The next focus of scientists examining the health effects of radiation frequency (RF) emissions across the world is likely to be the effects of such emerging technologies as Wi-Fi and radio frequency identification (RFID), according to speakers Mon. at an international workshop in Washington on mobile telephony and health.
The FCC will address broadcasters and emergency response officials’ concerns about the emergency alert system (EAS) in a notice of inquiry expected to be released in Aug., FCC officials told us. The notice is expected to deal with outdated plans, missing communication links and inadequate training, they said. Broadcasters, meanwhile, questioned the very viability of EAS.
CHICAGO -- Two state regulators Tues. took the unusual stance of urging the FCC to assert federal jurisdiction over VoIP and preempt states from regulating the new service, a move that caused their panel’s moderator, FCC Chmn. Powell’s senior advisor Christopher Libertelli, to remark on the oddity of their positions. The 2 regulators -- Cal. PUC Comr. Susan Kennedy and Fla. PSC Comr. Charles Davidson -- have a reputation for being independent in their thinking about regulation. They spoke on a panel at Supercomm here.
A consumer privacy debate continued late into the afternoon Mon. at the FTC’s radio frequency identification (RFID) forum. Most debate centered on the emerging technology’s potential to track goods or even people after the purchase of items fitted with an RFID tag. Sun Microsystems engineer Jim Waldo said RFID tags will remain either hard to read or very expensive, preventing the widespread dissemination needed for any privacy-violating surveillance or information gathering. Claiming “RFID tags are really bad sensors,” Waldo said the technology isn’t geared for real-world data collection, only basic inventorying.
On June 17, 2004, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4520, the American Jobs Creation Act, by a vote of 251 to 178. H.R. 4520 would, among other things, repeal the Foreign Sales Corporation/Extraterritorial Income Act (FSC/ETI) tax regime (which has been found by the World Trade Organization to be illegal), reduce the top corporate tax rate for domestic manufacturers and small corporations, make certain Customs-related changes, etc. (The Senate passed its own version of this legislation, the Jumpstart Our Business Strength (JOBS) Act (S. 1637), on May 11, 2004. See ITT's Online Archives or 05/13/04 news, 04051399 1, for previous BP summary.)(House Ways and Means Committee press release, dated 06/17/04) available at http://waysandmeans.house.gov/news.asp?formmode=release&id=228.)
On June 17, 2004, the House Ways and Means Committee's Trade Subcommittee held a hearing on the budget authorizations for fiscal year (FY) 2005 and FY2006 for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as on other Customs issues. At this hearing, the subcommittee was addressed by two witnesses and six panelists.
The voting may have ended last week, but Europe’s telecom sector won’t know for some time how it fared in the election of members of the European Parliament (MEPs). While the balance of power in the EP remained essentially static, the greatest unknown is the makeup of the various committees that deal with telecom and Internet issues. The impact of the loss of several key privacy and digital rights supporters is also unclear.
Verizon Wireless told the FCC late Wed. Nextel’s most recent offer to give public safety 2 MHz of spectrum is suspect and may not address emergency responder needs for unencumbered spectrum. The filing came as Chmn. Powell continues to ponder an 800 MHz rebanding order. Nextel accused Verizon of taking a “cheap shot.”
The Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Assn.(NOAA) agreed Thurs. on a new method for issuing local and national warnings and to increase the effectiveness of Public Alert devices. The agreement was endorsed by the CEA, group executives said. Under the agreement, DHS will have round-the-clock access to the NOAA All-Hazards Network, allowing emergency alerts related to homeland security to reach the American public through the alert devices. Public alert technology is an outgrowth of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). EAS warnings are voluntarily aired by broadcasters, but Public alerts are triggered by warnings received from govt. sources. The warning signals can be received on radio, TV and mobile phones. Meanwhile, a glitch in Comcast’s EAS caused Washington subscribers to see only the Disney Channel on all of the company’s channels for about an hour Mon., a Comcast spokesman said. The problem occurred when the system was mistakenly activated, but without an emergency broadcast message, so all that viewers saw was Disney programming. The alert system is carried on the Disney Channel because of its strong signal in the area and wide reach, the spokesman said.
National security emergency preparedness (NS/EP) considerations “provide a compelling rationale for applying a certain amount of regulation to IP-enabled services,” the Defense Dept. (DoD) said in late comments filed with the FCC. It said that for both traditional telephone and IP-enabled services, “similar technical assets for lawful monitoring functions, and some form of administrative notice prior to significant foreign transactions being finalized, would be in the public interest.” The DoD urged the Commission to ensure that priority treatment was provided for packet-switched NS/EP voice and data in a crisis. It said in the evolving IP-enabled environment “both legacy voice telecommunications services and newly introduced information services must be utilized” to meet NS/EP telecom requirements. The DoD said any regulation of IP-based networks and services “must preserve existing NS/EP telecommunications capabilities and allow for enhanced or evolving services as well.” It noted the National Communications System (NCS) was working with the industry to assure NS/EP communications during crisis. But it said “if these voluntary and contractual arrangements are insufficient to achieve assured NS/EP IP-enabled communications services, the DoD would request the FCC consider imposing regulatory constraints on all providers of IP-enabled services.”