The Bureau of Industry and Security this week proposed new export controls on automated peptide synthesizers that may be used to produce biological weapons (see 2304170010). Although several U.S. companies and a Chinese academy last year warned BIS against imposing new license requirements, the agency said the synthesizers qualify as emerging or foundational technologies and may need to be restricted.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
LAS VEGAS -- ATSC 3.0 could be used to create the only viable backup for GPS and address a major U.S. national security vulnerability, said broadcasters and experts at this week's 2023 NAB Show. The U.S. power grid, financial markets and telecom industries rely on precise timing based on GPS to function, and would grind to a halt within days if it were rendered inoperable, said Key2Mobile founder Patrick Diamond, a member of the National Space Based Position, Navigation and Timing Advisory Board.
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
Industry and advocacy organizations sought time and flexibility to comply with new rules for the FCC's implementation of the Safe Connections Act and improving access to communications services for survivors of domestic violence. Comments on the NPRM posted Thursday in docket 22-238 showed broad support for the commission's proposals and sought minor clarifications (see 2303130007).
Access to the 4.9 GHz band by users other than public safety should be via routes other than traditional leasing models, multiple commenters said in docket 07-100 Friday.
As the FCC looks at a nationwide approach to managing the 4.9 GHz band, it should maintain the overarching goal of protecting and preserving the spectrum for public safety use, the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance said Thursday in docket 07-100. It said the commission, rather than sticking with local licensing, should issue a single nationwide overlay license to an entity with the expertise to deliver services to first responders. That licensee would establish an operational framework that enables full use of all 50 MHz of spectrum in the 4.9 GHz band by first responders while overseeing and doing dispute resolution regarding secondary usage and band operations, it said. The band must be operable with the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network, and existing point-to-point and geographic licenses should be converted to site-specific authorizations to operate for incumbents and limited to services in use by incumbents today. If the FCC allows aeronautical mobile use in the band, it should set parameters for a future band manager that would protect radio astronomy and it should restrict unmanned operations to public safety and critical infrastructure use, NTIA said. The 4.9 GHz band is a potential avenue to provide enhanced broadband communications services, features, and capabilities, plus 5G for public safety, FirstNet said. Any use of the spectrum for the National Public Safety Broadband Network would be for public safety on a primary basis, it said. The International Association of Fire Chiefs backed a single national band manager, with the selection committee including representation from fire and emergency medical services, law enforcement, 911 dispatch centers and other public safety answering points, public safety technology development, spectrum management professionals and communications industry and other broadband stakeholders.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., pressed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Security Agency Wednesday to “conduct or commission annual cybersecurity audits of FirstNet" and complained that the federal government “has done little to force wireless carriers to fix” known vulnerabilities in the emergency network. “CISA’s subject matter expert told my staff” during a February 2022 briefing “that they had no confidence in the security of FirstNet, in large part because they have not seen the results of any cybersecurity audits conducted against this government-only network,” Wyden said in a letter to CISA Director Jen Easterly and NSA Director Paul Nakasone. A nondisclosure agreement included in AT&T’s contract to operate FirstNet means “NTIA and the FirstNet Authority are not allowed to reveal how frequently AT&T commissions these audits, how robust they are, what the audit results were, or whether all vulnerabilities discovered during the audits have been fixed.” Concealing “vital cybersecurity reporting is simply unacceptable,” he said: “CISA and NSA need to have access to all relevant information regarding the cybersecurity of FirstNet, and Congress needs this information to conduct oversight.” If the Commerce Department “is unable to share the results of the FirstNet audits commissioned by AT&T, CISA and NSA should conduct or commission their own annual audits and deliver the results to Congress and the FCC.” CISA and NSA didn’t comment. The FCC, meanwhile, should undo actions during Ajit Pai’s chairmanship that “allowed the industry to invest as little as it wanted in cybersecurity,” Wyden said. “During the Trump Administration,” then-FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel “called for the Commission to ‘move beyond studies and voluntary recommendations.' Now under her leadership, I hope that the FCC will address this market failure and protect Americans’ privacy. The FCC should issue new regulations forcing the carriers to meet minimum cybersecurity standards, just as regulators in other countries have done.” FirstNet said in a statement it “prioritized cybersecurity in the planning for the public safety broadband network, and it continues to be a top priority for us today.” It emphasized its existing cybersecurity strategy “goes well beyond standard commercial network security measures.”
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
DOJ’s recent emphasis on corporate compliance may cause companies to update how they conduct due diligence on investment transactions, Morgan Lewis said in a new report released this month. The firm said DOJ is increasingly playing a more active role in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which could prompt investors to reassess their procedures for evaluating sensitive deals.