The EU needs tougher data protection if member nations aim to share communications traffic data with U.S. police agencies, European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) Peter Hustinx said Fri. His comment followed a May 12 report the U.S. wants bilateral pacts with EU nations giving it access to Internet and telephone traffic data held under a new EU data retention directive. That talks on this are underway isn’t surprising, given blurring of cross-border physical and data transfer barriers, observers said.
Communications networks taken down in Hurricane Katrina didn’t succumb to wind and rain but floods and power outages, according to the FCC’s Hurricane Katrina Independent Panel. The body, poised to summarize its 5 months of work in a report due June 15, will tell the Commission a commonly heard analysis: That things really weren’t that bad -- until the levees broke.
L-band and S-band satellite spectrum could offer an alternate spectrum source for failed AWS auction bidders, or non-bidders for that matter, analysts and satellite executives said Thurs. in a Kagan Research wireless briefing. All eyes are on AWS, panelists agreed. But some said auction participants realize mobile satellite services (MSS) operators hoping to partner on terrestrial wireless ventures still will need partners when the AWS auction is over. Mobile Satellite Ventures and Inmarsat has spectrum holdings in the L-band. ICO and TerreStar have spectrum in the S- band. All have voiced interest in partnering with a non- satellite firm to develop next-generation terrestrial wireless networks using their satellite spectrum, but no deals have been announced.
Even as it seeks to spin off or forge partnerships for non-core businesses, Movie Gallery is amenable to a possible merger with rival Blockbuster, Vp-Finance Tom Johnson told analysts in a quarterly earnings call Thurs.
Public broadcasters in the Gulf states have better disaster recovery plans as they brace for what’s predicted to be another destructive storm season, our inquiries show. “We are pretty well positioned, and we have a good plan in place,” said Beth Courtney, pres. of La. Public Bcstg. (LPB), a state network running 9 stations. But plans can go awry, Courtney warned. A lesson of Katrina is that stations should have fuel to run generators for days, PBS Senior Vp- Technology & Operations Edward Caleca said. Some PBS stations installed larger fuel tanks; others have “identified alternate fuel cells,” he added.
The Dept. of Homeland Security agreed to promote an access program developed by BellSouth and the state of Ga. to give telecom repair crews better access to disaster areas to make repairs, as hurricane season 2006 begins, a top DHS official told the National Security Telecom Advisory Committee Wed. Bob Stephan, asst. secy. of Homeland Security for infrastructure protection, also indicated Wed. the Dept. will likely issue a document that allows telecom repair crews better access to fuel, water and security under the Stafford Act during future disasters.
President Bush has issued notice that he is continuing for another year the national emergency blocking property of certain persons and prohibiting the exportation or reexportation of certain goods to Syria. (See ITT's Online Archives or 05/13/04 news, 04051305, for BP summary of the executive order imposing export and other sanctions on Syria.) (White House notice, FR Pub 05/10/06, available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/06-4422.pdf)
RICHARDSON, Tex. -- Texas Instruments’ DSP-based DaVinci video processors will be in CE gear this summer from at least 4 firms, including those using it for portable media players, videophones, IP cameras for video security and an IP-based set-top box, officials said at an investor conference here.
Warner Bros. (WB) hooked up with BitTorrent to provide a peer-to-peer (P2P) platform offering legitimate content on a video-on-demand (VoD) and electronic sell through (EST) basis simultaneously with release of TV shows or movie DVDs. The Tues. announcement made WB the first major studio to provide legitimate video content via BitTorrent technology. In 2005 BitTorrent told the MPAA it would work to prevent film piracy and promote innovative online digital content distribution. The service is to launch this summer.
Warner Bros. (WB) hooked up with BitTorrent to provide a peer-to-peer (P2P) platform offering legitimate content on a video-on-demand (VoD) and electronic sell through (EST) basis simultaneously with release of TV shows or movie DVDs. The Tues. announcement made WB the first major studio to provide legitimate video content via BitTorrent technology. In 2005 BitTorrent told the MPAA it would work to prevent film piracy and promote innovative online digital content distribution (WID Nov 23 p9). The service is to launch this summer.