creep into the cybersecurity space” because of the draft net neutrality NPRM reclassifying broadband as a Communications Act Title II service (see 2309280084). Further FCC involvement in cybersecurity “will lead to confusion and conflicts over which committee and agency has jurisdiction in specific cyber-related matters,” Spalter said in a letter to Senate Intelligence Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and the panels’ ranking members. “This will create legal and regulatory uncertainty, hampering effective national security oversight and cooperation. It could also lead to redundancy and fragmentation of efforts, making it harder to coordinate and implement a cohesive security strategy and respond quickly to emerging threats.” There’s “nothing in the Communications Act or any other statute that gives the FCC general authority to impose prescriptive cybersecurity regulations on ISPs,” Spalter said.
OpenAI seeks the dismissal in its entirety with prejudice of plaintiff Mark Walters’ amended defamation complaint for failure to state a claim, said its motion Friday (docket 1:23-cv-03122) in U.S. District Court for Northern Georgia in Atlanta. Walters, a nationally syndicated talk show host, alleges OpenAI’s ChatGPT service defamed him to a journalist (see 2309060026).
The U.S. and Singapore this week committed to collaborate across a range of critical and emerging technology areas and vowed to “promote candid and sustained exchanges on risks, opportunities, and key national security implications associated” with the six areas, including artificial intelligence, digital economy and data governance, biotechnology, critical infrastructure and technology supply chains, defense innovation and quantum information science and technology. Marking the inaugural U.S.-Singapore Critical and Emerging Technology Dialogue in Washington, the two sides said they plan to promote “research collaboration” in emerging AI, biotech and quantum applications.
President Joe Biden this week renewed a national emergency authorizing certain sanctions related to Syria, the White House said. The situation in Syria "undermines the campaign to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" and threatens civilians, peace and security in the region, the White House said. The emergency for Syria was renewed for one year from Oct. 14.
The National Farmers Union, National Grange and eight other rural advocacy groups urged congressional leaders to pass the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-3413/S-1669). The measure would require the Transportation Department to mandate automakers include AM radio technology in future vehicles. The Senate Commerce Committee approved an amended version of S-1669 in July, but House Commerce leaders expressed mixed opinions about the measure (see 2307270063). “AM radio is an essential communications medium in rural America,” including “commodity market reports” that are “called into local radio stations every day” and “well-known agriculture broadcasters remain a trusted source for valuable market reporting and updates,” NFU and the other groups said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., and the chambers’ minority leaders. “There are more than 4,470 licensed AM stations across the country, with over a third of those stations broadcasting this type of agricultural programming. More than 40 percent of radio listeners are tuning in from their cars or trucks.” The groups also cited AM radio’s role in broadcasting emergency alerts since “when the power goes out in rural America, and cell networks are down, households are still able to access that emergency information through their car radio.” NAB, which backs HR-3413/S-1669, publicized the letter Wednesday.
California Assemblymember Jim Patterson (R) will try again next session on a vetoed bill that would have expanded eligibility for federal broadband grants administered by the California Public Utilities Commission, a Patterson spokesperson told us Wednesday. Wireless industry groups lamented Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Sunday veto of AB-1065, though they applauded the Democrat for signing AB-965, a bill meant to streamline the broadband permitting process.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency “meets interminably” with social media platforms to discuss content-moderation policies and censorship, said the Republican attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri, plus five individual social media user plaintiffs, in a respondents’ brief Tuesday (docket 23A243) at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Starlink is scaling quickly but doesn’t yet dominate the satellite marketplace, though it's putting increasing competitive pressure on geostationary orbit (GSO) operators, Northern Sky Research analyst Jose Del Rosario said Monday in an NSR webinar on SpaceX. Amazon's Kuiper in a couple of years could be even a bigger GSO threat than Starlink, he said.
Broadcasters and ATSC 3.0 advocates say they're sticking with the standard despite a series of recent blows, including consumer electronics manufacturer LG ceasing to make 3.0 TVs, the emergence of a competing technology endorsed by international standards bodies, and a grassroots campaign urging the FCC to block broadcasters from encrypting their signals. In an email to members last week, the Advanced Television Systems Committee said the standard was facing “growing pains.” The nation’s largest broadcaster, Nexstar, emailed us Friday that it's “committed to transitioning to ATSC 3.0.” Broadcasters “are already too far down the road” to turn back now, said Joshua Weiss, CEO of broadcaster and 3.0 datacasting company Ark Multicast.
Extended 911 hold times and insufficient staffing continue to plague the District of Columbia’s Office of Unified Communications (OUC), said D.C. Council members at a virtual hearing Thursday. The Judiciary and Public Safety Committee sharply questioned OUC Director Heather McGaffin on recent problems and the agency’s compliance with recent emergency legislation meant to enhance accountability and transparency. The committee also considered a bill to expand upon and make permanent the emergency measure.