April 2013

Cybersecurity Standards for Electric Grid Seen Expanding

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proposed to revise its cybersecurity standards for the nation’s electric grid, expanding the rules to more than 60 additional companies.

The agency voted to start the process for updating the existing critical infrastructure protection standards. The revisions are aimed at enhancing the “security posture” of companies that link to the grid, according to a FERC statement. Cybersecurity is becoming a critical issue for electric utilities as components such as generators, power meters and appliances are interconnected using the Internet. White House National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon said in a March 11 speech that the U.S. is concerned about “cyber intrusions emanating from China at a very large scale.” The standards proposed by the FERC will cover at least 61 companies in addition to about 1,100 subject to current rules, agency staff said after a commission meeting. The names of the additional companies aren’t public.

Rural California ISP launches white spaces broadband for remote customers

An Internet service provider in California says it has deployed one of "the first commercial application[s] of TV White-Space broadband" to a rural area where many people lack strong Internet access. The ISP, Cal.net, said that "[o]ver 59,000 residents in our rural service area have had little or no quality Internet access." Many of those could be served with Cal.net's new white spaces network, which uses empty TV channels to send long-range wireless signals. Cal.net built the service using RuralConnect, a set of base station antennas and white space broadband radios made by a manufacturer called Carlson. The latest version of RuralConnect unveiled last month promises speeds of up to 16Mbps, although Cal.net's website promises wireless service of up to just 6Mbps. Cal.net's white space service is available to businesses and residents in the Gold Country region in central and northeastern California.

Homeland Security Acts on Cyber Workforce Recommendations

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is working to implement 11 recommendations from an advisory council to better develop, recruit and retain sophisticated cybersecurity talent. Dr. Doug Maughan, director of the cybersecurity division at DHS, said the department is moving forward on 11 recommendations released in October by the Homeland Security Advisory Council’s Task Force on Cyber Skills to effectively recruit, retain and train mission-critical cybersecurity professionals. DHS is moving forward on defining cybersecurity roles and tasks, maintaining an authoritative list for these tasks and evaluating its talent inventory and ensuring that it has the current and future skills capacity to accomplish certain cyber tasks, Maughan said.

Dish asks FCC to stop Sprint-SoftBank review

Dish Network asked the Federal Communications Commission to stop reviewing SoftBank's proposed purchase of Sprint Nextel, arguing the FCC can't fairly weigh in given Dish's $25.5 billion bid for Sprint. "If the commission were to act on the pending SoftBank-Sprint proposal before market issues are settled, the commission's actions could have the perverse effect of undermining its policy of strict neutrality in corporate valuation contests by giving a leg up to one of the contestants," Dish's filing to the FCC concluded. Dish said its offer for Sprint "is better for the American consumer, better for Sprint's shareholders, and better for U.S. national security than the SoftBank proposal."

Sprint/SoftBank asks FCC to go ahead with deal review

Sprint Nextel and SoftBank asked the Federal Communications Commission to go ahead with a review of their proposed $20.1 billion deal after Sprint's rival suitor, Dish Network, asked for a suspension of the review.

Sprint told the FCC it was opposed to Dish's request to delay the review of the SoftBank agreement announced in October 2012. "The Commission must not be distracted by Dish's latest maneuverings," Sprint said. Sprint said the FCC review would "in no way limit Dish's ability to make competing bids for Sprint, nor does it prejudice in any way Dish's ability to challenge SoftBank's valuation of Sprint." Sprint said the FCC, which typically takes about 180 days to review deals, was already 140 days into its review.

Delete This When You’re Done

The rise of Snapchat among the under-twenty-five set, who have spent their formative years with Facebook looming in the background, is wholly unsurprising. Snapchat is a photo- and video-messaging service that deletes images and videos from a recipient’s phone within ten seconds; every shot is ephemeral. Snapchat highlights the power of deletion in resisting the gentle totalitarianism of endless sharing. Deletion pokes holes in these records; it is a destabilizing force that calls into question their authority, particularly as complete documentation of a person’s online identity, which Facebook and Twitter increasingly purport to be. Some say the future of privacy is “lying.” But it’s quite difficult to lie all the time in the face of constant surveillance. If we can no longer keep anything to ourselves, deletion may be privacy.

More senators opt to e-file campaign disclosures

A small but increasing number of U.S. senators — the only federal politicians still allowed to submit campaign finance reports on paper — are opting to voluntarily file their disclosures electronically.

Fourteen current senators chose to e-file their first-quarter campaign finance reports, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of Federal Election Commission records. For Senate campaigns filing on paper, it can take weeks, if not months, to get detailed information about who is bankrolling senators and Senate hopefuls. The FEC pays to manually key in the information contained on paper reports before uploading it into its publicly accessible online databases. Similar information is available online immediately for House candidates, members of the U.S. House of Representative, presidential candidates and political action committees once those groups e-file their reports.

911 Services: Most States Used 911 Funds for Intended Purposes, but FCC Could Improve Its Reporting on States' Use of Funds

Although states faced challenges and delays in the past, they have made significant progress implementing wireless Enhanced 911 (E911) since 2003.

Wireless E911 service refers to the capability of 911 call takers to automatically receive location information from 911 callers using mobile phones. The current E911 system is not designed to accommodate emergency communications from the range of new technologies in common use today that support text, data, and video. Although deploying wireless E911 and NG911 is the responsibility of state and local governments, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is required by law to report annually on the funds states collect to provide 911 services such as E911. The Next Generation 911 Advancement Act of 2012 required GAO to review states’ collection and use of 911 funds.

In this report, GAO presents information on
(1) progress implementing wireless E911 in the last decade,
(2) states’ collection and use of 911 funds and the usefulness of FCC’s reporting on this issue, and
(3) challenges to implementing NG911 services and federal efforts to facilitate its deployment.

GAO reviewed FCC’s annual reports, states’ responses to FCC’s information-collecting efforts, and documents from FCC and DOT regarding E911 and NG911. GAO reviewed best practices for collecting and analyzing data and interviewed federal and state officials and other stakeholders. Next Generation (NG911) will enable the public to reach PSAPs through voice and data, such as text messages, but stakeholders have identified a variety of technical, regulatory, and funding challenges to implementing it. The federal government is taking steps to help states address challenges. In particular, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has focused on research through the NG911 Initiative, and FCC released a 5-point plan to encourage NG911 implementation.

FCC's plan includes:
(1) developing location accuracy mechanisms for NG911;

(2) enabling consumers to send text, photos, and videos to PSAPs;

(3) facilitating the completion and implementation of NG911 technical standards;

(4) developing a governance framework for NG911; and

(5) developing a funding model for NG911. FCC also released a report in March 2013 that detailed specific recommendations to Congress for a legal and regulatory framework for NG911.

GAO recommends the FCC should follow best practices for data collection and analysis to improve its current method of collecting and reporting information on state 911 funds.

[GAO-13-376]

Sen Ayotte vows to fight 'disastrous' online sales tax bill

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) said that some senators are “trying to muscle” through a “disastrous” bill that would allow states to collect online sales taxes.

"Supporters of this online sales tax bill are trying to muscle it through before senators find out how disastrous it would be for businesses in their states," Sen Ayotte said. "I will fight this power grab every step of the way to protect small online businesses in New Hampshire and across the nation." Sen Ayotte said the bill has so much support because states are trying to increase their revenue at a time when most states are running up deficits. Ayotte said the burden of collecting sales tax should be on the states not the online retailer.

Comcast Tweaks Pre-Paid Internet Trial

Comcast has made a small, but potentially big change, to a pre-paid Internet service it’s testing in the Philadelphia area that suggests a broader rollout could be in the making.

After testing out a sales model that relied on more than 70 local wireless and consumer electronics stores to distribute and sell starter kits comprised of a cable modem, the necessary cables and an activation code good for 30 days of Internet service, the website that promotes the offer has shed the retail option in favor of a new call-in number. Also gone from the site are mentions that the offer is limited to parts of Philadelphia, Delaware and New Jersey. But the site does tell visitors that the pre-paid offer is not available when plugging in addresses and zip codes in Comcast markets that are outside the Philadelphia region.

Benton

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