AST SpaceMobile's BlueWalker 3 prototype satellite "is now one of the brightest objects in the night sky, outshining all but the brightest stars," and its use of terrestrial frequencies "poses a new challenge to radio astronomy," said the International Astronomical Union Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (IAU CPS) Monday. The satellite “is a big shift in the constellation satellite issue and should give us all reason to pause,” said IAU CPS Director Piero Benvenuti. The group urged low earth orbit constellations to "be conducted with due consideration of their side effects and with efforts made to minimize their impact on astronomy." AST emailed it's "eager to use the newest technologies and strategies to mitigate possible impacts to astronomy." It said it's working on such mitigations as anti-reflective materials and is "also engaged with NASA and certain working groups within the astronomy community to participate in advanced industry solutions, including potential operational interventions." It said it's committed to avoiding broadcasts inside or adjacent to the National Radio Quiet Zone in the U.S. and additional radioastronomy locations as required or needed. "We also plan to place gateway antennas far away from the NRQZ and other radio-quiet zones that are important to astronomy," it said.
The U.S. District Court in New Mexico denied CNSP’s motion to reconsider the court last month upholding a local telecom law requiring a revenue-based fee in Santa Fe (see 2210120030). “Given the substance of the Motion and the already-pending appeal, a reply would not aid [the court’s] its adjudication of the issue,” Judge Kenneth Gonzales ruled Nov. 15. An opposite conclusion by a New York federal court in Verizon Wireless v. Rochester (6:19-cv-06583) isn’t binding on the New Mexico court, he said. The FCC’s 2018 wireless infrastructure order’s effect “is a new issue, and this Court surmises it will be the subject of ongoing litigation,” said Gonzales. “If or when the standard governing right-of-way fees for wired internet service changes, this Court will dutifully apply it.” Waiting for the district court, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 17 lifted a pause on CNSP’s Oct. 28 appeal (case 22-2131).
Complete Democratic control in Massachusetts could make it easier to pass net neutrality and other bills, state Sen. James Eldridge (D) said in an interview last week. Democrats gained trifectas in four states in the Nov. 8 election. Computer Communications Industry Association (CCIA) President Matt Schruers expects more state attempts at internet regulation in 2023 legislative sessions, he told us.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology appears to be taking a relatively conservative approach to interference mitigation in the 6 GHz band as it works through issues raised in an April 2020 Further NPRM (see 2004230059), industry officials told us. Apple and Apple/Qualcomm met with OET in recent days on the Monte Carlo simulations the tech companies are relying on to justify very-low power (VLP) operations in 6 GHz at the 14 dBm power levels proposed in the FNPRM.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology appears to be taking a relatively conservative approach to interference mitigation in the 6 GHz band as it works through issues raised in an April 2020 Further NPRM (see 2004230059), industry officials told us. Apple and Apple/Qualcomm met with OET in recent days on the Monte Carlo simulations the tech companies are relying on to justify very-low power (VLP) operations in 6 GHz at the 14 dBm power levels proposed in the FNPRM.
Attorneys general from Missouri and Louisiana on Wednesday will depose Anthony Fauci in their lawsuit claiming the Biden administration colluded with tech giants to censor information on social media in 3:22-CV-01213 (see 2210240057). “We all deserve to know how involved Dr. Fauci was in the censorship of the American people during the COVID pandemic,” said Louisiana AG Jeff Landry (R). “Tomorrow, I hope to find out.” Missouri AG Eric Schmitt (R) claimed their offices “have uncovered documents and discovery that show clear coordination between the Biden Administration and social media companies on censoring speech.” The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on Monday stayed depositions for White House Director of Digital Strategy Robert Flaherty, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly, which has been a point of contention in the case (see 2211020071). The court ordered the district court to address “issues of the availability of suitable alternative sources for the evidence sought in the proposed depositions” and decide whether “further discovery should be paused until a ruling on a timely-filed motion by the Government to dismiss.” The court noted that in order to “require the depositions of high agency officials, the party seeking them must show that exceptional circumstances exist.” It asked the district court to “analyze whether the information sought can be obtained through less intrusive, alternative means, such as further written discovery or depositions of lower-ranking officials.” The court denied the government’s mandamus petition seeking to “vacate the district court’s order authorizing the depositions” of the three officials.
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation says the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports have been fruitless, and antidumping and countervailing duty laws also are inadequate to counter the wide variety of abuses from China -- industrial espionage, forced technology transfer, discrimination against foreign sales in China, as well as enormous subsidies. "It is time for the U.S. government, ideally working with allies, to craft and implement a new set of trade defense instruments," ITIF Founder Robert Atkinson wrote in a white paper released Nov. 21.
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation says the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports have been fruitless, and antidumping and countervailing duty laws also are inadequate to counter the wide variety of abuses from China -- industrial espionage, forced technology transfer, discrimination against foreign sales in China, as well as enormous subsidies. "It is time for the U.S. government, ideally working with allies, to craft and implement a new set of trade defense instruments," ITIF Founder Robert Atkinson wrote in a white paper released Nov. 21.
SoundHound announced an advance in conversational AI that recognizes and understands speech, then responds and acts in real time. Its Dynamic Interaction technology uses fragment parsing -- breaking speech down to partial utterances before processing them in real time -- and full-duplex audiovisual integration to create an instantaneous experience vs. requiring wake words and turn-taking “with awkward pauses” to process requests, it said. In restaurant settings, users won’t have to speak in a slow or unnatural way to be understood, and they can customize and edit a food order as they go, the company said.
Satellite constellations are inherently global operators, and regulators like the FCC have a responsibility to consider their global impact, the Royal Astronomical Society said Thursday, urging the International Bureau to delay approval of SpaceX's proposed second-generation constellation until it shows it can meet the standards developed by the International Astronomical Union. The RAU also asked the agency to end its exemption of large satellite constellations from environmental impact review. The commission didn't comment.