Under an Order issued by the FCC, the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program provides qualified consumers discounts of up to $50 per month on their broadband services, as well as a one-time $100 discount on the purchase of a laptop, desktop, or tablet computer from participating providers. The program is being funded by a $3.2 billion allocation initiated by the U.S. Congress earlier this year.
The FCC has engaged in an extensive outreach program to increase awareness about the Program, enlisting over 25,000 community groups and local partners to host localized events to discuss the Program specifics and its benefits.
The website purportedly set up and run by “WiFi Freedom USA” falsely claims to administer the FCC’s program and that it can provide consumers with free devices and services under the program.
The FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit Program was established earlier this year to provide qualified consumers with discounts of up to $50 per month on their broadband services, as well as a one-time $100 discount on the purchase of a laptop, desktop, or tablet computer from participating providers.
The FCC is encouraging those who may have provided personal information through the WiFi Freedom USA website to visit https://www.IdentityTheft.gov.
In a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, the FCC proposed a fine of $5,134,500 against John Burkman, Jacob Wohl, and J.M. Burkman & Associates LLC for allegedly making more than 1.1 million wireless phone calls without the prior consent of users. The U.S. Telephone Consumer Information Act (TCPA) prohibits making prerecorded voice calls to wireless phones without the express consent of those receiving the calls, regardless of the content of the calls.
According to the Notice, the calls were made between August 26 and September 14, 2020, and featured a prerecorded message telling potential voters that, if they voted by mail, their “personal information will be part of a public database that will be used by police departments to track down old warrants and be used by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts.”
Burkman and Wohl, who are reportedly lobbyists and political consultants based in Arlington, VA, were identified by name in the prerecorded messages and Burkman’s personal wireless phone number was listed as the calling party on the caller ID of recipients’ phones. They also reportedly admitted their involvement in the creation and distribution of the robocalls under oath in a hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
According to a recent article in the IEEE Spectrum, researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the University of Colorado are working to better understand the totality of effects that can be created by a high-altitude EMP. The researchers used data collected from sensors and voltmeters deployed in a small region of mid-America, along with USGS research on the impact of magnetic storm disturbances in various regions across the U.S. with either electrically resistive or electrically conductive rock.
The USGS/University of Colorado research yielded some important new information on the varying impacts from a high-altitude EMP event. High-frequency pulses categorized as E1 would likely disrupt consumer electronic products, an aspect that already garners most of the public attention. Separately, electrical systems which are most vulnerable to E2 pulses are a concern, but such systems are increasingly being hardened to withstand E2 effects.
The problem is the E3 waveform, the part of the EMP signal operating at the lowest amplitude. According to the research, E3 pulses last the longest, ranging from about 0.1 seconds to several hundred seconds. This factor, along with the conductivity of the surrounding Earth and the specific parameters of the local electrical grid infrastructure, could lead to catastrophic damage to the power grid in complex geological settings.
As a result of their findings, the USGS/University of Colorado researchers have called for more research to analyze surface impedance across regions like the eastern mid-continent, as well as the eastern U.S. where the impact from magnetic storms is significant.
The FCC’s new interactive mobile broadband map allows consumers to determine access to mobile broadband voice and data services in their immediate geographic area (down to individual street addresses!), and to identify providers providing mobile broadband services in that area. The map is based on data collected under standards set by the federal Broadband DATA Act, which mandated the FCC to adopt specific data collection, verification, and reporting protocols.
Currently, the mobile broadband map shows coverage for AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Verizon, companies which voluntarily submitted their coverage data to the FCC. The FCC’s Broadband Data Task Force is also encouraging other wireless carriers to share their standardized data for inclusion in the mobile broadband map.
The FDA’s Premarket Submission’s Progress Tracker currently allows a medical device manufacturer to access up-to-date information on the status of traditional 510(k) submissions, which represent the most common type of device applications submitted to the FDA for review. Access to the Progress Tracker is limited to the “Official Correspondent” identified in the original submission, who will automatically receive an email with instructions on accessing the Tracker once the FDA has started its review of the submission.
The ARRL’s RF exposure calculator allows users to simply enter the transmit peak-envelope power (PEP) and operating mode of their radio systems and antennas, along with estimates about the maximum amount of transmission time. The exposure calculator then determines the minimum distances that people must maintain from this equipment to minimize their exposure to potentially harmful RF effects.
The ARRL says that its RF exposure calculator is intended to assist amateurs in the routine evaluations of RF exposure to help ensure that their systems and equipment comply with RF exposure rules mandated by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The discussion paper, “Strengthening Cybersecurity Practices Associated with Servicing of Medical Devices: Challenges and Opportunities,” considers cybersecurity issues that are unique to the repair or routine maintenance servicing of a finished medical device. Specific cybersecurity aspects addressed in the paper include 1) privileged access; 2) identification of cybersecurity vulnerabilities and incidents; 3) prevention and mitigation of cybersecurity vulnerabilities; and 4) product lifecycle challenges and opportunities.
The paper is part of the FDA’s “total product lifecycle (TPLC)” approach to strengthening the overall cybersecurity of medical devices.