According to a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, Taiwan-based ASUSTek Computer faces a fine of $367,436 for modifying one of its WiFi adapter models and a separate WiFi router model that had been previously authorized by the Commission. In both cases, the company reportedly modified the devices after receiving FCC approval so that they could operate above the power limits defined in their respective authorizations. In the case of the WiFi router model, testing by an independent certified test laboratory showed that the units were operating at nearly eight times their authorized output power level.
This is not the first time that ASUSTek has been charged with marketing devices that exceeded their authorized power limits. In 2014, the company entered into a consent decree with the Commission’s Enforcement Bureau to resolve an FCC investigation into similar violations. Under the terms of that consent decree, ASUSTek agreed to adopt a 38-month compliance plan to ensure future compliance with FCC rules and to report any non-compliance issues to the Commission within five calendar days of discovering them.
In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the FCC mapped out plans to require broadband providers to submit confidential filings with the Commission, detailing their plans to mitigate potential vulnerabilities in their use of the border gateway protocol (BGP), the technical protocol critical to the routing of information across the internet. Specifically, the plans would include the implementation of BGP security measures that utilize the resource public key infrastructure (RPKI), a critical component of BGP security.
In addition, the nation’s nine largest broadband providers would be required to make quarterly submissions to the Commission updating their progress in addressing BGP risk mitigation issues.
According to the NPRM, the goal of these proposed rules is to provide the Commission and other national security partners with current and up-to-date information on their efforts to promote more secure internet routing activities.
The Commission set forth its plan to prohibit entities identified on the Commission’s “Covered List” from being authorized as telecommunications certification bodies (TCBs) under the FCC’s equipment authorization program in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). Specifically, the NPRM would ban any testing lab with direct or indirect ownership of 10% or more by an entity on the Covered List.
The FCC’s Covered List includes major wireless equipment manufacturers that, in the Commission’s view, “pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons.” The Covered List includes major global wireless manufacturers, including Huawei and ZTE, which reportedly have ties to the government of the People’s Republic of China and Chinese state-owned enterprises.
The regulation, known as the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), was originally proposed in March 2022 to replace the EU’s Ecodesign Directive (2009/125/EC). The ESPR includes more in-depth ecodesign requirements, including new rules on product durability, reusability, upgradability, and repairability, and will be more broadly applicable to a significantly larger number of product groups.
The overall goal of the ESPR is to reduce the EU’s dependence on energy from countries outside of the EU, including Russia.
Following the Council’s action, the ESPR is expected to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force 20 days following its publication. The specific requirements will be applied from 24 months after the regulation enters into force.
The company, Lingo Telecom, reportedly transmitted nearly 4000 of 9500 generative AI Deepfake voice messages that imitated the voice of President Joseph Biden two days ahead of the Primary. According to a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture issued by the Commission in late May, Lingo failed to verify the accuracy of the caller ID information and then mislabeled the calls with the highest level of caller IT attestation, leading other transmitters to believe that the calls were legitimate.
The FCC has proposed that Lingo pay a fine of $2 million for the company’s apparent violation of the Commission’s caller ID authentication rules, a first-of-its-kind enforcement action by the FCC.