Three Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls -- Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts -- separately called Wednesday for major investments in broadband deployments as part of their release of competing rural-focused policy platforms in Medium blog posts. That's one of the first major forays into telecom policy for any of the Democratic candidates during this campaign cycle. Much of the tech-focused debate thus far focused on the antitrust implications of the growth of major tech companies, including Warren's proposal to break up big tech companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon (see 1904170046 and 1906270010).

Three Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls -- Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts -- separately called Wednesday for major investments in broadband deployments as part of their release of competing rural-focused policy platforms in Medium blog posts. That's one of the first major forays into telecom policy for any of the Democratic candidates during this campaign cycle. Much of the tech-focused debate thus far focused on the antitrust implications of the growth of major tech companies, including Warren's proposal to break up big tech companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon (see 1904170046 and 1906270010).

Philips, marketed by TP Vision in most world markets outside North America, is the seventh TV brand announced as WiSA-ready, as the Wireless Speaker and Audio Association ramps for what it sees as the coming age of “speakerless” TVs.

The International Trade Commission is beginning a Section 337 investigation into allegations that fish-handling pliers are being imported in violation of United Plastic Molders' patent and trademarks, the ITC said in a July 24 press release. In a recent complaint, UPM said several Chinese companies are manufacturing infringing pliers, including the Betts Billy Bay Grab ‘n Grip Fish Gripper and Sam’s Fishing ABS Plastics Fish Grip, that copy UPM’s Fish Grip pliers. The pliers are used to safely and securely land a hooked fish and remove the hook from the fish’s mouth. The ITC will consider whether to issue a general exclusion order against all fish-handling pliers that infringe the patent and trademarks identified by UPM. It will also consider cease and desist orders banning importation and sale of such merchandise by the following respondents:

The FCC is taking its commitment seriously to promote broadband on Indian land, Chairman Ajit Pai said in letters to two members of Congress posted Friday. Pai told Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., the FCC is following up on an April GAO report. The report said some tribal representatives believe federal agencies don’t consider their input and consultations start too late. “There is always room for improving communications. Consistent with GAO’s recommendation, I have asked FCC staff to explore ways of documenting how FCC staff could communicate with Tribes about how Tribal input was used in FCC decisions on telecommunications infrastructure projects,” Pai said. Pai told Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., the agency is acting to promote broadband in tribal areas. Pai said outreach is planned in several venues in his state, including at the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission’s upcoming rural networks conference in Farmington.

The FCC is taking its commitment seriously to promote broadband on Indian land, Chairman Ajit Pai said in letters to two members of Congress posted Friday. Pai told Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., the FCC is following up on an April GAO report. The report said some tribal representatives believe federal agencies don’t consider their input and consultations start too late. “There is always room for improving communications. Consistent with GAO’s recommendation, I have asked FCC staff to explore ways of documenting how FCC staff could communicate with Tribes about how Tribal input was used in FCC decisions on telecommunications infrastructure projects,” Pai said. Pai told Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., the agency is acting to promote broadband in tribal areas. Pai said outreach is planned in several venues in his state, including at the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission’s upcoming rural networks conference in Farmington.

Rural healthcare providers and the telecommunications companies that service them raised concerns in docket 17-310 about a draft report and order on promoting telehealth in rural America that the FCC has on its agenda for its Aug. 1 meeting (see 1907120003). Some are asking the agency to include recommended revisions before the commissioners vote, while others want to delay the vote altogether, until the September or October meeting, to give stakeholders more time to weigh in.

Rural healthcare providers and the telecommunications companies that service them raised concerns in docket 17-310 about a draft report and order on promoting telehealth in rural America that the FCC has on its agenda for its Aug. 1 meeting (see 1907120003). Some are asking the agency to include recommended revisions before the commissioners vote, while others want to delay the vote altogether, until the September or October meeting, to give stakeholders more time to weigh in.

CHICAGO -- The immigration crisis at the U.S.’s southwestern border is stretching CBP’s resources, slowing customs procedures and impacting trade enforcement, CBP Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan said, speaking at the agency’s Trade Symposium in Chicago on July 23. At one point, the crisis caused CBP’s cargo processing time to nearly quadruple, Morgan said. “We know the criticality of this. We understand that this is a big deal,” he said. “But at the same time, we’re dealing with an unprecedented humanitarian national security crisis at the southwestern border.”

MicroVision is making “significant progress” landing global tier-one customers for its display-only and interactive-display products for consumer IoT applications, said CEO Perry Mulligan on a Q2 call Thursday. The laser-scanning display developer's decision at customers’ requests to replace Class 3R lasers in display modules with Class 1 laser components will cost the supplier roughly a quarter’s delay in production, he said. "Providing a Class 1 product makes it much easier to sell the product globally and enable larger volumes.” The production delay means products won’t launch for another year, Mulligan said. This month, the company received the last $2.5 million owed under a $15 million 2017 contract to develop a laser-beam-scanning display system for a major tech customer, he said. The looming product is believed to be a head-mounted display for consumer augmented reality. The stock closed 13.3 percent lower Friday at 75 cents. Shares survived a delisting threat in February when MicroVision regained compliance with Nasdaq minimum-bid rules. It faces a renewed delisting risk under a Nasdaq “delinquency notice” received June 13 after shares sold for under $1 for 30 straight trading days, said an SEC filing Friday. The notice gave the company until Dec. 10 to bring the stock back above $1, it said.