On September 22, 2011, Senator Cornyn (R-TX) introduced the Emergency Port of Entry Personnel and Infrastructure Funding Act of 2011 (S. 1604). According to Senator Cornyn’s office, S. 1604 would:
San Diego County, Calif., fired back at NextG Networks, which argued in a July FCC filing that the county’s siting process for new wireless facilities is “protracted, bureaucratic and replete with hidden, circular and unreasonable requirements.” Delays are the fault of NextG, not the county, the county said. Meanwhile, other local governments are filing early reply comments at the FCC questioning the need for the FCC to take any steps regarding local management of rights of way and wireless facilities siting, as examined in an April notice of inquiry (http://xrl.us/bmeu7w).
Religion and news media have more in common than it may appear at first glance, the author of the FCC’s report on the future of the industry said as he prepares to leave the agency next week (CD Sept 27 p4). Steve Waldman said the news industry and religious leadership have both grappled with how to stay abreast of technological trends and make sure those trends don’t undermine some of their reason for existence. Both have at times wondered “how they won’t be overrun by technology,” he said in a Wednesday lecture on ethics in telecom.
CSR’s newly acquired digital TV chip business won’t post “significant revenue” growth until 2013, when Zoran’s processor technology is better integrated with the company’s Bluetooth and WiFi chips, Anthony Murray, senior vice president of CSR’s newly formed Home Division, told us Wednesday at an investor conference in New York. CSR completed its $484 million purchase of Zoran earlier this month (CED Sept 2 p3).
U.S. Customs and Border Inspection recently posted a revised version of its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) 101 "Topic" document, which provides a useful general overview of ACE, including the ACE Secure Data Portal, account management capabilities, report capabilities, revenue capabilities, cargo control and release, and entry summary processing. The document also discusses future ACE features.
On September 21, 2011, the following trade-related bills were introduced:
HOLLYWOOD -- Nintendo of America’s lead software engineer stuck to his company’s party line when asked at a 3D Gaming Summit workshop Thursday why he thinks 3DS sales have gotten off to a slow start. Anyone who has picked up the 3DS for the first time gets “blown away by how well it works, how crystal-clear the 3D is, just how great the effect is,” Nintendo’s Steve Rabin told the conference, answering a moderator’s question about what had gone wrong with the device’s debut.
The FCC should start a notice of inquiry by the end of the year to address the use of small, easily deployable aerial modules to get communications back online in affected areas 12-18 hours after disaster strikes, Public Safety Bureau staff said in a report released Thursday (http://xrl.us/bmd64h). The NOI should examine such issues as interference to terrestrial systems, spectrum coordination, cost-effectiveness of aerial systems and operational procedures, the report said. Staff also suggested an FCC workshop on deployable aerial communications architecture (DACA) solutions by year’s end. The commission should also coordinate with other interested agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration and examine “which issues have international ramifications, working with the State Department and other appropriate federal agencies, and determine appropriate next steps,” the report said. Several iterations already exist, including small, unmanned aerial vehicles that rely on battery power and hover about 500 feet above the ground; repeaters that dangle from weather-balloons; suitcase-sized repeaters attached to airborne aircraft and high-altitude long distance unmanned vehicles, the report said. “The DACA vision for disasters involves an aerial capability that is deployable within the first 12-18 hours after a catastrophic event to temporarily restore critical communications, including broadband, for a period of 72-96 hours,” the report said. “This capability would be useful in situations where the power grid may be inoperable for 5-7 days, depleting back-up power supplies and resulting in an almost complete failure of landline, cellular, land mobile radio, broadcast, and cable transmissions, as well as Wi-Fi and Internet services.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a new document entitled “Guidance on Entry Deletion and Entry or Entry Summary Cancellation” in order to provide uniform national procedures for requesting such actions in ACS and ACE, and for requesting entry substitutions for EIP/RLF and at land border ports. The Guidance includes a deletion/cancellation worksheet and also discusses liquidated damages.
The White House has posted information on the Open Government Partnership (OGP) launched by the U.S. and Brazil on September 20, 2011 during the United Nations General Assembly. The eight founding members of the OGP signed a declaration and presented their action plans of commitments, and 38 governments said they would join the initiative and announce their action plans in March 2012.