Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., faced off against a fierce challenger backed by the tech industry Tuesday in his Silicon Valley district’s highly watched Democratic primary. Ro Khanna, an attorney who was deputy assistant secretary of Commerce during President Barack Obama’s first term, outraised the seven-term Honda, amassing $2.6 million, compared with Honda’s $2.09 million. Khanna’s campaign website touts several telecom and media priorities, such as an Internet Bill of Rights (http://bit.ly/1otwRbg) that calls for a right to net neutrality, universal Web access, the right to be free of warrantless metadata collection and more. Last month, Khanna blasted FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler for his net neutrality NPRM, saying: “Frankly, a former telecommunications lobbyist should never have been appointed to chair the Federal Communications Commission in the first place.” Honda is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and signed a letter to Wheeler asking for Title II reclassification of broadband and expressing his own disappointments in the NPRM. Honda’s website points to his own tech focus, spotlighting his work in bringing a patent office to California and an emphasis on nanotechnology and broadband, from access and adoption issues to fighting for net neutrality protections. Honda was an “instrumental ally in the establishment of a National Broadband Plan to lay out a bold roadmap to internet accessibility and service,” it said (http://bit.ly/1x2ayPu). Election rules would allow both Honda and Khanna to proceed to the November general election if they emerge with the two highest tallies of votes in what is an open primary, allowing both Democrats and Republicans to compete. Results were still coming in at our deadline.
The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council petitioned the FCC for a modification of Part 90 rules to enable railroad police to use frequencies reserved for public safety interoperability. NPSTC reminded the FCC that eligibility already extends beyond law enforcement, fire and emergency medical operations to include school buses, beach patrols and others. “Railroad Police have an increasing need for effective and expeditious communications interoperability with members of local and state law enforcement, fire and emergency medical organizations who do meet the Commission’s eligibility requirements,” NPSTC said (http://bit.ly/1rpas4k). NPSTC said train traffic in the U.S. is increasing, saying U.S. Class I railroads moved 233,819 carloads of crude petroleum in 2012, up from 65,751 in 2011 and 29,605 in 2010. All forms of transportation are subject to “the potential threat of terrorism” and “the safety of the public demands the best communications possible,” NPSTC said. The FCC posted the petition Friday as part of proceeding PRM14PS.
State broadcast associations fully supported a proposal to establish a system for delivery of multilingual emergency alerts, while NAB, noncommercial broadcasters and pay-TV operators support it but cautioned against imposing unnecessary burdens on emergency alert system (EAS) participants. Comments in a public notice proceeding that stemmed from a 2005 petition from Minority Media and Telecommunications Council were due this week (CD April 28 p19). The proposal focuses on a “designated hitter” backup plan, which involves broadcasters helping to transmit EAS messages for non-English stations that are knocked off-air (CD March 13 p10).
Wireless industry executive Sue Swenson is replacing Sam Ginn as FirstNet board chair, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Ginn will retire from the board when his term expires in August, the department said. FirstNet watchers said Swenson is a respected telecom executive playing a key role at the nascent public safety network. The announcement means more change at the top of FirstNet. General Manager Bill D'Agostino said last month he was leaving after less than a year, as questions continue to swirl around the network (CD April 16 p1).
The U.S. must shift its global data flow approach if it wants to remain a major participant in the global economy, said industry representatives and academics at a New America Foundation event Thursday. Ongoing trade negotiations present some promising opportunities to establish the U.S.’s footing in the international data flow economy, but “we need the political will to push these through,” said Bradford Jensen, a professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.
The U.S. must shift its global data flow approach if it wants to remain a major participant in the global economy, said industry representatives and academics at a New America Foundation event Thursday. Ongoing trade negotiations present some promising opportunities to establish the U.S.’s footing in the international data flow economy, but “we need the political will to push these through,” said Bradford Jensen, a professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.
Vermont Monday became the first state to let customers of the four major carriers text 911 when the state and T-Mobile began implementing the service, said Vermont Enhanced 9-1-1 Board Executive Director David Tucker in an interview Wednesday. Verizon began offering the service in Vermont in 2012, and AT&T and Sprint followed last year, he said. The four major carriers met a voluntary May 15 deadline (CD Dec 10/12 p1) to make their networks capable of transmitting texts nationwide. Vermont is the only state where all public service answering points (PSAPs) are able to handle the texts, he said. About 98 percent of the state’s wireless subscribers, excepting those of smaller carriers not subject to the deadline, can now text 911, he said. Nationally, the May 15 deadline doesn’t mean text-to-911 will be available to all consumers, said National Emergency Number Association CEO Brian Fontes in a news release Friday (http://bit.ly/1o6jGQE). Text-to-911 “availability will ultimately depend on funding and the deployment of hardware, software, and training programs” at the nearly 6,000 911 centers across the country, Fontes said. “Progress will vary from one community to the next.” Traditional voice calls to 911 are the fastest and most efficient way to call for help, Tucker said. The text technology is “especially important to the deaf or hard of hearing, or people in a dangerous situation like domestic violence or an intruder in the house when a person may be afraid of making a voice call,” he said.
Odds of a nationwide emergency alert system test this year, the second-ever such exercise, likely depend on how effectively and quickly the FCC can address the aspects of the test location code, some EAS experts said in interviews. The Public Safety Bureau is preparing for a test to follow the first one in 2011 (CD May 2 p1). The FCC received comments about time discrepancies, the location code and other concerns, in response to a public notice that asked about equipment and operational issues from the test (CD Nov 12 p8). No parameters or date for another test has been set, an FCC official said.
The soon-to-emerge Authors Alliance, a copyright revamp advocacy group, provoked skepticism and condemnation from authors’ rights groups, including the Authors Guild, said organizations advocating for “working” writers last week. The alliance seeks to be a “voice” for authors in copyright debates, particularly on the preservation of fair use and the digitization of library works, said its Executive Director Pam Samuelson, who is also University of California-Berkeley’s Center for Law & Technology co-director. The alliance’s four board members -- Samuelson also serves as chair -- are Berkeley professors (http://bit.ly/1gwSAzV). “The intellectual-property shop at Berkeley’s law school has a very aggressive and expansive agenda that was crafted without working authors in mind,” said Authors Guild board member T.J. Stiles in a letter (http://bit.ly/1gMSgre) to the San Francisco Writers Grotto, posted on the guild’s website Friday.
The soon-to-emerge Authors Alliance, a copyright revamp advocacy group, provoked skepticism and condemnation from authors’ rights groups, including the Authors Guild, said organizations advocating for “working” writers last week. The alliance seeks to be a “voice” for authors in copyright debates, particularly on the preservation of fair use and the digitization of library works, said its Executive Director Pam Samuelson, who is also University of California-Berkeley’s Center for Law & Technology co-director. The alliance’s four board members -- Samuelson also serves as chair -- are Berkeley professors (http://bit.ly/1gwSAzV). “The intellectual-property shop at Berkeley’s law school has a very aggressive and expansive agenda that was crafted without working authors in mind,” said Authors Guild board member T.J. Stiles in a letter (http://bit.ly/1gMSgre) to the San Francisco Writers Grotto, posted on the guild’s website Friday.