The FCC Wireless Bureau approved a waiver allowing the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians to receive licenses to use the 2.5 GHz band on two tracts of trust land in North Dakota. Trust lands were excluded from eligibility for the licenses under FCC rules. “In this instance, we find that strictly applying the Tribal lands definition would be inconsistent with the Tribal Window’s purpose of providing wireless communications services in rural Tribal areas,” the bureau said Thursday.
Seven series of Samsung Neo QLED TVs for 2021 landed “Eye Care” certifications from Verband Deutscher Elektrotechniker (VDE), the Association of German Electrical Engineers, reported the TV maker Thursday. VDE certification tests found the TVs meet eye safety requirements under International Electrotechnical Commission specifications for blue light, ultraviolet and infrared emissions and melatonin suppression levels under the International Commission on Illumination standard, said Samsung.
After a “corporately life-threatening” year, AMC Entertainment delivered what CEO Adam Aron called an “immensely satisfying report” on its Q4 call Wednesday, despite dismal pandemic-driven Q4 results. Revenue for the world’s largest theater chain plummeted 89% year on year for the quarter ended Dec. 31, to $162.5 million.
The next three Fridays will mark some important deadlines in the Section 301 litigation inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade after months of inertia. New complaints continue trickling in at the rate of about one a day to join the roughly 3,500 on file since beginning in mid-September, virtually all seeking to get the Lists 3 and 4A Chinese tariffs vacated and the duties refunded. Many thousands more importers are represented in the filings, including many consumer tech companies -- Bose, Clarion, Denon, Gibson, Harman, Jasco and Voxx among them.
The coming weeks will mark some important deadlines in the Section 301 litigation inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade after months of inertia. New complaints keep trickling in at the rate of about one a day to join the roughly 3,500 on file beginning since mid-September, virtually all seeking to get the lists 3 and 4A Chinese tariffs vacated and the duties refunded. Many thousands more importers are represented in the filings.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced legislation Thursday meant to protect state rights for restricting drone activity. The Drone Integration and Zoning Act would protect states’ authority to issue “time, place, and manner restrictions, while not unreasonably prohibiting access to the federal ‘navigable airspace,’” Lee announced. It would allow “the local zoning authority of state, local, or tribal governments to designate commercial drone take-off and landing zones, while still allowing for interstate commerce,” he said. FAA can’t “feasibly or efficiently oversee millions of drones in every locality throughout the country,” Lee said. The agency’s current “legal position” to regulate “every cubic inch of air in the United States ... is both unsustainable and unlawful.”
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced legislation Thursday meant to protect state rights for restricting drone activity. The Drone Integration and Zoning Act would protect states’ authority to issue “time, place, and manner restrictions, while not unreasonably prohibiting access to the federal ‘navigable airspace,’” Lee announced. It would allow “the local zoning authority of state, local, or tribal governments to designate commercial drone take-off and landing zones, while still allowing for interstate commerce,” he said. FAA can’t “feasibly or efficiently oversee millions of drones in every locality throughout the country,” Lee said. The agency’s current “legal position” to regulate “every cubic inch of air in the United States ... is both unsustainable and unlawful.”
The Commerce Department made an affirmative antidumping preliminary determination that imports of chassis from China (A-570-135) are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value. The agency will impose AD duty cash requirements on entries of subject merchandise beginning on March 4, the date that its preliminary determination is set to be published in the Federal Register.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, announced he will introduce a bill that would require importers of beef, leather, palm oil, soy and cocoa to report where the commodities were produced, and to prove that the goods were not grown or grazed on illegally deforested land. The Environmental Investigation Agency, along with 28 other non-governmental organizations, also released an open letter March 3 asking Congress to enact “significant new trade rules and policy measures to support the health and well-being of the world’s forests and the people who depend on them.” They said a law like Schatz's would be a critical element, and said that commodities produced on illegally deforested land should be banned from entry into U.S. commerce. “Around half of deforestation in the tropics, where most deforestation is occurring, is the result of illegal clearance for commercial agriculture,” EIA said in a release accompanying the letter. “In addition, the production of commodities such as palm oil, cocoa, and beef is commonly linked to forced and child labor.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau approved waivers sought by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians for tribal licenses to use the 2.5 GHz band. The three parcels of land are held in trust by the tribe and don’t qualify under the tribal window for a license, absent a waiver, the bureau said Monday. The tribe demonstrated the parcels are “either held for the specific benefit of the Tribe or are directly owned by the Tribe,” the bureau said: “The Tribe’s authority over the lands is adequately demonstrated by the fact that the Santa Ynez have built Tribal housing and other Tribal facilities in these areas.”