The Multicultural Media, Telecommunications and Internet Council panned the FCC order on multilingual emergency alert system warnings, in a statement Tuesday (see 1603300064). The order “does not move us even a step closer to ensuring that our nation’s 25 million multilingual Americans, including children, the elderly, and the disabled, actually receive life-saving information before, during, and immediately after an emergency,” MMTC President Kim Keenan said: “If a broadcast license means anything at all, it should mean that broadcasters must deliver to their most vulnerable listeners the life-saving information they need when they need it the most. The penalty for an individual’s lack of English proficiency must never be death.” The FCC order requires state EAS officials to report their multilingual EAS offerings, but doesn't require that they provide an offering. MMTC and other public interest groups had pushed for an order that would offer incentives to broadcasters that provide EAS alerts in multiple languages.
As IoT devices proliferate more rapidly than imagined, potential risks to people's privacy and security could "also emerge at a breakneck pace," which will have to be addressed through comprehensive legislation, FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said during a speech before the American Bar Association's conference on IoT Thursday (see 1603300052). She touted the benefits of IoT devices such as providing real-time diagnostics to drivers and service facilities or monitoring pipeline leaks. But there also have been news reports and studies about hacks into medical connected devices to obtain data that is 10 times more valuable than a credit card number or to change settings that can stop an insulin device from delivering medicine.
The FCC will require state emergency alert system organizations to document their multilingual EAS offerings, said an order approved Wednesday by a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Mike O'Rielly dissenting in part. The order is a response to “The Katrina Petition,” a 2005 request for multilingual EAS offerings by the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the United Church of Christ. “We reaffirm our commitment to promoting the delivery of Emergency Alert System (EAS) alerts to as wide an audience as technically feasible, including to those who communicate in a language other than English or may have a limited understanding of the English language,” the order said.
Two more ingredients of ATSC 3.0's physical layer remain to be elevated to final standards now that the A/321 document on system discovery and signaling architecture for the physical layer has cleared ATSC membership balloting as a full standard, ATSC President Mark Richer told us Monday. Though Sinclair scooped ATSC in releasing the news in a Monday morning announcement that A/321 had been approved, “we’re all good,” Richer told us.
Any tech standards that comply with FCC-proposed rules for third-party set-top boxes should “provide for competitive interoperability across all" multichannel video programming distributor systems, said officials from the Computer & Communications Industry Association, Google, Hauppauge, Incompas, Public Knowledge and TiVo, representing the Consumer Video Choice Coalition in a meeting Tuesday with Media Bureau staff and FCC Chief Technology Officer Scott Jordan, said an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 16-42. The CVCC representatives said device provider certifications are a “feasible” way to “affirm adherence” to rules on privacy, emergency alerting and children's programming. The FCC should act on a pending petition to reinstate encoding rules, the CVCC said. The FCC shouldn't wait for the completion of a diversity study to change the set-top rules, said GFNTV, National Black Programming Consortium, New England Broadband, Townsend Group and iSwop Networks in a letter to Chairman Tom Wheeler Tuesday. “Diverse programmers and cable networks have repeatedly made a compelling case that the current system of little to no minority ownership and programming is abhorrent and deserving of a solution such as that proposed in the NPRM,” the letter said.
Comments on FCC-proposed emergency alert system changes including "securing the EAS against accidental misuse and malicious intrusion" are due May 9, replies June 7, in docket 15-94, the agency said in Thursday's Federal Register. Paperwork Reduction Act comments are due May 23 on the NPRM, which also asks about "ensuring that alerting mechanisms are able to leverage advancements in technology, including IP-based technologies." Commissioners approved an NPRM on EAS at their Jan. 28 meeting. Commissioner Mike O'Rielly partially dissented because the item sought comment on Internet aspects of EAS (see 1601280057).
Broadcasters need to be more aware of their vulnerability to hacking and cyberattacks, said panelists on an NAB webcast on cybersecurity. Broadcasters are considered “critical infrastructure” by the federal government because of their role as “first informers,” and have a responsibility to maintain their ability to transmit emergency alert system messages and information, said Kelly Williams, NAB senior director-engineering and technology policy. It's “vital” that broadcasters prevent attackers from taking over or shutting down “broadcast resources,” said David Simpson, chief of the FCC Public Safety Bureau.
Smartphone makers Apple and BlackBerry and public safety group APCO followed carriers and other industry stakeholders (see 1603210037) in lobbying the FCC on concerns about proposed changes to rules for wireless emergency alerts. The FCC proposed at its November meeting to allow longer WEA messages, inclusion of hyperlinks and narrower distribution of alerts (see 1511190053). Groups and companies were called in to meet with the FCC in recent days, said filings posted Tuesday and earlier in docket 15-91.
AM broadcasters, engineers, professional sports teams and associations don’t agree on whether the FCC should alter some protections that prevent Class B, C and D radio stations from interfering with the more powerful Class A stations, in comments filed in docket 13-249 in response to a Further NPRM and notice of inquiry on AM revitalization. Dual-band broadcasters also opposed an FCC proposal to require them to surrender one of their licenses, and NAB and the Society of Broadcast Engineers argued the proceedings should focus on reducing the growing interference from unlicensed devices rather than changing power levels in the AM band. It’s “discouraging” that the FCC “seems content to allow the ambient noise levels in the AM broadcast band” to continue to increase and accepts “the deteriorating RF environment as a given,” SBE said.
Allowing longer wireless emergency alert (WEA) messages could be technically tricky, representatives from the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions Wireless Technologies and Systems Committee told FCC Public Safety Bureau staff, ATIS said in a filing posted Monday in docket 15-91. Industry attendees came from AT&T, Comtech and Qualcomm: "As each 90 character message is independent, the messages may not be received in the order they were intended, and would rely upon the user to try to put the messages together in the correct order." On including URLs in WEAs, ATIS said "this may result in a large number of users simultaneously accessing a URL, which could result in network congestion," among other issues. ATIS offered “additional information about issues raised in its comments” on proposed changes to alerts, the group said. Its January comments expressed support for the expansion of the maximum permissible length of WEA messages from 90 to 360 characters and numbers, but said industry may need longer than the year proposed by the FCC to comply. ATIS warned that adding URLs or phone numbers to messages “could result in issues within the service provider infrastructure network and may increase the likelihood of severe network congestion resulting in the inability of subscribers to make calls.” ATIS supported Spanish alerts but opposed any requirement for other languages because of “technical challenges.”