Security theater, farce edition

Noah Shachtman is reporting that Mumbai police are trying to close down free WiFi under the pretext of security. They are also insisting on cameras in internet cafés.

It is not just South Asia, the New York Police Department are asking for the power to disrupt wireless communications in the event of an emergency.

PR people are not the only ones who confuse controlling a situation with controlling communications.

FCC public safety spectrum

FCC spectrum auction hits snag

The FCC had set aside 10 Megahertz of spectrum in the D Block for sale to be shared by public safety users and commercial users. The winning bidder of that segment must negotiate a sharing arrangement with a public safety group designated by the FCC.

The sole bidder, Frontline Wireless LLC, a startup with several prominent backers, did not submit the $128 million down payment to the FCC needed to qualify to bid.

“Frontline Wireless is closed for business at this time. We have no further comment,” the company said in a Jan. 12 statement. Company officials could not be reached for comment.

Media reports have speculated that Frontline was unable to get enough financing to cover the minimum required reserve bid of $1.33 billion for the D Block, an amount set by the FCC.

Before we hand over the public safety spectrum for the entire country to one company we should be sure that the company is solvent.

See also FCC’s unanswered questions.

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Who's the boss of $1B interoperability fund?

Alice Lipowicz, Government Computer News

The Homeland Security Department has no clear authority at this time over a $1 billion fund for public safety agency interoperable communications equipment that it has been publicizing as a first responder grant program, according to a Congressional Research Service memorandum.

I would have thought that the Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance would have been the obvious choice.

First responders and the Dept. of Homeland Security

Chuck Archer, PJ Doyle and Thomas Reinhardt

State and local law enforcement officials, through the statutorily established FBI Advisory Policy Board (APB), inform the federal government of their information needs to accomplish their mission. The states are broken into regions, with regional representation on the board. Believe it or not, the FBI generally delivers, without “inclusiveness” issues. Everyone in the policing community knows who is in charge of establishing the information requirements, and it is not the FBI.

Most people do not put much thought into the information and communications infrastructure that enables a police officer on the side of the road to enter into his mobile computer either a driver’s license number or a vehicle license plate number and determine if he is dealing with a wanted person or a stolen vehicle. The information, drawn from both federal and state and local databases, is returned to the officer generally in less than two seconds. One of the reasons that it has worked well for so long is that the users own and operate the infrastructure, and the Feds make their databases available to that infrastructure.

This article is seventeen months old and reflects something that Paul Garrett addressed in his presentation to NCC AIIM. Our current system of sharing arouse out of frustration with the federal government.