The House Homeland Security Committee plans to examine and monitor the Department of Homeland Security’s role in hardening networks from cyberattack, according to its oversight plan which was published Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bobz3g). The committee will review the federal government’s cyber missions and monitor DHS’s role in “fulfilling its goals in order to prevent a catastrophic cyber attack,” the plan said. The committee will ensure that DHS “facilitates the improved security of our nation’s critical infrastructure while earning and building on the trust of the owners and operators of that infrastructure.” The Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Security Technologies will examine DHS’s ability to detect the incursion of malicious activity; attribute the source of that activity; and promote best practices, risk assessments, and share threat information across all levels of government and the private sector, the oversight plan said. The subcommittee will examine the resiliency of the nation’s critical infrastructure and “the need to optimize supply chain risk management in order to protect against manipulation without unnecessarily impeding commerce,” said the plan. The oversight plan said the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence will evaluate DHS’s ability to deter and respond to emerging threats. Specifically the plan said GPS navigation systems are “highly susceptible to being jammed and hijacked” and an attack on such devices could “disrupt civil aviation and emergency communications, attack global financial exchanges, and corrupt the energy grid.”
DirecTV and Dish Network reiterated their argument that broadcasters and other video programming owners should have primary responsibility for converting “crawls” and other visual emergency information into an aural form, while distributors and providers “should be responsible for passing through such aural information on existing secondary audio channels,” DirecTV said in comments in docket 12-107 (http://xrl.us/bobvuw). The FCC should place primary responsibility “directly upon those who create the crawls and are therefore most likely to be in a position to correct any problem that may arise,” it said in a filing recounting a meeting with DirecTV, Dish and staff from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau’s Disability Rights Office about implementation of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA). Because both DBS companies carry the secondary audio feed of many broadcasters across the country, “they will be able to implement a regime that uses such feeds virtually seamlessly for those stations,” it said. The National Center for Accessible Media at WGBH TV and Radio Boston developed procedures “for enabling real-time conversion of on-screen text into speech output,” it said in an ex parte filing in the docket (http://xrl.us/bobvvv). NCAM also addressed display conflicts between captions and on-screen graphics by developing methods of prioritizing text and graphics messages within automated display systems, it said about a teleconference with staff from the Media Bureau and Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. NCAM said it worked with broadcast stations “to make this data available via the secondary audio program analog channel or auxiliary DTV audio channels."
Reply comments on intrastate access charge reform before the New York State Public Service Commission continue to show a sharp split among parties. The divide is between AT&T and Sprint Nextel, which both argue for settling the reform through litigation, and a November joint proposal. Verizon, the PSC staff, cable companies, smaller telcos, tw telecom and Level 3 argued in the proposal that the reform should wait on FCC proceedings. The proposal from 13 entities urges for status quo consideration of intrastate access charges and has been a source of contention for months, most recently in initial comments earlier this month (CD Jan 8 p7).
A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to 42 months in prison Jan. 17 for violations of the International Emergence Economic Powers Act, said the Department of Justice. Timothy Gormley failed to get Bureau of Industry and Security licenses for controlled items, and falsified documents to make it appear that he had obtained the required authorizations. According to DoJ, Gormley said he was swamped at work and too busy to go through the licensing process.
C Spire Wireless, Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless say they haven’t experienced any impacts from a winter storm that has brought freezing rain, sleet and flooding to large portions of the southeastern U.S. Impacts from the storm had prompted Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) to declare a state of emergency in 45 counties in the northeastern part of that state; the storm has affected portions of other states along the East Coast and Gulf Coast, the National Weather Service said. Verizon Wireless’s network was “performing well” as of Wednesday afternoon, a spokeswoman told us, saying the carrier will “continue to monitor our network 24/7 to ensure it is performing for our customers.” Sprint’s network isn’t “experiencing any impacts” from the storm, which The Weather Channel refers to as Winter Storm Helen, a Sprint spokeswoman said. However, the carrier is “diligently monitoring the storm progress and [has] plans in place to deploy resources if the storm poses a significant threat,” the spokeswoman said. C Spire “has not experienced any service interruptions or impacts” to its network from the storm, the carrier said late Tuesday in a news release. The carrier was “taking precautionary steps to bolster its network and mobilize employees to protect against potential damage” Tuesday amid concerns about deteriorating conditions, said Eric Hollingsworth, C Spire vice president-network operations (http://xrl.us/boa4g7).
The Obama Administration intends to begin negotiations for a new trade agreement on international trade in services, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told Congress Jan. 15. The negotiations will be in Geneva early this year with a group of 20 trading partners who represent nearly two-thirds of global trade in services, he said, and the objective will be promoting international trade in services and supporting increased U.S. service exports and jobs. In a letter to Congress (here), Kirk said a recent study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics said the U.S. is the world's largest services trader, but tradable services are still five times less likely to be exported than manufactured products.
An FCC proposal to open up to 195 MHz of spectrum in the 5 GHz band for Wi-Fi is likely to run into opposition, especially from the automotive industry, which plans to use some of the spectrum for a vehicle-to-vehicle warning system, which is already being tested. The FCC is expected to propose use of most of the 5350-5470 MHz and the 5850-5925 MHz bands for Wi-Fi.
An FCC proposal to open up to 195 MHz of spectrum in the 5 GHz band for Wi-Fi is likely to run into opposition, especially from the automotive industry, which plans to use some of the spectrum for a vehicle-to-vehicle warning system, which is already being tested. The FCC is expected to propose use of most of the 5350-5470 MHz and the 5850-5925 MHz bands for Wi-Fi.
T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel told the FCC in separate reply comments some kind of local or regional coordination is necessary for public safety answering points (PSAPs) to ensure a smooth transition to a next-generation 911 world. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA), meanwhile, offered some basic principles for an NG911 transition. Reply comments on a Nov. 13 public notice by the FCC’s Public Safety Bureau were due at the FCC Monday. Industry groups filed initial comments last month (CD Dec 17 p7).
Several stakeholders complained about and appealed the Colorado Public Utilities Commission’s deregulatory reform, which the PUC ordered and adopted in late December (CD Dec 18 p9). Many voiced concerns in interviews immediately after the PUC adopted the order (CD Dec 26 p8), reflecting loud debate that happened in the months leading up to the order, and filed their concerns formally this week. The PUC initiated its telecom reform in August and ultimately chose to cap its high-cost fund at $54 million, cut retail regulation and reduce high-cost funding in areas deemed effectively competitive, among other changes.