The 40 percent of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) senior leadership positions that are currently vacant or occupied by “acting” officials, coupled with appropriations instability and cuts, are producing severely low department morale, witnesses and lawmakers told the House Homeland Security Committee at a Dec. 12 hearing titled Help Wanted at DHS: Implications of Leadership Vacancies on the Mission and Morale. “In every survey on workplace satisfaction, conducted by every organization, inside or outside the government, the department has always ranked at or near the bottom,” said committee ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., in opening remarks. “Yet, the Office of Personnel Management found that over 87 percent of these employees believe that the work they do is important.” Obama nominated Gil Kerlikowske for CBP commissioner in August (see 13080219).
The Telecom Act preempts some local land use regulations, but a California city’s decision to require voter approval on construction projects that cost more than $100,000 -- affecting T-Mobile’s request to build an antenna in a city-owned park -- was not a typical land use regulation, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday (http://1.usa.gov/18mi7Yc). The decision follows a similar ruling in another appeals court regarding Sprint, the court said.
Rovi will become more “tightly focused” on interactive program guides and metadata services as it decides the fate this month of its DivX and MainConcept businesses, Chief Financial Officer Peter Halt said Wednesday at the BMO Capital Markets conference in New York.
Smartphones, tablets and e-readers can now be switched on in “flight mode” throughout an entire airline journey without a risk to safety, said the European Commission Monday. Updated guidance from the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) allows, for the first time, the use of personal electronic devices in flight mode from gate to gate, the EC said. This is the first step toward safe expansion of the use of in-flight electronics during taxiing, take-off and landing, said Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas. The next step will be to look at how to connect to the network on-board, he said. He asked EASA to speed up its review of the safe use of transmitting devices on planes, with new guidance expected within the next year. It’s up to each airline to update its operating rules, the EC said. In the U.S., the FCC is to vote Thursday on an rulemaking that would allow airlines to authorize cellphones to be used during flights (CD Nov 22 p6).
Smartphones, tablets and e-readers can now be switched on in “flight mode” throughout an entire airline journey without a risk to safety, said the European Commission Monday. Updated guidance from the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) allows, for the first time, the use of personal electronic devices in flight mode from gate to gate, the EC said. This is the first step toward safe expansion of the use of in-flight electronics during taxiing, take-off and landing, said Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas. The next step will be to look at how to connect to the network on-board, he said. He asked EASA to speed up its review of the safe use of transmitting devices on planes, with new guidance expected within the next year. It’s up to each airline to update its operating rules, the EC said. In the U.S., the FCC is to vote Thursday on an rulemaking that would allow airlines to authorize cellphones to be used during flights (WID Nov 22 p8).
Critics of the Marketplace Fairness Act don’t expect the measure to pass in the House, several told us. Some believe the MFA, which would impose an Internet sales tax on consumers buying from out-of-state companies with more than $1 million in sales, would give more authority to states, they said. Others think the MFA is an intrusion of government power and will hurt “brick and click” small businesses, they said. Unless the MFA undergoes substantial changes, it will not pass in the House, they said.
Critics of the Marketplace Fairness Act don’t expect the measure to pass in the House, they told us. Some believe the MFA, which would impose an Internet sales tax on consumers buying from out-of-state companies with more than $1 million in companywide sales, would give more authority to states. Other think the MFA is an intrusion of government power and will hurt “brick and click” small businesses. Unless the MFA undergoes substantial changes, it will not pass in the House, they said.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler defended the agency’s rulemaking that may open the possibility of cellphone conversations on airplanes and emphasized the technical role of the agency. The Federal Aviation Administration decides on safety, and the airlines make the call on what to allow, Wheeler said. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, had voiced his objections in a Nov. 22 letter (http://fcc.us/1hwhhLx), joining other lawmakers who have criticized the proposal. “While the thought of listening to the constant babble of phone conversations during commercial flights already makes my head hurt, I am writing not about the annoyance such calls would bring, but rather about the more serious topic of in-flight safety,” Begich wrote. He said “an already-distracted flying public would pay even less attention to safety-related announcements. They could miss announcements related to pending turbulence, preparations for landing, or even more serious in-flight emergencies.” He cited “incidents of ‘air rage'” and asked the FCC to withdraw the NPRM, slated for consideration at the agency’s Dec. 12 meeting. Wheeler replied in a Monday letter, released Tuesday (http://fcc.us/IKjzbE). “As a frequent airline passenger, I would prefer that voice calls not be made on planes,” Wheeler told Begich. “However, the responsibility of the Commission is to make technical judgments, and on that matter the evidence appears clear. Nothing in this proposal limits the ability of airlines to ban voice conversations.” Wheeler expects “months of public comment and debate on the specific issues raised in the proposal,” if adopted, according to his letter. Airlines can even “disable the ability of devices to make voice calls should the airline so determine,” he said.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler defended the agency’s rulemaking that may open the possibility of cellphone conversations on airplanes and emphasized the technical role of the agency. The Federal Aviation Administration decides on safety, and the airlines make the call on what to allow, Wheeler said. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, had voiced his objections in a Nov. 22 letter (http://fcc.us/1hwhhLx), joining other lawmakers who have criticized the proposal. “While the thought of listening to the constant babble of phone conversations during commercial flights already makes my head hurt, I am writing not about the annoyance such calls would bring, but rather about the more serious topic of in-flight safety,” Begich wrote. He said “an already-distracted flying public would pay even less attention to safety-related announcements. They could miss announcements related to pending turbulence, preparations for landing, or even more serious in-flight emergencies.” He cited “incidents of ‘air rage'” and asked the FCC to withdraw the NPRM, slated for consideration at the agency’s Dec. 12 meeting. Wheeler replied in a Monday letter, released Tuesday (http://fcc.us/IKjzbE). “As a frequent airline passenger, I would prefer that voice calls not be made on planes,” Wheeler told Begich. “However, the responsibility of the Commission is to make technical judgments, and on that matter the evidence appears clear. Nothing in this proposal limits the ability of airlines to ban voice conversations.” Wheeler expects “months of public comment and debate on the specific issues raised in the proposal,” if adopted, according to his letter. Airlines can even “disable the ability of devices to make voice calls should the airline so determine,” he said.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler defended the agency’s rulemaking notice that may open the possibility of cellphone use on commercial flights. The Federal Aviation Administration decides on safety, and the airlines make the call on what to allow, Wheeler said. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, had voiced his objections in a Nov. 22 letter (http://fcc.us/1hwhhLx), joining other lawmakers who have criticized the proposal. “While the thought of listening to the constant babble of phone conversations during commercial flights already makes my head hurt, I am writing not about the annoyance such calls would bring, but rather about the more serious topic of in-flight safety,” Begich wrote. He said “an already-distracted flying public would pay even less attention to safety-related announcements. They could miss announcements related to pending turbulence, preparations for landing, or even more serious in-flight emergencies.” He cited “incidents of ‘air rage'” and asked the FCC to withdraw the rulemaking notice, slated for consideration at the agency’s Dec. 12 meeting. Wheeler replied in a Monday letter, released Tuesday (http://fcc.us/IKjzbE). “As a frequent airline passenger, I would prefer that voice calls not be made on planes,” Wheeler told Begich. “However, the responsibility of the Commission is to make technical judgments, and on that matter the evidence appears clear. Nothing in this proposal limits the ability of airlines to ban voice conversations.” Wheeler expects “months of public comment and debate on the specific issues raised in the proposal,” if adopted, according to his letter. Airlines can even “disable the ability of devices to make voice calls should the airline so determine,” he said.