The House Commerce Committee is striving to get the CEOs in the 2 latest mergers, AT&T-SBC and Verizon-MCI to testify at its telecom mergers hearing Wed., sources on the Hill and in industry told us. The CEOs of Sprint and Nextel could also be called, sources said, and Qwest Chmn. Dick Notebaert could be a witness. MCI turned down a larger offer from Qwest to accept a merger bid from Verizon. Sources said the hearing will likely include a 2nd panel that could include industry analysts and economists.
Despite Loral Space & Communications’ bankruptcy battle, the company made several major announcements Wed., including the early completion of DirecTV 8 satellite construction and its selection by PanAmSat to build the Galaxy 18 satellite. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in July 2003.
“Vested interests and political lobbying” are preventing the U.S. from fixing its -- and ultimately the world’s -- spam problem, Spamhaus investigator Richard Cox said Tues. With 80% of spam said to originate in Fla., other countries are looking to a “reluctant” U.S. for solutions, Cox said. But a U.K. govt. official said the U.S. is far from inactive in antispam activities. It’s more a question of “time and resources” than of the U.S. not wanting to address the issue, said Jean Jacques Sahel, Dept. of Trade & Industry (DTI) head of international communications policy. Both spoke at an Asia Europe meeting (ASEM) on e-commerce in London.
In a speech at the Border Trade Alliance Annual Conference, former Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Admiral James Loy spoke about the things that the Department of Homeland Security has done to enhance U.S. security. According to Admiral Loy, DHS has expanded hours of operations at key entry points, such as Otay Mesa, to accommodate local travel needs of border residents; DHS plans to add seven more Free and Secure Trade (FAST) lanes on the U.S.-Mexico border in the coming months; and DHS wants the percentage of U.S. bilateral trade cleared through FAST lanes (currently 15%) to increase significantly in the next year. (Admiral Loy's speech, dated 02/14/05, available at http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=4357.)
Federal agencies still are poor at computer security, according to the 5th annual report card released Wed. by House Committee on Govt. Reform. The govt. received a D+ for its overall performance in securing public networks and computers in 2004. The grades are based on agency reporting required by the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).
A representative of the Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM), has proposed a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) for ICANN. While the U.S. delegation at the WGIG meeting in Geneva this week supported the ICANN model, the OFCOM representative said ICANN’s current situation is unsatisfactory. She cited a lack of accountability and transparency in selection of new top level domains. She said the role of govts. should be strengthened and an MoU involving all international stakeholders is needed, in contrast to the current one with the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. According to the official, the Swiss govt. wants this issue resolved during the PrepCom (WID Feb 16 p1). Other national delegations warned that WGIG should solve the issue because of harm that could occur after the WSIS otherwise. Fragmentation could result, said the chmn. of the Working Group, Nitin Desai, and he preferred the WGIG to address the problem in a more positive way. Valerie D'Costa, dir. of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, urged delegations to start a “frank discussion” on ICANN. The widely applauded statement asked for a focus on an evolutionary process, an understanding of governance as finding a better balance to the different interests involved, differentiation between national law and international law and between developing and developed countries, and a test for every possible mechanism with regard to multilateralism, transparency and democracy.
GENEVA -- Several developing countries fervently asked the U.N. Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) to focus on domain name-, IP- and root server management. They also again proposed an inter-governmental, multilateral, multi-stakeholder international body to manage these issues.
The State Department has issued a public notice announcing that it has received an application for a permit authorizing the construction, operation, and maintenance of two additional commercial cargo lanes at the Mariposa Port of Entry at Nogales, AZ. According to the State Department, this expansion would reconfigure the Mariposa Port and allow for the construction of two Free and Secure Trade (FAST) lanes. (Public Notice 4944, FR Pub 12/30/04, available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/06jun20041800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/pdf/04-28565.pdf)
Supporters of E-911 will spend this congressional session lobbying for additional funding for E-911 programs. After the Bush Administration declined to fund E-911 in its 2006 budget request, E-911 advocates said Thurs. they would look to Congress and other sources for funding.
The Washington File has reported that U.S. researchers are developing materials that could make consumers less susceptible to product tampering or failures. According to the Washington File, the technology could be applied in tamper-resistant food and medicine packaging as well as early internal failure indicators in machinery and anti-counterfeiting elements. (Washington File Pub 02/02/05, available at http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2005&m=February&x=20050202140627lcnirellep0.8408014&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html)