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To: JGoren who wrote (23442)	2/25/1999 5:49:00 PM
From: Jon Koplik	Respond to of 152472

To all - article about safeguarding GSTRF (and IRIDF) handsets. February 25, 1999 FCC Moves To Protect Mobile Phones Filed at 3:26 p.m. EST By The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans with new mobile satellite phones would be protected from having them confiscated or subject to hefty duties in other countries, under a U.S. government proposal. The Federal Communications Commission in a 5-0 vote offered a proposal Thursday to create the protections. A final plan could be adopted by year's end. Specifically, the commission proposed procedures to let a U.S. company obtain FCC approval for its equipment without also having to get similar approvals from countries where the phones would be used. More than 50 countries, among them all members of the European Union, Japan and Canada, have agreed to reciprocal plans: They would honor U.S. equipment authorizations, while the United States would honor theirs. Still, FCC Chairman Bill Kennard said: ''This is a system that is not going to work unless there is widespread adoption around the world. So we have a huge job ahead of us in taking the leadership role and making sure that countries around the world know what we are doing.'' Iridium Inc. began offering a global satellite phone service last year. Other companies also are building global satellite networks that offer phone and data services. Customers would use specially designed mobile phones to receive the services. In general, U.S. companies need permission from other countries to provide communications service abroad. They also need affirmation that their phones and other equipment comply with foreign technical standards to avoid interference with telecommunications services abroad. The FCC also proposed rules to make sure the new mobile phone systems don't interfere with airplane and other specialized communications. FCC Commissioner Susan Ness called the FCC's action ''a very major step forward in trying to make global communications work for the consumer.'' Separately, the House voted 403-3 Thursday for a bill to strengthen privacy laws by making it illegal to intentionally intercept or disclose wireless telephone communications. The legislation, which now goes to the Senate, also extends to new digital technology restrictions on the manufacture of scanners that can be easily altered to receive cellular frequencies. Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., a chief sponsor of the legislation with Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., said 68 million Americans now use wireless communications, and ''We have learned that privacy is deeply at risk in America.'' Current law makes interception a crime only if a person discloses a wireless communication after its interception. Reps. Ron Paul, R-Texas, Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., voted against the bill. The bill is H.R. 514. Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company