public policy

Key congressman says Pai will be next FCC chair

7 January 2017 by Steve Blum
, , ,

Speaking at CES today, representative Bob Latta (R – Ohio) – a major player in congressional telecoms policy – said he’s looking forward to working proactively with the new administration and, particularly, the new Federal Communications Commission, which will be led by Ajit Pai.

“You look at the FCC and the change there, commissioner Pai will be the new chairman of the FCC”, he said.

Update: afterwards, Latta confirmed that he thinks it’s likely that Pai will be the next FCC chair, probably on a permanent basis, and with all due regard for the principal that “he who looks into a crystal ball will eat ground glass for lunch”.… More

FCC commissioners play it safe and loose at CES

6 January 2017 by Steve Blum
, ,

There was an elephant in the packed CES meeting room where three Federal Communications Commissioners spoke yesterday, and no one noticed him. The session, moderated by a deferential lobbyist from the show’s producer, the Consumer Technology Association, ran its full allotted half hour, with no mention of Donald Trump, who will be setting the course for federal telecoms policy when he chooses a new FCC chair – perhaps one of the current republican commissioners, perhaps not.… More

Rosenworcel back in line for seat on the FCC

5 January 2017 by Steve Blum
, ,

How long will she have to wait this time?

Even with three members of the Federal Communications Commission on stage together at CES in Las Vegas this afternoon, the big news is still coming out of Washington. Jessica Rosenworcel was renominated for another term on the FCC by president Obama yesterday, although it’s by no means certain that her U.S. senate confirmation will fare any better than it did the last time.

Rosenworcel’s first term as one of the designated democratic commissioners timed out at the end of 2016, despite the fact that she had been nominated for a second term in 2015.… More

Key senator plans to take small bites out of U.S. telecom law

5 January 2017 by Steve Blum
, ,

The basic telecommunications law in the U.S. is set to get a makeover. John Thune, a republican U.S. senator from South Dakota and the chair of the senate committee that deals with telecoms – the commerce, science and transportation committee – said yesterday that he wants to rewrite the Communications Act, last overhauled in 1996. But according to a story by Brendan Bordelon in Morning Consult, he doesn’t want to do it all at once…

“It’s time to update the law,” Thune told reporters.

… More

It's OK when dumb people kill, smart cars not so much

5 January 2017 by Steve Blum
, , ,

Not even with the best intentions.

“Would we accept thirty-five thousand deaths at the hands of a machine?” That’s the question Gil Pratt, the CEO of the Toyota Research Institute posed as he discussed the challenges of designing autonomous vehicles at CES yesterday. U.S. society does accept 35,000 traffic deaths a year at the hands of human drivers. Might not like it, but humans are allowed to drive nevertheless.

Pratt doesn’t believe the same casualty rate, or even half that rate, would be acceptable if cars drove themselves.… More

Self driving cars and self starting republicans headline CES

3 January 2017 by Steve Blum
, , ,

Vegas, baby.

The product and policy buzz at the Consumer Electronics Show I mean International CES oops, the global technology event which has the official name of CES is humming around autonomous vehicles as the show gets under way this week. Car companies are out in force, while Silicon Valley-style tech companies continue to back away and the big guns of consumer electronics seem to be showing up because its the Car Electronics Show the most awesome global technology event ever.… More

California broadband rodeo kicks off again

2 January 2017 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

But no room for a working clown.

Strap in for the ride – 2017 is shaping up to be a Bizarro rerun of 2016, at least where broadband policy is concerned. Last year’s most contentious policy broncos are in the chute, ready for another go round with a new cast of cowboys in Washington and Sacramento.

Top draw is common carrier status for broadband service, also known as title II, AKA net neutrality. The republican rump majority on the Federal Communications Commission – Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly – have targeted the Obama administration’s marquee telecoms policy initiative for a preemptive weed whacking.… More

A known cyber threat is no threat to those who know it

1 January 2017 by Steve Blum
, , ,

Caught.

Vermont municipal electric utility employees read the cyber security alert jointly published by the FBI and the federal homeland security department, and did what it suggested: check their computers for the specific type of malware detailed in the report. According to a press release from the City of Burlington’s Electric Department…

U.S. utilities were alerted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of a malware code used in Grizzly Steppe, the name DHS has applied to a Russian campaign linked to recent hacks.

… More

FBI wants network administrators to tighten security, up to a point

31 December 2016 by Steve Blum
, , ,

Crackers working for the Russian government broke into the computer system of “a U.S. political party” during the last election cycle. That’s the unsurprising top line conclusion of a joint report issued by the federal homeland security department and the FBI. Two separate teams working for Russian intelligence agencies phished more than a thousand party functionaries and eventually gained access to administrator level privileges on the target system.

Beneath that top line, though, lurks a fascinating, and ironic, description of how state-sanctioned crackers can penetrate workaday IT networks maintained by corporations and government agencies, and what can be done to stop them.… More

CenturyLink tries to hide California market squeeze under pile of paperwork

30 December 2016 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

CenturyLink is asking the Federal Communications Commission for formal permission to buy Level 3, and it’s trying to portray the deal as a couple of complementary, non-overlapping companies coming together to fight the bigger, badder companies that make the telecoms market so uncompetitive.

Not so. At least where California is concerned.

The filing would have you believe that CenturyLink just…

Provides communications services including voice, wholesale local network access, high-speed Internet access, data transmission, security monitoring, and information, entertainment, and transport services through its copper and fiber networks in the United States.

… More