Welcome to the author page of Jonathan Charnitski, Managing Editor, BroadbandBreakfast.com
About: Jonathan began his career as a journalist before turning his focus to law and policy. He is an attorney licensed in Texas and the District of Columbia and has worked previously as a political reporter, in political campaign communications and on Capitol Hill. He holds a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Washington and a J.D. from Villanova Law School, where he focused his studies on Internet and intellectual property law and policy. He lives in Washington, D.C., where he roots for Seattle sports teams and plays guitar in his free time. Email:charnitski@broadbandcensus.com Website:http://BroadbandBreakfast.com
WASHINGTON, June 23, 2011 – National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Program Director, Anne Neville, offered the keynote address Tuesday morning at the Broadband Breakfast Club’s June event, ” The National Broadband Map: Policy, Consumer and Economic Development Implications.”
Neville, who oversees the development of the National Broadband Map, kicked off the event with an overview of the program, including how the NTIA obtained data, how the data have been used, and the future of the mapping efforts.
WASHINGTON, June 2, 2011 – The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation assembled a panel Wednesday to debate the merits and minuses of government support of broadband networks.
The Oxford-style debate, “Governments Should Neither Subsidize nor Operate Broadband Networks to Compete with Commercial Ones,” included four panelists. Rob Atkinson, President of ITIF and Jeff Eisenach, Managing Director and Principal of Navigant Economics argued against government intervention; Jim Baller, President of Baller Herbst Law Group, and Chris Mitchell, Director of Telecommunications at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance argued in favor.
WASHINGTON, June 1, 2011 – Librarian of Congress James Billington made permanent the appointment of Maria Pallante to the top post at the U.S. Copyright Office, where she has served as Acting Register of Copyrights since the beginning of the year.
Pallante’s appointment secures her spot as the successor of Marybeth Peters, who retired from the Copyright Office at the end of 2010 after 16 years of service.
WASHINGTON, May 24, 2011 – Wireless phone and Internet provider T-Mobile announced Tuesday that its fastest wireless broadband speeds would increase twofold in more than 50 markets, starting Wednesday.
The company boasts speeds up to 42 megabits per second (Mbps) available on the improved 4G networks, though consumers will need to upgrade their equipment to reach advertised speeds. T-Mobile also announced the release of the Rocket laptop stick, the company’s first 42-Mbps-capable 4G product.
WASHINGTON, May 16, 2011 – The Intellectual Property Breakfast Club last week featured a keynote address by Erik Barnett, Assistant Deputy Director at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and subsequent panel with industry experts, taking a closer look at administration recommendations to expand the scope of IP laws and increase certain penalties for infringement.
Barnett’s keynote focused on “Operation In Our Sites,” an ICE initiative that focuses on stopping Internet counterfeiting and piracy. The initiative seizes U.S.-based sites that provide illegal content via the web. Critics allege that the seizures deprive domain registrants of due process.
Intellectual Property Enforcement: Where Does the Law Need to be Updated?
WASHINGTON, May 12, 2011 – FCC Commissioner, Meredith Baker, announced Wednesday that she will resign her post on June 3, after which she will begin her tenure as a lobbyist for NBCUniversal.
Baker’s served as one of the five FCC commissioners for less than two years, after being sworn in by President Barack Obama in July, 2009. Previously, she spent five years during the second Bush administration at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, where she rose to the top spot in that agency.
WASHINGTON, May 9, 2011 – Reps. Joe Barton (R-TX) and Ed Markey (D-MD) released a discussion draft of to-be-introduced legislation that would update the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act to reflect changes in current technology.
The Do Not Track Kids Act of 2011 would make several changes to the existing law, which dates back to 1998. Since then, says Rep. Barton, the Internet landscape has changed dramatically.
WASHINGTON, May 5, 2011 – The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet held a hearing Wednesday to investigate the possible effects of expanding Internet domain names beyond the traditional suffixes like .com and .net to potentially anything a registrant could type.
The subcommittee probed plans by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to expand the generic top level domains (gTLDs) beyond the set menu of familiar suffixes like .org and .gov. The proposed new regime could comprise either an expanded menu of choices or an open door for registrants to create a suffix of their choosing, such as .google or .microsoft.
WASHINGTON, May 3, 2011 – The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released its annual Special 301 report on Monday, outlining the effectiveness of trade partners in combating infringement of the rights of U.S. intellectual property holders.
The U.S. claims 18 million American jobs dependent upon intellectual property. The sector also represents the largest source of export revenue for the U.S.
DALLAS, May 2, 2011 – A panel of private industry experts assembled last week to discuss the impact of broadband on rural economies and how to best incorporate it during Rural Telcon at Broadband Properties Magazine’s 2011 summit.