Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., plans to introduce legislation in September or October on strategies websites use to “glue” children to devices, said Senior Policy Adviser Joseph Wender Thursday. Markey, who will prioritize two other privacy-related legislative items after congressional recess, is having ongoing conversations with lawmakers about co-sponsoring the Kids (Kids Internet Design and Safety) Act, Wender told us after a Family Online Safety Institute event.
The White House said it is continuing the national emergency related to U.S. export control regulations, according to an Aug. 14 press release. The emergency is being continued because there is still an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy” of the U.S., the White House said. The emergency is being extended for one year. It was first declared Aug. 17, 2001.
Faced with divisions whether to repurpose 611 for a national three-digit suicide hotline or add that to 211 (see 1812110033), the FCC is recommending to Congress 988 be used instead. That route may not become a compromise solution all stakeholders rally behind, interviews show.
BALTIMORE -- FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel told APCO it's time to ensure 911 call-center operators are classified as first responders. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai also backed (see 1904090078) the 911 Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services (Saves) Act, which would change the federal government's classification of public safety call-takers and dispatchers to “protective service occupations" rather than administrative or clerical occupations (see 1902280072).
The 2019 nationwide emergency alert system test appeared to go relatively smoothly Wednesday, said emergency alerting officials gauging early results.
Providers of video relay services for the deaf and hearing impaired want the FCC to quickly grant VRS users immediate access to new equipment during a two-week grace period while their eligibility is being verified, as proposed in a Further NPRM released in mid-May. The agency took comments on the matter through Tuesday in docket 10-51. "Granting users access to VRS during the verification period will further the goals of providing functionally equivalent service to deaf and hard of hearing consumers, more akin to how hearing individuals are able to use their new phones nearly immediately," said Convo Communications.
The FCC should relax interference rules to allow more low-power FM stations to operate in communities that don’t have radio stations licensed in their areas, said the National Federation of Community Broadcasters in a letter posted Monday in docket RM-11846. “NFCB strongly believes it is in the public interest to provide more opportunities for rural communities to be served by radio, an essential medium in the nation,” the filing said. NFCB supports proposals from REC Networks (see 1907080053) that would allow LPFM stations in “more than 2,000 areas.” New non-commercial educational radio stations “would provide important access to emergency, educational and municipal information,” NFCB said.
Multiple stakeholders are asking the FCC not to phase down Lifeline support for voice services under its USF program. The requests came in comments that were due Wednesday and posted through Thursday. They were in response to a joint petition by CTIA and others and a July 1 public notice in docket 11-42 (see 1907010055).
Verizon received 140,341 demands for customer data from law enforcement in the U.S. during the first half of 2019, compared with 139,659 requests in the second half of 2018, the company said in a transparency report Wednesday (see 1901300046). That includes 68,192 subpoenas, 13,870 warrants and 30,365 emergency requests, it said. Verizon also tracks national security letters and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act orders. It received "between 0 and 499" NSLs from the FBI in the first half of 2019, and "between 0 and 499" FISA orders for content from the second half of 2018. The federal government requires a six-month delay on reporting data on FISA orders, Verizon said.
The U.S. is continuing the national emergency declaration in Lebanon, first issued in 2007, for one year because of the “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy,” the White House said July 30. The emergency designation was scheduled to expire on Aug. 1.