Trump transition team member Mark Jamison said the FCC is no longer needed, at least as presently constituted, and suggested the commission should be downsized and refocused on a core spectrum management mission, with many of its current functions turned over to other federal and state agencies. "Most of the original motivations for having an FCC have gone away," he wrote in an Oct. 21 commentary. But Jamison, director of the University of Florida's Public Utility Research Center, more recently lauded FCC chairmen of both political parties for providing strong and effective leadership that resists political pressures and preserves the agency's independence.
President-elect Donald Trump's transition operation named four more members to its DOJ landing team Wednesday: Strayer University General Counsel Lizette Benedi Herraiz, a former deputy assistant U.S. attorney general; Dechert attorney Steven Engel, a former U.S. deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel; Frost Brown attorney Thomas Wheeler; and Stefani Carter & Associates principal Stefani Carter, a former Texas prosecutor. They join others previously named (see 1611180020 and 1611220049). Trump earlier announced said he will nominate Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., as attorney general. He also named new landing team members for such agencies as the Defense and Transportation departments.
President-elect Donald Trump's transition operation named four more members to its DOJ landing team Wednesday: Strayer University General Counsel Lizette Benedi Herraiz, a former deputy assistant U.S. attorney general; Dechert attorney Steven Engel, a former U.S. deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel; Frost Brown attorney Thomas Wheeler; and Stefani Carter & Associates principal Stefani Carter, a former Texas prosecutor. They join others previously named (see 1611180020 and 1611220049). Trump earlier announced said he will nominate Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., as attorney general. He also named new landing team members for such agencies as the Defense and Transportation departments.
Jeff Eisenach has become a lightning rod for criticism of Donald Trump's willingness to tap people with corporate and Washington ties despite the president-elect's vow to "drain the swamp" of insider politics in the nation's capital. The Trump transition team Monday named Eisenach -- managing director of NERA Economics Consulting and a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute -- and fellow AEI scholar Mark Jamison to its FCC landing team (see 1611210045).
Jeff Eisenach has become a lightning rod for criticism of Donald Trump's willingness to tap people with corporate and Washington ties despite the president-elect's vow to "drain the swamp" of insider politics in the nation's capital. The Trump transition team Monday named Eisenach -- managing director of NERA Economics Consulting and a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute -- and fellow AEI scholar Mark Jamison to its FCC landing team (see 1611210045).
HEVC Advance will waive the licensing and collection of royalty fees on H.265 application-layer software downloaded to mobile devices or PCs after the initial sale of the device, the patent pool administrator said. The initiative is to “encourage widespread adoption” of H.265 technology in consumer devices, CEO Pete Moller said. H.265 technology “implemented in specialized hardware circuitry provides the best and most efficient user experience, [but] there are millions of existing mobile devices and personal computers that do not have” that hardware capability, Moller said. The initiative “is tailored to enable software app and browser providers” to include H.265 capability in their software products so “everyone can enjoy” Ultra HD video today, he said. HEVC Advance debuted a high-priced, multitiered royalty rate structure two summers ago with no provisions for incentive discounts or annual payment caps (see 1507220001). But royalty waivers, discounts and yearly caps abounded in the revised HEVC Advance pricing schedule released about a year ago after the patent pool worked many months quietly behind the scenes to accommodate industry pushback over its high rates and complicated structure (see 1512210034). The new announcement was HEVC Advance’s latest pricing concessions to land more licensees. It has three known licensees -- Sky, Strong TV and Warner Bros. Entertainment, which also joined in June as a licensor (see 1606280012). HEVC Advance’s website Tuesday designated its licensee list as “coming soon.”
HEVC Advance will waive the licensing and collection of royalty fees on H.265 application-layer software downloaded to mobile devices or PCs after the initial sale of the device, the patent pool administrator said. The initiative is to “encourage widespread adoption” of H.265 technology in consumer devices, CEO Pete Moller said. H.265 technology “implemented in specialized hardware circuitry provides the best and most efficient user experience, [but] there are millions of existing mobile devices and personal computers that do not have” that hardware capability, Moller said. The initiative “is tailored to enable software app and browser providers” to include H.265 capability in their software products so “everyone can enjoy” Ultra HD video today, he said. HEVC Advance debuted a high-priced, multitiered royalty rate structure two summers ago with no provisions for incentive discounts or annual payment caps (see 1507220001). But royalty waivers, discounts and yearly caps abounded in the revised HEVC Advance pricing schedule released about a year ago after the patent pool worked many months quietly behind the scenes to accommodate industry pushback over its high rates and complicated structure (see 1512210034). The new announcement was HEVC Advance’s latest pricing concessions to land more licensees. It has three known licensees -- Sky, Strong TV and Warner Bros. Entertainment, which also joined in June as a licensor (see 1606280012). HEVC Advance’s website Tuesday designated its licensee list as “coming soon.”
HEVC Advance will waive the licensing and collection of royalty fees on H.265 application-layer software downloaded to mobile devices or PCs after the initial sale of the device, the patent pool administrator said. The initiative is to “encourage widespread adoption” of H.265 technology in consumer devices, CEO Pete Moller said. H.265 technology “implemented in specialized hardware circuitry provides the best and most efficient user experience, [but] there are millions of existing mobile devices and personal computers that do not have” that hardware capability, Moller said. The initiative “is tailored to enable software app and browser providers” to include H.265 capability in their software products so “everyone can enjoy” Ultra HD video today, he said. HEVC Advance debuted a high-priced, multitiered royalty rate structure two summers ago with no provisions for incentive discounts or annual payment caps (see 1507220001). But royalty waivers, discounts and yearly caps abounded in the revised HEVC Advance pricing schedule released about a year ago after the patent pool worked many months quietly behind the scenes to accommodate industry pushback over its high rates and complicated structure (see 1512210034). The new announcement was HEVC Advance’s latest pricing concessions to land more licensees. It has three known licensees -- Sky, Strong TV and Warner Bros. Entertainment, which also joined in June as a licensor (see 1606280012). HEVC Advance’s website Tuesday designated its licensee list as “coming soon.”
A coalition of 25 businesses sent a letter (here) to the four top appropriators across the House and Senate urging them to retain previously introduced provisions to expand CBP preclearance facilities at land, marine, air and rail ports of departure in Canada, in the final fiscal 2017 appropriations package. In the Nov. 18 letter, the associations representing “millions of businesses” called on Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., Ranking Member Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., and Ranking Member Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., to work to ensure inclusion of the preclearance provisions outlined in Senate appropriators’ pending fiscal 2017 Department of Homeland Security spending bill in any final funding legislation.
Citing possible harm to newscasters, NAB urged the FCC to reject a proposal to make available for private land mobile radio (PLMR) use frequencies on the band edge between industrial/business (I/B) and broadcast auxiliary service (BAS) spectrum. NAB and others commented Tuesday on an NPRM to expand access to PLMR spectrum (see 1608180045). “The Commission should not adopt this proposal, as it creates an unacceptable risk of harmful interference,” NAB said in docket 16-261. "BAS operations are critical to the operation of broadcast stations, and BAS spectrum is already severely constrained in many markets and at many news events. The proposal to expand I/B spectrum at 450 MHz would compound the reduction in BAS spectrum that will already occur as a result of the incentive auction. This would be contrary to FCC and ITU regulations and would significantly impact broadcasters’ ability to provide news coverage with negligible benefit to PLMR users.” The commission previously decided not to assign a channel for PLMR operations that would overlap BAS spectrum, NAB said. “The NPRM provides no analysis to show how such BAS and IB uses can co-exist without interference occurring and no explanation as to why the Commission’s previous decisions were in error and should be changed. Abruptly reversing course with no justification would be arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law as well as poor spectrum policy.” But the National Association of Manufacturers and MRFAC, a certified frequency coordinator for private land mobile bands, jointly supported adding UHF channels between PLMR and BAS spectrum, saying "access to additional frequencies would help relieve spectrum congestion affecting manufacturers." Manufacturers also supported a proposal in the NPRM by the Land Mobile Communications Council to amend the rules to allow 806-824/851-869 MHz band incumbents in a market a six-month period to apply for expansion band and guard band frequencies before the frequencies are made available to applicants for new systems. That would "very much facilitate the improvements sought in manufacturers' radio systems, an essential factor in the growth of U.S. manufacturing productivity,” NAM and MRFAC said. APCO also supported a priority window for incumbents. “A shorter window such as three months would not afford public safety enough time to secure buy-in from stakeholders and the necessary funding,” it said. The Florida Public Safety Bureau, part of the Department of Management Services Telecom Division, supported an FCC tentative conclusion to expand conditional authority to 800 MHz public safety pool frequencies 10 days after the application is submitted to the FCC. "This would provide public safety agencies the opportunity to meet their communications needs prior to receiving radio station authority; but, after the applications succeeds through the frequency coordination process,” it said. "Public safety agencies typically experience a lengthy process that includes planning, budgeting, purchasing and implementing their radio systems. Providing conditional authority will avoid delays mid-stream of their process to await issuance of a radio station license that could potentially compromise their budget and spending authority.”