Sal Maniaci, ex-TV Land, becomes Nickelodeon Group senior vice president-event and original programming … LIN TV promotes Michael Kelly to vice president-sales … Mark Burdett, ex-Baltimore Ravens, named president-general manager, WUSA-TV Washington, D.C.
Hawaiian Telcom “willfully violated” conditions of the submarine cable landing license for the Hawaii Interisland Cable System, failing on two occasions to obtain commission approval before transferring substantial control of its landing license, the Enforcement Bureau ruled Tuesday. It fined the telco $16,000 (http://xrl.us/bmr9ie). The bureau said the first violation occurred when Verizon and Paradise MergerSub transferred control of the their cable landing license to HTCI, and the second when control of HTCI was transferred to new shareholders as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. “The requirements to obtain prior approval for ownership changes involving cable landing licenses serve important public policies, notably the identification of any foreign ownership interests and the prevention of anti-competitive behavior that could result in competitive harms in the U.S. market,” the bureau wrote. Hawaiian Telcom had told the Enforcement Bureau that the license was “inadvertently omitted” from the FCC applications that were filed to effectuate those transfers. The bureau said this was an “admission” that the company had “failed to obtain prior Commission approval."
In February 15, 2012 testimony before Congress on the Administration's proposed fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget for the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Janet Napolitano stated that DHS' trade-related budget priorities include expanding CSI, funding a CBP-private sector IPR partnership program, adding Industry Integration Centers (CEEs), and updating certain facilities on the southern border.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted its draft agenda and 22 other documents for the upcoming Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) meeting on February 21, 2012, which include presentations, draft recommendations, and other documents on the role of the Broker, Simplified Entry, Bonds, the Global Supply Chain, and other topics.
The Xbox 360 was the best-selling videogame system for the sixth straight month in January, but sales of it and every other system fell from a year ago, according to U.S. sales data released by NPD. Retail videogame industry sales, meanwhile, were weaker across the board in all categories compared to January 2011.
LAS VEGAS -- Initial PS Vita sales in Japan have been fine, but the U.S. launch should be stronger for many reasons, Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, told Consumer Electronics Daily at last week’s Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain (D.I.C.E.) Summit that ended Friday.
Legal online gambling could have harmful effects on American Indian tribes who depend on local gambling revenue to support their communities, witnesses said at a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing Thursday. The Justice Department’s recent opinion concerning the federal Wire Act’s implications for online gambling could open the door for states to legalize Internet gambling, which in turn could deplete the demand for tribal brick and mortar gambling operations, they said. But the Poker Players Alliance said Internet poker is not a threat to tribal operations because Internet poker is fundamentally different from other online gambling.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted amended recommendations of COAC’s Global Supply Chain Security Land Border Subcommittee. The amended recommendations largely ask CBP to obtain input from affected stakeholders.
Samsung Electronics is weighing merging with Samsung Mobile Display (SMD) to create “better chemistry” between components and finished products manufacturing, sources close to the company said.
On February 1, 2012 the following trade-related bills were introduced: