The White House released its cybersecurity plan Thursday, and urged lawmakers to fortify the nation’s cybersecurity, critical infrastructure and federal networks. Notably absent from the proposal was any “kill switch” authority for the president to shut down Internet traffic during a cyberattack. Lawmakers applauded the White House move, but some said it was long overdue and made clear they wanted changes or provisions added from their own legislation. The plan was more than two years in development.
An Augusta, Ga., Fox affiliate’s request to keep the DTV channel it’s using was opposed by the CTIA, on the grounds that staying on channel 51 goes against the wireless association’s petition for the FCC to try to discourage use of that slot (CD April 29 p2). The request by WFXG to permanently substitute that channel for 31, assigned by the commission for its use after the 2009 DTV transition, was backed by another station there. WRDW’s new request to vacate the VHF band, where its viewers have had trouble getting the signal, to move to 31 from 12 is contingent on WFXG’s petition being granted. Filings were posted Wednesday to rulemaking 11624.
The New York City Police Department urged the FCC to adopt rules that allow multiple regional public networks to develop in the 700 MHz band, in reply comments on a Jan. 25 rulemaking by the commission. The Utilities Telecom Council said there is broad support to expanding the definition of public safety under the Communications Act to include utilities and other critical infrastructure industries (CII).
The House Communications Subcommittee is eying a wide array of FCC reforms, according to a majority staff memo that circulated among lobbyists this week. The subcommittee has a hearing Friday morning. All five commissioners were scheduled to testify. A subcommittee spokeswoman told us that departing Commissioner Meredith Baker has cancelled. Some of the GOP proposals would limit the FCC’s ability to make new regulations, while others are said to be designed to speed up and make more transparent FCC rulemaking. In a separate memo, subcommittee Democrats warned that some proposals could be problematic.
The GAO slammed NTIA’s spectrum planning and management of federal spectrum as lacking “governmentwide focus and accountability.” In a report released Thursday, the GAO urged NTIA to develop an updated strategic plan for management of federal spectrum. “Lacking an overall strategic vision, NTIA cannot ensure that spectrum is being used efficiently by federal agencies,” it said. “The GAO report underlines the urgency for Congress to focus immediately on spectrum policy,” said House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Department of Justice needs wiretapping authority concerning intellectual property infringements to keep up its vigorous enforcement, the head of the department’s criminal division said Thursday. Justice has broadened its use of tapping in general under the Obama administration, and the expansion into copyright and trademark cases is needed so the department can use the technique “as an effective tool in the future,” Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said in a keynote to the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition conference.
LECs and bill aggregators must do more to protect consumers’ phone bills from containing unwanted charges from third parties, or bill cramming, panelists said Wednesday at an FTC forum. “The verification process alone is not sufficient,” said John McGlamery, Nevada’s deputy attorney general. “Scammers already know how to get around it.” Aggregators and LECs are well-positioned to do more, said Laura Kim, FTC assistant director of the marketing practices division. The aggregator is “the gatekeeper charged with the responsibility for screening out the bad actors,” she said. Aggregators have direct contact with the vendor and they “receive complaints from all sources about their vendors” from consumers, LECs and regulatory authorities, she said. Aggregators should be looking at the trends in complaints from all across the country from all of these sources, she added.
"Four competitors are better than three,” Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl, D-Wis., said Wednesday at a hearing on AT&T’s proposed T-Mobile purchase. The number could soon fall to two if the deal is approved, he said. Subcommittee members from both parties raised concerns about the deal, though Republicans appeared more open to AT&T and T-Mobile’s argument that the deal would improve wireless service for consumers. But CEOs from competitors Sprint Nextel and Cellular South raised the specter of a resurrected “Ma Bell."
Eligible Telecommunications Carriers should have their Lifeline customers re-certify their own eligibility for the program, TracFone said in comments posted to dockets 11-42, 96-45 and 03-109. But mandating minimum monthly charges for Lifeline customers “would do nothing to prevent waste, fraud and abuse” and only “make Lifeline service unaffordable to millions of low-income households who are intended to benefit from the program.” TracFone has heavy Lifeline customers and has been singled out as one of the wireless companies that are driving pay phone companies out of business (CD Jan 20 p9), especially in states like Florida. The company reiterated its argument that the Lifeline fund shouldn’t be capped. It also convened a meeting with Chairman Julius Genachowski and aide Zac Katz late last week to press TracFone’s case, according to an ex parte notice released Wednesday.
Meredith Baker’s departure will leave the FCC with a single GOP member starting June 3, her last day on the job, she confirmed Wednesday afternoon. That could push Senate Republicans to quickly seek a replacement and also back a Democratic nominee whose appointment would be on the same track as Baker’s successor, industry officials said. The FCC will be split 3-1 when Baker leaves, making Robert McDowell the only Republican commissioner. A 2-1 commission is possible next year if the Senate doesn’t act.