Public Interest Groups, Companies Letter To FCC On Verizon Cable Deal
More transparency is needed to study the implications of the proposed Verizon cable deal. Today public interest groups, telecommunications companies and CCIA sent a letter to the FCC saying the spectrum transaction among some of the nations largest Internet access providers is a matter that needs greater transparency and the FCC needed access to redacted documents.
Congress Adds Approval For Spectrum Auctions To Payroll Tax Bill
Congress has agreed on legislation that would authorize the FCC to pay TV broadcasters for underutilized broadcast spectrum and then resell it to wireless companies to help meet the growing demand for wireless broadband due to smartphones and tablets. The legislation that will be tucked into the payroll tax bill would set aside $7 billion…
Iran Shuts Down Internet Access To Secure Websites
Iran has reportedly blocked its citizens’ access to some secure websites today according to news various reports, though the government has not officially announced an Internet service disruption. Internet users in Iran tell reporters they cannot access Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo email and others report getting to secured banking sites and Facebook is not possible.…
Study Shows Growing Entertainment Choices, Industry Profits
Concurrent with the MIDEM music business conference in France today, the Computer & Communications Industry Association released a study it commissioned, “The Sky is Rising,” by Mike Masnick, who writes about technology policy for Techdirt and is founder and CEO of Floor 64. The economic report on entertainment over the past decade found that the entertainment industry…
CCIA Concerned About Size and Scope of Hawaii’s Pending Data Retention Bill
Today the Hawaiian State House debated a newly introduced piece of legislation, H.B. 2288, which would create a massive requirement for Hawaiian businesses to gather dossiers about all of their customers and store them for two years. The bill, a little shorter than two pages in length, would not just mandate retention of assigned IP addresses, along…
Supreme Court Rules Against GPS Monitoring Without A Warrant
The U.S. Supreme Court said today that installing a GPS monitoring device constitutes a search and is therefore prohibited by the 4th amendment without a warrant. The decision that such a search is illegal was unanimous, but the justices differed in their reasoning. The majority of the court ruled 5-4 that placing the geo-tracking device…
House, Senate Delay Action On PIPA/SOPA
The House and Senate have both announced plans today to put off consideration of the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The announcement follows record numbers of phone calls to Capitol Hill and millions of signatures on online petitions by Internet users after more than 7,000 websites went dark for…