Why do Internet users continually resist paid content on a systematic basis? Keep in mind that many current Internet business models were built on the premise, (create the content and they will come).
NAIROBI, Kenya, December 28, 2009 – Confusion about the legal status of undersea cables has caused internet connectivity costs to remain inappropriately high for web users in Africa, speakers said last week at a two-day conference here sponsored by the non-profit group Africa Gathering.
“There is a need for an on-going relationship regarding the integration of cables between states, in order to regulate bandwidth, and give consumers high quality internet access, at reasonable costs,” said Nkeiru Joe, a lecturer in International Law at the University of Kent, Brussels.
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.
December 15, 2009 – The value of universal access to broadband was discussed at an occasionally tense Federal Communications Commission field hearing in Memphis on Monday night. The hearing was intended to focus on whether broadband services are being deployed in a way that allows all Americans to benefit, though it also addressed why internet access is necessary.
“I believe that universal access to broadband needs to be seen as a civil right,” said FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn. “I don’t think you can look at it in any other way.”
WASHINGTON, December 15, 2009 – “I am not a Czar,” Federal Communications Commission Chief Diversity Officer Mark Lloyd declared on Monday, while delivering the keynote at a Media Access Project event on the impact of new media, net neutrality and journalism’s future.
Lloyd, an attorney based out of the commission’s Office of General Counsel, devoted a great deal of his speech to rebutting criticism and accusations regarding his role at the FCC, which began when some right-wing oriented blogs and commentators, including Glenn Beck, began critically examining his prior academic writings on media ownership and diversity of expression.
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.
WASHINGTON, November 6, 2009 – The corporate communications firm Qorvis has brought Nicole Silverman on board to work on technology and telecom policy issues and reputation management for foreign governments. Silverman, whose title will be director, was most recently an account manager in Waggener Edstrom’s public affairs practice where she oversaw the development and implementation of international public affairs programs for Fortune 500 companies, foundations and trade associations. At Waggener Edstrom, Silverman developed an expertise in telecom policy.
An undated note can be found in place of National Journal’s TechCentral, a web site intended to replace its now dead Technology Daily publication. “After a run of almost two years, the TechCentral page bids farewell. But let us assure you that the timely content TechCentral featured day-in, day-out is not going away,” reads the letter from CongressDaily’s Editor Louis Peck.
The FCC has established the OpenInternet.gov web site as a portal for public participation in the discussion about preserving the free and open Internet, introducing collaborative tools Web 2.0 applications. Among the links included on the site is one to Idealscale at http://openinternet.ideascale.com/, which allows the public to evaluate, rank and discuss the ideas regarding the open Internet, in new and improved pathways for communication to encourage and facilitate public participation.
As Facebook increases its Washington presence, Andrew Noyes will be putting the pen down to join the company next month as manager of public policy communications. Noyes has been a reporter for National Journal Group since 2006 where he worked first for the now-dead Technology Daily publication, and later for CongressDaily. Also on the Facebook team is Tim Sparapani, director of public policy, and Adam Conner.