To support the National Export Initiative (NEI) and other programs, the International Trade Administration is seeking comments on areas for cooperation between the U.S. and the European Union to reduce or eliminate divergences in regulatory measures that impede trade in goods in the transatlantic marketplace, in ways that may be unnecessary. ITA is also seeking information on any existing or emerging sectors that may benefit from further transatlantic regulatory cooperation.
In the event of widespread power outages during hurricane season, T-Mobile has access to additional fuel to supply its generators and company repair and transport vehicles and for other emergency circumstances, a spokeswoman said. To further supplement the fixed and portable back-up generators, T-Mobile has dozens of portable generators, ready to be transported to impacted areas, she said. Microwave radio equipment can also be trucked into the affected areas to facilitate data communication from the cell sites to T-Mobile’s network switches, as backup, in the event Tier One fixed-line service fails, she said. T-Mobile also uses pre-staged Cells-On-Wheels (COWs) to move in and provide additional wireless communications capacity in the hardest-hit areas. The company monitors evacuation efforts and routes and will take steps to increase wireless capacity in those areas as customers move inland. The company also coordinates recovery efforts with local, state and national officials, she said.
Eight technology vendors Thursday backed the National Emergency Number Association’s Next Generation 911 Architecture Interface Standard (i3). “We fully advocate that NENA remain the ‘Voice of 911’ and continue its NG911 standards development and evolution efforts,” the companies said in a joint statement. “Doing so will enable the public safety community” end-user agencies and business ecosystem members “to enhance and accelerate the development and deployment of NG911 emergency communication solutions,” they said. They are: 911 Datamaster, Avaya, Cassidian Communications, Digital Data Technologies, GeoComm, RedSky Technologies, Solacom and TeleCommunication Systems.
The city of Charlotte, N.C., got broad support from the Public Safety Spectrum Trust and other local governments on its request for clarity from the FCC that use of its proposed wireless broadband network should not be restricted to police, firefighters and emergency medical service providers. Charlotte asked the FCC in March for a declaratory ruling that other government agencies can also use the 700 MHz network. Charlotte was one of the public safety applicants that got a Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grant last year to build out an early network in the band.
The CE industry must concentrate on boosting e-waste recycling efforts in the states that don’t have e-waste laws and “bring them up to the collection rates” in the 25 states that mandate electronics recycling, said Sego Jackson, principal planner of Snohomish County, Wash. Jackson, who represented local governments on the EPA-led National Electronic Product Stewardship Initiative, was commenting on the CEA’s launch of an industry-led national e-waste initiative that aims to collect 1 billion pounds of used electronics by 2016.
While threats to Internet freedom are growing and have become more diverse in some countries, there is “a pushback by citizens and activists who have found ways to sidestep some of the restrictions and use the power of new Internet-based platforms to promote democracy and human rights,” Freedom House said in a new report, Freedom on the Net 2011. Some countries have shown “increased government blocking, filtering, legal action and intimidation to prevent users from accessing unfavorable content.” Venezuela, Azerbaijan, Rwanda and other nations experienced “politicized censorship and user rights violations emerged, often in the period before or during elections,” the report said. Out of the 37 countries researched, “the governments of 15 were found to engage in substantial blocking of politically relevant content” from 2009-2010, it said. Those countries include Bahrain, China, South Korea, Thailand and Ethiopia, the report said: Some citizens in these countries used tools like YouTube and Facebook that “eased the impact of content censorship and at times undermined it significantly.” Countries with higher Internet penetration rates also had high levels of Internet freedom, the report found. South Africa, Kenya and India have lower penetration rates and limited restrictions on Internet freedom. Ethiopia, Cuba and Burma, with almost no Internet access, “have heavy restrictions on Internet use,” the report said.
On April 18, 2011 the President issued Executive Order 13570, to strengthen existing import sanctions against North Korea. The EO prohibits (unless excepted) the direct or indirect importation of goods, services, and technology from North Korea. The EO takes additional steps to address the national emergency declared in EOs 13466 and 13551, ensures implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874 (on preventing imports of certain goods and services from North Korea1), and complements the import restrictions provided for under section 73 of the Arms Export Control Act.
Sprint Nextel and Cellular South turned up the heat on federal regulators to reject AT&T’s $39 billion buy of T-Mobile, a deal announced one month ago on March 20. Critics and supporters of the deal told us they expect to see opposition intensify, especially after AT&T formally seeks approval of the transaction in a filing at the FCC expected to be made Thursday.
The FCC should use its ancillary authority under Section 154(i) of the Telecom Act to apply anti-Caller-ID “spoofing” rules to VoIP providers, the Department of Justice said in a filing at the FCC. “Although the Commission has not classified interconnected VoIP service as a telecommunications service for the general purposes of Title II, it has previously used its ancillary authority … to extend many common carrier obligations to VoIP providers,” said criminal division Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein in Justice’s comments. “Here, the Commission’s ancillary authority under Section 154(i), in conjunction with the provisions of the Truth in Caller ID Act, is sufficient to empower the Commission to regulate such providers.” The commission is in the midst of a rulemaking on how to implement the 2009 Act, and comments came pouring into docket 11-39 this week.
The FCC should use its ancillary authority under Section 154(i) of the Telecom Act to apply anti-Caller-ID “spoofing” rules to VoIP providers, the Department of Justice said in a filing at the FCC. “Although the Commission has not classified interconnected VoIP service as a telecommunications service for the general purposes of Title II, it has previously used its ancillary authority … to extend many common carrier obligations to VoIP providers,” said criminal division Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein in Justice’s comments. “Here, the Commission’s ancillary authority under Section 154(i), in conjunction with the provisions of the Truth in Caller ID Act, is sufficient to empower the Commission to regulate such providers.” The commission is in the midst of a rulemaking on how to implement the 2009 Act, and comments came pouring into docket 11-39 this week.