Tuesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Email Privacy Act (HR-699) is shaping up as a showdown between law enforcement officials, who say the legislation will hinder their investigations, and civil liberties and privacy supporters, who say the 30-year-old Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) needs to be updated. That's according to prepared testimony from the witnesses.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler reassured the chairman and ranking member of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee about their concerns about the use of Russia’s GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) to improve 911 location accuracy. They wrote to Wheeler Sept. 18 about concerns from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. “Having reviewed that response and the detailed [classified] analysis provided by the DNI, we write today to ask that the Commission end its consideration of any proposal that would create reliance on the undependable GLONASS system or dependency on any system in the control of the kleptocracy run by Russia's Vladimir Putin,” the lawmakers told Wheeler, warning of possible vulnerabilities. “We urge you to obtain the Director's classified response and ensure that the full Commission is briefed on it and other related classified threat briefings.” Wheeler has “reached out to Director Clapper to get a better understanding of the intelligence community's concerns about the use of GLONASS signals in addition to GPS signals for 911 location purposes,” Wheeler replied in a Nov. 10 letter to subcommittee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and ranking member Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., that was released Tuesday. “We will work closely with our federal partners, including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Defense, in assessing available technological approaches to improving emergency response efforts.”
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler reassured the chairman and ranking member of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee about their concerns about the use of Russia’s GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) to improve 911 location accuracy. They wrote to Wheeler Sept. 18 about concerns from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. “Having reviewed that response and the detailed [classified] analysis provided by the DNI, we write today to ask that the Commission end its consideration of any proposal that would create reliance on the undependable GLONASS system or dependency on any system in the control of the kleptocracy run by Russia's Vladimir Putin,” the lawmakers told Wheeler, warning of possible vulnerabilities. “We urge you to obtain the Director's classified response and ensure that the full Commission is briefed on it and other related classified threat briefings.” Wheeler has “reached out to Director Clapper to get a better understanding of the intelligence community's concerns about the use of GLONASS signals in addition to GPS signals for 911 location purposes,” Wheeler replied in a Nov. 10 letter to subcommittee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and ranking member Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., that was released Tuesday. “We will work closely with our federal partners, including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Defense, in assessing available technological approaches to improving emergency response efforts.”
Participants in the NTIA-driven process to create best practices for use of commercially and privately owned drones agreed Friday to combine at least two of the three competing drafts into one, which would be circulated to stakeholders by Dec. 18. But several issues need to be resolved, such as data retention and usage, security and other matters that emerged during the more than three-hour meeting, officials said.
Participants in the NTIA-driven process to create best practices for use of commercially and privately owned drones agreed Friday to combine at least two of the three competing drafts into one, which would be circulated to stakeholders by Dec. 18. But several issues need to be resolved, such as data retention and usage, security and other matters that emerged during the more than three-hour meeting, officials said.
The FCC adopted new hearing aid compatibility (HAC) rules and made proposals aimed at giving people with hearing loss better access to wireless handsets. At a meeting Thursday, commissioners unanimously approved an order to expand the scope of HAC rules to cover IP-based services, along with a Further NPRM seeking comment on a stakeholder consensus proposal to establish a path to achieving 100 percent HAC-compatible handsets within eight years, if technically feasible. FCC officials extolled the “historic” proposal, which was announced Nov. 13 and incorporated into the notice as expected (see 1511130027).
The FCC adopted new hearing aid compatibility (HAC) rules and made proposals aimed at giving people with hearing loss better access to wireless handsets. At a meeting Thursday, commissioners unanimously approved an order to expand the scope of HAC rules to cover IP-based services, along with a Further NPRM seeking comment on a stakeholder consensus proposal to establish a path to achieving 100 percent HAC-compatible handsets within eight years, if technically feasible. FCC officials extolled the “historic” proposal, which was announced Nov. 13 and incorporated into the notice as expected (see 1511130027).
The FCC adopted new hearing aid compatibility (HAC) rules and made proposals aimed at giving people with hearing loss better access to wireless handsets. At a meeting Thursday, commissioners unanimously approved an order to expand the scope of HAC rules to cover IP-based services, along with a Further NPRM seeking comment on a stakeholder consensus proposal to establish a path to achieving 100 percent HAC-compatible handsets within eight years, if technically feasible. FCC officials extolled the “historic” proposal, which was announced Nov. 13 and incorporated into the notice as expected (see 1511130027).
Consumer groups asked the FCC to revisit its tech transition backup power order by putting more of the onus and cost on fixed-service providers and less on consumers. The commission should reconsider the order because its rules “depart from the approach” in an NPRM, “transfer the responsibility for ensuring the reliability of 911 and other emergency voice communications from the provider to the consumer, and undermine the public safety and other policy goals” of Section 151 of the Communications Act, said a petition posted in docket 14-174 Tuesday by the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates and other groups. The FCC should revise its conclusion that “carriers are not required to provide back-up power, and need only make back-up power available at the customer’s option and expense,” the groups said. They said consumers expect their 911 and other emergency calls will be completed, but the order's mandates are “insufficient” to protect public health and safety. “The Commission concludes that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution for back-up power would disserve customer interests,” they said. “This conclusion is erroneous. It rests on an observation that many customers rely on wireless and cordless phones and an inference that consumers have come to prefer the minimal backup-power afforded by the charge on a wireless phone or the convenience of a cordless phone without backup power. There is no basis for this inference.” Joining the petition were Access Sonoma Broadband, the Benton Foundation, Broadband Alliance of Mendocino County, Center for Rural Strategies, Greenlining Institute, Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, National Consumer Law Center on behalf of its low-income clients, and Public Knowledge.
Consumer groups asked the FCC to revisit its tech transition backup power order by putting more of the onus and cost on fixed-service providers and less on consumers. The commission should reconsider the order because its rules “depart from the approach” in an NPRM, “transfer the responsibility for ensuring the reliability of 911 and other emergency voice communications from the provider to the consumer, and undermine the public safety and other policy goals” of Section 151 of the Communications Act, said a petition posted in docket 14-174 Tuesday by the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates and other groups. The FCC should revise its conclusion that “carriers are not required to provide back-up power, and need only make back-up power available at the customer’s option and expense,” the groups said. They said consumers expect their 911 and other emergency calls will be completed, but the order's mandates are “insufficient” to protect public health and safety. “The Commission concludes that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution for back-up power would disserve customer interests,” they said. “This conclusion is erroneous. It rests on an observation that many customers rely on wireless and cordless phones and an inference that consumers have come to prefer the minimal backup-power afforded by the charge on a wireless phone or the convenience of a cordless phone without backup power. There is no basis for this inference.” Joining the petition were Access Sonoma Broadband, the Benton Foundation, Broadband Alliance of Mendocino County, Center for Rural Strategies, Greenlining Institute, Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, National Consumer Law Center on behalf of its low-income clients, and Public Knowledge.