The FCC seeks comments on proposed changes to the process of obtaining a waiver for noncommercial educational stations to conduct on-air fundraising for third parties. The notice will appear in the Federal Register Friday, and comments will be due July 21, replies Aug. 20. The proposed rule change “would afford NCE stations more flexibility in choosing which non-profit entities to support through on-air fundraising,” the notice said. The rulemaking was approved in April (CD April 27 p8).
The U.S. and Europe are working to “finalize negotiations on a comprehensive EU-U.S. data privacy and protection agreement that provides a high level of privacy protection for all individuals and thereby facilitates the exchange of data needed to fight crime and terrorism,” said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and European Commission Vice President Viviane Reding. In a statement Thursday (http://xrl.us/bncfzx) after a “EU-U.S. Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial” meeting in Copenhagen, they said such an agreement will allow even closer transatlantic cooperation in the fight against crime and terrorism, through the “mutual recognition of a high level of protection afforded equally to citizens of both the United States and the European Union, and will thus facilitate any subsequent agreements concerning the sharing of a specific set of personal data.” Negotiations began in March and progress has been made in several areas, including on “important principles” such as data security, transparency of data processing and use, accountability and maintaining the quality and integrity of information. “We are likewise continuing our work on a number of domains such as purpose limitation, retention of personal data, and effective administrative and judicial redress,” the statement said.
House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., praised the members of the House Appropriations Committee for preserving the FCC’s political file order in Wednesday’s markup of the FY13 financial services appropriations bill (CD June 21). “I applaud the Committee’s decision to revisit this issue and study the merits of the FCC’s commonsense transparency rule rather than shortchanging the American people by not allowing them access to public information online,” Eshoo said in a news release Thursday (http://xrl.us/bm33c9). “The public file plays a critical role in promoting transparency both in elections and in the use of public airwaves."
An alleged counterfeit trafficking ring was dismantled, resulting in the seizure of more than 32,000 bogus cellphones and other electronics, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said. Qiang Chen, 44, and Ye Zhang, 43, both of Syosset, N.Y., and conducting business as AMAX International Group Inc., and Robert Eisenberg, 28, of Manhattan, conducting business as Cellular Wholesale USA Inc., were arrested in connection with the scheme, said ICE. It involved the bulk shipment of cellphones from China and subsequent repackagiong and sale of the counterfeit phones online or through legitimate cellphone wholesalers who were likely unaware they were receiving counterfeit goods, the agency alleged. Each defendant faces up to four years in prison if convicted. ICE said the charges could be upgraded to trademark counterfeiting in the first degree depending on the ultimate number of counterfeit items and their retail value.
CenturyLink received a $2.1 million telecom contract for services to the U.S. Army base at Fort Stewart, Ga. The telco’s services to the base include Internet, local phone exchange and data services.
The FCC Technical Advisory Board for First Responder Interoperability offered clarity on one of the recommendations in its May 22 final report. The recommendation, requirement 15, was that “All User Devices (UEs) deployed in the NPSBN (National Public Safety Broadband Network) that support roaming onto commercial LTE networks SHALL operate on any FirstNet roaming partner network using bands supported by the device.” The requirement “may be interpreted to suggest that all NPSBN commercial roaming partner devices operating in a band must work for all NPSBN commercial roaming partner networks in that band, regardless of the technology implemented in the NPSBN commercial roaming partner network in that band,” the group said (http://xrl.us/bncfff). “This result, which could lead to substantial cost increases for public safety devices, is not intended by the Technical Advisory Board.” The board suggested new language: “All User Devices (UEs) deployed on the NPSBN that support roaming onto commercial LTE networks SHALL operate on any FirstNet roaming partner LTE network using bands supported for LTE by the device.” The recommendations of the board are to be used by the FirstNet board in establishing rules for the new public safety network once it starts its work later this summer.
Two senior Democrats from the House Commerce Committee and Communications Subcommittee again urged their GOP colleagues Wednesday to schedule a hearing on the pending Verizon, SpectrumCo transaction. Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., said it’s important for subcommittee members to “have an opportunity to hear from key stakeholders” in the deal. The plea came in a letter sent to Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore.
The Media Bureau granted an application to assign the license of WTOK-FM San Juan, Puerto Rico, from MSG Radio to WIAC-FM, Inc., a letter released Wednesday said (http://xrl.us/bncdd8). The grant was made over the objections of the RAAD Broadcasting Corp., licensee of WXYX-FM Bayamon, Puerto Rico. “We find that RAAD has not raised a substantial and material question of fact warranting further inquiry,” the letter said.
Public interest groups filed a motion to intervene on behalf of the FCC in the NAB’s challenge to new online political file requirements (http://xrl.us/bncdff). Free Press, the Benton Foundation, Common Cause, the Campaign Legal Center, New America Foundation and the Office of Communications of the United Church of Christ asked the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit for permission to step into the litigation. The groups “strongly support the requirement,” and their interests will be directly affected should the FCC’s rule be reversed, the motion said.
AC BidCo, a Gogo subsidiary, and LiveTV seek to transfer LiveTV’s 1 MHz 800 MHz Commercial Aviation Air-Ground Radiotelephone Service license to Gogo, said an FCC public notice (http://xrl.us/bncc3d). The companies requested a waiver from the FCC due to increasing demands on GoGo’s 3 MHz Commercial Air-Ground license, they said.