WASHINGTON, November 17, 2014 – Federal Communications Committee Chairman Tom Wheeler and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., on Monday proposed increasing the $1.5 billion cap to the E-rate portion of the Universal Service Fund. Schools and libraries, who would benefit from such an increase, have been calling for it for years now. Despite requests for E-rate […]

WASHINGTON, September 3, 2014 – A group of leading telecommunications providers in June announced the creation of a new trade group, dubbed “Customers for Competition,” at the same location at the Library of Congress where the 1996 Telecommunications Act was signed at the Library of Congress 18 years ago. “We will be building stories from […]

WASHINGTON, July 22, 2014 – As the Federal Communications Commission received more than a million comments on the agency’s push for net neutrality regulations governing the conduct of broadband providers, critics argued on July 15 that net neutrality is a counter-intuitive solution in search of a problem. Moreover, these critics said, “common carriage” regulation under […]

WASHINGTON, July 17, 2004 – The House of Representatives passed an amendment Wednesday  in a 223-220 vote to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from preempting state laws that forbid municipal broadband networks, the National Journal reported. U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., spearheaded the proposal, according to Ars Technica, on the argument that the FCC has […]

WASHINGTON, July 15, 2014 – The Federal Communications Commission on Friday voted to modernize of its E-Rate program Friday, reallocating funds from technologies considered obsolete to Wi-Fi based connectivity in schools and libraries. However, owing to strong skepticism from opponents over funding, the proposal was scaled back to $2 billion, down from its original $5 […]

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2014 – Some of the world’s leading tech giants, represented by a lobbying firm called the Internet Association, have officially filed their petition for net neutrality. The companies include Google, Facebook, Netflix and Amazon, among others. “The internet’s continued success is not inevitable,” the group wrote. “Broadband internet access providers continue to […]

WASHINGTON, June 30, 2014 -Following the Supreme Court’s blow last week against Aereo, the video streaming service has shut down indefinitely as it drags back into the lower courts. Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia wrote a letter to consumers explaining the decision. “We have decided to pause our operations temporarily as we consult with the court […]

WASHINGTON, May 19, 2014 – The Federal Communication Commission’s effort to thread the needle on net neutrality with regulations that will withstand legal scrutiny while also satisfying open internet activists led to starkly divided responses to the Thursday measure.

In the camp expressing disappointment that agency Chairman Tom Wheeler didn’t go further, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., a member of the Commerce Science and Transportation Committee, said that innovation over the internet in America could unless broadband were to be reclassified as a common-carrier telecommunications service.

“Internet access today is like traditional phone service decades ago – we can’t live or work without it,” Markey said. “We must stop broadband behemoths from setting up fast and slow lanes and picking winners and losers. Start-ups and small business would suffer, slowing our economy and job growth throughout Massachusetts and around the country.” [...]

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2014 – Today, Senator Edward J. Markey (@MarkeyMemo) and Rep. Joe Barton (@RepJoeBarton) are hosting a Twitter Q&A on children’s online privacy. Using the hashtag #AskKidsPriv, the lawmakers will be answering questions on Twitter about how parents can protect their children online, what tools are available to prevent online tracking of children, and their legislation The Do Not Track Kids Act. [...]

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2013 – On Thursday, Democratic Representatives Henry Waxman, Anna Eshoo, and Doris Matsui of California, plus Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Diana DeGette of Colorado, and Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania issued a letter to outgoing Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, responding to Republican members of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Republicans on […]