Micron Technology won’t ship samples of its 3D vertical NAND flash memory “for now,” waiting instead to deliver them closer to 2015 volume production, Micron CEO Mark Duncan said on an earnings call.
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the private sector must immediately ratchet up pressure on Congress to draft an enhanced African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), said industry executives recently in interviews and letters. AGOA expires in September 2015 after a 15-year run. Due to industry's need to make sourcing decisions roughly 9 to 12 months in advance, lawmakers must pass AGOA renewal before the end of 2014 to avoid negatively impacting investment decisions, said the industry officials.
As the FCC collects arguments over easing the siting of wireless facilities, the industry has been successful in several states in achieving the gains it’s seeking from the commission. Missouri and Washington have eased local government oversight over siting this year. Georgia also approved a new siting law, but left out the gains wireless companies had sought in an unsuccessful bill last year.
The Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters (DOTCOM) Act is intended to “block” NTIA’s transitioning of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions, said Greg Shatan, Reed Smith partner and member of ICANN’s Intellectual Property Constituency, by email Tuesday. The DOTCOM Act was introduced last week in response to NTIA’s decision to transition the IANA functions to a global multistakeholder body, said a news release (http://1.usa.gov/1gGRPmJ) from co-sponsor Reps. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Todd Rokita, R-Ind., and John Shimkus, R-Ill. (WID March 28 p9). “America shouldn’t surrender its leadership on the world stage to a ‘multistakeholder model’ that’s controlled by foreign governments,” said Blackburn in the release. “This seems to ignore a number of the points set out in the NTIA announcement, which specifically says that any government-led or intergovernmental led solution will be rejected,” said Shatan, citing Blackburn’s statement. The “implementation of the multistakeholder model to assume the IANA oversight functions hasn’t been proposed” and “the process of developing that implementation hasn’t even been proposed yet,” he said. “Yet somehow, these lawmakers believe they need to pull out jingoistic rhetoric to support wild-eyed claims that the Internet could turn into ‘another Russian land-grab,'” said Shatan, citing another remark by Blackburn from the release. There are legitimate reasons to be “careful and concerned about the IANA transition,” but “these are not good reasons and this type of knee-jerk bill-introducing and hearing-calling does not help the process or the US role in that process,” he said. The transition is “inevitable” and the “writing is on the wall,” whether “one agrees with it or not,” said Laura DeNardis, American University professor of communications and author of The Global War for Internet Governance, in a later interview. “The transition is going to occur one way or another, and it’s better for the United States government to be a key player at the table, making sure that this truly is a multistakeholder endeavor,” she said. The House Communications Subcommittee scheduled a hearing on the subject Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn. Blackburn, Rokita and Shimkus didn’t comment.
CBP is now accepting applications for its public/private partnership program that allows for private companies to reimburse the agency for expanded services at certain locations, the agency said March 31. CBP was previously authorized last year to create a reimbursable fee agreement program to increase CBP’s ability to provide services on a reimbursable basis to support growth in cross-border trade and travel (see 13051329). New applications for partnerships will be accepted starting April 1 through April 30, it said (here).
The Canadian government will discontinue collecting export duties on softwood lumber exports from Ontario and Quebec to the U.S., after a London Court of International Arbitration ruled March 26 in favor of Canada in a softwood lumber dispute, said the Canadian government. The U.S. initially alleged Canada was permitting companies to harvest softwood lumber from public lands and export it at prices below those agreed to in the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement (here).
The Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters (DOTCOM) Act was introduced Thursday in response to NTIA’s decision to transition the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority to a global multistakeholder body, said a news release (http://1.usa.gov/1gGRPmJ) from co-sponsors Reps. John Shimkus, R-Ill., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Todd Rokita, R-Ind., Thursday. The bill’s other co-sponsors are Reps. Joe Barton, R-Texas, Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., and Bob Latta, R-Ohio, it said. “We can’t let the Internet turn into another Russian land grab,” said Blackburn, in the release. “America shouldn’t surrender its leadership on the world stage to a ‘multistakeholder model’ that’s controlled by foreign governments,” she said. “Russia and China have sought such a venue in the past through the United Nation’s International Telecommunication Union,” said the release. The bill would “prohibit” NTIA from “turning over its domain name system oversight responsibilities pending a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to Congress,” it said.
The Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters (DOTCOM) Act was introduced Thursday in response to NTIA’s decision to transition the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority to a global multistakeholder body, said a news release (http://1.usa.gov/1gGRPmJ) from co-sponsors Reps. John Shimkus, R-Ill., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Todd Rokita, R-Ind., Thursday. The bill’s other co-sponsors are Reps. Joe Barton, R-Texas, Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., and Bob Latta, R-Ohio, it said. “We can’t let the Internet turn into another Russian land grab,” said Blackburn, in the release. “America shouldn’t surrender its leadership on the world stage to a ‘multistakeholder model’ that’s controlled by foreign governments,” she said. “Russia and China have sought such a venue in the past through the United Nation’s International Telecommunication Union,” said the release. The bill would “prohibit” NTIA from “turning over its domain name system oversight responsibilities pending a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to Congress,” it said.
Carmack Amendment provisions on carrier and forwarder liability for losses during transportation do not apply to intermodal shipments destined for export overseas on a single through bill of lading, ruled the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit on March 26. In a case revolving around a shipment of glass damaged while making its way from Kentucky to Taiwan on a through bill of lading, the court found that the mostly maritime character of this type of shipment means that applying Carmack, which only covers rail and truck transportation, would have bad consequences. For example, it could effectively "outlaw" through bills of lading as carriers attempt to separate Carmack liability from liability under maritime laws, said the 6th Circuit. But the court nonetheless found Hyundai liable for the specific loss in this case.
Senate Judiciary Committee lawmakers zeroed in Wednesday on possible problems with the retransmission consent regime and accompanying retrans dispute blackouts. At a brief hearing, they questioned direct broadcast satellite and broadcast executives on the nature of the disputes and how they should or should not factor into the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization process.