The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously advanced legislation reauthorizing the FAA through 2021, adopting 56 amendments en bloc without discussion, including several on drones and one requiring that passengers be barred from talking on their cellphones during flights. “Our committee has acted to continue advancing unmanned aircraft systems and other aviation innovations while offering airline passengers new protections,” said a statement from Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., whose substitute amendment was approved during the Thursday markup.
At FCC, Chairman Ajit Pai names Wayne Leighton chief, Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis, where he was acting chief; and Pai adds (see here) Andy Huckaba to Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee as a representative of city of Lenexa, Kansas, where he's a City Council member; Huckaba is vice chair, FCC Intergovernmental Advisory Committee; local officials had been concerned only one of them was on the full BDAC (see 1706010054) ... Financial Services Roundtable hires Adam Palmer, ex-FireEye, for cybersecurity, fraud and technology division, as vice president-cybersecurity risk management.
Auto industry experts worry about privacy, cybersecurity and safety of connected cars and autonomous vehicles and have acted to correctly design technology from the start. Privacy experts didn't dispute the strides but they said during an FTC event Wednesday that significant questions are surfacing and need to be thought through.
Auto industry experts worry about privacy, cybersecurity and safety of connected cars and autonomous vehicles and have acted to correctly design technology from the start. Privacy experts didn't dispute the strides but they said during an FTC event Wednesday that significant questions are surfacing and need to be thought through.
Auto industry experts worry about privacy, cybersecurity and safety of connected cars and autonomous vehicles and have acted to correctly design technology from the start. Privacy experts didn't dispute the strides but they said during an FTC event Wednesday that significant questions are surfacing and need to be thought through.
Satellite insiders warn the U.S. could be losing a space regulatory race, as other nations increasingly try to lure emerging space industries with favorable regulatory regimes. At least partially in response, the 2017 American Space Commerce Free Enterprise Act (ASCFEA), passed by the House Science, Space and Technology Committee earlier this month, would charge the Commerce Department's Office of Space Commerce (OSC) with oversight of such activity, and hugely revamp the regulatory approval process for remote sensing operations, moving that oversight from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to OSC. "It's pretty radical," said space lawyer Jim Dunstan of Mobius Legal Group.
Curbing cost of reviews by tribal governments is a major wireless industry push as the FCC looks at ways to speed siting of wireless facilities. Chairman Ajit Pai has focused on tribal issues, making a trip to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) mid-year conference for a June 14 speech and meetings with tribal leaders (see 1706140028). But signs are the tribes are digging in, presenting a tricky issue for the FCC as it addresses siting rules.
Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., hires Samantha Greene, ex-Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, as communications director ... New Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long (see 1706210034) sworn in Friday by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, FEMA said; Robert Fenton, who was acting administrator, resumes duties as Region IX administrator ... Iboss, distributed gateway platform provider, names Ronald Chandler, UCLA Anderson School of Business, and Rick Miller, ex-Santa Ana (California) Unified School District, as senior education advisers on cybersecurity.
The FCC’s newly rechartered Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council, CSRIC VI, met for the first time under Chairman Ajit Pai, who stopped by to open the meeting. CSRIC V wrapped up work in March with little fanfare and no top FCC officials speaking (see 1703150058). Cybersecurity, a key focus under former Chairman Tom Wheeler, was largely off the agenda at Friday's meeting, though one working group focused on “Network Reliability and Security Risk Reduction.” CSRIC VI is more focused on areas from 5G to the emerging IoT.
The FCC’s newly rechartered Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council, CSRIC VI, met for the first time under Chairman Ajit Pai, who stopped by to open the meeting. CSRIC V wrapped up work in March with little fanfare and no top FCC officials speaking (see 1703150058). Cybersecurity, a key focus under former Chairman Tom Wheeler, was largely off the agenda at Friday's meeting, though one working group focused on “Network Reliability and Security Risk Reduction.” CSRIC VI is more focused on areas from 5G to the emerging IoT.