Retroactive immunity for phone companies is a priority that House Democrats blocked, Bush administration officials said Friday. Most House members left town Friday after Democratic leaders made clear they wouldn’t take up a Senate bill (S-2248) incorporating the immunity provision, a course pushed by Republicans and conservative Democrats. “We are already losing capability due to the failure to address liability protection,” Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said in a Washington Post op-ed Friday, citing a Senate Intelligence Committee report. S-2248 would extend the current law, set to expire Saturday, but House Republicans fought off efforts to pass a similar bill (CD Feb14 p2). The White House said it would oppose any extension, a strategy aimed at forcing Democrats to yield on immunity, Hill sources said. Opinions differ on whether expiration imperils spy work. The current law, passed in August 2007, temporarily revised the underlying Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. That becomes the law of the land if no deal emerges before Saturday. Democratic leaders, who oppose retroactive immunity for carriers, say Republicans try to scare people by claiming that intelligence efforts are hurt until immunity is enacted. “Fortunately, this law’s expiration does not threaten the safety of Americans,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. “Existing surveillance orders are very broad and remain in effect for one year, and the 1978 FISA law itself remains in effect should new surveillance orders for some reason be necessary.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., blamed Bush for the law’s expiration. “Having guaranteed the lapse of the August law, the President should now work in a cooperative way with Congress to pass a strong FISA modernization bill,” she said.
Demand for telecom access and policy change will drive globalization of the Internet economy as emerging nations seek slices of bigger markets. Internet access by fixed or mobile will vary widely by country short- to medium-term, according to an OECD report published Thursday.
Demand for telecom access and policy change will drive globalization of the Internet economy as emerging nations seek slices of bigger markets. Internet access by fixed or mobile will vary widely by country short- to medium-term, according to an OECD report published Thursday.
The U.K.’s BBC reaffirmed its commitment to broadcasting digital audio nationally. Its statement, and others from CE and DAB trade groups, came in response to an announcement Monday by commercial broadcaster GCap that it would discontinue its Digital One national DAB transmission center and the Planet Rock and theJazz services over it. “The BBC has been at the forefront of digital radio for more than ten years and remains fully committed to DAB and the other digital delivery platforms,” said Jenny Abramsky, BBC director of audio and music. “DAB is a success story -- two million sets were sold in 2007… More than 22 percent of U.K. adults now claim to have DAB at home, and it makes up 10 percent of all radio listening.” Recent listening figures from independent auditors show that 5.6 million people tune into BBC Radio over DAB each week, Abramsky said. Intellect, the U.K.’s CE trade association, said DAB radio “is growing strongly… and we believe the medium will emerge from this period of transition stronger and more attractive to both broadcasters and listeners,” the group said. “DAB radio sets enjoyed extremely strong Christmas sales, with over one million products bought in Quarter 4 of 2007 in the U.K. More than 550,000 DAB radios were sold in December alone, up 22 percent on December 2006.”
The U.K.’s BBC reaffirmed its commitment to broadcasting digital audio nationally. Its statement, and others from CE and DAB trade groups, came in response to an announcement Monday by commercial broadcaster GCap that it would discontinue its Digital One national DAB transmission center and the Planet Rock and theJazz services over it. “The BBC has been at the forefront of digital radio for more than ten years and remains fully committed to DAB and the other digital delivery platforms,” said Jenny Abramsky, BBC director of audio and music. “It is important not to confuse GCap’s current strategy with success or failure of DAB. DAB is a success story -- two million sets were sold in 2007… More than 22 percent of U.K. adults now claim to have DAB at home, and it makes up 10 percent of all radio listening.” Recent listening figures from independent auditors show that 5.6 million people tune into BBC Radio over DAB each week, Abramsky said. BBC also offers digital radio through DTV broadcasts and the Internet, “but DAB plays a central role in maintaining radio’s popularity in the digital world, being easy to use and portable, while giving listeners more choice and a range of additional features such as program information and storage,” she said. The U.K.’s Digital Radio Development Bureau echoed the BBC’s comments, expressing regret about GCap’s withdrawal from the market. “We look forward to the emergence of new national DAB-only services, and the rationalization of the commercial radio national DAB provision,” the Bureau said, alluding to services that are unique to DAB, not digital simulcasts of analog radio broadcasts. Its reference to national DAB reflects an effort by public and commercial broadcasters to extend coverage across the U.K. in place of the local reach of the original services. Intellect, the U.K.’s CE trade association, also expressed confidence in DAB-only services on a nationwide basis. DAB radio “is growing strongly… and we believe the medium will emerge from this period of transition stronger and more attractive to both broadcasters and listeners,” the group said. “DAB radio sets enjoyed extremely strong Christmas sales, with over one million products bought in Quarter 4 of 2007 in the U.K. More than 550,000 DAB radios were sold in December alone, up 22 percent on December 2006.” Sell-through figures from retail analysts GfK put cumulative sales of DAB sets at 6.45 million at the end of 2007, up from 4.4 million in 2006, Intellect said.
The National Emergency Number Association issued a warning to consumers that they may lose access to 911 Feb. 19 after several U.S. carriers turn off their analog networks. NENA said carriers affected include AT&T, Alltel, Cellular One, Dobson, US Cellular and Verizon Wireless. “This is a particularly important issue for people who have received older cellular phones from Donated Phone Programs,” NENA said. Many of these phones require the analog networks and recipients may not be able to contact 911 after the February cut-off date: “Subscribers using digital phones would not be affected.”
The National Emergency Number Association said it has been approved as a member of the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, a group that includes most public safety groups.
The FCC should rewrite the band plan and revise channel assignments for the 700 MHz public safety service, said the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, speaking for all major public safety groups. The FCC should cut the number of sets of nationwide interoperability calling channels from two to one and use the spectrum to create a nationwide interoperability travel channel, the council said in a petition for rulemaking filed at the agency.
Pan-EU emergency number 112 is available in 26 nations but many citizens don’t know it, the European Commission said Monday. The EC has emphasized offering the service, but it took the occasion of the first European 112 Day urge to governments to promote it better. Data published Monday showed that 95 percent of Europeans agree on the utility of having a single emergency number EU-wide, particularly when they're abroad, the EC said. But two respondents in three said they believe people haven’t been told enough about the service, and many who recognize it as a national emergency contact don’t realize works across the EU. Most respondents want access to emergency services for the disabled improved, the EC said. Its telecom regulatory reform package contains proposals to beef up 112 service, but at a news conference, Finnish European Parliament member Piia-Noora Kauppi said the EC could do more. She recommended that the EC require the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to set caller location standards and that it require the number to be displayed along with national numbers, on all emergency vehicles. Kauppi also urged the EC to do more to make 112 available to citizens in their home nations and to disabled people. The EC is surveying member countries on such issues and said it intends to publish the results before summer.
The New York Times reports that Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co.; the Suzhou Textiles, Silk, Light Industrial Products, Arts and Crafts I/E Co.; and Chemnutra Inc. of Las Vegas were recently indicted in the tainted pet food incidents that, according to Food and Drug Administration consumer complaints, resulted in the deaths of 1,950 cats and 2,200 dogs. (New York Times, dated 02/06/08, available at http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/apee-pet.html?ex=1360040400&en=db6959b2932bb191&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss)