LAS VEGAS -- Global interoperability and spectrum efficiency need to be the biggest cornerstones of any next-generation broadcast system if terrestrial broadcasters want to retake valuable competitive ground lost to wireless carriers, streaming services and other content-delivery rivals, various speakers said Sunday at the NAB Show’s Broadcast Engineering Conference. Though terrestrial Ultra HD and 3D TV are on the list of desired features of the next-gen system, they're nowhere as high on the priority scale as other attributes like mobility or interactivity, or so it appeared from the many speakers who gave presentations at the conference.
Groups representing U.S. technology companies signaled their disappointment in letters sent last week over a provision in the continuing resolution funding bill passed last month that would restrict U.S. federal acquisitions of Chinese manufactured technologies. The law, P.L. 113-6, forbids the U.S. departments of Commerce and Justice, NASA and the National Science Foundation from using federal money to buy Chinese IT products unless a risk assessment has been done to evaluate each item’s potential for cyberespionage or sabotage. Eleven business groups including the Chamber of Commerce said the provision sets a “troubling and counterproductive precedent” and urged lawmakers to consider a “more constructive approach.” The concerns were expressed in letters sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio; and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. The provision could slow the federal acquisition process, bring retaliation from the Chinese government, and encourage other countries to adopt similar laws that would hurt U.S. IT vendors, the letters said. “Given the expedited manner in which this provision was enacted, we ask the Congress to review the security implications and competitive impact of this requirement, and consider a more constructive approach to this issue,” the letter said. “We also seek your support to ensure similar language is not included in other legislative vehicles.” The letter was signed by BSA, the Emergency Committee for American Trade, the Information Technology Industry Council, the Semiconductor Industry Association, the Software and Information Industry Association, TechAmerica, the Technology CEO Council, the Telecommunications Industry Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Council for International Business, and the U.S. Information Technology Office.
Groups representing U.S. technology companies signaled their disappointment in letters sent last week over a provision in the continuing resolution funding bill passed last month that would restrict U.S. federal acquisitions of Chinese manufactured technologies. The law, P.L. 113-6, forbids the U.S. departments of Commerce and Justice, NASA and the National Science Foundation from using federal money to buy Chinese IT products unless a risk assessment has been done to evaluate each item’s potential for cyberespionage or sabotage. Eleven business groups including the Chamber of Commerce said the provision sets a “troubling and counterproductive precedent” and urged lawmakers to consider a “more constructive approach.” The concerns were expressed in letters sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio; and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. The provision could slow the federal acquisition process, bring retaliation from the Chinese government, and encourage other countries to adopt similar laws that would hurt U.S. IT vendors, the letters said. “Given the expedited manner in which this provision was enacted, we ask the Congress to review the security implications and competitive impact of this requirement, and consider a more constructive approach to this issue,” the letter said. “We also seek your support to ensure similar language is not included in other legislative vehicles.” The letter was signed by BSA, the Emergency Committee for American Trade, the Information Technology Industry Council, the Semiconductor Industry Association, the Software and Information Industry Association, TechAmerica, the Technology CEO Council, the Telecommunications Industry Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Council for International Business, and the U.S. Information Technology Office.
The Justice Department said it will seek to enter its proposed settlement with Penguin in the government’s e-book pricing antitrust case before April 19. In a filing with the U.S. District Court, New York, Friday, Justice lawyers reiterated the government’s case for why the court should adopt the proposed settlement despite alleged shortcomings identified by three parties who filed public comments on the settlement.
The Justice Department said it will seek to enter its proposed settlement with Penguin in the government’s e-book pricing antitrust case before April 19. In a filing with the U.S. District Court, New York, Friday, Justice lawyers reiterated the government’s case for why the court should adopt the proposed settlement despite alleged shortcomings identified by three parties who filed public comments on the settlement.
The National Air Transportation Association (NATA), which represents aviation service businesses, said the FCC should back away from any move to prohibit the sale or use of 121.5 MHz emergency locator transmitters (ELTs), radio beacons designed to alert search and rescue personnel that an aircraft has crashed and help locate the aircraft and possible survivors. Other groups representing aviation interests also went on the attack.
Several rural organizations asked the FCC for “emergency” clarification of the requirement that rural rate-of-return regulated ILECs submit five-year service quality improvement plans (http://bit.ly/10mQK8F). NTCA, the Eastern Rural Telecom Association, the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance, the National Exchange Carrier Association, USTelecom and the Western Telecommunications Alliance all signed the petition, asking that the deadline for submission of the five-year plans be delayed a year, to July 1, 2014.
New free trade agreements, World Trade Organization initiatives and bilateral talks have reduced technical, sanitary and phytosanitary barriers to trade, the U.S. Trade Representative said in two reports sent to Congress and President Obama April 1. The report on Technical Barriers to Trade addresses unwarranted or overly burdensome technical barriers, making it difficult for American businesses to sell products abroad (read the report here). The Report on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Barriers to trade focuses on unwarranted SPS barriers which block agricultural imports (here).
The push to keep states from regulating Internet Protocol-enabled services goes strong in 2013. Legislators in more than half a dozen states introduced such IP bills this year. More than two dozen states had already passed laws before 2013 began, California prominent among them(WID Oct 2 p4). The IP transition’s urgency escalated when AT&T introduced an FCC petition urging transition trials last November, and it’s widely accepted that much voice traffic will shift to VoIP and IP-enabled frameworks in the next decade amid these transforming state roles. Proponents and observers told us these state laws will keep appearing, while NASUCA and AARP fear they'll create public safety and affordability risks.
The push to keep states from regulating Internet Protocol-enabled services goes strong in 2013. Legislators in more than half a dozen states introduced such IP bills this year. More than two dozen states had already passed laws before 2013 began, California prominent among them (CD Oct 2 p7). The IP transition’s urgency escalated when AT&T introduced an FCC petition urging transition trials last November, and it’s widely accepted that much voice traffic will shift to VoIP and IP-enabled frameworks in the next decade amid these transforming state roles. Proponents and observers told us these state laws will keep appearing, while NASUCA and AARP fear they'll create public safety and affordability risks.