Delving into the details of patient consent for sharing information will be among the questions for 2013 and 2015 standards that those looking at both policy and technical standards for health IT should consider next, said John Halamka of Harvard Medical School, vice chairman of the Health IT Standards Committee, at its meetings Tuesday. The standards for consumer consent after 2011 are “murky territory,” said privacy and security workgroup member David McCallie of Cerner Corp. The committee is making recommendations to National Coordinator David Blumenthal for an escalating series of requirements doctors and institutions must meet to qualify for incentive payments.
The main technology bill in Congress this fall will be the controversial cybersecurity bill by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., some of whose provisions may presage a larger federal role in private networks than critics initially thought, analysts from the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) told reporters at a Tuesday briefing. But concern is probably overblown that a validated role for the FCC in net neutrality, in its punishment of Comcast for slowing P2P traffic, will embolden other agencies to claim authority over private networks, they said. The chaotic Hill calendar this fall also includes bills for online privacy, secure identification and P2P user control -- not to mention the likely renewal of expiring provisions of the Patriot Act, analysts said. (See separate report in this issue.)
Federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra told an FCC broadband workshop on telemedicine Tuesday that better use of broadband is critical to President Barrack Obama’s focus on universal health care and health care reform. “We cannot move forward in advancing our nation’s healthcare reform goals without the appropriate use of technology in health care and telemedicine is a key component,” Chopra said. “I say that as the president’s senior advisor on technology matters. I say it because I've seen it first hand.”
GENEVA -- European Internet governance discussions will continue with the aim of capturing national perspectives for better regional decisions and participation in global organizations and institutions, participants said during two days of talks. Human rights issues emerged as a surprise focus of the meeting. Governments and industry were urged to boost participation.
Twelve of the 13 associations taking part in a National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) Governing Board meeting Tuesday opposed reallocating the 700 MHz D- block to commercial use, as proposed by the National Emergency Number Association. Only NENA dissented. “NPSTC does not support the proposal to reallocate the 10 MHz of public safety 700 MHz broadband block to commercial use, as it would give back scarce public safety spectrum,” the group said. “Doing so would also undermine progress made during recent meetings among numerous major public safety organizations to further address matters related to the development of a nationwide interoperable broadband network.” The group said NENA should “abandon the promotion of its proposal to remove current spectrum from public safety and instead … support current efforts by the majority of the national public safety organizations that would increase spectrum for public safety.” NENA CEO Brian Fontes told us the vote played out as expected. “They are opposed to two of the elements in the NENA proposal,” he said. “They oppose the notion that we still believe that an auction is a viable approach, and they oppose the fact that we would consider exchanging 10 MHz of public safety spectrum for something of equal or greater value, meaning access to a 20 MHz broadband network. It’s just an example of reasonable minds differ[ing].”
The North American Broadcasters Association worries that the increasing number of devices, including for broadband over power line, with radio frequency emissions in broadcasting frequency bands “might seriously jeopardize … the broadcasting service below 80 MHz, “often resulting in a complete service disruption,” it said in a submission to an ITU-R meeting this week on spectrum engineering. The disruption “would prejudicially damage … small private broadcasters operating” a single affected medium frequency transmitter “as well as emergency and distress communications” for everyone in a country on long, medium, high and very high frequencies, the association said. Contrary to contentions that national governments not the ITU should deal with the matter, countries may introduce broadband over power line devices with no effective controls, it said. So the problem directly involves the ITU according to its constitution, the association said. It proposed adding that “electrical infrastructure wiring is not designed or installed for transmission of signals at radio frequencies” to the proposed draft text of an ITU-R recommendation. The association also proposed a list of limits on interference field-strength densities at the broadcast receiving system.
Canadian lawmakers and telecom regulators are facing heat from federal, provincial and territorial privacy officials and telcos that rely on others’ facilities to provide Internet access. Privacy officials last week urged lawmakers to scale back bills that were tabled in June, but expected to return next year, that would expand surveillance powers, especially over wireless communications. A coalition of ISPs also launched a campaign to pressure the Cabinet of Canada to overrule a Canadian Radio-TV and Telecom Commission decision last year that found “wholesale ethernet services” by incumbents such as Bell Canada aren’t “essential” -- and thus not subject to government-regulated wholesale rates.
Canadian lawmakers and telecom regulators are facing heat from federal, provincial and territorial privacy officials and telcos that rely on others’ facilities to provide Internet access. Privacy officials last week urged lawmakers to scale back bills that were tabled in June, but expected to return next year, that would expand surveillance powers, especially over wireless communications. A coalition of ISPs also launched a campaign to pressure the Cabinet of Canada to overrule a Canadian Radio-TV and Telecom Commission decision last year that found “wholesale ethernet services” by incumbents such as Bell Canada aren’t “essential” -- and thus not subject to government-regulated wholesale rates.
The Census Bureau reports that U.S. exports increased by 2.2 percent to $127.6 billion since June 2009, and imports increased 4.7 percent to $159.6 billion. In commenting on the report, Commerce Secretary Locke stated, "July is the third consecutive month that exports of goods and services have increased." (Census fact sheet, dated 09/10/09, available at http://www.commerce.gov/s/groups/public/@doc/@os/@opa/documents/content/prod01_008400.pdf and Commerce press release, dated 09/10/09, available at http://www.commerce.gov/NewsRoom/PressReleases_FactSheets/PROD01_008401 and
There have been some changes in China’s media and information control system, but access is still difficult and more changes are needed, witnesses said during a hearing by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on Thursday. The Chinese government is worried about the increasing use of online tools like Twitter and is expected to monitor content even more closely, they said. Established in 2000, the commission has twelve members appointed by Congressional leaders from both parties.