Licenses

Wading into a divisive, politically charged debate, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said Wednesday that California should issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. The chief becomes one of the most prominent local figures to support the idea that state lawmakers have battled over repeatedly in the last 15 years. And Beck's stance is certain to further inflame critics who are already angry at the chief for his efforts to liberalize rules on how his officers impound the cars of unlicensed drivers.

Less than two years after President Obama set off a boom in Cuban travel by relaxing restrictions on “people-to-people” educational trips, Obama's Treasury Department has again tightened restrictions, forcing cancellations and delays that have put dozens of educational group trips in limbo. Though Treasury officials have said little about reasons for the move, it follows complaints by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) about “rampant abuses” in the program, which is intended to foster “meaningful interaction between travelers and inviduals in Cuba .” The slowdown apparently began May 10, when the U.S.  Treasury Department stiffened the requirements for the renewable one-year licenses that allow educational tour operators into Cuba.

While the world frets over the WikiLeaks revelations, India is far more interested in Raja, Radia and Dutt. They are major players in a series of homegrown leaks that hint at widespread and corrosive corruption involving government, big business and the news media. Former Telecommunications Minister Andimuthu Raja, corporate publicist Nira Radia and TV news personality Barkha Dutt are named in 104 telephone calls caught on tape, part of what's been called India's biggest scandal since independence.

RALEIGH, N.C. - The driver's license features a bold, pink stripe along the top, and further down the phrase: "NO LAWFUL STATUS. " North Carolina proposes to issue the license to illegal immigrants who qualify for the federal Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals program. The idea has raised howls of protest from immigrant and civil rights groups. They complain that the proposed licenses would stigmatize young immigrants brought to the U.S. by their parents. State legislators have expressed concerns that illegal immigrants will use the licenses to vote or obtain social services, despite the pink stripe and a pink "LIMITED TERM" endorsement.

Federal regulators have given the green light for a public action of a new wireless technology that could provide broad-band video and data services that would rival cable television. The Federal Communications Commission said it will auction 984 licenses nationwide for the technology, known as local multi-point distribution service, and will require that licensees provide "substantial service" to communities within 10 years.

Qualcomm Inc. granted Handspring Inc. a license for its digital wireless standard, extending its technology beyond telephones. Handspring, whose Visor hand-held computer uses the Palm Inc. operating system, will be able to develop wireless communications using Qualcomm's code division multiple access, or CDMA, technology, and Qualcomm will receive royalties on sales of Handspring products.

The Justice Department and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) agreed Tuesday to modernize a 59-year-old court order to bring the licensing of music for performances into the Internet Age. The original court order, entered in 1941 and amended several times, requires ASCAP to provide performance licenses to music users upon request and to distribute fees from those licenses to its members.

The Federal Aviation Administration revoked the licenses Tuesday of the two Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot a Minneapolis airport by 150 miles, saying that they "were on a frolic" that endangered the lives of others. The revocation report, released Tuesday, harshly condemned the two pilots and barred them from flying. "You engaged in conduct that put your passengers and your crew in serious jeopardy," FAA officials wrote in the report. The pilots -- Capt. Timothy B. Cheney, 53, of Gig Harbor, Wash.

U.S. regulators Thursday agreed to review whether they should intervene to ensure telephone companies can easily launch subscription television services without obstacles from local officials. The Federal Communications Commission voted to seek comment on the extent of its authority over the licensing process, whether new entrants have been stymied by local officials and what steps the agency should take, if any. Verizon Communications Inc. and SBC Communications Inc., the two largest local U.S.