The Utility Reform Network (TURN)’s emergency motion to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last week (CD March 20 p15) is just the latest shot being fired at Verizon before local authorities. Echoing a complaint filed with the D.C. Public Service Commission (DCPSC), the CPUC motion alleges the company, in its zeal to make the IP transition, has been letting its copper network deteriorate and is being overly aggressive in moving customers from copper to FiOS or wireless Voice Link without their consent.
Two proposals to revamp National Security Agency phone surveillance law brought mixed reactions Tuesday, with details of the proposals still unfolding. Initial media reports emerged of a White House proposal, expected to be formally released by the end of the week (CD Jan 21 p1), and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and ranking member Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., announced details of their legislation at a media briefing Tuesday. Their bill is called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Transparency and Modernization Act. That bill has 11 co-sponsors from both parties, Rogers and Ruppersberger said in a news release. They emphasized that it would require individualized judicial review, and that the government could query the communications companies for a number’s associations if it has “reasonable and articulable suspicion” of terrorism associations. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court would have to keep Congress informed of any significant opinions, one provision of the bill said. Another would create a “privacy advocate” before the FISC. Both proposals are expected to move bulk phone metadata storage away from the government and into the hands of the phone companies, but without retention mandates. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., author of the USA Freedom Act, said he welcomed the news of President Barack Obama’s proposal. “In the meantime, the President could end bulk collection once and for all on Friday by not seeking reauthorization of this program,” Leahy said. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order authorizing phone surveillance expires Friday and would have to be renewed, if surveillance were to continue. The USA Freedom Act’s House author, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., issued a statement calling the House Intelligence proposal “convoluted” and said it “accepts the administration’s deliberate misinterpretation of the law,” ultimately falling short of his own surveillance overhaul. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called Obama’s plan “a worthy effort” and said she plans a hearing on both the White House proposal and the House Intelligence bill. The Center for Democracy & Technology in a statement called both proposals “flawed.” “The Ruppersberger bill would end bulk collection for most types of data, but the bill would allow intelligence agencies to obtain individuals’ data without prior court approval,” CDT Senior Counsel Harley Geiger said (http://bit.ly/1jDl9bB). “The President’s proposal, as described, would require intelligence agencies to get court approval before obtaining phone records, but the Obama proposal is only limited to phone records.” The Electronic Frontier Foundation called both proposals “good news” but said details are still lacking. EFF’s blog post (http://bit.ly/1gWePYY) suggested the USA Freedom Act would be better than either. The ACLU called the White House proposal “a crucial first step” but the House Intelligence Committee is “on the wrong track,” Legislative Counsel Michelle Richardson said in a statement (http://bit.ly/1fYlZvU). “Its new bill uses reform momentum as a pretext for expanding government power. The bill’s modest improvements to the phone records program are not worth demolishing the important judicial role in overseeing these programs.”
Two proposals to revamp National Security Agency phone surveillance law brought mixed reactions Tuesday, with details of the proposals still unfolding. Initial media reports emerged of a White House proposal, expected to be formally released by the end of the week (WID Jan 21 p1), and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and ranking member Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., announced details of their legislation at a media briefing Tuesday. Their bill is called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Transparency and Modernization Act. That bill has 11 co-sponsors from both parties, Rogers and Ruppersberger said in a news release. They emphasized that it would require individualized judicial review, and that the government could query the communications companies for a number’s associations if it has “reasonable and articulable suspicion” of terrorism associations. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court would have to keep Congress informed of any significant opinions, one provision of the bill said. Another would create a “privacy advocate” before the FISC. Both proposals are expected to move bulk phone metadata storage away from the government and into the hands of the phone companies, but without retention mandates. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., author of the USA Freedom Act, said he welcomed the news of President Barack Obama’s proposal. “In the meantime, the President could end bulk collection once and for all on Friday by not seeking reauthorization of this program,” Leahy said. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order authorizing phone surveillance expires Friday and would have to be renewed, if surveillance were to continue. The USA Freedom Act’s House author, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., issued a statement calling the House Intelligence proposal “convoluted” and said it “accepts the administration’s deliberate misinterpretation of the law,” ultimately falling short of his own surveillance overhaul. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called Obama’s plan “a worthy effort” and said she plans a hearing on both the White House proposal and the House Intelligence bill. The Center for Democracy & Technology in a statement called both proposals “flawed.” “The Ruppersberger bill would end bulk collection for most types of data, but the bill would allow intelligence agencies to obtain individuals’ data without prior court approval,” CDT Senior Counsel Harley Geiger said (http://bit.ly/1jDl9bB). “The President’s proposal, as described, would require intelligence agencies to get court approval before obtaining phone records, but the Obama proposal is only limited to phone records.” The Electronic Frontier Foundation called both proposals “good news” but said details are still lacking. EFF’s blog post (http://bit.ly/1gWePYY) suggested the USA Freedom Act would be better than either. The ACLU called the White House proposal “a crucial first step” but the House Intelligence Committee is “on the wrong track,” Legislative Counsel Michelle Richardson said in a statement (http://bit.ly/1fYlZvU). “Its new bill uses reform momentum as a pretext for expanding government power. The bill’s modest improvements to the phone records program are not worth demolishing the important judicial role in overseeing these programs.”
Consumers are unable to dial 911 directly at tens of thousands of buildings across the country, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai told a national Emergency Number Association conference Monday, according to prepared remarks (http://fcc.us/1gv9NIT). Pai sent letters in January to CEOs of the ten largest hotel chains in the U.S., asking how many of their hotels required dialing 9 before calling 911 (CD Jan 14 p14). The American Hotel and Lodging Association gave Pai survey results showing that guests can reach emergency services by dialing 911 without an access code in only 44.5 percent of franchised properties, and 32 percent of independent hotels. The association has convened an industry-wide task force to develop best practices, and individual hotels are working on upgrading their telephone systems, Pai said. “My office will keep working with the hospitality industry on solving this problem. And I'm optimistic that the number of hotels where guests can reach emergency services by dialing 911 will keep growing.” Pai on Monday turned his attention to offices and schools, which also frequently require an access code to get an outside line. His letter asks multi-line phone system vendors about the accessibility of 911, and whether they have plans to upgrade systems. “The greatest weapon in our arsenal is awareness,” Pai said.
Comcast’s first transparency report says the cable company received 24,698 requests for information as part of criminal cases in 2013. Those requests broke down into 19,377 requests through subpoenas, 3,893 court orders, 253 warrants for content and 1,080 not for content. It received 961 emergency requests. The two-page report (http://bit.ly/1hJc0ga) includes a chart on national security requests showing National Security Letter and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court orders and requests, all in the range of 0 to 999. “By law, we are required to respond to valid government requests,” Comcast Chief Privacy Officer Gerard Lewis wrote in a blog post accompanying the report’s release (http://bit.ly/1gXFxBh). “Protecting our customers’ privacy is among our highest priorities and is required by the Cable Act, one of the strictest federal privacy laws. So with every request, whether it is from a local police department or the Federal Bureau of Investigation, we make sure it complies with applicable legal standards before we respond with any information.” Lewis said FISA request disclosures are subject to a six-month delay, so the report shows “the number of requests from January 1 through June 30, 2013 only.”
Comcast’s first transparency report says the cable company received 24,698 requests for information as part of criminal cases in 2013. Those requests broke down into 19,377 requests through subpoenas, 3,893 court orders, 253 warrants for content and 1,080 not for content. It received 961 emergency requests. The two-page report (http://bit.ly/1hJc0ga) includes a chart on national security requests showing National Security Letter and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court orders and requests, all in the range of 0 to 999. “By law, we are required to respond to valid government requests,” Comcast Chief Privacy Officer Gerard Lewis wrote in a blog post accompanying the report’s release (http://bit.ly/1gXFxBh). “Protecting our customers’ privacy is among our highest priorities and is required by the Cable Act, one of the strictest federal privacy laws. So with every request, whether it is from a local police department or the Federal Bureau of Investigation, we make sure it complies with applicable legal standards before we respond with any information.” Lewis said FISA request disclosures are subject to a six-month delay, so the report shows “the number of requests from January 1 through June 30, 2013 only.”
The FCC Communications Security, Reliability & Interoperability Council formally launched a new working group, Working Group 4, to take on cybersecurity, with a focus on best practices. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler opened Thursday’s CSRIC meeting with brief remarks, stressing the importance of cybersecurity and calling for the council to develop a new “regulatory paradigm” for the future.
The House Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology dug into questions of rural broadband deployment Thursday at a field hearing in New York and found grave accuracy problems with broadband mapping, its head lawmaker told us. The hearing was at the Orleans County Legislature in Albion, N.Y. Written testimony released Thursday and interviews revealed plenty of scrutiny about what government problems participants believe may impede industry from deploying broadband infrastructure.
The FCC Communications Security, Reliability & Interoperability Council formally launched a new working group, Working Group 4, to take on cybersecurity, with a focus on best practices. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler opened Thursday’s CSRIC meeting with brief remarks, stressing the importance of cybersecurity and calling for the council to develop a new “regulatory paradigm” for the future.
The House Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology dug into questions of rural broadband deployment Thursday at a field hearing in New York and found grave accuracy problems with broadband mapping, its head lawmaker told us. The hearing was at the Orleans County Legislature in Albion, N.Y. Written testimony released Thursday and interviews revealed plenty of scrutiny about what government problems participants believe may impede industry from deploying broadband infrastructure.