News and Events

The FCC approved rules today designed to defend consumers’ access to an open Internet. The rules offer some protections to ensure the Internet remains open after a recent court decision invalidated the protections of the FCC’s Internet policy statement for end user access.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association is asking the FCC to close some loopholes and strengthen its latest net neutrality plan ahead of a scheduled vote Tuesday.

In addition to meeting with FCC members, CCIA also wrote an editorial published in the San Francisco Chronicle Friday.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski put Open Internet access on the December agenda and offered his latest proposal to fellow Commissioners Wednesday. The plan, after much negotiations with major carriers, is not as strong as Genachowski’s earlier one. His “Third Way” plan would have narrowly reclassified the broadband transmission component as a telecommunications service. The new plan relies on a less certain legal framework for the FCC to protect the quality of consumers’ Internet access.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration issued a report today recommending that 115 MHz of radio spectrum be reallocated for wireless broadband service within the next five years.

Europe already has more extensive regulation of last mile broadband access than does the United States, and competition among providers is also much greater.

The Commerce Department released its broadband report today showing seven times more customers have high speed Internet service, but that gaps in who has access remain. The report is based on census data from 2001 through 2010.

FCC Chairman Genachowski has made closing that digital divide a priority in his National Broadband Plan. He said the report shows more must be done because those who don’t have high speed Internet access can’t compete in the digital economy.

The FCC unanimously has approved details of a plan to bring “super Wi-Fi” to consumers. The FCC voted on the details to transfer so called “white spaces”, the spectrum between TV signals, to unlicensed spectrum that can be used for wireless broadband. This is the biggest release of spectrum in 25 years, and will allow the next generation wireless technologies to emerge.

Members of the Digital Due Process coalition told Senate Judiciary Committee members they need an update to Electronic Communications Privacy Act to support the growth of new technologies, like cloud computing. CCIA filed a statement for the hearing Wednesday.

Senator Leahy closed out the Senate hearing by indicating that staff would be working on this issue even when Congress is out of session, and he was also looking for legislative language. The Administration has not yet taken a position on any of the DDP proposals.

Computer & Communications Industry Association President & CEO Ed Black is scheduled to testify Thursday at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing, “Competition in the Evolving Digital Marketplace.” Antitrust oversight has received more attention since the Obama administration and Black has been an advocate for balanced competition policy for the high tech industry for 25 years.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association applauds Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H., for introducing H. Res. 1570, a resolution with co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle that would stop any new burdensome or unfair tax collecting requirements on small online businesses.  Rep. Hodes is a leader who understands how important the continuing development of e-commerce is to our economy.

Today, the European Commission announced that it was opening a full investigation into IBM’s behavior in the mainframe computer market. This follows many months during which a variety of companies and knowledgeable organizations have been providing evidence of IBM’s misconduct to the European Competition Directorate and during which the professional staff of the EU have been evaluating such submissions.

The FCC is expected to release a report concluding that high speed Internet access is not being deployed quickly enough. In a study that could be released as early as today, the FCC is expected to point out that millions of Americans still do not have high speed broadband access, according to various news reports.

Industries that rely on exceptions and limitations that balance copyright laws are growing 3 percent faster than the rest of the EU economy, according to a new study released by the Computer & Communications Industry Association.

A group called Consumer Watchdog, which has almost exclusively focused on regularly criticizing Google, recently undertook an effort to gather and release personal data it collected outside members of Congress’ homes over unsecured wireless networks. In their zeal to point out that this was something Google merely could have done, they have done a disservice to intelligent discussion of serious issues relating to surveillance and privacy. However, perhaps some benefit may be derived from their effort -- if it results in a broader Internet privacy discussion.

As the nation prepares to celebrate its independence this weekend, an international agreement under negotiation in Switzerland this past week threatens to limit the protection of and extension of our freedoms to the Internet world. Americans and Internet users around the world are facing mounting efforts by governments to expand their control, restrict new models of communication, and deploy sweeping tools to inhibit dynamic Internet activity.

The Supreme Court has issued a long awaited decision that could impact whether business methods can be patented. The Supreme Court denied a patent for a risk management method in Bilski v. Kappos, while still allowing some business methods to be patented. The justices reduced the strength of the lower court rejection by stating that the “machine or transformation test” should not be the sole test for whether an invention is patentable.

The FCC has approved a formal process today to gather feedback on the FCC chairman’s proposal to narrowly reclassify the transmission component of broadband Internet access as a telecommunications service. FCC Chaiman Julius Genachowski’s so-called “third way” would excuse Internet Access Providers from price regulation, but it would limit their ability to discriminate and prioritize online traffic based on their own commercial business interests.

The Senate Antitrust Subcommittee will hold a general oversight hearing this afternoon on the two federal antitrust enforcement agencies charged with protecting consumers -- the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition. It will be Chairman Kohl’s chance to ask questions about mergers he has expressed concern about such as the Comcast-NBC proposal.

Leading broadband and technology companies announced plans today for a voluntary Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group. The group would give advice to the FCC on Internet engineering issues like network management for congestion, peering, local interconnection, privacy, data security, and cooperation with law enforcement.

The European Commission announced its five-year “Digital Agenda” plan for telecommunications and IT in Europe today. The plan aims to move towards a more unified European digital market through measures designed to boost high-speed broadband deployment, promote open standards and interoperability, increase online security and enhance digital literacy.  The digital agenda comes on the heels of Mario Monti’s report on the future of the European single market.

Encryption pioneer Whit Diffie is taking on a new challenge as vice president of information security and cryptography at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

The FCC took steps today toward clarifying its authority to protect open Internet access. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski took a middle ground approach to narrowly reclassify the transmission component of broadband Internet access as a telecommunications service. Under this moderate “third way,” the FCC would excuse Internet Access Providers (IAPs) from price regulation, wholesale unbundling and other traditional mandates.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller have asked FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to expand and protect universal broadband open Internet access.

Washington – Industries that rely on fair use exceptions to copyright law grew faster than the rest of the U.S. economy from 2002 to 2007, expanded 5 percent and accounted for 23 percent of real economic growth, according to a new economic study. The Computer & Communications Industry Association released its 2010 economic study “Fair Use in the U.S. Economy” on Capitol Hill today.

The Computer & Communications Industry filed comments today in the second round of responses to the FCC’s rulemaking to preserve access to an open Internet. Protecting access to the public Internet is even more urgent now given the recent appeals court ruling, which overturned the way the previous FCC sought to enforce net neutrality rules, though the court did not disagree with the need to preserve an open Internet.

Computer & Communications
Industry Association (CCIA)

“Fair Use in the U.S. Economy”
For the latest data on the economic value of balanced copyright

Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Washington, DC

Event Materials Now Available

The just-released details of the once secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement confirm fears that the agreement will unreasonably increase the legal exposure of U.S. technology and Internet businesses operating abroad, the Computer & Communications Industry Association said, after reviewing the declassified text. The document was made public today after governments involved bowed to intense public pressure and incessant leaks and disclosed a draft of the secret agreement to reshape online copyright law.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association applauds the economic research agenda outlined Tuesday by Under Secretary for Intellectual Property David Kappos, the featured speaker at the annual conference on Innovation Policy and the Economy hosted by the National Bureau of Economic Research. CCIA also applauds the appointment of Stuart Graham, a professor at Georgia Tech and a member of NBER, as the first Chief Economist of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

EU IT and telecom ministers called for open standards and interoperability in government IT procurement during what was supposed to be a meeting in Granada, Spain. The statement was part of a broader Granada Declaration, after the city where ministers were supposed to meet this week. The meeting went on via teleconference as European airports shut down because of volcanic ash.

Despite protests from thousands of Internet users, the British House of Commons has passed its Digital Economy Bill. Once the bill passes the House of Lords, it allows the government to block websites over copyright issues, requires ISPs to pass along peer to peer file sharing notices to Internet users from copyright holders and opens the door to disconnection from the Internet as a punishment for copyright infringers.

With tax day less than a month away the Computer & Communications Industry Association has released a study it commissioned on the costs and benefits of a proposal to consider converting the current income tax system into an IRS–prepared tax assessment system, sometimes called “return free”. If this plan were adopted, the IRS would prepare and present tax bills to people, mainly low and moderate-income taxpayers.

The FCC releases its National Broadband Plan Tuesday. The goal, originally outlined during President Obama’s 2008 campaign is ubiquitous affordable, high speed access to an open Internet to boost investment, innovation and economic opportunity for many millions more Americans.

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement under negotiation encountered some staunch disagreement in Europe. The European Parliament voted 663-13 today on a resolution demanding the European Commission release all negotiating texts and brief the Parliament on the secretive agreement.

Computer & Communications Industry Association

Telecom/Internet 101 Congressional Briefing

Monday, March 8

Event Materials Now Available

CCIA has filed comments with the UK Information Commissioner's Office in response to a consultation on Personal Information Online Code of Practice.

Read the full comments

A decision today in Italy to hold three Google executives criminally responsible for the content of on-line video sets an usual precedent that challenges freedom on the Internet and even access. Even though the judge gave the executives a suspended sentence in the privacy violation case, he ruled the executives should be held criminally responsible for the content of a YouTube video posted by teenagers, which showed them harassing an autistic student.

As the FCC is developing ideas to boost high speed broadband deployment and adoption, there’s a new initiative on the horizon that may dovetail well with the National Broadband Plan. A tech company, Google, not a traditional land-line service provider, has announced plans today to build and test ultra-high speed broadband networks in a few trial locations that are yet to be announced. Google put out a request for information on its blog Wednesday to identify interested communities.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association appreciates the long overdue attention the administration is bringing to the multifaceted human rights issue of Internet freedom.

CCIA is releasing a white paper on Friday, “Internet Freedom: How National Policies Have Failed To Protect It And What Can Be Done Now To Build It.”

The Computer & Communications Industry Association has filed comments today in response to a request from the FCC to answer questions on the relevance of online privacy protections to broadband adoption and deployment.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Thursday unrestricted Internet access will be a top diplomatic priority. The State Department estimates that 30 percent of the global population lives in nations that censor the Internet, and Clinton outlined plans to change that.

This afternoon the Computer & Communications Industry Association filed comments supporting the FCC’s adoption of six principles designed to preserve and protect public access to the open Internet for the 21st Century. The comments were filed in response to the FCC’s request for comments on its proposed rule making to maintain Internet neutrality.

The proposed Ticketmaster Live Nation merger should not be approved without conditions to protect competition in the primary and secondary markets for live event ticketing, Computer & Communications Industry Association President & CEO Ed Black said in a letter to Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney yesterday.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association is launching its new intellectual property blog today to serve as a forum for tech policy discussions. With the Obama appointees now in place and Congress looking for ways to help the economy grow, CCIA is optimistic about seeing patent reform this year.

The oversight initiatives contained in the IRS Return Preparer Review are helpful for taxpayers -- and those who care about accurate tax returns. The Computer & Communications Industry Association has a history of working with the IRS to protect consumer/taxpayer interests, and today expressed support for the recommendations, which are intended to increase oversight of paid tax preparers through such initiatives as mandatory registration, competency testing, and enhanced enforcement.