Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., introduced a bill addressing rural call completion problems Thursday, much to the satisfaction of some rural telco advocates. The five-page bill, called the Public Safety and Economic Security Communications Act, would target intermediate providers and push the FCC to outline service quality standards. Johnson’s office consulted with the FCC in crafting the legislation, his spokesman said.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sought stakeholders’ recommendations Wednesday on best practices it should include in its voluntary guidelines for technology meant to allow drivers safe and limited use of mobile devices while a vehicle is in motion. The guidelines, which NHTSA plans to propose later this year, are “Phase 2” of the agency’s plans to collaborate with stakeholders on distracted driving technology. NHTSA released its “Phase 1” guidelines last year, which focused on distraction mitigation related to devices built into a vehicle (http://1.usa.gov/1iBUXBV). The “Phase 3” guidelines would examine technology related to auditory and vocal interfaces, NHTSA said. A meeting Wednesday was the first in what NHTSA plans to be a series of input sessions, said acting NHTSA Administrator David Friedman. NHTSA is also seeking written comments on the guidelines, which stakeholders can submit until May 12, said a notice in the Federal Register (http://xrl.us/bqpmr4).
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sought stakeholders’ recommendations Wednesday on best practices it should include in its voluntary guidelines for technology meant to allow drivers safe and limited use of mobile devices while a vehicle is in motion. The guidelines, which NHTSA plans to propose later this year, are “Phase 2” of the agency’s plans to collaborate with stakeholders on distracted driving technology. NHTSA released its “Phase 1” guidelines last year, which focused on distraction mitigation related to devices built into a vehicle (http://1.usa.gov/1iBUXBV). The “Phase 3” guidelines would examine technology related to auditory and vocal interfaces, NHTSA said. A meeting Wednesday was the first in what NHTSA plans to be a series of input sessions, said acting NHTSA Administrator David Friedman. NHTSA is also seeking written comments on the guidelines, which stakeholders can submit until May 12, said a notice in the Federal Register (http://xrl.us/bqpmr4).
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sought stakeholders’ recommendations Wednesday on best practices it should include in its voluntary guidelines for technology meant to allow drivers safe and limited use of mobile devices while a vehicle is in motion.
The Obama administration continues to negotiate Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agricultural access for Japanese and Canadian markets, but administration trade officials have made “great progress” in eliminating Vietnamese and Malaysia agricultural tariffs that range from 20-50 percent, said U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a joint radio broadcast disseminated to rural stations throughout the country on March 7. The TPP agreement can help build on Fiscal Year 2013 record exports for U.S. agriculture (here), said Vilsack, according to a USTR release.
U.S. insistence on including strict intellectual property rights (IPR) protections in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations threatens to derail the talks, said two panelists at a Cato Institute event on March 5, as a raft of other unresolved issues continue to obstruct on-going efforts to seal a deal (see 14022504). Industry pressure on the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to include strict IPR provisions in a final pact also jeopardizes free trade principles that ultimately stand to benefit U.S. consumers, said panelist and Cato Institute trade policy analyst Bill Watson.
The Obama Administration is prioritizing increases in agriculture and manufacturing exports during the course of 2014, said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in the Trade Policy Agenda released on March 4. The USTR will also seek to add protections to intellectual property rights through the World Trade Organization and free trade agreements now being negotiated, the agency said.
The National Emergency Number Association’s “Friends of 911.org” program got a high-profile boost Sunday when it was featured during the NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Phoenix by way of a logo on the yellow Ford of driver Joey Logano. Logano finished fourth and led 71 laps in Sunday’s race. “9-1-1 professionals help keep Americans safe every day, and I hope folks in the stands and watching at home will be inspired to join me in saying ’thank you’ to these unsung heroes of emergency response,” Logano said in a statement prior to the race.
The FCC proposed fines totaling $1.9 million against Disney’s ESPN, Viacom and Comcast’s NBCUniversal for repeatedly transmitting a movie trailer that misused the emergency alert system tones. The EAS allegations stemmed from consumer complaints last year about a “No Surrender Trailer” for the movie Olympus Has Fallen, the FCC said. The companies admitted to airing the trailer multiple times, claiming they took action by revising their advertisement review guidelines and ceasing to carry the ads after letters of inquiry (LOI) and advisories from the commission. The commission proposed a $1.1 million fine for Viacom, a $530,000 fine for NBCUniversal and $280,000 for ESPN. The agency last month proposed fining Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting and others over similar EAS violations in what industry attorneys called a crackdown (CD Jan 16 p7), which they said Monday appears to have continued.
BRUSSELS -- Nearly everyone agrees that the Internet of Things is coming, but not when or in what form, speakers said Monday at the Internet of Things Europe summit. The IoT always seems to be “just a few years around the corner,” said Carl-Christian Buhr, a member of cabinet for Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes. The IoT should be, but often isn’t, distinguished from cyber-physical systems (CPS), said Geoff Mulligan, U.S. presidential innovation fellow on CPS and founder of the IPSO (Internet Protocol for Smart Objects) Alliance. The U.S. and EU approaches to IoT development differ but are complementary, speakers said.