GAO: AIS Partnering Could Reduce Costs

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a Report stating that federal costs related to implementation of the Automatic Identification System (AIS) could be reduced if local port entities were willing to assume some of the expense and responsibility in exchange for access to AIS data. This presumes, though, that the current dispute between the Coast Guard and a private company over access to the frequency spectrum is resolved in the near future. GAO-04-868 (HK Law).