Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., will meet with ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Monday afternoon for renewed privacy negotiations, a committee member told us last week.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told the Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday he “had dialogue” with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson on collaborating to ensure there aren’t future interagency spectrum policy disputes on the scale of the 5G C-band rollout fracas earlier this year among the FCC, FAA, NTIA, wireless carriers and the aviation industry. Senate Commerce members focused almost no attention on the issue, which also came up during a Senate Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee hearing last week (see 2204280064). Buttigieg repeatedly backed Senate Commerce members’ calls for legislation to set up a national autonomous vehicle regulatory framework, which has been on the backburner in recent years.
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After reporting record Q2 FY ’22 revenue, Apple CEO Tim Cook warned on a Thursday earnings call of continued COVID-19-related supply constraints and silicon shortages that are expected to dent June quarter revenue by $4 billion-$8 billion. That’s “substantially larger” than the company experienced in the March quarter, and the impact will be across most categories, he said. The company didn’t give June quarter revenue guidance.
A draft FCC NPRM would seek comment on an Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM) Broadband Coalition proposal to establish an "Enhanced" A-CAM program, if adopted during the May 19 commissioners' meeting (see 2010300055). The proposal would "achieve widespread deployment of faster 100/20 Mbps broadband service" in rural areas currently receiving A-CAM support, said a fact sheet Thursday. Also on tap are orders updating priority calling rules and clamping down on robocalls. Another order would allow computer modeling to verify the pattern of FM directional antennas.
IFA 2022 is “going ahead” as scheduled Sept. 2-6 at the Messe Berlin fairgrounds as a “full-size” show for the first time since 2019, and it will be a “hands-on, on-location event without compromise,” IFA Executive Director Jens Heithecker told a digital news briefing Wednesday. IFA 2022 won’t have a COVID-19 vaccination mandate, said Heithecker in a follow-up Q&A.
LAS VEGAS -- No nationwide test of the emergency alert system will be held in 2022 to allow Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a comprehensive survey instrument to gauge the effectiveness of wireless emergency alerts, announced FEMA officials on an NAB Show 2022 panel Monday. “We are planning for that in the early part of 2023,” said Antwane Johnson, acting deputy assistant administrator-FEMA National Continuity Programs Directorate. Gathering data on previous nationwide WEA tests has been difficult, necessitating the survey effort, said Al Kenyon, FEMA customer support branch chief-integrated public alert warning system, in an interview Tuesday.
Cargill confirmed its suspension of purchases of palm oil from Sime Darby Plantation following CBP's forced labor finding on Sime Darby's palm oil goods (see 2204180015). After CBP issued the finding, Cargill "urged Sime Darby Plantation Berhad to provide information on how they have addressed the CBP forced labor allegations," Cargill said in an email. "Sime Darby Plantation Berhad has not yet come forward with sufficient information that enables Cargill to assess if the actions Sime Darby Plantation Berhad is taking meet the requirements set out in Cargill’s Policy on Sustainable Palm Oil. Therefore, Cargill has decided to suspend all new sourcing of palm oil and derivative products from Sime Darby Planation Berhad." It said it will review its decision when more information becomes available.
The government should not be allowed a second extension in a classification case to respond to an expert witness report, HyAxiom said in a motion filed April 20 with the Court of International Trade. DOJ has "not yet decided whether they intend to respond to HyAxiom’s Expert Report, let alone retained a rebuttal expert," which, the motion argues, is "effectively putting on pause HyAxiom’s ability to complete its discovery" and, if granted, would prejudice HyAxiom, formerly known as Doosan Fuel Cell America, by forcing it to rearrange its litigation strategy, the importer said. The case stems from a February 2021 complaint by Doosan Fuel Cell America that challenged the reclassification of a steam methane reformer and subsequent denial of protest by CBP. CBP classified the reformer under HTS subheading 8503.00.9550 (3%). Doosan claims the proper subheading is 8405.10.0000 (free).
The Senate Judiciary Committee is eyeing a markup for the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (S-673) during the upcoming work period, industry officials told us Wednesday (see 2202280066). New bipartisan language under consideration for S-673 would ensure print and broadcast journalism outlets aren’t discriminated against based on viewpoints expressed in content.