Industry officials and a law professor said Americans risk having their digital free-speech rights impeded, amid increased overseas regulation of the Internet. Their concerns ranged from the effect of a European court ruling on U.S. web content to efforts by some nations to get the U.N. to help oversee digital communications. At a Wednesday Media Institute luncheon, Mike Regan, 21st Century Fox executive vice president, Jackie Ruff, a Verizon vice president, and the University of Pennsylvania's Christopher Yoo said the American public is at risk of having digital free speech rights impeded, as some governments seek to gain more control over the Internet.
Industry officials and a law professor said Americans risk having their digital free-speech rights impeded, amid increased overseas regulation of the Internet. Their concerns ranged from the effect of a European court ruling on U.S. web content to efforts by some nations to get the U.N. to help oversee digital communications. At a Wednesday Media Institute luncheon, Mike Regan, 21st Century Fox executive vice president, Jackie Ruff, a Verizon vice president, and the University of Pennsylvania's Christopher Yoo said the American public is at risk of having digital free speech rights impeded, as some governments seek to gain more control over the Internet.
NextNav demonstrated its indoor location technology to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and aide Louis Peraertz, said a filing in docket 07-114, posted by the FCC Tuesday. Executives also elaborated on their views on the draft wireless location order set for a vote next week, the company said. NextNav said in a December filing that it supports location accuracy rules proposed by the FCC last year (see 1402210038) rather than the road map proposed by major carriers, APCO and the National Emergency Number Association.
The FCC should seek comment on rule changes to provide more technical and operational flexibility for current paging and radiotelephone frequencies, facilitating additional public safety use of those channels, APCO said in a filing at the FCC in docket 14-80. The Wireless Bureau sought comment on the paging rules in October, and reply comments were due Monday.
Washington firefighters “encountered difficulty communicating with each other” on the 800 MHz band used for their radios while attempting to rescue passengers from a train in a smoke-filled Metrorail tunnel and in the adjacent L’Enfant Plaza station Jan. 12, said the city’s Fire and Emergency Medical Services (FEMS) department Saturday in a report. Firefighters were delayed in their rescue of passengers stranded on the Metrorail train because their radios weren’t functioning properly in the station and tunnels, FEMS said in its report to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat.
FCC hires Will Wiquist as deputy press secretary ... ZwillGen promotes to "shareholder" Jon Frankel, who works on privacy, data security, e-commerce, intellectual property and litigation ... Keller and Heckman hires Michael Fitch, ex-wireless consultant, as senior counsel, Telecommunications Practice Group ... Baker Botts names Suzanne Hengl special counsel, intellectual property ... Univision Communications promotes Chiqui Cartagena to vice president, Political and Advocacy Group.
The European Union rattled many U.S. trade and business advocates on Jan. 13, with the release of a report that illustrates the European community’s deep-seated uncertainty over an investor-state dispute settlement provision in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (here). The EU is still on course to include ISDS in TTIP so long as “a number of conditions are met,” the report says. The report draws on nearly 150,000 online replies to its request for consultation with European citizens between March and July 2014.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal for wireless 911 location accuracy rules, set for a vote at the agency's Jan. 29 meeting, would still impose performance metrics on carriers, industry and public safety officials told us Tuesday. Wheeler announced in a blog post last week that the FCC would take up an enhanced version of what was proposed by APCO, AT&T, CTIA, the National Emergency Number Association, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon in their proposed road map. The FCC approved an NPRM proposing a different set of rules in February (see 1402210038).
The FCC will take up an order on ensuring that accurate caller location information is automatically provided to public safety officials for all wireless calls to 911, the agency said in releasing its tentative agenda for its Jan. 29 meeting. Chairman Tom Wheeler in a blog post Thursday said the order he's circulating takes advantage of the "'roadmap'" proposed by APCO, AT&T, CTIA, the National Emergency Number Association, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon (see 1411190064) for improving location accuracy for calls made indoors. But recognizing the "valid criticisms raised by some public safety stakeholders," the report and order provides "confidence-building measures and backstop thresholds that set clear targets and deadlines for improving indoor location and hold parties accountable for results," Wheeler wrote. The agency also will hear a presentation on its new Consumer Help Center (see 1501050038). Wheeler's proposal, announced Wednesday (see 1501070046), to increase the broadband benchmark speed to 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload and to issue a notice of inquiry on improving broadband deployment was not on the agenda. The proposal is a vote on circulation, an agency spokesman said.
Republicans will have more House Commerce Committee muscle as they attempt a Communications Act overhaul this year, with new members from both parties eager to dig into the issues and showing telecom expertise. Net neutrality also will be a major political focal point, with legislation likely on deck at least in the Senate (see 1412310033) and House lawmakers planning an FCC oversight hearing on net neutrality early in 2015.