LAS VEGAS -- Apple is the biggest challenge in broadcasters’ efforts to win more activations of FM chips in smartphones, said Skip Pizzi, NAB senior director-new media technologies, Sunday at the NAB Show.
FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly questioned what he said is a growing practice of calling in guest speakers at agency meetings, in a Friday blog post. O’Rielly doesn’t cite examples. At the FCC February meeting, at which the net neutrality order was approved, Chairman Tom Wheeler invited net neutrality supporters Chad Dickerson, CEO of Etsy, and TV producer Veena Sud, whose show The Killing survived with the help of Netflix, to address the meeting before commissioners started their lengthy discussion (see 1502260043). “I am not convinced that adding guest speakers is beneficial or appropriate,” O’Rielly said. “While witnesses may provide valuable insight into issues the Commission is considering, these presentations come far too late in the process to inform the outcome of an item. Indeed, they fall within a no-mans-land where they are practically too late to be ex partes but technically too early to be congratulatory.” The main propose of inviting witnesses seems to be to “further promote the viewpoint championed in the item about to be adopted,” he said. “The more controversial the item, the more likely we are to receive such presentations.” If speakers are still allowed at meetings, as a matter of fairness they should have to provide their testimony at least 48 hours in advance, O’Rielly said. Currently, no text is provided before the meeting, he said. Witnesses also should be subject to questioning if they join FCC staff at the presentation table, he said. O’Rielly also said he will no longer provide questions that he may ask staff to the various offices bureaus and offices before an item is presented. “I suggest that we can improve the discourse and relevance of an Open Meeting by allowing unscripted questions and answers,” O’Rielly said. “Accordingly, I serve notice that I no longer plan to provide questions to staff in advance of an Open Meeting. I promise that I have no intention of blindsiding or embarrassing staff by asking questions. There should be no gotcha moments.”
FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly questioned what he said is a growing practice of calling in guest speakers at agency meetings, in a Friday blog post. O’Rielly doesn’t cite examples. At the FCC February meeting, at which the net neutrality order was approved, Chairman Tom Wheeler invited net neutrality supporters Chad Dickerson, CEO of Etsy, and TV producer Veena Sud, whose show The Killing survived with the help of Netflix, to address the meeting before commissioners started their lengthy discussion (see 1502260043). “I am not convinced that adding guest speakers is beneficial or appropriate,” O’Rielly said. “While witnesses may provide valuable insight into issues the Commission is considering, these presentations come far too late in the process to inform the outcome of an item. Indeed, they fall within a no-mans-land where they are practically too late to be ex partes but technically too early to be congratulatory.” The main propose of inviting witnesses seems to be to “further promote the viewpoint championed in the item about to be adopted,” he said. “The more controversial the item, the more likely we are to receive such presentations.” If speakers are still allowed at meetings, as a matter of fairness they should have to provide their testimony at least 48 hours in advance, O’Rielly said. Currently, no text is provided before the meeting, he said. Witnesses also should be subject to questioning if they join FCC staff at the presentation table, he said. O’Rielly also said he will no longer provide questions that he may ask staff to the various offices bureaus and offices before an item is presented. “I suggest that we can improve the discourse and relevance of an Open Meeting by allowing unscripted questions and answers,” O’Rielly said. “Accordingly, I serve notice that I no longer plan to provide questions to staff in advance of an Open Meeting. I promise that I have no intention of blindsiding or embarrassing staff by asking questions. There should be no gotcha moments.”
The State Department’s Office of Defense Trade Controls Licensing is aiming for a “leaner” agency structure with reorganization plans set to take effect on April 20. The ongoing Export Control Reform process has slashed total licenses by 36 percent, said State, without specifying a timeframe for the reduction. The DTCL has undergone “downsizing” and will now be reorganized into the following divisions: Space, Missile, and Sensor Systems; Electronic and Training Systems; Sea, Land, and Air Systems; and Light Weapons and Personal Protective Equipment Systems. “Other portions of [State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls] website will be updated the weekend prior to implementation,” said State in its statement (here). “D-Trade will be configured to automatically route cases to the proper division based on the USML commodities on the application; no action is required by industry to adjust applications as a result of this reorganization.”
The FCC net neutrality order is to be published in the Federal Register Monday. That means the FCC will know soon which major players will challenge the order in court, industry officials said Friday. CTIA, USTelecom and possibly NCTA are expected to lead the charge against the order, which reclassifies broadband as a Title II service under the Communications Act (see 1503300055).
The FCC net neutrality order is to be published in the Federal Register Monday. That means the FCC will know soon which major players will challenge the order in court, industry officials said Friday. CTIA, USTelecom and possibly NCTA are expected to lead the charge against the order, which reclassifies broadband as a Title II service under the Communications Act (see 1503300055).
NAB expects to sell its current building and the land it sits on to partially finance its new headquarters planned for 2018, an NAB spokesman told us Wednesday. The current N Street NW building was “gutted and completely renovated in 1995” and NAB has been advised it will receive “top dollar offers” for both building and land, the spokesman said. NAB expects the building to be attractive to “embassies, think tanks and other trade associations.”
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina on March 31 denied a bid from the owners of several Land Rovers to save their vehicles from forfeiture for import violations. CBP had seized the Land Rovers after finding their entry documentation falsely claimed the vehicles were old enough to qualify for exemptions from Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation requirements. The owners of the vehicles argued that the forfeiture should not proceed because some of the vehicles are now old enough for the exemption. However, the court found that the customs law on forfeiture “does not accommodate vehicles that later ‘come into compliance’ due the passage of time.”
NAB’s planned new headquarters on Washington’s Capital Waterfront in southeast could cost more than $36 million, according to rough estimates from commercial real estate brokers. The planned 120,000 square foot structure will be located on what's considered increasingly desirable real estate, said CBRE Executive Vice President Manny Fitzgerald, who's involved with the transaction. The area around the future HQ is transitioning to a “24/7 neighborhood” with a mix of retail, residential and commercial uses and easy access to Capitol Hill, Fitzgerald said.
An FCC order making changes to rules on trunking in the 150-174 MHz and 421-512 MHz private land mobile radio bands takes effect May 4, after it was published in the Federal Register Friday. The order was approved by the FCC in March, at the request of the Public Safety Communications Council (see 1503110061). The FCC dropped a requirement that applicants who operate trunked stations on Public Safety Pool channels be required to demonstrate that the proposed station's service contour won't be overlapped by any incumbent station's interference contour. The FCC also amended its rules on the treatment of mobile stations to clarify how to protect 150-174 MHz band mobile stations associated with a base station.