The FCC changed a rule in its UnivUSF order and the change’s impact is being felt in the ongoing efforts to reform the Lifeline program. Under the USF order adopted in October (CD Oct 28 p1), an eligible telecom carrier will not meet facilities-based requirements if it uses its facilities only for directory or operator assistance.
According to the U.S. Council for International Business, the United Nations' Chemicals in Products Project is recognized as an emerging policy issue that includes endocrine-disrupting chemicals and environmentally persistent pharmaceuticals. UN Environmental Program's November 15-18, 2011 draft report from chemicals management meeting here. Addendum available here, and draft decisions submitted by the Committee available here. 2007 background information on chemicals management available here.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule, effective December 9, 2011, which updates the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) legal authority citations for the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to replace citations to the President’s Notice of November 4, 2010, Continuation of Emergency Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), with citations to the President’s Notice of November 9, 2011 on the same subject. BIS explains that these Presidential notices are the one year extensions of the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12938 of November 14, 1994 with respect to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the U.S. posed by the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and the means of delivering such weapons. BIS is making these changes to keep the CFR’s legal authority citations for the EAR current.
The threat to U.S. cyber networks will persist, but there are collaborations, practices and other methods that the government can employ to toughen cybersecurity, defense and security experts said late Tuesday at the Center for Strategic & International Studies. Most of the nation’s commerce and financial activities are done in the cyber environment, said General James Cartwright, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The threat will persist “and any place you put that much resource and that much intellectual capital is a lucrative target for people who want to do bad things,” he said. The country isn’t adequately prepared for a critical cyber attack, but no one is, said James Lewis, director of the CSIS Technology and Public Policy Program. There are improvements at some agencies, “but basically, we're still about as vulnerable as we can be.” The country must take time to build its defenses, rather than wait for a crisis to occur, he said.
The FCC should consider requirements that would put equipment into emergency vehicles, making each transport its own wireless center, Pisgah Comm consultant Stagg Newman said Tuesday. “We have to rethink emergency communications,” Newman said, speaking at a roundtable on retiring the public switched telephone network at FCC headquarters. “Every vehicle can be its own little cell site.” This would help expand emergency communications in an IP era but would also allow rescue agencies to save money, Newman said. Brian Fontes, CEO of the National Emergency Number Association, said he agreed that it was “important to have a wireless, public safety network” but said the FCC should also consider tweaking rules that allow incumbents to charge for 911 connections. Carnegie Mellon telecom professor Jon Peha said the FCC ought to use the newly revised Universal Service Fund (CD Oct 28 p1) as leverage to build a wireless emergency network. “It seems to me if a carrier has gotten a dime of taxpayer money to roll out LTE in an unserved area, it ought to be able to support public safety,” he said. Peha also said there ought to be one national voice for emergency responders at rulemaking agencies. Florida state Director of Broadband Programs Bill Price said emergency agencies’ needs “have to be front and center” as new IP networks are built out.
The draft of a new House cybersecurity bill seeks to blend elements of the White House cybersecurity proposal with some recommendations from the House Republican Cybersecurity Task Force, in an effort to pass bipartisan cybersecurity legislation this session. The proposal, which will be formally introduced next week, would establish DHS as the lead agency to coordinate the response to national cyberthreats, create a new non-governmental organization to increase information sharing between the public and private sectors and emphasize voluntary incentives for private companies to secure U.S. networks.
The draft of a new House cybersecurity bill seeks to blend elements of the White House cybersecurity proposal with some recommendations from the House Republican Cybersecurity Task Force, in an effort to pass bipartisan cybersecurity legislation this session. The proposal, which will be formally introduced next week, would establish DHS as the lead agency to coordinate the response to national cyberthreats, create a new non-governmental organization to increase information sharing between the public and private sectors and emphasize voluntary incentives for private companies to secure U.S. networks.
Dec. 5 Media Access Project forum on new technologies, 8 a.m., Pew Conference Center, 901 E St. NW, Washington -- mera@mediaaccess.org
AT&T’s proposed buy of 700 MHz spectrum licenses from Qualcomm faces hurdles, and possibly got more complicated Friday with the announcement that Verizon Wireless agreed to buy 122 AWS licenses from SpectrumCo, the cable consortium. The AT&T/Qualcomm order is still in the commission’s electronic voting system. Chairman Julius Genachowski has voted for the item and Commissioner Robert McDowell is likely to as well. But Genachowski would still need another vote from Commissioners Michael Copps or Mignon Clyburn. It isn’t clear either is prepared to vote yes, FCC officials said.
Media consolidation has taken a toll on the quality of journalism, FCC officials and media professionals said. Technological advances have given people better access to information, but much of that information isn’t as in-depth and unique to various communities as it used to be, said FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael Copps and other media professionals Thursday at a forum in Atlanta.