In every corner of the country and around the world, leaders are trying to make their cities “smarter.” These projects are often in response to specific and on-going demands — such as parking, overcrowding, noise, and pollution — while others have started to address broader goals — such as reduction of energy consumption, improvement of traffic flow,… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 17, 2019 — Among the items passed unanimously at the Federal Communications Commission July 10 meeting was the creation of a three-year, $100 million pilot program to support the delivery of telehealth services to rural and low-income Americans. “From chronic disease management to pediatric cardiology, from PTSD to opioid dependency, this pilot has… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 17, 2019 - Facebook’s digital currency platform Calibra continues to be the focus of intense congressional scrutiny. On Wednesday, it was from the House Committee on Financial Services. Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., said the committee wanted to make sure that Libra isn’t just a “ploy” to send Facebook’s Twitter mentions “through the roof.”… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 17, 2019 — The “honeymoon phase” of tech is definitely over. As a result, federal privacy legislation is essential. So said two prominent members of Congress – one Democrat and one Republican – at a Wednesday event hosted by Charter Communications and the Future of Privacy Forum on Wednesday. Indeed, Congress should quickly… Keep Reading
The Electronic Frontier Foundation announced Tuesday that it is filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of AT&T customers in California to stop the telecom giant and two data location aggregators from allowing third parties to access wireless customers’ real-time locations without authorization. The lawsuit alleges AT&T violated the Federal Communications Act and engaged in… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 16, 2019 – In the House Judiciary Committee’s second hearing putting tech giants under the microscope, both the Democratic majority and some members of the Republican minority attempted to squeeze the companies into greater political compliance. At a Tuesday hearing featured witnesses from the widely-feared “GAFA” companies -- Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 16,2019- Facebook’s venture into cryptocurrency raised a high degree of concern among some members of the Senate Banking Committee at a hearing on Tuesday. Committee Ranking Member Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio., said Facebook is “dangerous” and that it does “all it can” to manipulate billions of users and generate profit. Brown also accused… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 16, 2019 — Differences between the Federal Communications Commission and the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration have gotten to the point that Congress may need to get more involved in the spectrum allocation process, legislators said Tuesday at a House subcommittee hearing. Coordination between federal agencies is an essential component of… Keep Reading
The Federal Communications Commission on Monday announced more than $524 million in funding over the next decade to expand broadband access to 205,520 unserved rural homes and businesses in 23 states. Providers will begin receiving funding this month. “High-speed Internet provides access to opportunity in the 21st century, and the FCC’s top priority is closing… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 15, 2019 — Rather than seeking to break up big technology giants, Congress should instead focus on ratcheting up regulation of the online platform players to curb their greatest abuses, public interest advocate Harold Feld argued on Monday. Feld, the author of the recent e-book, “The Case for the Digital Platform Act: Market… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 15, 2019 – An industry-focused panel of observers of privacy issues argued that a federal approach the topic needs to preempt state-based data protection. At the Monday event hosted by CompTia, these officials went so far as to suggest that federal privacy rules would be more protective than those of states. Because privacy… Keep Reading
On Friday afternoon, the Federal Trade Commission has issued a fine of $5 billion to Facebook for privacy violations. Adam Satariano of the New York Times reported that regulators and lawmakers in the U.S. and abroad have begun conducting investigations and proposing new sanctions against the Silicon Valley company. President Trump called out Facebook and… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 15, 2019 -- Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley want the Federal Trade Commission to use its investigatory authority to demand internal documents and information pertaining to content moderation policies at major technology companies like Google, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, and to release those documents to the public. In a Monday letter to… Keep Reading
Ten cities have been recognized this year as Digital Inclusion Trailblazers, Tyler Cooper from BroadbandNow reports. 21 million Americans still lack access to a broadband-level internet connection, and roughly 146 million people do not have access to a low-priced plan for residential wired broadband. These cities are leading the way in bringing unprecedented levels of broadband… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2019 — Congress urgently needs to create a federal privacy law, said panelists at a privacy conference held by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday. However, coming to a consensus on the specifics of such a law has been and will continue to be a major roadblock. Lawmakers have to create… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2019 – Pushing back against a growing group of critics on the right and the left, the pro-free-market pro-free-speech group Tech Freedom on Thursday released a set of seven principles and online resources designed to “guide conversation about amending Section 230.” As the principles statement declares: “we value the balance between freely… Keep Reading
At Wednesday's Federal Communications Commission meeting, the agency voted to preempt part of a San Francisco ordinance that promotes broadband competition in apartment buildings and other multi-tenant structures. Ars Technica summarized how FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's plan partially overturns San Francisco's Article 52, which lets Internet service providers use the existing wiring inside multi-unit buildings even… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2019- As world actors ponder about human expansion into outer space, the issue that most frequently comes up is how to foster innovation while avoiding history’s past mistakes with nation-building. Human settlement in space is not going to be a “do-over” of our colonial experience, said Andrés Martinez, editorial director at Future… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2019 - Going forward, technology innovators need to understand exactly what core technologies exist in the U.S, and which ones China both possesses and needs, said Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, speaking at a Wednesday event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies event on 5G wireless… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2019 — Ignoring recommendations from the Department of Education, several members of Congress, and various broadband advocates, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 on Wednesday to hold commercial auctions for unused portions of the 2.5 Gigahertz spectrum band. The decision removes the educational use requirement for the band and fails to provide… Keep Reading