Creating a universal gateway device for pay-TV networks could create a boom in the number of video navigation devices available but could also risk dismantling complex systems behind those networks, NCTA said in response to the FCC public notice on how video devices could affect broadband deployment.
Requiring the development of a portable video device that works across delivery platforms nationally wouldn’t serve the public interest, Dish Network and EchoStar said in comments to the FCC for its National Broadband Plan. They said direct broadcast satellite service remains limited by one-way spectrum, while cable, telco TV and IPTV have two-way operating network architecture. Combining the technologies in a box would make it “overly complex and prohibitively expensive for consumers,” the companies said. The security requirements for satellite-TV’s over-the-air “broadcast nature” don’t apply to closed, two-way cable systems, they said. Features and services expected to emerge the next few years could become a competitive battleground between TV providers and would only worsen the problems of a box for all the technologies, they said.
On December 22, 2009, the Senate passed H.R. 4284, a bill to extend the Generalized System of Preferences and Trade Preference Act/Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPA/ATPDEA) through December 31, 2010, clearing the measure for the President.
The Department of Homeland Security has issued a press release announcing that a large majority of states and territories - 46 of 56 - have informed DHS that they will not be able to meet the Dec. 31 REAL ID material compliance deadline. In order to ensure that the millions of Americans traveling this holiday season are not disrupted, DHS is extending the Dec. 31 REAL ID material compliance deadline. The May 10, 2011, deadline for full compliance remains in effect, and the Department will continue to work closely with states to meet this deadline. However, DHS states that Congress must act to address systemic problems with the REAL ID Act to advance U.S. security interests over the long term. (Press release, dated 12/18/09, available at http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1261170524591.shtm.)
Organizations of local government officials asked the FCC for an emergency stay of a declaratory ruling to speed up the siting of towers and other wireless facilities (CD Nov 19 p1). They warned of possible harm to local governments and the public. At the same time, the groups -- National Association of Telecom Officers and Advisors, U.S. Conference of Mayors, National League of Cities, National Association of Counties and American Planning Association -- filed a petition for reconsideration or clarification and asked the commission to change or drop a 30-day incompleteness deadline. The time limit violates the commission’s interpretation of its authority as expressed in the ruling, the groups said, and would prevent local governments from dealing with applications when a concern becomes known after 30 days. No local government was told of the FCC’s plans for the deadline, and it wasn’t proposed in the original petition, the groups said. Many local governments haven’t even received proper notice of the commission action because it hasn’t been published in the Federal Register, they said. Many communities, including small ones with few legal resources, are required to make major changes immediately or risk court action, the groups said. A stay would give time to develop rules to aid the deployment of wireless services while allowing local governments to protect the public, they said.
Regulatory uncertainty and lack of consumer demand are slowing fiber rollout in Europe, President Karel Helsen of the Fiber-to-the-Home Council Europe said in an interview Friday. Fiber networks offer business advantages, environmental benefits and the promise of more and better services for consumers, and Europe lags behind the Asia- Pacific region and North America in deployment, he said. But Europe is “on the verge,” because of change expected the next five years, he said.
Regulatory uncertainty and lack of consumer demand are slowing fiber rollout in Europe, President Karel Helsen of the Fiber-to-the-Home Council Europe said in an interview Friday. Fiber networks offer business advantages, environmental benefits and the promise of more and better services for consumers, and Europe lags behind the Asia-Pacific region and North America in deployment, he said. But Europe is “on the verge,” because of change expected the next five years, he said.
According to U.S. government sources, objections raised in the Senate by Senators Shelby, Sessions, and Snowe to the House-passed bill (H.R. 4284) to extend the Generalized System of Preferences and Trade Preference Act/Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPA/ATPDEA) through December 31, 2010 appear to have been resolved.
In proposing requirements for building out local public- safety systems to the FCC, the Public Safety Spectrum Trust’s main goals are ensuring nationwide roaming, interoperability and priority service among the local systems and a future nationwide public-safety broadband network, said Harlin McEwen, the chairman of the 700 MHz public safety broadband licensee. Based on a review of a report about local needs by the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council’s broadband task force, the recommendations underline the need for a standardized system, he said in an interview.
The copyright industries already have many of the tools they need to reduce infringement over the Internet, the Information Technology Innovation Foundation said in a report. What’s missing is crucial regulatory and legislative encouragement toward intermediaries such as Internet service providers and online advertising networks, and some good old-fashioned political horse trading, researchers and executives told a foundation event in Washington Tuesday. Foundation President Robert Atkinson said the White House roundtable on intellectual property enforcement scheduled for the afternoon may presage a more active role for the Obama administration than that of President George W. Bush. (See separate report in this issue.)