Monthly internet service prices are highest in Norway ($79.40 monthly), with Iceland second ($62.10) and Russia least expensive ($5.60), edging out Ukraine ($6.10), according to a ranking of 85 nations by Polish e-commerce platform Picodi published last week. Internet service in the U.S. averages $50 a month, making it the sixth-most expensive, Picodi said.
Russia export controls and sanctions
The use of export controls and sanctions on Russia has surged since the country's invasion of Crimea in 2014, and especially its invasion of Ukraine in in February 2022. Similar export controls and sanctions have been imposed by U.S. allies, including the EU, U.K. and Japan. The following is a listing of recent articles in Export Compliance Daily on export controls and sanctions imposed on Russia:
Concerns about a “doom” scenario from AI and risks from generative AI are overstated, Adam Thierer, senior fellow-technology and innovation team at the R Street Institute, said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. “Things have gotten really out of control, and we’re being led around by a lot of people who have Terminatoresque fantasies floating through their heads,” Thierer said. Other speakers said AI poses potential risks but could have widespread benefits. The discussion comes as policymakers explore controls (see 2311150054), with the FCC looking at the technology's benefits and threats (see 2311150042).
Despite warnings that China's BeiDou global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is eclipsing GPS capabilities, a U.S. response isn't expected. The BeiDou ascendency comes as China is also seen making big strides in commercial positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) satellites.
The U.S. is handicapped headed into the World Radiocommunication Conference next week since it proposes only two bands for future studies, 3.1-3.3 and 13 GHz, while China has positions on all five bands proposed for study for international mobile telecommunications, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and other speakers said during an Atlantic Council webinar Wednesday. The WRC starts Monday in Dubai. Among the bands targeted by China for IMT is 6 GHz, where the U.S. is promoting an agreement supporting unlicensed use of the band (see 2310270047).
Countries need to decide the way forward on a broadcast protections treaty, the chair of the World Intellectual Property Organization's Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) said at a Nov. 6-8 meeting in Geneva, according to a transcript. A review of the third revised draft text accomplished two things, said Owen Ripley, Canadian Heritage associate assistant deputy minister-cultural affairs. It identified issues that could be improved for clarity or to move toward a consensus document and it allowed delegates to map the areas where outstanding issues remain.
Existing international space rules are clearly inadequate, but less clear is what to do about that, experts said Tuesday at a Princeton University/Stimson Center space governance conference. Instead of new treaties, the U.S. focus for years has been on implementation and interpretation of existing ones -- a focus numerous countries have echoed, forestalling any push for updating the space governance regime, said Brian Weeden, Secure World Foundation (SWF) program planning director. "It was hard enough to get the U.S. and Soviet Union to agree" on the Outer Space Treaty, and it would be impossible to get new core principles agreed upon today given how many more countries are interested in space now, he said.
Despite changes in leadership in the months leading up to World Radiocommunication Conference in Dubai, the U.S. is in a good position before the start of the conference next month, government officials said during a U.S. ITU Association conference. Steve Lang, who replaced Anna Gomez as head of the U.S. delegation to the conference (see 2309120069), also spoke Thursday (see 2310260054). WRC-23 starts Nov. 20.
ASPEN, Colo. -- The FCC broadband equity, access and deployment program’s spending will have a “huge stimulative effect” on private investments in network infrastructure over the next decade, said New Street Research’s Jonathan Chaplin Tuesday. BEAD will drive a lot of buildout by mobile carriers and wireless ISPs, said Will Adams, T-Mobile vice president-strategic policy and planning, at the Technology Policy Institute's Aspen Forum. FCC Chief of Staff Narda Jones said robocalls will remain a consumer issue focus for the agency. Panels also discussed online platform content moderation controversies (see 2308220048) and broadband deployment in Mexico and Canada.
The FTC defended its enforcement track record under Chair Lina Khan this week, as detractors criticized her aggressive antitrust approach as being anti-free market.
Commercial space operators need to consider the ethical and fiduciary issues of how having the DOD as a customer could make them targets in a space conflict, Even Rogers, CEO of space intelligence startup True Anomaly, said Wednesday on a Hudson Institute panel. The Russia-Ukraine war highlighted how commercial operators become targets when they support DOD, and they easily could be targeted before DOD or intelligence community space assets since it's unclear if the U.S. would defend commercial providers in space, he said. Redwire Executive Vice President-National Security Space Dean Bellamy said artificial stovepipes in space traffic management, like DOD vs. Commerce, are breaking down as the agencies are working better among themselves, with commercial operators and allies. He said that increased collaboration between Commerce and the Space Force resulted in better space traffic management and safety in space.