WASHINGTON, March 2, 2010 – The Federal Communications Commission could do a better job of collecting and managing the information it gathers from consumers, businesses and other entities, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. Keep Reading
Google's entrance into the Broadband ISP arena may have lasting effects within the ISP community. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 10, 2010 – The head of the Federal Communications Commission’s internal “think tank” said Tuesday that the agency was taking a fresh look at all aspects of its broadband data-collection processes: collection, validation and analysis, and dissemination. Speaking to a roomful of panelists and telecom officials who attended Tuesday’s Broadband Breakfast Club in spite of the snow, Office of Strategic Planning Chief Paul de Sa said that the agency was sensitive to the need to balance proprietary information with the desire for transparency in its data-collection processes. In a keynote on the topic of “Setting the Table for the National Broadband Plan: Collecting and Using Broadband Data,” de Sa began by asking questions that frame the work of the agency on broadband data. Keep Reading
Recent hearings before the House on the proposed merger between Comcast and NBCU drew both accolades and skepticism for regulators on Feb 4, 2010. The skepticism seemed to come from what was perceived as inconsistencies in previous statements by CEO’s Roberts and Zucker from what was being purported in the public meeting. Keep Reading
Since announcement of the Comcast/NBC-Universal merger consummated the deal creating subsequent analysis and conjecture about how the new venture will be structured, with its impact on programming distribution and fears of dominance, and anti-trust issues within the marketplace; Comcast is set to go before regulators to convince a skeptical crowd how this union [...] Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 21, 2010 - The Federal Communications Commission in a Tuesday workshop explored consumer choice, user control of their online experience and the importance of transparency. The agency’s fourth Open Internet Workshop on Consumers, Transparency and the Open Internet focused on the sixth principle of network neutrality - transparency. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 19, 2010 - Communication and intellectual property experts debated whether a national broadband plan is the right vehicle for addressing copyright and network neutrality issues and whether the FCC is overstepping its bounds by dabbling with copyright issues. Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn sparred with officials from the Recording Industry Association of America, telling RIAA’s executive vice president and general counsel that the recording and Hollywood industries along with some song writers want iinternet service providers to filter networks for copyright infringement. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 14, 2010 - The federal government must embrace the type of technological innovation and experimentation that has borne fruit in the private sector, President Obama said Thursday at a White House forum on modernizing government. Bringing the government into the 21st Century is critical, he said, and the “technology revolution that has transformed society over the last decade has yet to reach government offices.” Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 11, 2010 - The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Rural Utilities Service on Thursday launched a new web site designed to foster partnerships and collaborations among broadband stimulus applicants. The launch of the web site - http://match.broadbandusa.gov - comes at a time when the broadband community is eagerly awaiting announcement of the winners of broadband stimulus funding, and the new Notice of Funds Availability regarding the second and final round. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 11, 2010 – The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday launched http://reboot.fcc.gov, a new interactive website attempting to foster public discussion on how to best improve the agency. The site includes many opportunities for public input on a variety of facets of FCC operations, including greater release of FCC data, the development of new systems such a the “Consolidated Licensing System,” and the redesign of the main agency website, http://FCC.gov. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 5, 2010 - BroadbandBreakfast.com has been actively covering the workshops of the Federal Communications Commission as the agency prepares its national broadband plan. We have covered all of the workshops since late August. In preparation for assembling the complete collection of articles, BroadbandBreakfast.com reporters are returning to the beginning of the workshops, on August 6, 2009. To see the complete collection of articles, click on http://broadbandbreakfast.com/category/fcc-workshops. Keep Reading
December 23, 2009 - The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration is launching accounts to share more information with the public through the social networking sites Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter, according to an internal email sent to NTIA employees last week. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 14, 2009 - The White House said Monday that millions of emails from back-up tapes related to at least 33 different days during the Bush Administration have been restored. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 9, 2009 - The importance of quality of service and the divisive effect of Net neutrality rules were key topics at the Federal Communication Commission’s Technical Advisory Process Workshop on Tuesday. “The fundamental issue,” said Paul Sanchirico of Cisco Systems, “is ‘is my behavior affecting your experience?’ When it’s congested, I want to make sure I’m protecting everyone’s experience. There’s a greater good.” Sanchirico suggested methods for improving network performance. Fundamental to maintaining quality of service (QoS) is establishing the prioritization of information packets. Keep Reading
Why memorable quotes from Cable Industry executives in 2009 seemed either disconnected or a predictor of the future. Judge for yourself whether these quotes have merit or are they seriously off-track with the mainstream. Only time will tell whether these executives have done their homework, or they are just [in-the-moment] statements. As an [...] Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 9, 2009 - The ubiquity of online advertising is a product of its importance to the internet economy, said a group of consumer advocates Wednesday during a debate on the future of online advertising. But the impact of new targeted advertising methods on consumer privacy and its potential to manipulate online experiences was the subject of heated argument at the event, sponsored by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 8, 2009 - The White House on Tuesday sent an open government directive to every federal department and agency with instructions on actions that should be taken to make their operations more open to the public, according to a blog entry from Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag. Keep Reading
The Center for Democracy & Technology this week launched a “Take Back Your Privacy” campaign to support the creation of more user-friendly privacy tools and push for the passage of a federal consumer privacy law. "It's time for privacy law and online practices to catch up with the seismic shifts in technology," CDT President and CEO Leslie Harris said in a statement Thursday. "We know that Americans want better privacy protections. Take Back Your Privacy will help them make sure that their voices a Keep Reading
SAN FRANCISCO, December 2, 2009 - The phenomenal growth of online social networks is finally moving the decades-long debate over the nature of privacy in the digital world forward, said legal experts at an annual conference on innovation in San Francisco on Tuesday. Congress has threatened to enact and revamp consumer privacy laws for decades, but the complexity of the task has generally stumped the body, except for the areas of finance and health. Keep Reading
SAN FRANCISCO, December 1, 2009 - Technophiles and U.S. policymakers have spent decades promising the public that a ubiquitously-networked society would be a people-powered-utopia filled with useful, actionable information. President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign is the most prominent example of how internet-enabled social networks have fundamentally changed the fabric of our society. But a thoughtless rush to make the internet pervasive, and to connect with one another socially online could in fact poison the delicately-balanced relationships that exist in the rapidly vanishing concept of the "offline" world, warned several leading thinkers at an annual conference on innovation on Tuesday. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, November 30, 2009 - Turkey’s government is working on a project that would give every child a designated email address at birth, according to reports coming from the country’s state news agency late Monday. Turkey is also looking to develop a homegrown Internet search engine to address government national security concerns related to citizens using search engines based in foreign countries. Keep Reading