National Telecommunications and Information Administration 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology announces that the closing deadline for submission of comments responsive to the September 21, 2011, request for information on the requirements of, and possible approaches to, creating a voluntary industry code of conduct to address the detection, notification and mitigation of botnets, has been extended until 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on November 14, 2011. Comments received between November 4, 2011, the due date for comments announced in the September 21, 2011 notice, and publication of this notice in the Federal Register, are deemed to be timely.

In accordance with 5 U.S. C. 4314 (c)(4), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Department of Commerce (DOC), announce the appointment of those individuals who have been selected to serve as members of NTIA's Performance Review Board. The Performance Review Board is responsible for (1) reviewing performance appraisals and rating of Senior Executive Service (SES) members and (2) making recommendations to the appointing authority on other performance management issues, such as pay adjustments, bonuses and Presidential Rank Awards for SES members. The appointment of these members to the Performance Review Board will be for a period of twenty- four (24) months.

The U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Department of Homeland Security are requesting information on the requirements of, and possible approaches to creating, a voluntary industry code of conduct to address the detection, notification and mitigation of botnets.\1\ Over the past several years, botnets have increasingly put computer owners at risk. A botnet infection can lead to the monitoring of a consumer's personal information and communication, and exploitation of that consumer's computing power and Internet access. Networks of these compromised computers are often used to disseminate spam, to store and transfer illegal content, and to attack the servers of government and private entities with massive, distributed denial of service attacks. The Departments seek public comment from all Internet stakeholders, including the commercial, academic, and civil society sectors, on potential models for detection, notification, prevention, and mitigation of botnets' illicit use of computer equipment.

This notice announces a public meeting of the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee (Committee). The Committee provides advice to the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information on spectrum management policy matters.

Critical to the Internet Domain Name System (DNS) is the continued performance of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions. The IANA functions have historically included: (1) The coordination of the assignment of technical Internet protocol parameters; (2) the administration of certain responsibilities associated with Internet DNS root zone management; (3) the allocation of Internet numbering resources; and (4) other services related to the management of the ARPA and INT top-level domains (TLDs). The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) currently performs the IANA functions, on behalf of the United States Government, through a contract with United States Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). On February 25, 2011, NTIA released a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) to obtain public comment on enhancing the performance of the IANA functions. NTIA received comments from a range of stakeholders: Governments, private sector entities, and individuals. After careful consideration of the record, NTIA is now seeking public comment through a Further Notice of Inquiry (FNOI) on a draft statement of work (Draft SOW), a key element of the procurement process for the new IANA functions contract.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announces that the final Closing Date for receipt of applications for the Low-Power Television and Translator Upgrade Program (Upgrade Program) will be Monday, July 2, 2012. NTIA also announces that it will use population data from the newly available 2010 U.S. Census for applications received after July 1, 2011 in determining whether a facility meets the rurality eligibility requirement of the Upgrade Program. Applications submitted up to and including July 1, 2011, can continue to use the population reported in the 2000 Census. All other requirements for the Upgrade Program remain unchanged as set forth in the Notice of Availability of Funds and Program Guidelines (Upgrade Program NOFA), 74 FR 22402 (May 12, 2009), available at https://www.ntia.doc.gov/lptv/LP-Upgrade-NOFA-FRMay- 1209.pdf.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) hereby makes certain changes to its regulations, which relate to the public availability of the Manual of Regulations and Procedures for Federal Radio Frequency Management (NTIA Manual). Specifically, NTIA updates the version of the Manual of Regulations and Procedures for Federal Radio Frequency Management with which federal agencies must comply when requesting use of the radio frequency spectrum.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) seeks applications from persons interested in serving on the Department of Commerce's Spectrum Management Advisory Committee (CSMAC) for new two-year terms. This Notice reopens the application period announced in the Federal Register on December 7, 2010 (December Notice) in order to identify additional candidates. Any applicant who provided NTIA with the requested materials in response to the December Notice will be considered for appointment and need not resubmit materials, although they are permitted to supplement their applications with new or additional information.