The following are highlights of the trade-related Executive Communications sent to Congress from November 15, 2010 to December 7, 2010:
The FCC’s new Emergency Access Advisory Committee will examine what the best technologies are for the disabled to access “next generation 911,” the commission said late Tuesday. It said the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act directed the group to conduct a national survey and submit recommendations on technologies to the commission. The survey is due under the act a year after the committee’s members are appointed, which the regulator also did Tuesday. The Video Programming and Emergency Access Advisory Committee, whose members also were named, will focus on the accessibility of video programming. It will make recommendations on captioning Internet programming that previously was televised with captions, video device user interfaces, program guides the disabled can use and other issues, the FCC said. That committee must make recommendations on captioning of Web video and the ability of video devices to pass on closed captions from Internet-based video within six months of its first meeting, scheduled for Jan. 13, the agency said. All other issues under its purview must also get recommendations by April 8, 2012, the FCC said. A full list of all members of the emergency access committee is at http://xrl.us/biate6, and of the video committee is at http://xrl.us/biatfe.
The FCC’s new Emergency Access Advisory Committee will examine what the best technologies are for the disabled to access “next generation 911,” the commission said late Tuesday. It said the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act directed the group to conduct a national survey and submit recommendations on technologies to the commission. The survey is due under the act a year after the committee’s members are appointed, which the regulator also did Tuesday. The Video Programming and Emergency Access Advisory Committee, whose members also were named, will focus on the accessibility of video programming. It will make recommendations on captioning Internet programming that previously was televised with captions, video device user interfaces, program guides the disabled can use and other issues, the FCC said. That committee must make recommendations on captioning of Web video and the ability of video devices to pass on closed captions from Internet-based video within six months of its first meeting, scheduled for Jan. 13, the agency said. All other issues under its purview must also get recommendations by April 8, 2012, the FCC said. A full list of all members of the emergency access committee is at http://xrl.us/biate6, and of the video committee is at http://xrl.us/biatfe.
Despite interest from distributors in the U.S. and around the world, 3D’s future “is hard to tell,” David Zaslav, CEO of Discovery Communications, said at the UBS conference in New York Monday. “It’s very expensive,” he said, adding that Discovery chose to work with Sony and Imax to minimize the costs of developing a 3D channel and to share information along the learning curve.
Despite interest from distributors in the U.S. and around the world, 3D’s future “is hard to tell,” David Zaslav, CEO of Discovery Communications, said at the UBS conference in New York Monday. “It’s very expensive,” he said, adding that Discovery chose to work with Sony and Imax to minimize the costs of developing a 3D channel and to share information along the learning curve.
The Senate Small Business Committee canceled a markup scheduled for Tuesday on a bill to create the position of broadband and emerging IT coordinator in the Small Business Administration. The wide-ranging bill (S-3967), introduced Nov. 18 by Chairman Mary Landrieu, D-La., would amend the Small Business Act. The broadband coordinator would be required to have telecom policy experience, in or out of government. The official would identify best practices and coordinate SBA programs helping small businesses link with other federal agencies involved with broadband, including the FCC and the Commerce and Agriculture departments. And the coordinator would provide training to SBA employees so they can counsel small businesses on broadband matters. The Landrieu bill would authorize appropriations of “such sums as are necessary to carry out” the provisions. The coordinator would have to deliver to Congress every two years a report on the SBA’s broadband activities, and a report within a year of the bill’s enactment listing federal programs that help small businesses with broadband and emerging IT. The bill separately would require the SBA administrator to submit a report on “ways to assist with the development of broadband and wireless technology that would benefit small business concerns.” That report, due 45 days after enactment, would describe SBA participation in the National Antenna Program, as well as agreements between the SBA and General Services Administration related to broadband and wireless deployment in SBA offices. It would also contain recommendations “on opportunities for the [SBA] to improve broadband or wireless technology in offices of the Administration that are in areas currently underserved or unserved by broadband service providers.” The markup hasn’t been rescheduled for this year, a Small Business Committee spokesman said. “Hopefully something can be worked out for the new Congress."
Black Friday weekend CE sales were up by high-single to low-double-digit percentages, despite a month’s worth of discounts that prompted some consumers to buy before the post-Thanksgiving sales blitz began, said retailers we polled.
The FCC should delay comment deadlines in a proceeding examining wireless location-accuracy requirements for E-911, and E9-11 requirements for IP-enabled service providers, the agency was jointly asked by APCO, the National Emergency Number Association, the National Association of State 911 Administrators, CTIA and TIA. Comments are due Jan. 3, replies Jan. 31. The groups asked for postponements to Jan. 19 and Feb. 18. “A short-term extension is in the public interest to allow interested parties to meaningfully address the issues raised in this proceeding,” they said.
The FCC will vote on a notice of inquiry at its December meeting designed to push 911 into the broadband age, Chairman Julius Genachowski said Tuesday. The announcement answers in part the question of what will be on the agenda for December, the last open meeting of the year. The FCC also said the meeting is delayed from Dec. 15 to Dec. 21, amidst growing speculation that the main order of business will be a vote on net neutrality rules (CD Nov 22 p1).
A cybercrime center and a network of national computer emergency response teams (CERT) should be part of a new EU approach to internal security, the European Commission said Monday. Until now there has been no single document linking such security policies in a coherent, comprehensive strategy, it said. With attacks against information systems -- and other threats -- on the upswing, Europe must be more resilient, it said. The proposed cybercrime center, due by 2013, will boost coordination between EU members and institutions and international partners, the EC said. It said European governments will be urged to create national CERTs, and the EC also wants a network of contacts among those rapid response teams and law enforcement authorities. The plan also includes proposals to fight international crime networks and terrorism, strengthen border controls and ramp up responses to crises and disasters, the EC said.