WASHINGTON May 5, 2011- At the Washington Caucus meeting of the Computer and Communications Industry Association Wednesday, Congressional leaders presented their views on preserving the Open Internet, expanding patent reform, ensuring consumer privacy online and the need for spectrum reform. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON April 14, 2011 - Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), Chairman of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee, voiced his opposition Wednesday to network neutrality, supported increased oversight of the Federal Communications Commission and addressed how spectrum issues need to be explored with great caution at the American Cable Association summit. Keep Reading
BOSTON, April 11, 2011 - Speaking to a standing-room only crowd on Friday afternoon, Federal Communications Commissioners Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn addressed media consolidation and broadband deployment before fielding questions at a town hall meeting during Free Press's National Conference for Media Reform. Media scholar, Robert McChesney, offered the introduction for the event, addressing both the packed auditorium, an overflow room and those watching live via the web. Both commissioners received standing ovations from the crowd as they took the stage. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 8, 2011 - In a strongly party-line vote Friday afternoon, the House passed House Joint Resolution 37, an action that would undo the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 5, 2011 - The House of Representatives is anticipated to hold a floor debate and vote this week on a measure that would put the kibosh on net neutrality rules passed by the Federal Communications Commission late last year, but the White House has said that it would likely veto such a measure should it come across the President's desk. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 4, 2011 - The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing and passed draft legislation Friday that would require unused and returned broadband stimulus funds be returned to the U.S. Treasury, but subcommittee Democrats called the bill "duplicative" of policies already in place. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 1, 2011 President Barack Obama reaffirmed the nation’s need for a Clean Energy Standard (CES) during a speech at Georgetown University Wednesday, once again raising questions about how smart grid technology will fit into that future. Implicit in bringing on a wide range of clean energy sources is the need for a more efficient and modernized grid to handle the variable power supply. However, in this divided Congress, getting legislators to find common ground on a CES will come with a high hurdle rate, say analysts. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 31, 2011 - The Brookings Institution assembled leading telecommunications experts and business representatives on Wednesday to discuss the future of spectrum policy and the impending merger between AT&T and T-Mobile. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 31, 2011 - Reps. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Joe Barton (R-TX), Co-Chairmen of the House Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus sent letters Tuesday to Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T asking the wireless companies to disclose how the firms collect and stored user location data. The letters to all four major wireless carriers were sent response to a recent story in the New York Times, which reported that the German mobile provider Deutsche Telekom tracked the locations of German politicians. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON March 30, 2011- The Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition assembled broadband stimulus award winners and government officials for their inaugural broadband summit on Tuesday to share solutions and success in solving digital literacy and adoption issues. The SHLBC, formed two years ago, comprises libraries, hospitals, schools, non-profit groups and corporations that seek to further broadband availability for community anchor institutions. Keep Reading
PROVO, March 28, 2011 - Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) visited Provo, Utah, Friday to answer questions posted to the Brigham Young University Facebook page. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 21, 2011 - Nationwide wireless carrier, AT&T announced Sunday that it had finalized an agreement to acquire competitor T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion in cash and stock. The deal between the nation's second- and fourth-largest carriers would likely create the largest nationwide wireless carrier, topping current leader, Verizon. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 16, 2011 - The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted in favor of a resolution Tuesday that would undo the Federal Communications Commission's recent net neutrality rules; the measure will now go before the full House for a vote. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 15, 2011 - Despite fanfare regarding the end of exclusivity for the Apple iPhone with the launch of a CDMA version, the reality is that many carriers are still unable to attain certain devices. While the majority of current subscribers now have access to the once-exclusive iPhone, because AT&T and Verizon have been allowed to create a duopoly in the wireless industry, from a competition standpoint, AT&T and Verizon are the only two carriers with access to the device. Translation: Less than 2 percent of domestic wireless carriers have access to one of the nation’s most coveted devices. Just as the iPhone is not the only smartphone on the market, it is also not the only device that is unavailable to consumers. Due to exclusive handset arrangements, consumers are left to choose between robust coverage where they live or the latest hot device they desire. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 11, 2011 - Legislators in the House and Senate introduced companion bills that would prohibit states from levying new taxes specific to wireless services in an effort to keep barriers to access for mobile internet services low. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 8, 2011 - The Senate passed a bill Tuesday evening that would significantly reform the U.S. patent system for the first time in nearly 60 years. The bill will now go to the House for consideration. The Senate passed the America Invents Act - formerly the Patent Reform Act of 2011 - by an overwhelming majority of 95-5. Congress has failed to pass comprehensive patent reform in each of the last four Congresses. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 8, 2011 - The Senate voted Monday to end debate and may move to a final vote as early as Tuesday on a bill that would overhaul the nation's patent system for the first time in nearly 60 years. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON March 2, 2011 - Two members of the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet introduced new legislation Wednesday that would modernize the nation's radio spectrum planning and management. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 2, 2010 – The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology postponed last-minute a vote scheduled for Wednesday morning on a resolution that would reverse the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet Order. Chairman Fred Upton agreed to postpone the vote in order to complete regular order and a legislative hearing before voting on the… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, March 1, 2011 - The Senate moved a step closer to the first major overhaul to the patent system in nearly 60 years when it introduced a bill to the floor on Monday. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 28, 2011 – Reps. Joe Barton (R-TX) and Edward Markey (D-MA), Co-Chairmen of the House Bipartisan Privacy Caucus, shared Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s response to a letter they wrote to him on February 2, 2011, questioning a particular privacy feature on Facebook that would potentially share mobile numbers and home addresses with websites and third party-applications. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 17, 2011 - Members of the House subcommittee on Communications and Technology took the opportunity during a hearing on Wednesday to grill the five FCC commissioners on the Commission's recent Open Internet Order in a marathon session. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 9, 2011 - Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), a nine-term House veteran and member of the subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, announced Tuesday she would resign her post later this month to head the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, a think tank in Washington, D.C. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 8, 2011 - Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), a senior Democrat on the House subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging it to investigate suspect practices surrounding purchases made through mobile applications. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 4, 2011 - Senate lawmakers are considering a measure that would allow the President to declare a national cyber emergency and give him the power to use an internet “kill switch” which could shut down internet access nationally. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 27, 2011 - The Congressional High-Tech Caucus announced Wednesday that it named Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) as its new Co-Chair, joining Republican Michael McCaul (TX). Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 25, 2011 - Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced legislation Tuesday to strengthen Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) net-neutrality rules. The Internet Freedom, Broadband Promotion, and Consumer Protection Act of 2011 is co-sponsored by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), who, along with Cantwell, asserted that the Open Internet Order rules handed down by the agency last… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 25, 2011 - Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) established an online petition via tweet and press release Monday in opposition of the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet Order. The Order provides three guidelines by which internet service providers (ISPs) must abide in their offerings to consumers. First, ISPs must provide services in a… Keep Reading