Russia export controls and sanctions

LAS VEGAS -- Investment in infrastructure is critical to turning around a slumping U.S. economy, Rebecca Blank, acting deputy Commerce Secretary, told CES Thursday. Blank spoke during a discussion on how innovation can save the U.S., that took a sometimes pessimistic turn as panelists asked whether the nation is off its game. Panelists asked whether Angry Birds, a cellphone game which has gone viral, is now what passes for innovation in the U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI found no evidence of a cyber attack on the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system of an Illinois water utility plant. The agencies also concluded “there was no malicious traffic from Russia or any foreign entities,” a DHS spokesman said. There’s no evidence supporting claims “that any credentials were stolen, or that the vendor was involved in any malicious activity that led to a pump failure at the water plant,” he said. The agencies analyzed the incident after a security expert issued an initial report to the DHS Industrial Control Systems Joint Working Group about a potential compromise of the utility’s SCADA system, DHS said. The initial reports were based on raw, unconfirmed data “and subsequently leaked to the media,” the spokesman said. He said analysis of the incident is ongoing.

Russia will go to zero tariffs for “all goods” covered by the WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA) within three years after joining the trade body, said Maxim Medvedkov, chief negotiator in Russia’s bid to join the trade organization. He spoke Thursday at a news conference on Russia clearing the last major WTO hurdle to joining the trade organization. A December WTO ministerial is expected to give a formal stamp to the accession deal, officials said.

Disney and UTH Russia plan to introduce a free over-the-air, ad-supported Disney Channel in Russia next year, they said. Disney will buy 49 percent of the Seven TV network and the Disney programming will replace Seven’s current lineup, they said. The programming will air on stations in 54 urban markets and reach about 75 percent of Russian TV homes, they said.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A State Department official denounced an Internet code of conduct proposed in the U.N. General Assembly by China, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan last month. Michael Posner, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, said Tuesday the system would replace the historical “multi-stakeholder governance” of the Internet with a “system dominated by centralized government control.” At the Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference, he defended the U.S. government’s emphasis on intellectual property protection, “sometimes seen as in conflict with Internet freedom.”

Russia said it will include duty-free treatment for products covered by the WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA) as part of its package of agreements for joining the trade organization, an official said after a regular WTO meeting on the agreement. Russia intends to join the ITA when it joins the WTO, as a way to encourage its information technology sector, he said. It will submit a schedule of commitments in the coming weeks for its Protocol of Accession, he said. The U.S. said the commitment was reflective of Russia’s interest in fully integrating with other WTO members, he said. Japan and Taiwan also welcomed Russia’s announcement, he said. The EU in a paper reiterated its proposal to expand the coverage of products and the number of participants under the ITA, he said. The EU said an agreement to cut tariffs on information technology gear as part of an ITA was now more likely than in the stalled Doha Round of trade talks, he said. Non-tariff barriers in the information technology sector could also be discussed in the committee, he said. The Philippines, Japan and the U.S. said they were still studying the EU paper, the official said. The U.S. said some companies have concerns about EU’s compliance with recent WTO dispute rulings on IT products, he said.

The exhibition area at ITU Telecom World in Geneva was substantially smaller than the last event held two years ago. Foot traffic Monday during the invitation-only pre-opening day was moderate and steady. Most of the meetings dealt with broadband and were invitation only. Chinese and South Korean companies had large exhibits. Some small nations such as Burundi, Rwanda and Angola also had large national exhibits. Russia had perhaps the largest exhibit, located next to the main entrance. Russia during this month’s ITU Council session made a substantial increase to its regular contribution to ITU’s budget. The convention runs through Thursday.

Questions about the effectiveness of annual fees to keep satellite network filings in the Master International Frequency Register (MIFR), possible implementation difficulties and the lack of any specific and detailed proposal were raised in a Russian analysis of a Radiocommunication Bureau (BR) proposal for annual fees to stem paper satellites, said a submission to the ITU Council meeting this week. The BR, in a report to the June meeting of the Radiocommunication Advisory Group, proposed the consideration of measures in addition to the ITU Council decision on cost recovery for satellite network filings (CD June 10 p14). There’s been no discussion of the proposal in the corridors outside the Council meeting, an official said. Cost recovery has to do with the expenses incurred in the processing of new satellite network filings up to the time at which the information is entered in the MIFR, said the Russian submission we obtained. There’s “no denying” the problem of paper satellites exists and “has to be resolved,” Russia said. The BR proposal is aimed at ruling out the presence of paper satellites in the MIFR, Russia said. The BR’s “proposal is for the introduction a new fee model related to the expenses involved in maintaining frequency assignments during the lifetime of a satellite network, with the fee to be collected on an annual basis,” Russia said. BR action since 2009 to “purge” the MIFR by deleting unused networks has resulted in the cancellation of some 90 networks, Russia said. It said the measures are generally supported by administrations. Some administrations are concerned about the possibility the BR is deleting some genuine networks from the MIFR as a result of shortcomings in certain provisions of the Radio Regulations, Russia said. With the BR sending cancellation notices, shortcomings in the regulations are leading operators to resort “increasingly to third-party services for the temporary location of satellites in other orbital positions for confirming their bringing into use,” Russia said. Monitoring satellite orbits and emissions could be considered, Russia said, and the definition of “regular operation” could also be refined. The BR proposal could result in the MIFR not reflecting “the actual use of the spectrum/orbit resource,” rather the financial prosperity of those paying for entries, Russia said. The mere fact of paying to maintain a frequency assignment does not ensure the removal of “paper” networks, Russia said. One alternative approach would be to levy a fee only with respect to unused frequency assignments and not on those that have been brought into use, Russia said.

GENEVA -- Dealing with telecom fraud and misuse of numbering resources and spurring transmission of certain international calling party numbers dominated developing country proposals for an ITU Council group meeting later this month on preparations for the 2012 World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT). The group is preparing draft proposals for new ITU resolutions, recommendations and opinions and a final report for consideration by the ITU Council and the conference, the ITU website said. The treaty conference on revision or the possible abrogation of the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR) is scheduled for next autumn.

GENEVA -- Difficult sharing studies have prompted several administrations to oppose some or all of the proposed bands under a WRC-12 agenda item on possible new mobile satellite service (MSS) allocations to spur advanced wireless communications, according to early proposals. Some regional groups, notably the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions, and certain administrations are expected to introduce proposals that may contain support.