The National Emergency Number Association named former FCC Chief of Staff Brian Fontes CEO Wednesday. Fontes, who served under James Quello at the agency, has been a senior vice president at CTIA and recently vice president at Cingular and now AT&T. The appointment “gives NENA instant credibility throughout the regulatory and legislative arena,” said Ronald Bonneau, NENA’s first vice president.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule, effective April 18, 2008, which makes technical corrections to the Export Administration Regulations, 15 CFR Parts 748 and 774, as part of BIS' 2007/2008 systematic review of the Commerce Control List1.
GENEVA -- ITU member countries have teed up policy and regulatory issues involving convergence for debate at 2009’s World Telecommunication Policy Forum. Consensus on a range of telecom and Internet issues could feed into a treaty-level conference planned for 2012. National positions on the issues are being developed, officials said.
There’s no doubt of the need to govern FBI use of National Security Letters by strict minimization procedures and retention limits, perhaps imposed by Congress, witnesses and lawmakers said in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday. But consensus broke down over whether the standard for issuing NSLs should be stricter and whether they should be replaced by a broader “national security subpoena.” Lawmakers credited the FBI with strides toward better use of NSLs, though Ranking Member Arlen Specter, R-Pa., also spoke what may be his harshest words yet against the Bush Administration. The hearing was less tense than one last week by the House Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee on NSL abuse (CD April 16 p5).
Upset over rural carriers’ losses on untraceable phone traffic, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, proposed a bill requiring voice providers to ensure calls have enough billing information. Stevens, vice chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, urged the phone industry at a Wednesday hearing to collaborate on a solution to “phantom traffic” -- calls carried on networks that elude carriers’ billing systems.
GENEVA -- ITU member countries have teed up policy and regulatory issues involving convergence for debate at 2009’s World Telecommunication Policy Forum. Consensus on a range of telecom and Internet issues could feed into a treaty-level conference planned for 2012. National positions on the issues are being developed, officials said.
There’s no doubt of the need to govern FBI use of National Security Letters by strict minimization procedures and retention limits, perhaps imposed by Congress, witnesses and lawmakers said in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday. But consensus broke down over whether the standard for issuing NSLs should be stricter and whether they should be replaced by a broader “national security subpoena.” Lawmakers credited the FBI with strides toward better use of NSLs, though Ranking Member Arlen Specter, R-Pa., also spoke what may be his harshest words yet against the Bush Administration. The hearing was less tense than one last week by the House Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee on NSL abuse (WID April 16 p2).
GENEVA -- More telecom, broadcast and Internet standardization is needed to implement the 2006 U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, said industry officials. Carrying out the convention means a flurry of regulatory activity, said Axel Leblois, executive director of the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs, short for Information and Communications Technology. It’s part of the U.N. Global Alliance for ICT and Development. Officials spoke at an April 21 forum held by ITU and the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs.
GENEVA -- More telecom, broadcast and Internet standardization is needed to implement the 2006 U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, said industry officials. Carrying out the convention means a flurry of regulatory activity, said Axel Leblois, executive director of the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs, short for Information and Communications Technology. It’s part of the U.N. Global Alliance for ICT and Development. Officials spoke at an April 21 forum held by ITU and the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs.
The FCC would be required to auction unused spectrum to build a nationwide wireless broadband network in a bill introduced Thursday by Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Christopher Cannon, R-Utah. The network, to serve at least 95 percent of the country within 10 years, would offer free service tiers to consumers and public safety users. Obscene and indecent material would be banned on the free service tier.