The Electronic Frontier Foundation faced off in oral argument Tuesday in Washington against the Department of Justice on FBI phone surveillance authority. EFF wants the government to release a Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion from January 2010 that the FBI has invoked when explaining its authority to access U.S. citizens’ call records in certain ways. The government has pressed back against EFF’s Freedom of Information Act request from February 2011. Attorneys argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in EFF v. U.S. Department of Justice, case number 12-5363.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation faced off in oral argument Tuesday in Washington against the Department of Justice on FBI phone surveillance authority. EFF wants the government to release a Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion from January 2010 that the FBI has invoked when explaining its authority to access U.S. citizens’ call records in certain ways. The government has pressed back against EFF’s Freedom of Information Act request from February 2011. Attorneys argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in EFF v. U.S. Department of Justice, case number 12-5363.
The FCC’s 2010 net neutrality rules are having no effect to date on how USTelecom members do business, President Walter McCormick said during a taping of C-SPAN’s The Communicators, eventually scheduled to be telecast on the network. “I haven’t seen them have any effect, whatsoever, on either competition or on our members or on the way in which we do business,” McCormick said.
Pennsylvania residents could see major changes to their wireline services in the state if the Legislature votes for a bill that would eliminate carrier of last resort obligations (COLR) for local exchange carriers in competitive areas and limit the USF, said industry, two Pennsylvania Public Utility commissioners, the state’s consumer advocate and other interested parties at a House Consumer Affairs Committee hearing Thursday. House Bill 1608, sponsored by Rep. Warren Kampf (R), would remove the PUC’s oversight of ILECs, and it would allows ILECs to self-declare whole exchanges as competitive. The bill would end the state’s USF on Jan. 1, 2019, and prevent the PUC from raising the amount of money contributed to the fund each year.
The top FirstNet official defended the progress the public national network team has made despite doubts and uncertainty. Sam Ginn became FirstNet board chairman in August 2012 and acknowledged the many challenges since then, speaking Thursday before the House Communications Subcommittee. Money is a constant consideration, as is outreach, Ginn said, cautioning that expectations can’t always be met.
The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) is eyeing a 2014 Customs Reauthorization bill as the vehicle for the Textile Enforcement and Security Act (TESA), said NCTO President Auggie Tantillo in a Nov. 21 interview. A group of 24 House lawmakers introduced TESA on Nov. 20, following the introduction of sister Senate legislation by Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., in July (see 13112125). The legislation would provide CBP more resources to clamp down on fraudulent textile importation into the U.S., according to the legislation sponsors.
Lawmakers must ensure that the commercial space industry can thrive and grow the nation’s economy in terms of communications, space launch, weather monitoring and other areas, said Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Miss., chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Space. Palazzo on Wednesday urged his colleagues during a subcommittee hearing on commercial space to ensure that export controls and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) are “rational and productive.” Agencies like the FCC and Federal Aviation Administration must provide stable, certain and competitive regulatory environments, he said.
While the IP transition could see action first, the incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum remains one of the highest priorities for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, a senior commission official said Wednesday. The auction remains the single issue on which Wheeler is spending the most time, the official said. Some industry observers feared a slight pivot on Wheeler’s part in recent days, highlighted by last Thursday’s blog post promising action in January on the transition (CD Nov 30 p1).
"A large majority” of the nation’s broadcasters will sit out the TV incentive spectrum auction, NAB Executive Vice President Rick Kaplan predicted Tuesday during a webinar sponsored by the Digital Policy Institute. Kaplan, a former FCC Wireless Bureau chief, also questioned why the FCC continues to push for a 2014 auction. Preston Padden, head of the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition, said the auction should be a success as long as the FCC gets the rules right.
ORLANDO -- The National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates approved resolutions at its annual meeting Tuesday on the need for fair policies in the upcoming incentive auction and giving VoIP providers direct access to phone numbers. The IP transition dominated the telecom discussions at the NASUCA meeting, with panels on who controls the IP transition and Verizon’s Voice Link service on Fire Island, N.Y., and the New Jersey barrier islands.