The Competitive Carriers Association asked the FCC to pause the phase-down of legacy USF support for wireless carriers until Phase II of the Mobility Fund is operational. The request came in a filing at the FCC Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1md24z2). “We are very concerned that the FCC’s draft Report and Order on USF will be detrimental to wireless carriers and the consumers they serve, especially those in rural areas where USF support is absolutely necessary,” CCA President Steve Berry said in a statement. “To avoid furthering the dominance of the legacy twin Bells, the FCC must act immediately to put USF reform efforts back on track to promote competition and benefit consumers who are choosing wireless services more and more each day.” Berry also urged the FCC to eliminate the right of first refusal for incumbent price-cap carriers. “Price-cap carriers already have been given the opportunity to accept support, and giving them another ‘first opportunity’ would allow them to take advantage of the process to maximize their own revenues, to the detriment of consumers,” he said. “The FCC has the opportunity to put USF reform on the right track again. Wireless carriers got the short end of the stick the first go-round -- with a 60 percent reduction of funding despite contributing more than half of the high-cost support funding -- and it’s time the FCC focused on restoring competition rather than further skewing USF support in favor of wireline carriers."
BlackBerry is targeting breaking even on its hardware business by fiscal 2016 starting in March 2015 as it “focuses on making money” on sales, BlackBerry CEO John Chen said Friday on an earnings call.
Amazon told its Prime members the price increase it promised during an earnings call last month (WID Feb 3 p12) would take effect with their next membership renewal. The $99-per-year Prime membership fee will take effect March 20 for new members, while the increase for existing members will begin to kick in April 17 as members’ renewal dates come up, an Amazon spokeswoman told us. Thursday’s announcement gives Amazon a week to pull in new customers at the $79 rate.
Amazon told its Prime members Thursday in an email that the price increase it promised during an earnings call last month (CED Feb 3 p5) would take effect with their next membership renewal. The $99-per-year Prime membership fee will take effect March 20 for new members, while the increase for existing members will begin to kick in April 17 as members’ renewal dates come up, an Amazon spokeswoman told us. Thursday’s announcement gives Amazon a week to pull in new customers at the $79 rate.
FTC Commissioner Julie Brill emphasized telemedicine, data de-identification and the U.S.-EU safe harbor agreement as issues she believes will dominate her agenda in the coming months, she said Friday during a wide-ranging Q-and-A at the International Association of Privacy Professionals conference. While discussing the FTC’s working relationship with other federal agencies, Brill brought up the commission’s overlapping healthcare data security jurisdiction. “I think there will be a lot of interesting things coming up around telemedicine,” she said. Siloed privacy laws like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act will be less effective in this data-driven economy, Brill said. “This is information that doesn’t know any silos.” A number of privacy experts have called on Congress to give the FTC sole authority over healthcare data security (WID Feb 21 p1). Brill also extolled the virtues of FTC Chief Technologist Latanya Sweeney. “She’s a de-identification expert,” Brill said. “We're all hoping to work more deeply with her on how we can provide guidance, best practices and information to industry.” In a Thursday Q-and-A at the conference, FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez also highlighted Sweeney’s upcoming de-identification work (WID March 7 p4). Brill said “we don’t have her for very long,” so the commission will “milk her for everything we can get while we do.” Sweeney is on leave from Harvard University while at the FTC (http://bit.ly/O3rOBG). Brill also stressed the degree to which the FTC is involved in ongoing safe harbor improvement discussions. She and Ramirez meet frequently with their European counterparts, Brill said. “I'm a big believer in playing well during a standoff,” she joked. As part of the ongoing improvements to safe harbor, Brill said she would like to see alternative dispute resolution fees abolished. “Why a consumer would have to pay to have their dispute resolved to me is just ... “ she said, pausing. “We gotta get beyond that.” Brill also said she would like safe harbor to eventually include “some form of accountability mechanisms.” That move “would give people more comfort, she said. These two issues don’t “need to be negotiated,” she said, calling them “low-hanging fruit.”
FTC Commissioner Julie Brill emphasized telemedicine, data de-identification and the U.S.-EU safe harbor agreement as issues she believes will dominate her agenda in the coming months, she said Friday during a wide-ranging Q-and-A at the International Association of Privacy Professionals conference. While discussing the FTC’s working relationship with other federal agencies, Brill brought up the commission’s overlapping healthcare data security jurisdiction. “I think there will be a lot of interesting things coming up around telemedicine,” she said. Siloed privacy laws like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act will be less effective in this data-driven economy, Brill said. “This is information that doesn’t know any silos.” A number of privacy experts have called on Congress to give the FTC sole authority over healthcare data security. Brill also extolled the virtues of FTC Chief Technologist Latanya Sweeney. “She’s a de-identification expert,” Brill said. “We're all hoping to work more deeply with her on how we can provide guidance, best practices and information to industry.” In a Thursday Q-and-A at the conference, FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez also highlighted Sweeney’s upcoming de-identification work (CD March 7 p13). Brill said “we don’t have her for very long,” so the commission will “milk her for everything we can get while we do.” Sweeney is on leave from Harvard University while at the FTC (http://bit.ly/O3rOBG). Brill also stressed the degree to which the FTC is involved in ongoing safe harbor improvement discussions. She and Ramirez meet frequently with their European counterparts, Brill said. “I'm a big believer in playing well during a standoff,” she joked. As part of the ongoing improvements to safe harbor, Brill said she would like to see alternative dispute resolution fees abolished. “Why a consumer would have to pay to have their dispute resolved to me is just ... “ she said, pausing. “We gotta get beyond that.” Brill also said she would like safe harbor to eventually include “some form of accountability mechanisms.” That move “would give people more comfort, she said. These two issues don’t “need to be negotiated,” she said, calling them “low-hanging fruit.”
There were more process details Monday but few hints about the Obama administration’s big data and privacy stance at the first of three daylong workshops held as part of the White House’s 90-day big data review. Counselor to the President John Podesta clarified that the review would not focus on the intelligence community’s big data programs, specifically the metadata collection programs authorized under Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Those programs were the focus of the six-month review President Barack Obama outlined in a January speech (CD Jan 21 p1) and a “review is ongoing” by the Department of Justice and intelligence community, Podesta said during the event, webcast from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
There were more process details Monday but few hints about the Obama administration’s big data and privacy stance at the first of three daylong workshops held as part of the White House’s 90-day big data review. Counselor to the President John Podesta clarified that the review would not focus on the intelligence community’s big data programs, specifically the metadata collection programs authorized under Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Those programs were the focus of the six-month review President Barack Obama outlined in a January speech (WID Jan 21 p1) and a “review is ongoing” by the Department of Justice and intelligence community, Podesta said during the event, webcast from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
ICANN’s Qualified Launch Program (QLP) helps to curb intellectual property disputes over domains in the midst of the new generic top-level domain (gTLD) rollout, but questions persist about the registration limit for second-level domain names by registries in the QLP, said domain stakeholders in interviews last week. The registration limit for domain names for registries could “mislead consumers,” said Steve DelBianco, NetChoice executive director. ICANN opened the public comment period for the QLP for new gTLD registries Thursday (http://bit.ly/M0NPQg), with an attached addendum for review and comment. Registry operators may register up to 100 domain names for their gTLD, said the addendum.
LONDON -- British hi-fi specialty vendor Meridian Audio opened its first boutique store in London, its second in the U.K. after a location in Oxford. Like all other Meridian stores, it’s owned and operated by a dealer, in this case Rob Sullivan of RS AV in Peterborough. The London store, officially called Meridian West London, is on the famous Kings Road in the design and antique quarter of Chelsea.