The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has issued a final rule, effective May 12, 2005, that amends 50 CFR Parts 216 and 300 in order to implement certain resolutions adopted by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and by the Parties to the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program (IDCP).
Both Office Depot and OfficeMax posted mixed first- quarter financial results Thurs. OfficeMax is the target of a proxy battle waged by a large shareholder.
TIA said it published a new telecom systems bulletin (TSB-150) recommending uniform format guidelines to be used in preparing equipment radio frequency (RF) exposure test reports submitted to the FCC and other agencies. The document -- “Private Land Mobile Radio 2-Way Portable Equipment RF Exposure Test Report Guidelines” -- can be purchased at http://global.ihs.com for $50.
The RIAA and MPAA said they would file separate suits Wed. against “presumed” college users sharing files through Internet2, the high-speed network run by a consortium of 207 universities. However, the effort is mutual. Though not sharing information each group regards as proprietary, “we are working very collaboratively,” MPAA Pres. Dan Glickman said in a conference call Tues. The MPAA also will identify and act Wed. against previously alleged file-sharers who chose not to settle, he said.
Several parties asked the FCC to extend by 30 days a comment deadline in a proceeding considering amending Part 90 of the Commission’s rules to provide for flexible use of the 896-901 MHz and 935-940 MHz bands allotted to the business and industrial land transportation pool. The request was filed by the United Telecom Council, National Assn. of Manufacturers and MRFAC, Assn. of American Railroads, American Petroleum Institute, National Rural Electric Coop. Assn. and Enterprise Wireless Alliance. “The Commission’s proposed changes to the 900 MHz PLMR band would have a profound impact on the critical infrastructure and other private wireless entities operating radio systems in this spectrum, and would cut off the future availability of an important spectrum resources without providing an alternative,” the parties said. They said they're gathering data on use of the frequency band and talking with other parties, including Nextel, to reach “agreement that would permit a consistent filing position in this matter across most, if not all, user communities. Completion of this effort will not be possible in the time remaining before the comment deadline.” The parties asked the FCC to move the April 18 comment deadline to May 18.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site the March 2005 issue of its U.S. Customs and Border Protection Modernization newsletter which discusses, among other things, CBP's plan to launch (i.e., implement) the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Release 4 (Truck Manifest) at ports in geographic clusters, starting with the Blaine cluster.
A wireless industry request for reconsideration of the Nationwide Programmatic Agreement (NPA) on tower siting faced strong opposition from groups representing tribal and historic preservation interests. The Tower Siting Policy Alliance (TSPA), whose key members include Cingular, T-Mobile and American Tower, had asked the FCC to revise NPA provisions that diverge from current rules, saying they undermine the goal of streamlining the tower siting approval process and impose burdensome requirements without offering increased protection for historic properties (CD Feb 9 p2). But the National Tribal Telecom Assn. (NTTA), National Assn. of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (NATHPO) and National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) rebutted such allegations and urged the FCC to deny the petition.
Crest Communications urged the FCC to deny a Tyco Global Network (TGN) plan to transfer its cable landing licenses for Tyco-Pacific and Tyco-Atlantic cable systems to VSNL Telecom. VSNL, which plans to acquire Tyco, is about 26% owned by the Indian govt., while 46% is held by the Tata Group, a large Indian company, Crest said. Tyco “is the last trans-oceanic fiber optic cable system under the ownership and control of U.S. interest,” Crest said. The March 31 petition said VSNL’s plan to acquire Tyco “raises a myriad of competition, economic and national security, as well as trade policy concerns that warrant close scrutiny by the Commission and other branches of government.” Crest, an Alaska infrastructure provider, owns submarine cable “branching units” on the Tyco-Pacific network. The firm said it has been talking with the Dept. of Defense about using those branching units in the national missile defense program’s early warning and interception capabilities. However, were TGN under foreign control, DOD might be less inclined to use those branching units for fear of data corruption or data interception, Crest said, noting that alternative fiber optic cable solutions would cost the DoD over 10 times more than interconnecting via its branching units. Crest warned that the sale could “severely compromise the Department of Defense’s net-centric warfare plans and threaten the security and integrity of military, intelligence, and other sensitive communications on the cable network.” Crest said it believed the transaction was being reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment Inside the United States (CFIUS) although the classified process hasn’t been confirmed. The FCC should remove this application from streamlined processing and give the application more careful scrutiny, Crest said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its web site the new C-TPAT Security Criteria for Importers. This new security criteria document is dated March 25, 2005 and is identical to the final draft version of these standards previously made available in International Trade Today.
Circuit City postponed release of 4th-quarter and year-end results for 7-14 days in order to finish reviewing its lease accounting practices, the chain said Tues. Circuit City results were scheduled to be out today (Wed.). The firm said March 4 it was reviewing leases to ensure accounting policies consistently complied with new SEC rule. At the time, Circuit said it didn’t expect review to spur restatements of reported earnings. CFO Michael Foss said Tues. the chain hasn’t decided if a restatement is necessary. That’s because as the review was winding up, the firm found discrepancies in accounting for leases on buildings the company build on leased land, then transferred to landlords after construction costs were reimbursed. Circuit City’s independent auditors recently found that a seller-lessee, by not recovering all construction costs, has “continuing involvement” in the property, the company said. Previously, the company had found that no lease arrangement in which it was involved had met the criteria for continuing involvement, Circuit City said. As a result of any accounting adjustment, fiscal 2005 earnings could be reduced by up to 5 cents per share to a projected range of 28 cents-30 cents, the chain said.