Changes at CEA: Michael Bergman, ex-Kenwood, joins as senior director-technology and standards; Laurie Ann Phillips departs as senior director-industry and policy communications, plans unannounced … Congressional Hispanic Caucus hires Kristian Ramos, ex-21st Century Border Initiative, as communications director, and she’s replaced at the initiative by Emma Buckhout, ex-Latin America Working Group … AMC hires Eliot Goldberg, ex-CMT, as senior vice president-unscripted programming … Madica Productions digital, TV and film new production company started by Sunshine Sachs’ Ken Sunshine and Shawn Sachs hires Jeff Tahler, ex-FremantleMedia, as managing director … National Emergency Number Association board includes: Buster Brown, Virginia Information Technologies Agency, as president; Christy Williams, North Central Texas Council of Governments, first vice president; and Cheri Lynn Rockwell, of Chico, Calif., second vice president … Lobbying registrations: NetChoice, Bingham McCutchen, effective June 25 … Good Technology, Franklin Square Group, effective April 1.
July 1 Practising Law Institute event on cybersecurity risk management, 9 a.m., PLI, 810 7th Ave., New York -- bit.ly/12g1hR1
Paid Internet peering agreements are on the rise, a trend Internet experts told us reflects evolving business models used to deliver content to end-users. Some said disputes over peering connections have become more common and more contentious. The recent Verizon-Cogent disagreement over a deal (CD June 21 p1) is just the latest example of an Internet system still coming to grips with a deluge of over-the-top content that could make traditional peering arrangements untenable, said those we surveyed last week. As disputes become more prevalent and the threat of an Internet slowdown looms, some wonder whether government regulation might have a place as a final backstop to keep the data flowing.
Paid Internet peering agreements are on the rise, a trend Internet experts told us reflects evolving business models used to deliver content to end-users. Some said disputes over peering connections have become more common and more contentious. The recent Verizon-Cogent disagreement over a deal (WID June 21 p1) is just the latest example of an Internet system still coming to grips with a deluge of over-the-top content that could make traditional peering arrangements untenable, said those we surveyed last week. As disputes become more prevalent and the threat of an Internet slowdown looms, some wonder whether government regulation might have a place as a final backstop to keep the data flowing.
The FCC is well within its legal authority to consider spectrum aggregation caps in the upcoming incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum, Louis Peraertz, wireless adviser to acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn, said during an Internet Innovation Alliance panel discussion Wednesday. But Peraertz also assured industry the auction is the top “institutional priority” of the FCC under Clyburn. The discussion was also sponsored by the Digital Policy Institute and The Joint Center.
June 24 Alabama 800 MHz Public Safety Regional Planning Committee meets, 10 a.m., Calhoun County Emergency Operations Center, 507 Francis St. W., Jacksonville -- elinsley@mobilecounty.net
But several stakeholders expressed concern that utilities don’t have their own dedicated spectrum throughout the meeting. Utilities do not have access and “future situations must change,” UTC CEO Connie Durcsak said. Pepco Holdings desires exclusive networks in order to ensure secure communication for its crews but “what we found very quickly was there was not one block of spectrum available to PHI or any utility in the United States,” said Communications and Network Systems Engineering Manager Russ Ehrlich. After Superstorm Sandy, crews struggled to communicate and used devices that couldn’t easily interconnect, said PSEG Lead Senior Consultant Jeffrey Katz, who said the amount of spectrum available to utilities is “absolutely none.” Commercial networks failed, he added. “We have no access to broadband spectrum,” said Great River Energy Principal Telecom Engineer Kathleen Nelson. “Yet somehow we utilities are expected to operate our critical infrastructure under these circumstances.”
The scale of the Prism surveillance program shows “how fragile our open Internet is,” said Council of Europe (CoE) Information Society and Action against Crime Director Jan Kleijssen in an interview. While organized crime and terrorism are challenges that must be met, they can’t be allowed to compromise people’s freedoms, he said: Security and human rights “should be mutually reinforcing.” Kleijssen spoke Tuesday before this week’s European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) in Lisbon, Portugal. He also said the CoE is trying to mend fences with several of its members who signed the new International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) last year when most rejected it. How to keep the Internet open, free and safe remains elusive, speakers said at a Thursday EuroDIG debate.
The scale of the Prism surveillance program shows “how fragile our open Internet is,” said Council of Europe (CoE) Information Society and Action against Crime Director Jan Kleijssen in an interview. While organized crime and terrorism are challenges that must be met, they can’t be allowed to compromise people’s freedoms, he said: Security and human rights “should be mutually reinforcing.” Kleijssen spoke Tuesday before this week’s European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) in Lisbon, Portugal. He also said the CoE is trying to mend fences with several of its members who signed the new International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) last year when most rejected it. How to keep the Internet open, free and safe remains elusive, speakers said at a Thursday EuroDIG debate.
FirstNet successfully negotiated the first of seven spectrum lease agreements with NTIA’s suspended broadband stimulus projects, pending FirstNet board approval. NTIA suspended these public safety broadband network infrastructure grantees, recipients in millions of dollars from the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), in May 2012, fearing the projects would waste money after the federal government authorized the national $7 billion public broadband network. Los Angeles is home to the first project to negotiate an agreement, but in interviews, project leaders expressed hope that others are soon to follow.