McDowell Confirmed as FCC Commissioner - Full Boat - Elephants over Donkeys

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
May 26, 2006 Daniel Gonzalez at (202)
418-1000

CHAIRMAN KEVIN J. MARTIN APPLAUDS THE CONFIRMATION OF
ROBERT M. McDOWELL TO SERVE AS COMMISSIONER OF THE
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Today, Federal Communications Commission Chairman
Kevin J. Martin applauded the confirmation of Robert
M. McDowell by the United States Senate to serve as
Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission.

Chairman Martin said, “I congratulate Rob McDowell on
his confirmation as Commissioner at the FCC. He has
a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the
communications arena, and we will rely on his insight.
I am anxious to have him onboard and look forward to
working with a full complement of Commissioners to
address the important issues before us.”

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RFC :: NTIA :: Continued Transition of Tech Coordination of DNS

http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/frnotices/2006/NOI_DNS_Transition_0506.htm

More Info: www.cybertelecom.org/dns/

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information
Administration

Docket No. 060519136-6136-01

The Continued Transition of the Technical Coordination
and Management of the Internet Domain Name and
Addressing System

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

ACTION: Notice of Inquiry, Notice of Public Meeting

SUMMARY: The United States Department of Commerce’s
National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA) seeks comment on the
continuation of the transition of the technical
coordination and management of the Internet domain
name and addressing system (Internet DNS) to the
private sector. In June 1998, the Department issued a
statement of policy on the privatization of the
Internet DNS, which among other things articulated
four primary functions for global Internet DNS
coordination and management, the need to have these
functions performed by the private sector and four
principles to guide the transition to private sector
management of the Internet DNS. On June 30, 2005,
NTIA released the U.S. Principles on the Internet’s
Domain Name and Addressing System further elaborating
on these issues. The Department of Commerce seeks
comment regarding the progress of this transition and
announces a public meeting to be held on July 26,
2006, to discuss issues associated with this
transition.

DATES: Comments are due on or before July 7, 2006.
The public meeting will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00
p.m. on July 26, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by U.S.
mail to Fiona Alexander, Office of International
Affairs, National Telecommunications and Information
Administration, 1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room
4701, Washington, DC 20230. Paper submissions should
include a three and one-half inch computer diskette in
HTML, ASCII, Word or WordPerfect format (please
specify version). Diskettes should be labeled with
the name and organizational affiliation of the filer,
and the name of the word processing program used to
create the document. Alternatively, comments may be
submitted electronically to
DNSTransition@ntia.doc.gov. Comments provided via
electronic mail should also be submitted in one of the
formats specified above. All comments will be posted
to NTIA’s website at
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/dnstransition.html.

The public meeting will be held at the U.S. Department
of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W.,
Auditorium, Washington, D.C. (Entrance to the
Department of Commerce is on 14th Street between
Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues, N.W.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about
this Notice or the Public Meeting, contact: Fiona
Alexander, National Telecommunications and Information
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room 4701, Washington, DC
20230; telephone: (202) 482-1866; or email:
falexander@ntia.doc.gov. Please direct media
inquiries to the Office of Public Affairs, NTIA, at
(202) 482-7002.

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NIST Special Publication 800-81, Secure Domain Name System (DNS) Deployment Guide

May 16, 2006: NIST is pleased to announce the release of NIST Special Publication 800-81, Secure Domain Name System (DNS) Deployment Guide. This publication seeks to assist organizations in the secure deployment of Domain Name System (DNS) services in an enterprise. It discusses the threats, security objectives, and relevant security approaches. Finally, it makes specific recommendation on securely configuring DNS and associated mechanisms. The publication can be obtained at the Special Publications page.

RFC :: FCC :: IP TRS Fraud NPRM

TELECOMMUNICATIONS RELAY SERVICES AND SPEECH-TO-SPEECH SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH HEARING AND SPEECH DISABILITIES; MISUSE OF INTERNET PROTOCOL (IP) RELAY SERVICE AND VIDEO RELAY SERVICE (VRS). The Commission addresses the misuse of the two Internet-based forms of Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS), Internet Protocol Relay Service and Video Relay Service, and seeks comment on possible changes to the TRS regulations to curtail their misuse. (Dkt No. 03-123). Action by: the Commission. Adopted: 05/03/2006 by FNPRM. (FCC No. 06-58). CGB
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-06-58A1.doc
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-06-58A1.pdf
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-06-58A1.txt

FCC Adopts Order to Enable Law Enforcement to Access Certain Broadband and VoIP Providers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                              News Media Contact:

May 3, 2006                                                                                             Julius Knapp

                                                                                                                  (202) 418-2468

 

FCC ADOPTS ORDER TO ENABLE LAW ENFORCEMENT TO ACCESS CERTAIN BROADBAND AND VoIP PROVIDERS

 

Washington, DC – The Federal Communications Commission today adopted a Second Report and Order and Memorandum Opinion and Order (Order) that addresses several issues regarding implementation of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), enacted in 1994.  The primary goal of the Order is to ensure that Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) have all of the resources that CALEA authorizes to combat crime and support homeland security, particularly with regard to facilities-based broadband Internet access providers and interconnected voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) providers.  The Order balances the needs of Law Enforcement with the competing aims of encouraging the development of new communications services and technologies and protecting customer privacy.

 

The current CALEA proceeding was initiated in response to a Joint Petition filed by the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Drug Enforcement Administration in March 2004.  These parties asked the Commission to address several issues so that industry and Law Enforcement would have clear guidance as CALEA implementation moves forward.  The First Report and Order in this proceeding concluded that facilities-based broadband Internet access and interconnected VOIP providers were covered by CALEA. This Order addresses remaining issues raised in this proceeding and provides certainty that will help achieve CALEA compliance, particularly for packet-mode technologies.

 

First, the Order affirms that the CALEA compliance deadline for facilities-based broadband Internet access and interconnected VoIP services will be May 14, 2007, as established by the First Report and Order in this proceeding.  The Order concludes that this deadline gives providers of these services sufficient time to develop compliance solutions, and notes that standards developments for these services are already well underway. 

 

Second, the Order clarifies that this May 14, 2007 compliance date will apply to all facilities-based broadband Internet access and interconnected VoIP providers.  Applying the same compliance date to all providers will eliminate any possible confusion about the applicability of the deadline, avoid any skewing effect on competition, and prevent migration of criminal activity onto networks with delayed compliance dates.

 

Third, the Order explains that, absent the filing of a petition that assistance capability standards are deficient, it would be premature for the Commission to intervene in the ongoing process by which telecommunications standards-setting bodies, acting in concert with LEAs and other interested persons, are developing assistance capability standards.

 

           Fourth, the Order permits telecommunications carriers the option of using Trusted Third Parties (TTPs) to assist in meeting their CALEA obligations and providing LEAs the electronic surveillance information those agencies require in an acceptable format.  The record indicates that TTPs are available to provide a variety of services for CALEA compliance to carriers, including processing requests for intercepts, conducting electronic surveillance, and delivering relevant information to LEAs.  The Order makes clear that, if a carrier chooses to use a TTP, the carrier remains responsible for ensuring the timely delivery of call-identifying information and call content information to a LEA and for protecting subscriber privacy, as required by CALEA.

Fifth, the Order restricts the availability of compliance extensions under CALEA section 107(c) to equipment, facilities and services deployed prior to October 25, 1998 and clarifies the role and scope of CALEA section 109(b), under which carriers may be reimbursed for their CALEA compliance costs.  More specifically, the Order find that sections 107(c) and 109(b) of CALEA provide only limited relief from compliance requirements.

 

Sixth, the Order finds that the Commission may, in addition to law enforcement remedies available through the courts, take separate enforcement action under section 229(a) of the Communications Act against carriers that fail to comply with CALEA.

 

Seventh, the Order concludes that carriers are responsible for CALEA development and implementation costs for post-January 1, 1995 equipment and facilities, and declines to adopt a national surcharge to recover CALEA costs.  The Order finds that it would not serve the public interest to implement a national surcharge because such a mechanism would increase the administrative burden placed upon the carriers and provide little incentive for them to minimize their costs.

 

Finally, the Order requires all carriers providing facilities-based broadband Internet access and interconnected VoIP service to submit interim reports to the Commission to ensure that they will be CALEA-compliant by May 14, 2007, and also requires all facilities-based broadband Internet access and interconnected VoIP providers to whom CALEA obligations were applied in the First Report and Order to come into compliance with the system security requirements in the Commission’s rules within 90 days of the effective date of this Order. 

 

            Action by the Commission May 3, 2006, by Second Report and Order and Memorandum Opinion and Order (FCC 06-56).  Chairman Martin, Commissioners Copps, Adelstein, and Tate.

 

Office of Engineering and Technology contacts:  Geraldine Matise at 202-418-2322 and Rodney Small at (202) 418-2452

 

ET Docket No. 04-295

-FCC-

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RFC: FCC Addresses Issue of Internet TRS Fraud

For Immediate Release:                                          News Media Contact:

May 3, 2006                                                            Rosemary Kimball at (202) 418-0511

                                                                                 e-mail: rosemary.kimball@fcc.gov

 

FCC ADDRESSES ISSUE OF INTERNET TRS FRAUD

Seeks Comment on Possible Changes in Rules to Curtail Abuses

 

            Washington, DC -- The FCC has opened a proceeding requesting comment on ways to curtail the abuse of the two Internet-based forms of Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) -- Internet Protocol (IP) Relay Service and Video Relay Service (VRS).  Such misuse, including, using IP Relay to make telephone purchases from merchants using stolen, fake, or otherwise invalid credit cards, or improperly using VRS as a substitute for in-person interpreters, results in

improper compensation from the Interstate TRS Fund.  

            Although calls that reach relay centers via the Internet contain no calling party number or location information, TRS providers and their employees who process IP Relay calls can often identify wasteful calls. The Commission asked for comments on additional steps it might take to prevent misuse.  It also asked whether it should adopt rules to guide the discretion of TRS providers in determining whether a call is illegitimate. 

            Action by the Commission May 3, 2006, by Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 06-58). Chairman Martin, Commissioners Copps, Adelstein and Tate. 

 

- FCC -

CG Docket No. 03-123

CGB Contact: Thomas Chandler at (202) 418-1475 (voice); (202) 418-0597 (TTY).

 

 

 

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