The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices for Feb. 14 (Note that some may also be given separate headlines.)
FirstNet should expand its proposed categorical exclusions (CEs) from National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) assessments, Nokia Solutions and Networks and PCIA said in comments released Monday. The Department of the Interior (DOI) urged FirstNet to revise the proposed CEs to reflect DOI policies on migratory birds. FirstNet had sought public comment on the proposed CEs, which it said in the Federal Register “do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment and, thus, should be categorically excluded from the requirement to prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.” Comments were due Wednesday (CD Jan 8 p10).
Surveillance changes are under way. President Barack Obama recently said that “absent a true emergency, the telephony metadata can only be queried after a judicial finding that there is a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the selection term is associated with an approved international terrorist organization,” said Director of National Intelligence James Clapper in a statement Thursday night (http://bit.ly/1iBEtWh). “The President also directed that the query results must be limited to metadata within two hops of the selection term instead of three.” The Justice Department filed a motion with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to amend its Jan. 3 primary order on phone surveillance, which was granted on Thursday. The government is working to declassify these documents by Feb. 17, Clapper said.
Surveillance changes are under way. President Barack Obama recently said that “absent a true emergency, the telephony metadata can only be queried after a judicial finding that there is a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the selection term is associated with an approved international terrorist organization,” said Director of National Intelligence James Clapper in a statement Thursday night (http://bit.ly/1iBEtWh). “The President also directed that the query results must be limited to metadata within two hops of the selection term instead of three.” The Justice Department filed a motion with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to amend its Jan. 3 primary order on phone surveillance, which was granted on Thursday. The government is working to declassify these documents by Feb. 17, Clapper said.
A top Senate Democrat challenged industry to resolve problems of distracted driving before the Senate takes a try at it. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., aired his concerns as part of a daylong summit Thursday, which had three panels of debate, devoted to distracted driving. He presided over an afternoon panel, starting off with heavy scrutiny of any technology that distracts or may be proposed as a way to curtail distraction.
A top Senate Democrat challenged industry to resolve problems of distracted driving before the Senate takes a try at it. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., aired his concerns as part of a daylong summit Thursday, which had three panels of debate, devoted to distracted driving. He presided over an afternoon panel, starting off with heavy scrutiny of any technology that distracts or may be proposed as a way to curtail distraction.
A top Senate Democrat challenged industry to resolve problems of distracted driving before the Senate takes a try at it. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., aired his concerns as part of a daylong summit Thursday, which had three panels of debate, devoted to distracted driving. He presided over an afternoon panel, starting off with heavy scrutiny of any technology that distracts or may be proposed as a way to curtail distraction.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said the agency’s primary goal in the IP transition is to make sure consumers are protected. Wheeler fully supports the notion of a “sandbox” such as used by software developers for testing software, and the trials are essentially a big regulatory sandbox, he said at a National Journal-sponsored conference Thursday.
As states grapple over what role they should play in regulating IP technologies, a free-market advocacy group that helps connect industry with legislators on a variety of issues said states should just stay out of it. The American Legislative Exchange Council issued a report (http://bit.ly/1jgJjM5) Wednesday on promoting broadband in states. ALEC’s first recommendation: Exempting “Internet protocol-based technologies from state utility regulation.” The group said it backed preserving “several rights and responsibilities for states and providers, while also respecting” FCC jurisdiction. State regulators told us they disagreed with the report.
The House Homeland Security Committee unanimously approved the National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act (HR-3696) Wednesday, advancing the bill to the full House. The bill, supported by both parties’ committee leadership, would codify the Department of Homeland Security’s existing public-private collaboration on cybersecurity issues without extending the agency’s powers. The bill would also allow critical infrastructure companies to seek liability protections under the Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act (SAFETY) Act for cybersecurity efforts.