Al Jazeera English reaped huge publicity, debuting Wed. with sometimes controversial coverage of an array of topics by high profile journalists. That hasn’t led to U.S. pay-TV carriage deals. Ties to the Arab-language edition, which runs video by terrorists and has been seen by U.S. officials as having an anti-American slant, hurts chances for American carriage, said industry officials, including Virtual Digital Cable (VDC) COO Scott Wolf. His company webcasts the channel.

General support, possibly even consensus, was reported by the chmn. of the Ad hoc Group on the International Telecom Regulations (ITRs) during ITU’s Plenipot. The report is preliminary, but he wrote that there’s general support for the ideas that: (1) Treaty-level provisions are required regarding international telecom networks and services. (2) The ITRs should be reviewed. (3) A proposed World Conference on International Telecom shouldn’t be held in 2007 or 2008.

EA’s Need for Speed: Carbon for PS2 was again the #1- rented videogame in the U.S., according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Nov. 12. The only new game in the top 10 was Microsoft’s Gears of War for Xbox 360 at #6.

ATSC A/74 for adjacent-channel interference and FCC 05- 199 for co-channel interference are “adequate and reasonable” standards for certifying coupon-eligible boxes without hurting the potential for using TV white spaces, New American Foundation (NAF) told NTIA in a Tues. ex parte presentation. NAF based its conclusion on preliminary findings in receiver interference tests at the U. of Kan. The findings matter because NTIA’s DTV coupon program could “impact” use of TV white spaces for unlicensed wireless devices, depending on the specs it adopts for certifying converter boxes as coupon- eligible, NAF said. NTIA scheduled 18 ex parte meetings Tues. and Wed. (Wed.) in its DTV coupon rulemaking (CD Nov 7 p8), a spokesman told us. All slots were filled, he said. Another ex parte presenter, Garden City Group, of Weston, Fla., said it would be “useful” for NTIA “as soon as possible” to publish final rules on such issues as eligibility of households to “facilitate the DTV transition” in the tight schedule that was handed the agency. Garden City Group was the vendor in NTIA’s separate procurement proceeding that proposed a test rollout of DTV converter boxes and coupons before the program launches Jan. 2008 (CD Nov 1 p5). NTIA’s goal is to finish the coupon rulemaking and publish final rules by Q1, a spokesman told us.

ATSC A/74 for adjacent-channel interference and FCC 05- 199 for co-channel interference are “adequate and reasonable” standards for certifying coupon-eligible boxes without hurting the potential for using TV white spaces, New American Foundation (NAF) told NTIA in a Tues. ex parte presentation. NAF based its conclusion on preliminary findings in receiver interference tests at the U. of Kan. The findings matter because NTIA’s DTV coupon program could “impact” use of TV white spaces for unlicensed wireless devices, depending on the specs it adopts for certifying converter boxes as coupon- eligible, NAF said. NTIA scheduled 18 ex parte meetings Tues. and Wed. (Wed.) in its DTV coupon rulemaking (CED Nov 7 p5), a spokesman told us. All slots were filled, he said. Another ex parte presenter, Garden City Group, of Weston, Fla., said it would be “useful” for NTIA “as soon as possible” to publish final rules on such issues as eligibility of households to “facilitate the DTV transition” in the tight schedule that was handed the agency. Garden City Group was the vendor in NTIA’s separate procurement proceeding that proposed a test rollout of DTV converter boxes and coupons before the program launches Jan. 2008 (CED Nov 1 p1). NTIA’s goal is to finish the coupon rulemaking and publish final rules by Q1, a spokesman told us.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated and issued the preliminary results of its antidumping (AD) duty changed circumstances review of wooden bedroom furniture from China.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results and partial rescission of the antidumping (AD) duty administrative review and notice of the rescission of the new shipper review of brake rotors from China for the period of April 1, 2004 through March 31, 2005.

The Commerce Department's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) has posted to its Web site the following five monthly reports containing official September 2006 trade data from the Department of Census for imports and exports of textiles and apparel:

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results of the countervailing (CV) duty administrative review of certain in-shell roasted pistachios from Iran for the period of January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004.

GENEVA -- Hamadoun Toure’s election as ITU’s secy. gen. was a surprise to some, but others saw it as an endorsement by developing countries of the idea that getting connected to telecom and the Internet, rather than concerns about Internet governance, is their overriding concern, officials said.