The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a final rule, effective April 13, 2009, to carry out the purposes of Executive Order 13396, ''Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in Cte d'Ivoire" under which sanctions have been in place since February 8, 2006.
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement being negotiated is a logical result of stalled talks in established international forums, said Luc Devigne, head of the intellectual property unit of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Trade. The Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) debate has been taken hostage by a few countries, like Brazil and China, and it’s difficult to bring up intellectual property in WIPO, Devigne told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s IP conference Monday. “The debate is polluted,” he said. Countries that represent the majority of world trade shouldn’t be constrained in their desire to go beyond TRIPS, which sets a floor, not a ceiling, by countries that refuse to engage in talks, he said.
Countries may want to consider calling line identification, disputes, spam and malware, emergency telecoms, numbering misuse and telecom fraud, in preparations for a 2012 treaty conference to update the International Telecommunication Regulations, according to a nonbinding opinion adopted by the World Telecommunication Policy Forum in Lisbon. The regulations outline general principles to support global interconnection and interoperability for international telecommunications. A World Conference on International Telecommunications is expected to amend the treaty in 2012, participants said.
Countries may want to consider calling line identification, disputes, spam and malware, emergency telecoms, numbering misuse and telecom fraud, in preparations for a 2012 treaty conference to update the International Telecommunication Regulations, according to a nonbinding opinion adopted by the World Telecommunication Policy Forum in Lisbon. The regulations outline general principles to support global interconnection and interoperability for international telecommunications. A World Conference on International Telecommunications is expected to amend the treaty in 2012, participants said.
On April 22, 2009, twenty-nine trade associations and humanitarian groups1 sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Kirk regarding U.S. trade preferences for developing countries.
BRUSSELS -- European emergency services want some of the spectrum freed by digital switchover for new broadband data services, speakers said Monday at a PolicyTracker conference on public sector spectrum. Although Europe’s Terrestrial Trunked Radio system for safety-of-life services is a success, more bandwidth is needed now for applications such as high-definition video, two-way fleet video and other technologies, said Kenneth Carter, who wrote a WIK Consult report last year on public safety services and the digital dividend. A pan-EU high-level proposal for more frequency allocation for mobile broadband will be submitted to governments this year, said Hans Borgonjen, vice chairman of the Tetra Association.
Major law enforcement groups met in Washington Monday to start to hammer out what could be an alternative proposal for the 700 MHz D-block. But details were scant and those attending agreed not to talk.
The President issued a press release at the conclusion of the Summit of the Americas, which was held on April 17-19, 2009, in which he announced measures of the Summit that reinforce the U.S. commitment to work jointly to advance the goals agreed to at the Summit. Highlights of those measures include (partial list):
The U.K. lags in willingness to spend on next-generation network infrastructure, make digital issues a top priority and raise online consumer confidence, said speakers at a London conference Friday. The event centered on the interim “Digital Britain” report by Stephen Carter, the communications, technology and broadcasting minister, for keeping the U.K. at the forefront of the global digital economy.
The U.K. lags in willingness to spend on next-generation network infrastructure, make digital issues a top priority and raise online consumer confidence, said speakers at a London conference Friday. The event centered on the interim “Digital Britain” report by Stephen Carter, the communications, technology and broadcasting minister, for keeping the U.K. at the forefront of the global digital economy.