The Journal of Commerce (JoC) has reported that freight industry officials are waiting for guidance from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on certain air cargo security measures that are expected to go into effect soon. Among other things, JoC states that the TSA is in the process of working on a program that will allow foreign shippers to supply the TSA with information to be included in the known-shipper database. JoC notes that the TSA is also considering whether the definition of "known-shipper" should be changed to exclude shippers from outside the U.S.
The Pacific Coast Council of Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Associations held its annual Western Cargo Conference (WESCCON) on October 19-21, 2006 in Irvine, CA, during which officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spoke.
The N.M. Public Regulation Commission (PRC) approved a geographic split to relieve projected number exhaustion in the statewide 505 area code. The PRC adopted a plan keeping the 505 code for the northwestern quarter of the state, including Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Gallup and most Navajo tribal lands. The rest of N.M., including Roswell, Alamagordo, White Sands, Clovis and Taos will get the new 575 code. The PRC said the split means 7-digit local dialing for most New Mexicans, who will remain in the 505 area. It said an all-service overlay would have forced the whole state to use 10-digit local dialing. The PRC said it plans for the new code to come into play by early 2009.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site an updated "draft" deployment schedule of land border ports with ACE e-Manifest: Truck capabilities.
The Mobile Mktg. Assn. issued a 3rd update of its Mobile Advertising Guidelines, prodded by “constantly changing network speeds, handset capabilities and operator specifications.” Changes were by the Assn.’s Mobile Advertising Committee, set up last year, chaired by Sprint and Third Screen Media executives and including members from wireless carriers, “technology enablers,” agencies and content providers. Ads on mobile devices should be available in 4 sizes: 305 by 64 pixels for a handset with an approximate screen size of 320 by 320, such as a Treo 700p; 215 by 34 for a 240 by 320 screen (Samsung MM-A900); 167 by 30 for a 176 by 208 screen (Motorola Razr); and 112 by 20 for a 128 by 160 screen (Motorola V195). The guidelines offer specifications for landing pages by type -- standard, e-mail opt-in, click-to-call, messaging opt-in and location finder -- with 6 lines of text and 32 characters per line allowed before a user must scroll.
The Mobile Mktg. Assn. issued a 3rd update of its Mobile Advertising Guidelines, prodded by “constantly changing network speeds, handset capabilities and operator specifications.” Changes were by the Assn.’s Mobile Advertising Committee, set up last year, chaired by Sprint and Third Screen Media executives and including members from wireless carriers, “technology enablers,” agencies and content providers. Ads on mobile devices should be available in 4 sizes: 305 by 64 pixels for a handset with an approximate screen size of 320 by 320, such as a Treo 700p; 215 by 34 for a 240 by 320 screen (Samsung MM-A900); 167 by 30 for a 176 by 208 screen (Motorola Razr); and 112 by 20 for a 128 by 160 screen (Motorola V195). The guidelines offer specifications for landing pages by type -- standard, e-mail opt-in, click-to-call, messaging opt-in and location finder -- with 6 lines of text and 32 characters per line allowed before a user must scroll.
Indonesia improved its intellectual property rights (IPR) enforcement, moving off the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Special 301 Priority Watch List for regimes with egregious IPR records and onto USTR’s normal watch list for countries with inadequate IPR protection. USTR this week completed its out-of-cycle review for Indonesia. Indonesia enforced rules aimed at fighting illegal optical disc plants with better licensing and raids on facilities and outlets suspected of piracy, USTR said. The ministry-level National Intellectual Property Task Force launched to coordinate IPR enforcement among agencies and raise public awareness. Indonesia isn’t out of the woods, USTR warned, saying it could land back on the “priority” list without “sustained efforts and continued progress on key IPR issues.” Indonesia has been on the Special 301 since 2001.
BARCELONA -- It was expected that conference speakers would downplay the blue-laser format war, and delegates would try to open the issue for comment. An unexpected twist at the Tues. opening of an HD conference here was the well of discontent among panelists over the plethora of production standards that authoring houses and broadcasters must deal with - an obstacle to fast rollout of prerecorded and broadcast HD content, they said.
In September 2006, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued an interim rule which states that as of November 24, 2006, Canada will no longer be exempt from agricultural quarantine and inspection (AQI) user fees for commercial trucks1, commercial vessels, commercial railroad cars, commercial aircraft, and international air passengers, which enter the U.S. from Canada. (See ITT's Online Archives or 09/07/06 news, 06090720, for BP summary of APHIS interim rule eliminating Canada's exemptions.)
Nearly 1/2 of airlines expect to allow in-flight cellphone use by the end of 2008, with 59% of airlines planning to allow Internet and e-mail access, the annual Airline IT Trends survey said. Airbus plans to replace illuminated “no smoking” signs with “no mobiles” signs that will light up during take off and landing, it said.