On January 17, 2006, Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff unveiled a three-part vision to ensure the use of the best new technologies and most efficient processes to improve border security, while facilitating travel and welcoming visitors to the U.S. Highlights of this vision include:

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued a notice announcing the availability of grant funding under the fiscal year (FY) 2006 Border Enforcement Grant (BEG) program. According to the FMCSA, this is a discretionary grant program that provides funding for carrying out border commercial motor vehicle (CMV) safety programs and related enforcement activities and projects. Entities and states that share a land border with another country are eligible to receive grant funding. Applications must be sent no later than March 15, 2006. (FR Pub 01/31/06, available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/E6-1155.pdf)

DRM legislation is needed to reset the balance between consumers and content owners, some witnesses told U.K. lawmakers last week. Others, however, said existing laws are adequate, and copyright protection solutions should be left to market forces. The All Party Internet Group (APIG) is looking at whether and how DRM can protect artists, royalty distribution companies and consumers. It received a record 92 written submissions and held a 3-hour hearing last Thurs. APIG’s DRM report is due in the spring.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) may soon implement "Phase 4", CBP's next step in enforcing mandatory advance electronic information requirements for truck carriers, as required by the Trade Act of 2002.

Though it’s “way too premature to talk about any legal issues,” an international newspaper lobby has in its sights news aggregators such as Google News for excerpting online articles without paying, a spokesman told us. The Paris- based World Assn. of Newspapers (WAN) convened a task force of international and European publishers, editors and other executives to devise standards for its members to press aggregators for compensation. Google News and others typically carry a headline and one or 2 lines of text from an online article, and sometimes a photo from that article or separate news service. Such practices are “using newspapers’ own stories to compete with them,” the WAN spokesman said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has updated its set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) regarding the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS) wood packaging material (WPM) regulations that took effect September 16, 2005.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site information on its containerized cargo sealing policy, which took effect on August 8, 2005.

Congress will examine China’s extensive Internet content-filtering regime at Feb. events. A Wed. Congressional Human Rights Caucus briefing and a Feb. 15 hearing by the House International Relations subcommittee will feature human rights groups’ concerns about freedom of expression and censorship, American high-tech behemoths’ investments in the lucrative Chinese market and concessions allegedly to gain capitalists toeholds in the Communist state.

The FCC issued a decision on some of the technical issues raised in June in a rulemaking tied to the advanced wireless services (AWS) auction. the auction, expected to take place this summer, could raises in billions of dollars for the Treasury. The FCC sought guidance on issues such as reserve bid prices that guarantee govt. agencies will be fully compensated as they exit the spectrum put up for sale, and on options for preserving tribal land bidding credits. The Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act creating the trust fund for compensating agencies required the FCC to make changes proposed in the rulemaking. A few industry players, notably Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, had provided some advice for how the FCC should proceed in an otherwise quiet docket. Sources said there saw no major surprises in the order.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted a notice announcing that it will be holding its second Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) Enrollment Seminar for the Mexican and Canadian Highway Carrier and Manufacturing sectors of C-TPAT in San Diego, California on February 14 - 16, 2006.