There’s a labor cost to users to make software and settings changes to emergency alert system devices, said EAS equipment firm Sage Alerting Systems. The FCC should strive “to give sufficient warning of required changes, and bundle them together, so users can schedule updates to EAS equipment in a cost effective manner,” Sage said in an ex parte filing in docket 04-296 (http://bit.ly/1d7FEHZ). If the national periodic test (NPT) code is kept as a normal EAS alert, the Federal Emergency Management Agency can use it to verify transport of messages through various parts of the system, it said. Making the NPT work just like an emergency action notification (EAN) with special handling and no time limit would require a software update for all Sage devices and all EAS devices, Sage said. “The FCC and FEMA should work together [to] define the use case before changes are made to the [NPT] specification.” The filing recounted a teleconference with Sage President Harold Price and Public Safety Bureau staff. Monroe Electronics urged the commission to establish a requirement for EAS equipment to recognize, process and validate all header codes for EAS alerts, “even where the event code is EAN,” said the EAS equipment provider in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/LfcEIA). Monroe supports using a new national location code of “000000,” it said. It said that if the rules were modified to specify that the NPT must also support unlimited audio, “a significant software update would need to be developed and provided by the manufacturer, and then installed by many thousands of users at their own volition.” The filing pertains to a conference call with bureau staff. Separately Wednesday, the FCC said that Turner Broadcasting is apparently liable for a $200,000 fine for airing false EAS tones. (See story above in this issue.)
Congress should enact national technology-neutral liability protection for all stakeholders involved in emergency services access, such as next-generation 911, and work to consolidate and “regionalize” 911 call centers to help guarantee consistent consumer expectations, CTIA Executive Vice President Chris Guttman-McCabe plans to tell the Senate Communications Subcommittee Thursday, according to his written testimony. The subcommittee is holding a hearing on wireless 911 location accuracy at 10:30 a.m. in 253 Russell. Other witnesses are Trey Forgety, National Emergency Number Association director-government affairs ; APCO International President Gigi Smith; Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Executive Director Claude Stout; and Qualcomm Senior Director-Technology Kirk Burroughs. “The current liability protection framework is premised on protections available to legacy telephone networks under state law and regulations, but the industry is rapidly evolving to IP-based technologies in which services are diverse, increasingly mobile, and potentially multi-jurisdictional,” Guttman-McCabe plans to say. He plans to cite proactive efforts of the wireless industry in bettering emergency services, such as the voluntary carrier commitment to offer text-to-911 services by mid-2014 as well as its work with the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council. In his testimony, he laments what’s happening to states’ 911 funding. “The diversion of these fees is unacceptable and CTIA urges Congress to use every tool at its disposal to halt the practice of raiding 911 funds,” his testimony says. Congress should also “examine the potential intellectual property implications associated with the deployment of E911 and NG911 capabilities,” he will add.
Through fines proposed on Turner Broadcasting and a consent decree with MMK, licensee of a Kentucky TV station, the FCC Enforcement Bureau is sending a message to broadcasters and distributors that it’s cracking down on use of simulated emergency alert system sounds, said broadcast attorneys who follow EAS in interviews Wednesday. The actions follow an enforcement advisory by the FCC that cautioned against false and unauthorized use of the EAS attention signal (CD Nov 7 p15).
A failure to pass the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities Act of 2014 will marginalize the U.S. from international free trade agreements, subjecting U.S. companies to comparatively high tariffs and forcing competition with sub-standard, foreign rules on labor and the environment, said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and several witnesses at a Jan. 16 Finance Committee hearing on "Advancing Congress’s Trade Agenda, The Role of Trade Negotiating Authority.” The legislation is the 2014 iteration of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), introduced by Sen. Baucus, Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., on Jan. 9 (see 14011013).
The National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates outlined the values it deems important in the IP transition, detailing them in an ex parte filing with the FCC as well as a white paper it commissioned. The IP transition is definitely underway, NASUCA said in Monday’s filing. “However, this transition does not eliminate the underlying public policy objectives that regulators have promoted -- affordable rates, high quality services, 911 access, or broadband deployment,” it said (http://bit.ly/1eAwJBs). “It is reasonable, indeed necessary, to anticipate an ongoing need for policy oversight of the IP transition, including the need for a reasoned determination of when regulation may be needed to correct market failures, and to enable rapid resolution of market conflicts, including between customers and carriers.” It listed seven areas of concern: affordability, competition, reliability and service quality, access to emergency services, carrier of last resort and universal service, and consumer education. States should have a role, NASUCA said. Trevor Roycroft, an associate professor at Ohio University’s School of Information and Telecommunication Systems, wrote the NASUCA-sponsored attached 24-page white paper (http://bit.ly/1ai6h0a), which purports to rebut the arguments Anna-Maria Kovacs has made on behalf of the Internet Innovation Alliance (CD Nov 19 p18).
Witnesses for Thursday’s Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing on 911 wireless location accuracy are: Trey Forgety, director of government affairs for the National Emergency Number Association; CTIA Executive Vice President Chris Guttman-McCabe; APCO International President Gigi Smith; Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Executive Director Claude Stout; and Qualcomm Senior Director-Technology Kirk Burroughs. The hearing is at 10:30 a.m. in 253 Russell. In September, subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., had joined three other senators in signing a letter pressing the FCC on wireless 911 location accuracy.
The customs brokers have been and will continue to be a necessary part of CBP's trade mission, but coming regulatory changes may require some "reinvention" within the industry, said Al Gina, a former head of CBP's Office of International Trade. Similarly, CBP made some major adjustments during Gina's time there due to new budgetary constraints, an issue that continues to loom over CBP as it works to develop both long and short-term initiatives, he said. Gina, who recently retired from the agency and is now a partner at CT Strategies (see 13111217), discussed a number of agency initiatives and his new work during a wide-ranging interview on Jan. 9.
As a new feature, International Trade Today will periodically feature a Q&A with a customs industry professional. Our interviewee for the inaugural Q&A is Amy Magnus, Director of Customs Affairs & Compliance at A.N. Deringer. Magnus is heavily involved within the customs world and served several different roles within customs broker trade associations, at both national and regional levels. Magnus also worked for CBP for 18 years before joining the private sector. Some of the questions and answers have been slightly edited.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., introduced Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) on Jan. 9, drawing praise and criticism alike from lawmakers and industry officials. The sponsors tout strengthened provisions for labor and environment rules, currency manipulation, intellectual property rights protections, foreign market access guarantees for U.S. companies and improved consultation mechanisms for congressional oversight throughout trade negotiation processes in an overview of the bill (here). The sponsors also emphasized the critical role the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities Act of 2014 (here) will play in bringing to close pending trade pacts, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
LAS VEGAS -- PRO Buying Group and BrandSource’s Home Entertainment Source (HES) formally merged into ProSource, completing a year-long process and dispensing with each group’s legacy name, President David Workman told us at the group’s meeting Monday.