The FCC should “discount” recommendations by the Alliance for Telecom Industry Solutions Incubator that the only feasible solution in the short term for sending texts to 911 should be based on Internet Protocol text relay technology, the National Emergency Number Association said in a comment filing. ATIS started its investigation in April 2011 using June 2012 “as the target deployment date,” NENA said (http://xrl.us/bmr3i7). “By arbitrarily limiting its consideration of possible solutions to those which could be deployed nation-wide in just over one year (including the 9 months required to generate its report), the Incubator effectively precluded consideration of many potential solutions that might have been implementable upon longer, but still reasonable timeframes.” IP text relay “has enormous shortcomings, however, that arguably exceed even those of some SMS-based solutions,” NENA said. It said said some companies, including Intrado and Neustar, have demonstrated or proposed SMS-to-911 solutions “that allow for location-based routing and varying degrees of handset- or network-based location reporting -- both critical elements of 911 service that IP text relay has not yet been shown to support.”
Senators gave mixed praise to the Senate Cybersecurity Act Tuesday, both commending the bill for addressing cyberthreats to the U.S. and citing a lack of procedural cohesion over its development. The Cybersecurity Act (http://xrl.us/bmr4rs) gives the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority to lead the nation’s cybersecurity response and fortify the nation’s critical infrastructure and federal networks. The legislation provides a framework for sharing cyberthreat information between the federal government and the private sector, amends the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), strengthens the partnership between DHS and the Department of Defense (DOD), increases cybersecurity research and development and cybersecurity recruitment and training.
Senators gave mixed praise to the Senate Cybersecurity Act Tuesday, both commending the bill for addressing cyberthreats to the U.S. and citing a lack of procedural cohesion over its development. The Cybersecurity Act (http://xrl.us/bmr4rs) gives the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority to lead the nation’s cybersecurity response and fortify the nation’s critical infrastructure and federal networks. The legislation provides a framework for sharing cyberthreat information between the federal government and the private sector, amends the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), strengthens the partnership between DHS and the Department of Defense (DOD), increases cybersecurity research and development and cybersecurity recruitment and training.
A small daily newspaper publisher warned the FCC against easing cross-ownership rules against one company owning a daily and a radio or TV station in the same market. Journal Publishing, which has said Tribune abuses its cross-ownership waiver in Connecticut (CD Oct 4 p19), pointed to that company in asking the agency not to expand the waiver for others to use. “This situation that has developed in Connecticut may provide a good example of what will happen nationally if the rule against cross-ownership is repealed -- less competition, less employment, less journalism, and more concentration of power,” the owner of the Journal Inquirer said in docket 09-182 (http://xrl.us/bmrxuw). “Banning cross-ownership in markets outside the top 20 ranking would be better than no ban at all, but after 12 years of waivers of the cross-ownership rule for one particular company in Connecticut, we ask the commission to prohibit further extension of waivers in this situation.” A Media Bureau rulemaking notice asks about allowing cross ownership in the top-20 U.S. markets when certain showings are made by a waiver seeker. Lawyers representing a creditor of Tribune, owner of the Hartford Courant and WTIC Hartford, separately met with bureau officials about the company’s plan to exit bankruptcy and transfer some FCC licenses. JPMorgan Chase proposes to use a subsidiary to hold “the bulk” of the bank’s stake in the reorganized company, so its executives will be “wholly unrelated to Tribune,” said a filing last week in docket 10-104 (http://xrl.us/bmrxu8). “This change in the manner in which JPMorgan intends to hold its interests in Tribune post-emergence will be described in the amendment to the pending FCC applications in this proceeding that the parties intend to file in the near future,” said the ex parte document reporting on a meeting where JPMorgan was represented by former FCC Chairman Richard Wiley and other lawyers with Wiley Rein. “Although JPMorgan had previously reported to the Commission that it held a non-attributable ownership interest of more than 5 percent of the voting stock of Gannett,” the filing said that stake is now below that threshold, at which investments can become attributable under FCC rules.
The Office of Management and Budget has approved an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service final rule entitled: "Importation of Wooden Handicrafts from China," which is expected to provide for the resumption of the importation of certain wooden handicrafts from China under specified conditions. APHIS had issued a supplemental proposed rule in 2010 in order to make several technical changes to its 2009 proposed rule that would provide for this resumption.
In January 2012, officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union met during an ASEAN FTA Negotiation Capacity Workshop to discuss the areas' trade policies as well as the new and emerging trade issues in free trade agreements. Although ASEAN has already signed FTAs with China, Japan, Republic of Korea, India and Australia-New Zealand, it is currently negotiating services and investment with India and Japan, as well as several nations within the EU. According to ASEAN, the program will help the negotiation capacity of the Member States not only with the EU but also in other bilateral and ASEAN-led FTA negotiations.
The record so far shows that commenters “overwhelmingly” support “voluntary, industry-led collaborative efforts” aimed at developing a mechanism allowing texting to 911, CTIA said in reply comments filed at the FCC. Carriers offered similar comments. But the National Emergency Number Association advised the FCC to act quickly and warned that any interim solution is likely to be in place for some time. Several commenters said the best short-term solution would be IP Relay, as identified by the ATIS Interim Nonvoice Emergency Services Incubator.
The National Transportation Safety Board formally recommended to CTIA and CEA that they “develop technology features that disable the functions of portable electronic devices within reach of the driver when a vehicle is in motion.” The recommendation grew out of the NTSB’s investigation of a multiple vehicle accident in Gray Summit, Mo., in 2010, where the agency determined that the driver who caused the accident was texting and driving at the same time. “These technology features should include the ability to permit emergency use of the device while the vehicle is in motion and have the capability of identifying occupant seating position so as not to interfere with use of the device by passengers,” NTSB said (http://xrl.us/bmri82). “We have always encouraged the industry to continue to develop new technology-based tools and offerings that are affordable and consumer-friendly that would create safer driving,” CTIA said in response. “The industry constantly produces new products and services, including those that can disable the driver’s mobile device."
Information sharing and protecting civil liberties should be very carefully considered before any cybersecurity legislation is brought to the Senate or House floor, said former government officials and security experts at a briefing on cybersecurity and civil liberties sponsored by The Constitution Project Thursday. There’s an understandable reluctance by the private sector to engage in an information sharing program, said Mary McCarthy, former intelligence programs director at the Central Intelligence Agency. As federal agencies work with the private sector, “all parties should carefully consider the matter of civil liberties,” she told reporters and congressional aides on Capitol Hill.
The White House unveiled its concept of operations guidance for the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) this week (http://xrl.us/bmre24). But the continuous monitoring requirement of the concept of operations guidance is “not currently well defined” and could have a “significant impact” on the operations of cloud service providers, said Dan Fillpott, a federal information security architect with the Cloud Security Alliance.