BERLIN -- The U.S. and Germany differed with other countries over the length of time to delay remedies for creditors of satellite projects when public services are involved. The differences were aired at a diplomatic conference for adoption of a space assets protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment according to documents, speakers and interviews. An official from a country with a strong satellite industry said a definition of public services is needed. Executives attending the conference were from Astrium, BHO Legal, EADS, Eutelsat, Intelsat, Munich Re, SES and Thales Alenia Space.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a final rule, effective May 1, 2012, to allow for the resumption of wooden handicrafts imports from China, provided that they are treated, documented, and their shipping packages are labeled with a merchandise tag containing the identity of the product manufacturer, and other conditions.
Human rights assessments should be part of any Internet policy discussion to ensure that any restrictions on access to online content are appropriate and necessary to address specific issues, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay said in Geneva Wednesday at the first U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) debate on the right to free expression on the Internet. “The world is moving online big time, very fast,” said Swedish Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Bildt. The freedoms people cherish in the offline world must be protected on the Internet, he said. But he and others agreed that no new rules or standards are needed to guarantee those rights.
LightSquared’s failure to satisfy the FCC’s requirements for the company to begin terrestrial service makes LightSquared’s request for a declaratory ruling moot, said Deere in comments at the FCC on the request (http://xrl.us/bmwc3o). LightSquared asked the agency to issue a declaratory ruling spelling out the legal protections afforded to GPS. That request was made before the FCC proposed to pull LightSquared’s terrestrial authorization, which means it’s unnecessary for the FCC to take up the issue, said Deere. Other filers urged the FCC to wait for a Comptroller General receivers report before taking on receiver standards.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce isn’t quite wedded to Sen. John McCain’s alternative cybersecurity approach, despite reports that they plan to endorse the GOP’s forthcoming legislation. The Chamber’s Senior Director of National Security and Emergency Preparedness, Matthew Eggers, said the group “generally agrees” with McCain’s alternative approach, but the Chamber is “looking at a number of options for formally stating our organization’s views to lawmakers and staff. The letter obtained by Politico reflects this ongoing effort. We anticipate supporting this nonregulatory approach to crafting cyber policy.” McCain said he will introduce an alternative bill to S-2105, the Senate Cybersecurity Act, during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing after the Presidents Day recess this month. The forthcoming bill differs from S-2015 by fostering a “cooperative relationship with the entire private sector through information sharing, rather than an adversarial one with prescriptive regulations,” he said. Specifically the bill aims to better defend the nation from cyber attacks by “improving information sharing among the private sector and government; updating our criminal code to reflect the threat cybercriminals pose; reforming the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA); and focusing federal investments in cybersecurity,” he said. Politico reported Monday that the Chamber said McCain’s approach “'identified a smart and practical vision for tackling the cybersecurity issue’ by not trying to fight cyberthreats with new regulations on the private sector,” in a draft letter circulated to some of its members.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce isn’t quite wedded to Sen. John McCain’s alternative cybersecurity approach, despite reports that they plan to endorse the GOP’s forthcoming legislation. The Chamber’s Senior Director of National Security and Emergency Preparedness, Matthew Eggers, said the group “generally agrees” with McCain’s alternative approach, but the Chamber is “looking at a number of options for formally stating our organization’s views to lawmakers and staff. The letter obtained by Politico reflects this ongoing effort. We anticipate supporting this nonregulatory approach to crafting cyber policy.” McCain said he will introduce an alternative bill to S-2105, the Senate Cybersecurity Act, during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing after the Presidents Day recess this month (WID Feb 17 p1). The forthcoming bill differs from S-2015 by fostering a “cooperative relationship with the entire private sector through information sharing, rather than an adversarial one with prescriptive regulations,” he said. Specifically the bill aims to better defend the nation from cyber attacks by “improving information sharing among the private sector and government; updating our criminal code to reflect the threat cybercriminals pose; reforming the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA); and focusing federal investments in cybersecurity,” he said. Politico reported Monday that the Chamber said McCain’s approach “'identified a smart and practical vision for tackling the cybersecurity issue’ by not trying to fight cyberthreats with new regulations on the private sector,” in a draft letter circulated to some of its members.
Sprint Nextel’s decision not to buy MetroPCS, news of which broke late Friday, had few regulatory implications. None of the analysts looking at the deal mentioned potential regulatory complications. When Sprint announced a merger agreement with Nextel in late 2004, then-FCC Chairman Michael Powell all but welcomed the deal, projecting the new company to be an enhanced rival of Verizon Wireless and AT&T, then Cingular. Potentially more concerning for the FCC this time around is the extent to which Sprint has emerged as a wounded warrior after it led the fight to beat back AT&T’s buy of T-Mobile last year.
The mobile emergency alert system pilot project, led by PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, has the potential to foster more collaboration between public and commercial broadcasters and also between public broadcasters and their local alert and public safety organizations, some public broadcasting and mobile professionals said Monday at the Public Media Summit sponsored by the Association of Public Television Stations. For the pilot, three public TV stations will create and distribute emergency alerts using video, text and other media, through devices manufactured by LG Electronics. The test networks are Vegas PBS, Alabama Public Television and WGBH TV and Radio in Boston.
The mobile emergency alert system pilot project, led by PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, has the potential to foster more collaboration between public and commercial broadcasters and also between public broadcasters and their local alert and public safety organizations, some public broadcasting and mobile professionals said Monday at the Public Media Summit sponsored by the Association of Public Television Stations. For the pilot, three public TV stations will create and distribute emergency alerts using video, text and other media, through devices manufactured by LG Electronics (CD June 6 p 11). The test networks are Vegas PBS, Alabama Public Television and WGBH TV and Radio in Boston.
Europe and the U.S. should be thinking about a “transatlantic digital marketplace” instead of getting “hung up on our small differences,” U.S. Ambassador to the EU William Kennard, a former FCC chairman, said Monday at a Copenhagen EU Danish Presidency high level conference on the digital single market. He cited a book by Peter Baldwin, “The Narcissism of Minor Differences,” that describes the psychological tendency people have to seize on small differences and enlarge them, saying that although the EU and U.S. are the world’s largest trading partners, they get stuck on issues such as data privacy that are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. As Europe debates its digital single market and the U.S. updates its online rules, they should consider joining forces because China, Brazil, Russia and other countries aren’t going to wait for them to resolve their differences, he said on a webcast.