Consumers will be able to start requesting DTV coupons Dec. 25, a week earlier than the law requires, IBM’s proposal to NTIA said. IBM and its partners will be ready to mail coupons beginning Jan. 1, three months earlier than the NTIA request for proposals demanded, they said. IBM landed the $120 million contract in August (CD Aug 16 p3). Documents filed in IBM’s contract bid shed new light on the coupon program’s possible form and function, as well as why NTIA picked the IBM team over two other finalists. The documents, released last week to our affiliate Consumer Electronics Daily under the Freedom of Information Act, also were posted Friday on the NTIA website under FOIA rules.
The House Judiciary Committee plans Wednesday to mark up a bill setting tighter court controls over electronic surveillance programs. The draft bill would tweak the six- month measure Congress passed in the summer by giving the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court greater oversight of surveillance programs. The FISA court would be required to run audits of surveillance programs and provide quarterly reports to Congress, according to the bill, proposed by Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas.
The following have recently been posted to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol's Web site:
In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, the Government Accountability Office reported on security vulnerabilities at unmanned and unmonitored U.S. border locations.
Accountability Central reports that Europe's maritime industries and individual shipowners have swung behind European Commission opposition to U.S. 100% container scanning legislation. An open letter from industries representing the "European maritime cluster" said the American law requiring all U.S.-bound boxes to be scanned would be disastrous if it was ever applied. (AC, dated 09/28/07, available at http://www.accountability-central.com/single-view-default/single-view-lexis-nexis/article/europe-stands-firm-against-us-box-scans-joint-letter-to-the-eu-expresses-their-concerns/?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=1&cHash=6d3048529c)
Land Line reports that California's plan to admit only low-emission, company-operated trucks at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach may be delayed and/or altered due to growing opposition from independent truckers. (Land Line, dated 10/01/07, available at http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2007/Oct07/100107/100107-02.htm)
The FCC should offer TV white spaces spectrum, but only in an auction for fixed use, especially wireless backhaul, the Rural Telecommunications Group and FiberTower said. Their white paper contradicts proposals by Microsoft, Dell and other high-tech companies, which call for the spectrum to be made available unlicensed for mobile devices. Other groups and companies, including Sprint Nextel, also are starting to tell the FCC that the best use for the spectrum is wireless backhaul. They call that use critical to support buildout of cell towers needed as advanced wireless service and 700 MHz spectrum goes on line.
The FCC should offer TV white spaces spectrum, but only in an auction for fixed use, especially wireless backhaul, the Rural Telecommunications Group and FiberTower said. Their white paper contradicts proposals by Microsoft, Dell and other high-tech companies, which call for the spectrum to be made available unlicensed for mobile devices. Other groups and companies, including Sprint Nextel, also are starting to tell the FCC that the best use for the spectrum is wireless backhaul. They call that use critical to support buildout of cell towers needed as advanced wireless service and 700 MHz spectrum goes on line.
eTrucker reports, and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sources have confirmed, that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decided on September 28, 2007 to hold the current hours-of-service regulations in place until December 27th to give the FMCSA time to consider changes in the rule in light of the court's July 24th decision. (eTrucker, dated 10/01/07, available at http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=63585)
The following are documents which CBP updates frequently (weekly, monthly, etc.):