The following are the trade-related hearings scheduled for March 30 - April 4, 2009, which are posted in the Congressional Record once a week:
A deal for a sweeping overhaul of EU e-communications rules is “within reach” and could emerge early next week “if all sides make a small last effort,” Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said Wednesday. She released the European Commission’s 14th report on telecom progress, saying operators had a “remarkable year” in 2008 despite the financial crisis. Europe has become a “model for the whole world” as mobile use and investment in new networks rise and prices fall, she told reporters.
A deal for a sweeping overhaul of EU e-communications rules is “within reach” and could emerge early next week “if all sides make a small last effort,” Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said Wednesday. She released the European Commission’s 14th report on telecom progress, saying operators had a “remarkable year” in 2008 despite the financial crisis. Europe has become a “model for the whole world” as mobile use and investment in new networks rise and prices fall, she told reporters.
Privacy officers would be installed in every unit of the Department of Homeland Security under a bill approved Tuesday by the House. The action has long been sought by privacy activists. DHS agencies include the Transportation Security Administration, the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Directorate of Science and Technology, the Office of Intelligence and Analysis and the Directorate for National Protection and Programs. DHS has a department- wide privacy office. Its recently appointed chief, Mary Ellen Callahan, came from the online-advertising industry (WID Feb 20 p2). The Department of Homeland Security Component Privacy Officer Act (HR-1617) was introduced Thursday by Rep. Christopher Carney, D-Pa., and was approved on a suspension vote, an ACLU spokesman told us. “Americans need these officials in place to protect the privacy rights we all rely on, and to raise red flags when the potential for abuse arises,” said Caroline Fredrickson, the director of the ACLU Washington legislative office.
The Port of Los Angeles is launching an Intermodal Container Incentive Program that will pay shipping companies $20 per TEU for each additional container they bring into the Port by rail that exceeds their 2008 level. The new incremental incentive program, which begins on May 1, 2009, is expected to cost $900,000. (Port of Los Angeles news release, dated 03/20/09, available at http://www.portoflosangeles.org/newsroom/2009_releases/news_032009_rail_incentive.asp)
The cybersecurity bill in development by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., would go far beyond the education and research funding he proposed in a hearing last week (WID March 20 p2). According to a summary of a staff working draft that we obtained, the bill would create an Office of the National Cybersecurity Adviser in the Executive Office of the President. The adviser would coordinate with the intelligence community and civilian agencies, but apparently not the Defense Department, which isn’t mentioned in the summary. The draft is dated March 18.
DALLAS -- Eight months after forming a strategic alliance, the PRO Buying Group and BrandSource’s Home Entertainment Service Division are realizing some early benefits from jointly negotiated deals with CE vendors, retailers said at the BrandSource 2009 Summit.
ITU collaboration with the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats will boost resources for monitoring and combating cyber-threats, the ITU said on the opening of the global headquarters in Malaysia. The partnership will provide expertise, facilities, real-time information and resources to tackle the most serious cyber- threats, the ITU said. The international outreach by IMPACTS builds on similar computer emergency response teams ramping up around the world, said Tony Rutkowksi of Netmagic Associates. A newly established ITU-T international cybersecurity group also will facilitate development and collaboration among national CERTs, Rutkowski said. The work is to include identifying best practices for establishing computer incident response teams, identifying where they're needed, collaborating with international experts and bodies, providing support, and facilitating collaboration among national teams. An ITU-T cybersecurity group is about to launch an open correspondence group on the trusted exchange of network forensics and vulnerabilities, Rutkowski said.
There should be a central registry for point-to- multipoint, multicast and broadcast address space for civic purposes, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said in statements submitted to an ITU-T meeting. Civic purposes include warning and informing the public, at the discretion of national authorities, according to draft text of the proposal. The office of the high commissioner supported the idea of an address space for humanitarian purposes, saying the proposal reflects the need to address a population experiencing a major crisis. The proposal suggests an initial allocation of specific numbers/addresses for specific purposes for use within multicast transmissions by administrations in case of emergencies or other public alerts, the draft text said. The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau would be the administrator of subsequent allocations under certain conditions, the draft text said. “The administration and allocation of multicast addresses for civic purposes, which are Cell Broadcast Message Identifiers in 3GPP technology, is outside the scope of responsibility for ITU-T,” the 3rd Generation Partnership Project said.
ITU collaboration with the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats will boost resources for monitoring and combating cyber-threats, the ITU said on the opening of the global headquarters in Malaysia. The partnership will provide expertise, facilities, real-time information and resources to tackle the most serious cyber- threats, the ITU said. The international outreach by IMPACTS builds on similar computer emergency response teams ramping up around the world, said Tony Rutkowski of Netmagic Associates. A newly established ITU-T international cybersecurity group also will facilitate development and collaboration among national CERTs, Rutkowski said. The work is to include identifying best practices for establishing computer incident response teams, identifying where they're needed, collaborating with international experts and bodies, providing support, and facilitating collaboration among national teams. An ITU-T cybersecurity group is about to launch an open correspondence group on the trusted exchange of network forensics and vulnerabilities, Rutkowski said.