SANTA CLARA, Cal. -- The 3 finalists to build and run a Wi-Fi network for Silicon Valley and beyond “will work with” organizers on privacy objections to their proposals, Project Dir. Seth Fearey of the Wireless Silicon Valley project said Wed.

SANTA CLARA, Cal. -- The 3 finalists to build and run a Wi-Fi network for Silicon Valley and beyond “will work with” organizers on privacy objections to their proposals, Project Dir. Seth Fearey of the Wireless Silicon Valley project said Wed.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted its August 2006 Modernization Monthly newsletter to its Web site. The following are "highlights" of some of the topics addressed in the newsletter:

“The need for the $7 billion Universal Service Fund (USF) is less now than it was in 1998 when it was $3 billion,” said Thomas Hazlett Fri. The former FCC chief economist, a professor at George Mason U., answered questions about his views on the telecom industry on a call-in interview on C-SPAN. Hazlett echoed many of the conclusions in his study (CD July 20 p7) ‘Universal Service Telephone Subsidies: What does $7 billion buy?’ Telephone users are paying taxes to fund subsidies that go to inefficient rural telcos, Hazlett said. “These small rural companies,” who are given billions in USF subsidies, “are charging their customers the same rates, and occasionally more for their subsidized services,” said Hazlett. As a result many rural consumers are ditching land-lines for less expensive wireless services, he said.

N.Y.C. is considering a Verizon proposal to provide competitive cable TV service there, but first must pass an ordinance authorizing the city Dept. of Information Technology & Telecommunications to franchise competing video service providers. Verizon said it wants to compete against cable incumbents Time Warner, Cablevision and RCN. Verizon said it should be allowed to sell video services over upgraded fiber facilities it’s building, since cable companies can sell phone and Internet access services in N.Y.C. The 3 cable companies have 10 franchise agreements among them, covering about 1.8 million customers. Most expire in 2008. The city telecom dept. asked the city council to allow cable competition and grant it authority to review existing franchises. The issue has been referred to the council’s Zoning & Franchise Subcommittee, which plans a Sept. 11 hearing and a possible Oct. 27 vote. If endorsed by the subcommittee, competitive video franchising would go to the Land Use Committee.

A Cato Institute study argues that while property rights for spectrum has emerged as a key concept, defining these rights is much more difficult than many would imagine. “Property rights in spectrum cannot operate identically to their real property counterparts,” the report said. “Even though the merits of the case for property-like rights in spectrum are beyond dispute, the details about how such a regime would work must still be defined.” The Cato study was written by former Office of Engineering & Technology Chief Dale Hatfield and Phil Weiser, both at the U. of Colo. Weiser told us the paper comes as spectrum reform gets more attention at the FCC and elsewhere. “Enforcement of property rights in spectrum is a very different challenge than enforcing property rights in land,” he said: “If the real property model is used in spectrum there is a substantial risk that the system could be abused and that unintended consequences could arise.” The paper warns in particular against the danger posed by the spectrum equivalent of patent trolls, who buy up patent rights to game the system. “Patent trolls buy up patent rights… to exclude others from the use of an invention, knowing that other firms are using the invention unaware of the patent or believing it will not be enforced,” the paper said: “Then, without ever producing a product, the patent troll invokes its patent rights.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a fact sheet on avian influenza that covers, among other things, the guidelines for importing live birds and bird products into the U.S.

U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the State Department have issued a proposed rule that would implement the first stage of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), in order to require U.S. citizens and nonimmigrant aliens from Canada, Bermuda, and Mexico to present a valid passport, with certain limited exceptions, when entering the U.S. from countries within the Western Hemisphere.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted the following to its Web site:

SAN JOSE -- Govt. Internet policy on regulated industries never has had a light touch, online marketers for health care, liquor and retail said this week at the Search Engine Strategies conference here. Participants described pitfalls for their clients, and the hassles and liability facing parts of their own business.