To:       Consumer Contact List
From:  Karen Peltz Strauss
Re:      Consumer Advisory Committee, Hurricane Katrina Panel, captioning on DTV
Date:   June 19, 2007

 
1.  FCC Consumer Advisory Committee - On June 8, the FCC released a notice announcing that it was re-chartering the Consumer Advisory Committee, and providing the names of the new members.  On June 19, 2007, the Commission released a second notice, adding additional members.  In all, the Committee now is slated to have 28 members; 5 represent groups or organizations of people with disabilities.  The public notices are noted below.
 
Released:  06/08/2007.  CONSUMER ADVISORY COMMITTEE:  ANNOUNCEMENT OF RECHARTERING, APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS, AND FIRST MEETING.
(DA No. 07-2426).  CGB. Contact:  Scott Marshall at (202) 418-2809,
email: Scott.Marshall@fcc.gov; TTY: (202) 418-0179
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-2426A1.doc>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-2426A1.pdf>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-2426A1.txt>

Released:  06/18/2007.  ADDITIONAL MEMBERS NAMED TO CONSUMER ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (DA No.  07-2683).  CGB. Contact:  Scott Marshall at (202) 418-2809, email: Scott.Marshall@fcc.gov, TTY: (202) 418-0179
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-2683A1.doc>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-2683A1.pdf>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-2683A1.txt>
 
2.  Recommendations of the Hurricane Katrina Panel - On May 31, 2007, the FCC adopted an order implementing recommendations of the Independent Panel that reviewed the impact of Hurricane Katrina.  Various recommendations pertaining to people with disabilities have led the FCC to direct its Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau to:
 
- work with the National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications on the identification of private sector communications assets, including specifically identifying equipment available to assist persons with disabilities in their communications needs. 
 
- work with the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau and organizations representing people with disabilities to ensure that emergency information reaches people with disabilities.
 
The FCC explained that other issues raised in the recommendations, concerning access through the emergency alert system (EAS), video relay services, and IP relay, will be dealt with in other proceedings.
 
A link to this order is provided below:
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE INDEPENDENT PANEL REVIEWING THE IMPACT OF HURRICANE KATRINA ON COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS.  The Commission implemented various recommendations of the Independent Panel Reviewing the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on communications networks. (Dkt No. 06-63, 06-119).
Action by: the Commission. Adopted: 05/31/2007 by ORDER. (FCC No. 07-107).  PSHSB
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A1.doc>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A2.doc>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A3.doc>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A4.doc>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A5.doc>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A6.doc>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A1.pdf>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A2.pdf>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A3.pdf>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A4.pdf>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A5.pdf>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A6.pdf>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A1.txt>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A2.txt>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A3.txt>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A4.txt>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A5.txt>
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-107A6.txt>
 
3.  DTV Transition.  On June 7, 2007, the FCC released two news releases on digital television, one of which instructs users on how to file complaints when DTV is not closed captioned (see URL below).
 

Back to home page