The FCC could be headed for a vote at its June 18 meeting on a rulemaking reshaping the Lifeline program, including providing support for Internet access, agency and industry officials said. With a light agenda at both the April and May meetings, Chairman Tom Wheeler appears likely to take on a bigger, more controversial issue in June, and Lifeline changes could be ready for a vote, the officials said.
The FCC could be headed for a vote at its June 18 meeting on a rulemaking reshaping the Lifeline program, including providing support for Internet access, agency and industry officials said. With a light agenda at both the April and May meetings, Chairman Tom Wheeler appears likely to take on a bigger, more controversial issue in June, and Lifeline changes could be ready for a vote, the officials said.
The FCC will consider an order and Further NPRM at its May 21 meeting that would extend the iCanConnect-National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program and propose to make it permanent, said a notice released by the agency Thursday. The program provides up to $10 million annually from the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Service Fund to support programs that distribute communications equipment to low-income people who are deaf-blind. The program is to expire in June unless extended, an FCC spokesman said Thursday. The order extends the program for an additional year, or until it's made permanent. It provides braille devices, computers, mobile devices, phones and signalers, according to a fact sheet on the program. ICanConnect grew out of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. Also on the agenda is a report and order and further NPRM that would extend accessibility rules for emergency alerts to “second screens,” including tablets, smartphones and laptops. Under the order, tonal emergency alerts for the blind sent out by broadcasters would be available for those watching TV on a second screen so they can hear what sighted people can see, a spokesman said. The NPRM looks at implementation issues including how remote controls can allow people to switch easily between screens.
China and India will remain among the 13 countries on the U.S. Trade Representative’s priority watch list this year for copyright and other IP rights violations, the USTR office said Thursday in its annual special 301 report. China and India have improved their IP policies, but other new policies have become a cause for concern, said Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Robert Holleyman on a conference call with reporters. Other nations on the priority watch list are Algeria, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Indonesia, Kuwait, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine and Venezuela. The report placed another 24 countries on the USTR’s lower-tier watch list: Barbados, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Greece, Guatemala, Jamaica, Lebanon, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The 2014 special 301 report included 10 countries on the priority watch list and 27 on the regular watch list (see 1405020082).
The House Judiciary Committee voted 25-2 to send the USA Freedom Act (HR-2048) to the floor Thursday. The 2014 USA Freedom Act was the foundation for the bill's 2015 version, which Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said contains more privacy protections and national security tools. Democrats, Republicans, the intelligence community, civil liberties groups and private industry approve of the bill, Goodlatte said.
China and India will remain among the 13 countries on the U.S. Trade Representative’s priority watch list this year for copyright and other IP rights violations, the USTR office said Thursday in its annual special 301 report. China and India have improved their IP policies, but other new policies have become a cause for concern, said Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Robert Holleyman on a conference call with reporters. Other nations on the priority watch list are Algeria, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Indonesia, Kuwait, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine and Venezuela. The report placed another 24 countries on the USTR’s lower-tier watch list: Barbados, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Greece, Guatemala, Jamaica, Lebanon, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The 2014 special 301 report included 10 countries on the priority watch list and 27 on the regular watch list (see 1405020082).
The House Judiciary Committee voted 25-2 to send the USA Freedom Act (HR-2048) to the floor Thursday. The 2014 USA Freedom Act was the foundation for the bill's 2015 version, which Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said contains more privacy protections and national security tools. Democrats, Republicans, the intelligence community, civil liberties groups and private industry approve of the bill, Goodlatte said.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler sought to reassure Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., about how the net neutrality rules will operate. “As you stated, it is essential that ISPs still have the ability to prevent access to sites and services that facilitate illegal and criminal activities,” Wheeler told Feinstein in an April 9 letter released Tuesday. “The Open Internet rules are not intended to expand or contract broadband providers' rights or obligations with respect to other laws or safety and security considerations, including the needs of emergency communications and law enforcement, public safety, and national security authorities. Similarly, the Open Internet rules protect only lawful content and are not intended to impede efforts by broadband providers to address unlawful transfers of content or transfers of unlawful content.”
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler sought to reassure Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., about how the net neutrality rules will operate. “As you stated, it is essential that ISPs still have the ability to prevent access to sites and services that facilitate illegal and criminal activities,” Wheeler told Feinstein in an April 9 letter released Tuesday. “The Open Internet rules are not intended to expand or contract broadband providers' rights or obligations with respect to other laws or safety and security considerations, including the needs of emergency communications and law enforcement, public safety, and national security authorities. Similarly, the Open Internet rules protect only lawful content and are not intended to impede efforts by broadband providers to address unlawful transfers of content or transfers of unlawful content.”
Law enforcement needs to earn the trust of the American public, and a government-mandated front or back door put into mobile devices so law enforcement could access encrypted data may hinder the relationship, said House Subcommittee on Information Technology Chairman William Hurd, R-Texas, during a hearing on the issue Wednesday. Ranking member Robin Kelly, D-Ill., said she hoped to find a balance between law enforcement access to data and ensuring privacy protections. Hurd said he appreciated law enforcement’s desire to access information in a timely manner but wants to ensure the privacy rights of Americans are protected.