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The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is soliciting volunteers to serve as peer reviewers to assess grant application proposals for the $121.5 million State and Local Implementation Grant Program (SLIGP), an important planning and consultation component for the proposed nationwide public safety broadband network.
Qualified reviewers must have expertise and/or significant experience in at least one of the following areas: public safety communications (e.g., a first responder knowledgeable about public safety communications) or a public sector official (e.g., information technology professional, an elected or appointed government official knowledgeable about public safety communications, or a government official knowledgeable about public safety networks). All reviewers must be currently employed by a federal, state, local, or tribal government agency. Reviewers will not be compensated and will need to sign a waiver of compensation. In addition, reviewers must agree to comply with Department of Commerce policies on conflicts of interest and confidentiality.
Call for Reviewers - State and Local Implementation Grant Program
The House Commerce Committee’s Communications and Technology Subcommittee held a hearing on February 13 to begin deliberation on whether or not to reauthorize, revise, or let expire the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA), the law that governs how satellite companies offer broadcast television programming. Some provisions next sunset December 31, 2014.
The hearing only hinted at the contentiousness that could come as the expiration date gets closer. Satellite operators want Congress to wade into retransmission consent, leveling the playing field, they say, as part of the reauthorization, while broadcasters say leave it alone. Several legislators suggested a broader look might be required given the changes in how viewers access content. In teeing up the hearing, Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) suggested everything was still on the table, from a "clean" reauthorization -- essentially just changing the date -- to expanding its scope or letting the compulsory license expire.
Recap: Satellite Video 101 House Launches Reauthorization—or Not—of Satellite Distant-Signal License (Broadcasting&Cable) House Subcommittee Starts to Review Communications Laws (AdWeek)
Senate Commerce Committee Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) announced the subcommittee membership. The Communications, Technology, & The Internet Subcommittee will include:
Chairman Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Ranking Member Roger Wicker (R-MS), Sens Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Maria Cantwell (D-WA). Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Dean Heller (R-NV), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Dan Coats (R-IN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tim Scott (R-SC), Mark Warner (D-VA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mark Begich (D-AK), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and William Cowan (D-MA).
Senate Commerce Committee Organizes for 113th Congress
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D- WV) said he plans to hold a classified briefing with government agencies to better understand how they are using their radio spectrum. Chairman Rockefeller and ranking member John Thune (R-SD) are "working right now on setting up a classified briefing for Members that will help us understand how the military, law enforcement, and the intelligence community currently use spectrum that is reserved for the government."
Chairman Rockefeller Plans Classified Briefing on Government Spectrum Use
Yes, the president said “3-D printing” in his State of the Union address.
In fact, he said “A once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab where new workers are mastering the 3-D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything.” And it does. A 3-D printer is just what it sounds like -- it’s a machine that “prints” 3-dimensional objects. The technology, which been anointed the driver of a “third industrial revolution,” deposits thin layers of material -- like plastic, glass, and ceramics -- over and over again to form complete objects in a single go. The process is called additive manufacturing, which stands in opposition to subtractive manufacturing, the traditional process in which objects are produced at factories by making small parts out of larger pieces of material, like sheets of metal. By allowing people to print objects, rather than drive to a store to buy an object made far away, the technology promises to end the system of large factories and long supply chains in the markets for many goods -- and to transform the global economy.
President Obama Sees the Future of Manufacturing: 3-D Printing
Less than three hours after President Obama completed his State of the Union address, the White House had already posted a collection of citizen responses to the speech.
The selected statements -- all supportive of the president -- came from three people using “Citizen Response,” a tool developed by the White House’s digital strategy office that allows people to highlight and comment on each sentence of the speech. The three statements supported the president’s commitments to civilian training for returning veterans, raising the federal minimum wage to $9 per hour and bringing gun control legislation to a vote in Congress. People who use the tool to leave statements are asked to submit their email addresses for “follow ups and general updates.” It’s not yet clear how the White House will use the information or if it will release metrics about positive and negative responses. Citizen Response was part of a weeklong push to use digital media to enhance citizens' connections with priorities in the president’s speech.
White House Touts Citizen Responses to State of the Union
Because of the importance of our cyber critical infrastructure, and the seriousness of the threats, the President issued an Executive Order directing federal departments and agencies to use their existing authorities to provide better cybersecurity for the Nation. These efforts will by necessity involve increased collaboration with the private sector and a whole-of-government approach.
In developing the order, the Administration sought input from stakeholders of all viewpoints in industry, the public sector, the legislative branch, and the advocacy community. Their input has been vital in crafting an order that incorporates the best ideas and lessons learned from industry experience, legislative efforts, and successful federal efforts. Over the course of the past six months, we hosted over 30 organizations, representing all 18 critical infrastructure sectors, and heard from over 200 companies directly. We also met with trade associations representing an additional 6,000 companies, over $7 trillion in annual economic activity, and over 15 million employees to discuss their concerns and ideas for solutions. As a result of our outreach, numerous stakeholders responded positively to the Executive Order.
[Michael Daniel is Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator]
Improving the Security of the Nation’s Critical Infrastructure
Devices used by many radio and TV stations to broadcast emergency messages as part of the U.S. Emergency Alert System (EAS) contain critical vulnerabilities that expose them to remote hacker attacks, according to researchers from security consultancy firm IOActive.
The EAS is a national public warning system that can be used by the president or local and state authorities to deliver emergency information to the general public. This information is transmitted by broadcasters, cable television systems, wireless cable systems, satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) providers, and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) providers. EAS participants are required to install and maintain special decoding and encoding devices on their infrastructure that allow the transmission and relay of EAS messages. IOActive Labs researcher Mike Davis found several critical vulnerabilities in EAS devices that are widely used by radio and TV stations nationwide, said Cesar Cerrudo, chief technology officer of IOActive. The vulnerabilities allow attackers to remotely compromise the devices and broadcast fake EAS messages, he said. "We contacted CERT [U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team] almost a month ago and CERT is coordinating with the vendor to get the issues fixed."
Emergency Alert System devices vulnerable to hacker attacks, researchers say
In order to provide new digital services, reduce costs, and improve access, some international postal operators are using hybrid delivery networks that combine traditional physical mail delivery with digital delivery. Such networks allow a postal operator to cut costs by reducing the number of days that it physically delivers mail, while providing customers 24/7 digital access to postal services through computers or handheld devices. The U.S. Postal Service does not currently have such a hybrid physical/digital delivery network. If it decides to pursue one however, the Postal Service will likely face particular challenges in providing adequate service in rural areas. Some rural customers cannot use the Internet as a communications channel, as service in their communities is either unavailable or too costly. This issue brief describes one possible approach to addressing this problem: a partnership between the Postal Service and rural telecommunications companies to establish a digital postal network and ensure adequate digital access in rural areas.
A Possible Pilot Collaboration between Rural Telecom Providers and the Postal Service
A glittering modern media school is being erected at the University of Southern California in a building carefully designed to resemble a stately 19th century college edifice. The new five-story home for the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism will be made of steel and concrete but swathed in a brick veneer intended to evoke the historic halls many Americans associate with academia.
Known as Collegiate Gothic, the architecture style inspired by medieval churches dates to the 1870s in the U.S. with the appearance of two Gothic-inspired halls at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. That sparked a trend that transformed many college campuses across the country for more than a century as they were employed to provide an aura of dignity and authenticity in ivy-covered academic environments, according to Bernards, the Los Angeles construction company building the new hall. The $50-million development is part of the university's strategy to add 5 million square feet of classrooms, laboratories, housing and other facilities to accommodate USC's growth in coming decades
USC building a new $50-million home for its media school