Fri, 28 Jun 2024 09:07:00 -0400
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sent letters to nine telecommunications companies seeking answers about the steps they are taking to prevent future fraudulent robocalls that use artificial intelligence for political purposes. The letters follow the swift agency response to a fraudulent robocall campaign that used AI to clone the voice of President Biden to target voters in the New Hampshire primary election earlier this year. The use of AI-generated voice cloning to mimic the voices of politicians, celebrities, or even family members, can be used to sow confusion, scam consumers, and spread misinformation.
“This is just the beginning. We know that AI technologies will make it cheap and easy to flood our networks with deepfakes used to mislead and betray trust. It is especially chilling to see AI voice cloning used to impersonate candidates during elections. As AI tools become more accessible to bad actors and scammers, we need to do everything we can to keep this junk off our networks,” wrote Rosenworcel.
Following the New Hampshire robocall incident, the Federal Communications Commission issued a Declaratory Ruling that made clear that “artificial or prerecorded voice” robocalls using AI voice cloning technology violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The agency partnered in this effort with State Attorneys General, including the New Hampshire Attorney General, who is one of 49 State Attorneys General who have signed on to a Memorandum of Understanding to work with the FCC on junk robocalls. This ruling gives State AGs the authority to go after bad actors behind these calls and seek damages under the law.
After identifying the carrier behind this scam, the FCC immediately sent a cease-and-desist letter and allowed all other carriers to stop carrying this traffic. In May, the agency took two enforcement actions. First, it proposed a $6 million fine for the party responsible for the scam calls. Second, it proposed a $2 million fine for the carrier that put these junk calls on the line and apparently failed to follow the FCC’s call authentication rules.
The letters were sent to AT&T, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DISH, Frontier, Lumen, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
Wed, 19 Jun 2024 11:43:28 -0400
AJA Video Systems unveils the Ki Pro GO2, the next generation of its Ki Pro GO multi-channel HD/SD recorder. Sporting an upgraded feature set, the portable, 2RU device facilitates up to four channels of simultaneous H.265 (HEVC) or H.264 (AVC) recording to USB 3.0 drives or network storage with redundant recording and single-channel playback.
Ki Pro GO2 is designed to help production professionals produce higher quality images at lower bit rates, allowing for longer recording times. It also provides flexible connectivity, including four 3G-SDI and four HDMI digital video inputs, so they can connect to a wide range of video sources.
“Adapting to a range of production scenarios has grown vital to modern productions, whether on set or in a venue, so AJA keeps versatility top of mind when designing new products. Ki Pro GO2 brings professionals all the great features that Ki Pro GO has to offer, with a sleek design and the added flexibility to record in H.265 or H.264, depending upon each production’s unique needs,” shares AJA president Nick Rashby. “The product was inspired by user feedback in several regions across the globe where H.265 is used extensively.”
Mon, 17 Jun 2024 11:18:37 -0400
The NAB Television Board of Directors this week adopted a policy statement reaffirming the association’s commitment to protecting viewers’ access to live, local broadcast stations and the vital local journalism and trusted information they freely provide.
“NAB is the voice of local broadcast stations that are serving the public in critical ways,” said Joint Board Chair Perry Sook, chair of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. “While certain NAB members may have additional media interests, this trade association’s mission is to protect consumer access to the trusted news and content broadcast stations provide to local communities in this age of misinformation and disinformation. Local journalism is the bedrock of our democracy and our advocacy agenda will be guided by this singular purpose. This policy statement reaffirms that mission.”
“NAB is dedicated to helping our local stations thrive and ensuring consumer access to live, local information,” said President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt. “Local broadcasters reach every corner of the U.S. with the most watched entertainment, news and sports, all freely available. In the age of Google, Facebook and TikTok, this association must be focused on fighting for policies to enable the indispensable and trusted programming that broadcasters deliver to their viewers and listeners every day.”
Mon, 03 Jun 2024 09:05:00 -0400
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel today called on the agency to update the Federal Communication Commission’s orbital debris mitigation rules to limit the risks posed by accidental explosions in space by adding a specific, quantitative metric that satellites must meet. If adopted, the updated rules would require satellite applicants to assess and limit the probability of debris-generating accidental explosions to be less 1 in 1,000 (0.001) for each satellite.
“We can no longer afford to launch new satellites into our skies without being thoughtful about space sustainability,” said Chairwoman Rosenworcel. “Our orbital debris mitigation efforts will help preserve the orbital environment to protect services we rely on and allow new services to be launched.”
The Third Report and Order circulated today is part of the Commission’s continuing efforts to mitigate the generation of orbital debris in light of the increasing number of satellites in orbit. The probability metric in the proposed rules is consistent with the U.S. Government Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices and would provide satellite operators an objective and transparent benchmark for demonstrating as part of their applications to the Commission that they have assessed and limited the probability of accidental explosions during and after the completion of mission operations. The new requirement would be phased in one year after its publication in the Federal Register to allow potential applicants to prepare.
Mon, 20 May 2024 08:52:00 -0400
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced her appointments of Jayne Stancavage and Kimberly Baum as Chair and Vice Chair of the Commission’s World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee. The advisory committee was re-chartered on January 31, 2024 with the mission of providing the Commission with advice, technical support, and recommended proposals for the International Telecommunication Union’s World Radiocommunication Conference, which will be held in 2027.
“The next World Radiocommunication Conference provides an opportunity to promote U.S. leadership in the growing space economy, as well as in next-generation communications services. With so much at stake, we will be relying on this advisory committee to help develop strong proposals for the Conference,” said Chairwoman Rosenworcel. “Jayne and Kim have both served on several previous iterations of this committee, including in leadership positions at the working group level, and between them, have attended eleven World Radio Conferences. This depth of experience will prove invaluable to the committee as it develops recommendations.”
Jayne Stancavage is the Vice President of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Intel Corporation. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for both the United States Telecommunications Training Institute and the Open RAN Policy Coalition, and is also on the Global mobile Suppliers (GSA) Executive Committee. Ms. Stancavage received both her bachelor's and master's degrees in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Kimberly Baum is the Vice President of Spectrum Engineering and Strategy at Eutelsat Group. Her previous positions in the satellite industry include policy and engineering roles at Echostar Corporation, SES Americom, Motorola, and Astrolink. Ms. Baum began her career at the FCC, where she was an electronics engineer in the Office of Engineering and Technology and later in the International Bureau. Ms. Baum received her B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and her M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the George Washington University.
The World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee is chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to provide to the FCC public views and recommendations in preparation for the next World Radiocommunication Conference.
The World Radiocommunication Conference is a treaty-level forum held by the International Telecommunication Union (a United Nations agency) every three to four years in which countries decide on the allocation of frequency spectrum to allow the deployment or growth of all types of radiocommunication services such as wireless, broadcasting, satellite, and aeronautical services. Gregory Baker in the Office of International Affairs serves as the Designated Federal Officer to the Committee.