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.
Westone launched an iPhone app that uses BBE’s Sonic Maximizer, an audio technology designed to improve the smartphone listening experience. According to Westone, BBE’s technology “restores the natural warmth and definition” that can be lost in the digital listening experience.” Using the app, listeners can hear deeper, richer low notes, more clarity and improved upper harmonic detail, the company said. To use the $2.99 SonicMax Pro app, users select a playlist, pick a preset and hit play to engage the technology. The app automatically uploads playlists from the user’s library, Westone said, and users can perform play, pause, shuffle, skip and repeat functions from the app. Seven EQ settings are included, and users can customize three additional settings, the company said.
Channel Master launched a DVR for over-the-air programming that’s designed to boost its antenna business while giving rural TV owners a DVR option and cord-cutters another reason to abandon cable or satellite TV service. It’s the company’s third-generation DVR, said President Coty Youtsey, who said it has “learned from the past two iterations some of the idiosyncrasies involved” in working with broadcast and guide data that can make a CE device freeze. “We've got that under control now,” he said, which he said is an advantage Channel Master has over competitive products coming to market. Especially when dealing with over-the-air broadcasts, “It takes several years to get the software to the point where it’s consumer-friendly enough and stable,” he said.
A federal court ruled the government’s phone surveillance is likely unconstitutional, spurring members of Congress to call for action limiting surveillance. The ruling came as the White House received a set of recommendations from its appointed surveillance review group, with potential action to follow in January. Larry Klayman, the founder of Freedom Watch, initiated the case.
A federal court ruled the government’s phone surveillance is likely unconstitutional, spurring members of Congress to call for action limiting surveillance. The ruling came as the White House received a set of recommendations from its appointed surveillance review group, with potential action to follow in January. Larry Klayman, the founder of Freedom Watch, initiated the case.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler made the broadcast incentive auction more feasible by delaying it Friday (CED Dec 9 p4), but the first-of-its-kind auction won’t be easy, according to interviews Monday with former FCC chiefs from both parties, as well as with broadcast and wireless lawyers and public-interest officials. Not holding the auction until mid-2015, rather than the 2014 timetable that then-Chairman Julius Genachowski planned, gives Wheeler more time to resolve issues like limits on bidding for the top-two U.S. carriers and holding two other wireless spectrum auctions this year, they said.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler made the broadcast incentive auction more feasible by delaying it Friday (CD Dec 9 p1), but the first-of-its-kind auction won’t be easy, according to interviews Monday with former chairmen of both parties, broadcast and wireless lawyers and public-interest officials. They said not holding the auction until mid-2015, later than the 2014 then-Chairman Julius Genachowski planned, gives Wheeler more time to resolve issues like limits on bidding for the top-two U.S. carriers and holding two other wireless spectrum auctions this year.
All spectrum is important, said panelists at a Practising Law Institute session on wireless developments, but there was some disagreement over how valuable low-band spectrum is on its own. Panelists also agreed that a 180-day shot clock on merger review, proposed by FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, is a good idea, if the agency gets some flexibility to pause the clock.