Fourteen key trading partners don’t comply with World Trade Organization (WTO) requirements, CompTel said in comments (CD Jan 6 p7) filed with U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). It said Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Singapore, S. Africa, Switzerland and Taiwan weren’t meeting market-opening requirements under WTO trade agreements. It also put 4 other countries -- Belgium, Ireland, Sweden and Spain -- on “watch list.” CompTel said Chinese telecom regulator Ministry of Information Industry (MII) had precluded growth of competitive market by applying “very narrow” interpretation of value-added services. AS result, it said, few foreign entrants had applied for licenses and none had been approved. CompTel said U.S. govt. should work with China to ensure that it established regulatory body that was separate from any basic telecom supplier. It said that task could be difficult because Chinese govt. owned and controlled all major operators in telecom industry. Japan also has “work to do” to effectively regulate Nippon Telegraph & Telephone (NTT) as dominant carrier, CompTel said. It said Japan should remove “burdensome” regulation on nondominant emerging carriers, reduce excessive fixed-to-mobile rates, create independent regulator. CompTel expressed concerns about “unnecessary” and “burdensome” distinction between licenses that it said “hinder the ability of new entrants to roll out networks quickly and cost-effectively.” It also said Japanese high fixed-to-mobile termination rates could have “significant” economic effect as more telephone calls from U.S. terminated on Japanese cellular network. Mexico hasn’t made much progress toward meeting its WTO commitments, CompTel said. It said Mexico continued to maintain barriers protecting its high international settlement rates by prohibiting alternative commercial arrangements and setting its rate well above industry norm. CompTel said Mexican regulators hadn’t issued new dominant carrier rules to prevent Telmex from engaging in anticompetitive actions. Mexico also prohibits foreign control of carriers authorized to own basic telecom facilities, violating its WTO obligations, CompTel said. France is violating Sec. 5 of Reference Paper, which requires that regulatory body be separate from and not accountable to any supplier of basic telecom services, CompTel said. It said it also was concerned about pricing and provisioning of local access leased lines in France. France Telecom (FT) refused to introduce interconnection leased lines and degraded quality of service commitments in its leased line contracts with new entrants, CompTel said. It said it was concerned that FT was giving “preferential treatment” to its retail arm for premium services. Finally, CompTel said, French govt.’s decision to provide 9 billion euro loan to FT “may violate the national treatment obligation under GATS.”
Amber Alert would be enhanced under legislation introduced Tues. by Senate Democratic leadership, supporters said. Proposed Justice Enhancement & Domestic Security Act (S-22) includes provisions designed to facilitate emergency broadcasting system used to locate missing children. NAB supported legislation introduced at end of last session that would have provided funding to expand Amber Alert. Identity theft and child pornography also are targeted in legislation. Bill is designed to protect against misuse of Social Security numbers and mitigate harm to individuals victimized by ID theft. It also would provide new prosecutorial and investigative tools for federal, state and local authorities in stopping child pornography. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children would receive additional funding. Democratic leadership also introduced proposed Equal Rights & Equal Dignity for Americans Act (S-16), which would renew privacy consent requirements instituted during Clinton Administration and put limits on how medical information could be used in marketing. Bill also would prevent military or civilian employees of Defense Dept. from gathering information on U.S. citizens while in the U.S. Another bill, proposed Comprehensive Homeland Security Act (S-6), addresses several aspects of security, but doesn’t specifically mention cybersecurity or telecom infrastructure. Senate Minority Leader Daschle (D-S.D.) announced formation of leadership executive committee that included Sens. Carper (D-Del.), Murray (D-Wash.), Nelson (D-Neb.) and Schumer (D-N.Y.). Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.) was named chmn. of Democratic Steering & Coordination Committee.
NAB proposed that FCC adopt new approach to boost prospects of struggling local broadcasters by allowing duopolies under certain circumstances. Under NAB’s proposal, Commission would adopt presumptive “10/10” rule for allowing TV duopolies in designated market areas (DMAs). Under that standard, 2 stations each with year-long average 7 a.m.-1 a.m. share of less than 10 could be commonly owned, and station with share of 10 or more could be co-owned with another with share of less than 10. “This reformed rule would provide needed financial relief for struggling lower rated stations, especially those in medium and small markets, while still promoting diversity and competition by preventing the combination of 2 high-rated stations in the same market,” NAB said in filing at FCC.
Effort to ensure National Communications System (NCS) meets national security and emergency preparedness telecom requirements over next 7 year will be led by Telcordia Technologies, Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) said. DISA said Telcordia would provide “scientific, engineering, technical analysis/reports and specification development.” Contract has potential value of $48.5 million. DISA will allocate $1.5 million to Telcordia for initial phase of project.
More telecom bills are being prefiled for 2003 state legislative sessions, with targets including regulatory powers, telecom taxation and telecom-based marketing. Meanwhile, some bills passed in final days of 2002 sessions addressing telecom taxation and spam have been signed.
U.S. Copyright Office received no shortage of suggestions on what sort of content and activities should be exempted from Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), although it was unclear what number -- if any -- would be adopted. Copyright Office is beginning its 2nd triennial review of DMCA as mandated by that law, and on Dec. 18 concluded its first round of review comments. Some commentators sought to narrow exemptions, while others sought sweeping rewrites.
Konami plans to keep its hit soccer game Winning Eleven 6 “exclusively on Sony PlayStation 2 in the foreseeable future,” Konami of America (KOA) Product Mgr. Robert Goff told Consumer Electronics Daily. As reported, KOA plans to introduce soccer series in N. America in March after achieving success with it in Europe (where it’s known as Pro Evolution Soccer) and Japan. Konami said last month it had sold nearly 4 million units of games in Winning Eleven series worldwide, “making it the world’s best-selling soccer game for the PlayStation 2.” Goff said title -- developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo -- had sold about same number of units in Europe as in Japan, Goff said. Although soccer isn’t nearly as popular in U.S. as in Europe or Japan, he told us: “Soccer is an emerging genre in the U.S. We have a very strong entrant that will grow with the popularity of the sport.” Although he didn’t indicate how many units company hoped to sell in U.S., he said: “Our expectations are consistent with the current size of the genre… Winning Eleven appeals to soccer purists as well as casual gamers.” When asked how much it planned to spend on promoting game in U.S. this year, Goff replied: “Although we cannot reveal those numbers, we can confirm that the title will be supported with a sizable marketing campaign. The game will be featured in a comprehensive print and online advertising campaign, sample game demo, distribution, a national beverage cross-promotion, regional tournaments, online sweepstakes and aggressive in-store POP” (point-of-purchase) material. KOA spokesman told us playable demo disc would be included in May issue of one major consumer videogame magazine and beverage cross-promotion would be with Langers Juice. He also said Konami planned to release another version of game with online element late next year, but additional details were unavailable.
Videogame industry received “F” from media and family group Thurs., prompting Sen. Lieberman (D-Conn.) to say congressional hearings might be warranted. National Institute on Media & the Family (NIMF) highlighted violence against women in games when giving its first overall failing score on its annual MediaWise Videogame Report Card. Retailers were criticized in report for failing to restrict children from purchasing mature-rated games. Rating system was criticized as too lax.
Eligibility for emergency telecom programs administered by National Communications System has been expanded for private sector financial organizations, measure that Federal Reserve Board said is critical in wake of last year’s terrorist attacks. Finance sector since 1993 has been eligible to participate in national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) programs such as Telecom Service Priority (TSP), which in event of national crises ensures that certain dedicated voice, backbone and access circuits used by sector can operate despite severe network congestion or disruption.
FCC is likely to loosen some unbundled network elements (UNE), said AT&T Gen. Counsel James Cicconi during debate on broadband at Federal Communications Bar Assn. conference Fri. Cicconi said noteworthy part of ruling will be “how the Commission views the important problems of switches,” he said, adding Bell companies have been unwilling or unable to facilitate the “hot cut” process.