On August 4, 2010, the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Related Homeland Security Functions (COAC) met in Detroit, MI to discuss a variety of trade issues.
Some are starting to mutter under their breaths that they miss former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld said on his blog, repeating comments he made at the Supernova last week. The comments appear to show a strong divide between current Chairman Julius Genachowski and public interest groups, which early on were among his biggest supporters. “No one can doubt that Julius Genachowski has emerged as the absolute opposite of Kevin Martin,” Feld said. “Unfortunately, this includes a stunning inability to make decisions, combined with an ability to generate his own political opposition by dithering. This does not simply apply to the current fight over FCC broadband authority. It applies to everything, including what was supposed to be his big signature issue from the National Broadband Plan -- getting 500 MHz of spectrum available for broadband. A perusal of the last year of FCC orders and Commission meetings shows a non-stop stream of reports, studies, and proposed rulemakings. The only actual orders involve things so non-controversial and trivial that they hardly constitute tweaks. It does not help that Genachowski manages to give every impression that while he enjoys jetting about to industry conferences and rubbing elbows with the media elite, he does not appear very interested in actually doing the work of Chairman.” Feld noted that this week’s agency meeting includes votes on only two items: Amendments to hearing aid rules and a proposed rulemaking and inquiry on wireless backhaul. “While certainly useful items, the FCC could easily have handled these on circulation,” Feld said. “Meanwhile, critical elements of the Chairman’s agenda, such as auction of the D Block, final rules for the broadcast white spaces, incentive auctions for broadcast television licenses, special access reform -- in short, anything that matters enough to get anyone mad if they lose -- languishes."
On July 30, 2010, Representative Sherman (D) introduced H.R. 6071, “The Emergency China Trade Act of 2010”, a bill that would revoke Most Favored Nation (MFN) status for China and direct the President to negotiate a new trading relationship with the country that would be designed to eliminate the trade imbalance within four years. The bill would also provide for the expedited consideration of any new trade partnership with China that would bring the trade deficit down to zero within that time period.
HOUSTON -- A major question the FCC must work through with the advice of the public safety community is how people will be able to send text messages seeking help to 911 call centers nationwide, said Jeff Cohen, senior legal counsel to the FCC Public Safety Bureau. “Certainly one important thing I hear about … is the inability to send texts to 911,” he said at a town hall meeting at APCO on the regulatory framework for a next-generation 911 service. “We need to figure out what’s the best way to support real-time texting, and it’s especially important for the safety community."
An FCC request for comment on whether to expand outage reporting requirements to VoIP and broadband and if so how generated little enthusiasm from telecom and Internet companies and groups. Providers from Vonage to the major wireless carriers said in comments late Monday that mandatory requirements would impose unnecessary burdens on the industry. Current outage reporting obligations apply to voice and/or paging communications over wireline, wireless, cable and satellite communications services.
HOUSTON -- APCO played a major role in restoring emergency communications in Haiti following January’s massive earthquake, President Richard Mirgon said Tuesday at the group’s annual conference. A major side effect of the earthquake was the destruction of Haiti’s land mobile radio system, with its transmitter in the presidential palace. An estimated 10,000 emergency calls were made and not answered after disaster struck, Mirgon said.
An FCC request for comment on whether to expand outage reporting requirements to VoIP and broadband and if so how generated little enthusiasm from telecom and Internet companies and groups. Providers from Vonage to the major wireless carriers said in comments late Monday that mandatory requirements would impose unnecessary burdens on the industry. Current outage reporting obligations apply to voice and/or paging communications over wireline, wireless, cable and satellite communications services.
Equipment makers could seek grants to develop public-safety devices that support voice, data and video communications in the 700 MHz spectrum, under a bipartisan bill introduced Wednesday by Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif. HR-5907 would set up a $70 million competition, run by NTIA, for research and development grants. “This process will produce devices ready for first responders’ use within five years -- hopefully sooner,” Harman said Wednesday on the House floor.
On July 28, 2010, the House passed the following bills:
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, in coordination with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, has issued a proposed rule to enhance existing storage requirements for vehicles containing Division 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 explosives1.