The House is out this week, but work continues in the Senate. The Federal Communications Commission will hold its monthly open meeting on Thursday, where the full commission will meet for the first time since the confirmation of new members Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel. On the agenda are proposals to consider deploying wireless cell phone transmitters capable of flying to aid in disaster relief and removing barriers to broadband deployment in the 800 MHz band of spectrum. The FCC also will consider setting aside spectrum for Medical Body Area Networks (MBANs), wireless medical devices that can gather and transmit information about a patient's condition in real-time. The technology could enable better remote monitoring of patients and in-home care, without requiring a medical provider to be constantly on-hand.
Lawmakers Want Clarity on FDA's Medical App Role: CQ's Emily Ethridge reports Congress is looking to slow the Food and Drug Administration's ability to regulate health-related applications on mobile devices. The FDA is still trying to figure out which apps qualify for its oversight, but legislation to reauthorize the agency includes requirements the FDA must meet before issuing its final guidance for the apps. That includes convening a group of stakeholders, submitting a report to Congress and clarifying whether individual apps should be regulated. The House version takes broader approach to the issue, calling on HHS to submit a regulation strategy for health apps within 18 months. Health IT firms are backing the new rules, which would delay any effort by the FDA to prevent apps from coming to market. Apps are currently available that let users test their blood-sugar levels and perform other basic health care tasks, but the government's authority to regulate them remains unclear. Export Controls Show Limits of Congress on Tech: One of the House's final actions before leaving town was to approve an amendment to the fiscal 2013 defense policy bill that would remove export restrictions from commercial satellites, allowing domestic companies to sell their technology around the globe. The measure passed with bipartisan support and would maintain a ban on exports to countries deemed national security threats, such as China, Iran and North Korea. CQ Weekly's Joseph J. Schatz reports that export controls are a perfect example of how the government has struggled to keep up with the rapid pace of change in technology, and is forced to rely on antiquated policies that increasingly pose barriers to both trade and security. The list of export-controlled technologies was created as a response to the Cold War, and it once included everything from supercomputers to Apple's PowerMac G4.Lawmakers contend the laws are too onerous and restrict the export of technologies that pose no threat to the U.S., but striking a balance between encouraging trade and avoiding the release potentially sensitive technology to hostile nations has thus far eluded lawmakers. Everyone from the defense contracting industry to higher education has lobbied the administration to relax the rules, with satellites considered the first salvo in a debate that is just beginning. The difficulty in undoing the trade restrictions should serve as a warning to lawmakers currently engaged in the cybersecurity debate: once enacted, such policies are incredibly difficult to update, overhaul, or revoke once they become antiquated. Another reason, perhaps, why even some liberal-leaning techies prefer a hands-off approach when it comes to the federal government and their industry.
Facebook IPO Crashes NASDAQ: NASDAQ acknowledged on Sunday that design problems with its technology caused the problems that led to a fall in Facebook's shares on its first day of trading last Friday.