Congressional Research Service Reports - 262 Matching Results

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Amber Alert Program Technology

Description: This report discusses Amber Alerts (also referred to as AMBER plans) which use technology to disseminate information about child abductions in a timely manner. Technologies used for alerts include the Emergency Alert System (EAS), highway messages boards, telephone alert systems, the Internet, text messaging, and email.
Date: September 9, 2009
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and All-Hazard Warnings

Description: This report discusses the mainstays of the U.S. capacity to issue warnings: the Emergency Alert System (EAS), which relies primarily on broadcasting media, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio All-Hazards Network.
Date: August 14, 2009
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Access to Broadband Networks: The Net Neutrality Debate

Description: This report discusses the current debate over "net neutrality." While there is no single accepted definition of "net neutrality," most agree that any such definition should include the general principles that owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the Internet should not control how consumers lawfully use that network, and they should not be able to discriminate against content provider access to that network.
Date: August 3, 2009
Creator: Gilroy, Angele A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Spectrum Policy in the Age of Broadband: Issues for Congress

Description: The convergence of wireless telecommunications technology and Internet protocols is fostering new generations of mobile technologies. This transformation has created new demands for advanced communications infrastructure and radio frequency spectrum capacity that can support high-speed, content-rich uses. This report considers the possibility of modifying spectrum policy: (1) to support national goals for broadband deployment by placing more emphasis on attracting new providers of wireless broa… more
Date: July 13, 2009
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and All-Hazard Warnings

Description: The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is built on a structure conceived in the 1950's when over-the-air broadcasting was the best-available technology for widely disseminating emergency alerts. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), working with the Association of Public Television Stations, is implementing a program that will disseminate national alert messages over digital broadcast airwaves, using satellite and public TV broadcast towers. This program is referred to as the Integrated Public A… more
Date: June 26, 2009
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Emergency Communications: The Future of 911

Description: Today's 911 system is built on an infrastructure of analog technology that does not support many of the features that most Americans expect are part of an emergency response. Efforts to splice newer, digital technologies onto this aging infrastructure have created points of failure where a call can be dropped or misdirected, sometimes with tragic consequences. This report discusses efforts to modernize and update 911 emergency response technology, the funding for such efforts, and related piece… more
Date: June 16, 2009
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Access to Broadband Networks: The Net Neutrality Debate

Description: This report discusses the current debate over "net neutrality." While there is no single accepted definition of "net neutrality," most agree that any such definition should include the general principles that owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the Internet should not control how consumers lawfully use that network, and they should not be able to discriminate against content provider access to that network.
Date: June 1, 2009
Creator: Gilroy, Angele A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program: Funding Issues and Activities

Description: This report discusses the federal government's role in the country's information technology (IT) research and development (R&D) activities. The government's support of IT R&D began because it had an important interest in creating computers that would be capable of addressing the problems and issues the government needed to solve and study.
Date: May 14, 2009
Creator: Moloney Figliola, Patricia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Transition to Digital Television: Is America Ready?

Description: This report discusses the background and potential effects of the DTV Delay Act, which directs that all over-the-air full-power television broadcasts will become digital only.
Date: May 14, 2009
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Text and Multimedia Messaging: Emerging Issues for Congress

Description: This report covers issues for Congress regarding text and multimedia messaging. The increasing use of text and multimedia messaging has raised several policy issue, such as distracted driving, SMS spam, the inability of consumers to disable text messaging, text messaging price fixing, carrier blocking of common short code messages, deceptive and misleading common short code programs, protecting children from inappropriate content on wireless devices.
Date: March 23, 2009
Creator: Moloney Figliola, Patricia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Net Neutrality: Background and Issues

Description: This report discusses the continued debate amongst congressional policymakers regarding telecommunications reform. A major point of the ongoing discussion is whether action is needed to ensure unfettered access to the Internet.
Date: March 19, 2009
Creator: Gilroy, Angele A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Government Access to Phone Calling Activity and Related Records: Legal Authorities

Description: This report summarizes legal authorities regarding access by the government, for either foreign intelligence or law enforcement purposes, to information related to telephone calling patterns or practices. Where pertinent, it also discusses statutory prohibitions against accessing or disclosing such information, along with relevant exceptions to those prohibitions.
Date: February 2, 2009
Creator: Bazan, Elizabeth B.; Liu, Edward C. & Stevens, Gina
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Transition to Digital Television: Is America Ready?

Description: This report discusses the background and potential effects of the DTV Delay Act, which directs that all over-the-air full-power television broadcasts will become digital only.
Date: January 30, 2009
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and All-Hazard Warnings

Description: This report discusses the mainstays of the U.S. capacity to issue warnings: the Emergency Alert System (EAS), which relies primarily on broadcasting media, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio All-Hazards Network.
Date: January 26, 2009
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Transition to Digital Television: Is America Ready?

Description: This report discusses the background and potential effects of the DTV Delay Act, which directs that all over-the-air full-power television broadcasts will become digital only.
Date: January 21, 2009
Creator: Kruger, Lennard G.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Emergency Communications: The Future of 911

Description: This report discusses possible paths toward the modernization of the 911 emergency response system's infrastructure.
Date: January 13, 2009
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Fairness Doctorine: History and Constitutional Issues

Description: The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) that required broadcast licensees to cover issues of public importance and to do so in a fair manner. In 1987, after a period of study, the FCC repealed the Fairness Doctrine. The debate in Congress regarding whether to reinstate the doctrine continues today. This report covers the history of such debates.
Date: January 12, 2009
Creator: Ruane, Kathleen Ann
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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V-Chip and TV Ratings: Monitoring Children's Access to TV Programming

Description: This report discusses the V-Chip, created to assist parents in supervising the television viewing habits of their children, its rating system, and relevant legislation in the 108th Congress.
Date: January 10, 2009
Creator: Moloney Figliola, Patricia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Emergency Communications: The Future of 911

Description: Today's 911 system is built on an infrastructure of analog technology that does not support many of the features that most Americans expect are part of an emergency response. Recognizing the importance of providing effective 911 service, Congress has passed three major bills supporting improvements in the handling of 911 emergency calls. This report includes a detailed overview of the 911 system, as well as related legislation and policies currently in consideration by Congress.
Date: November 21, 2008
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Spectrum Management: Auctions

Description: This report discusses the radio frequency spectrum that is used for all forms of wireless communications, including cellular telephony, paging, personal communications service, radio and television broadcast, telephone radio relay, aeronautical and maritime radio navigation, and satellite command and control. The issues discussed here refer principally to spectrum management for terrestrial technologies.
Date: November 18, 2008
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Telework for Executive Agency Employees: A Side-by-Side Comparison of Legislation Pending in the 111th Congress

Description: S. 1000, the Telework Enhancement Act of 2007, and H.R. 4106, the Telework Improvements Act of 2008, are currently pending in the 110th Congress. Under the pending legislation and Senate amendments, the heads of executive branch agencies would be required to establish policies under which employees (with some exceptions) could be eligible to participate in telework. This report presents a side-by-side comparison of the provisions of S. 1000, as reported; H.R. 4106, as passed by the House.
Date: October 20, 2008
Creator: Schwemle, Barbara L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Text and Multimedia Messaging: Emerging Issues for Congress

Description: This report covers issues for Congress regarding text and multimedia messaging. The increasing use of text and multimedia messaging has raised several policy issue, such as distracted driving, SMS spam, the inability of consumers to disable text messaging, text messaging price fixing, carrier blocking of common short code messages, deceptive and misleading common short code programs, protecting children from inappropriate content on wireless devices.
Date: October 17, 2008
Creator: Moloney Figliola, Patricia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Public-Private Partnership for a Public Safety Network: Governance and Policy

Description: This report summarizes salient points of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) actions regarding the creation of a public-private partnership to build and manage a national communications network for public safety use.
Date: October 16, 2008
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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