This article was written and reported by Andrew Feinberg and Heather Heimbach. WASHINGTON, June 12, 2018 - As the Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of Obama-era network neutrality rules took effect Monday, Democrats and net neutrality advocates vowed to continue the effort to use a Congressional Review Act resolution to roll back the new FCC rules.… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, April 10, 2018 – After months of seemingly-unending scandal over his company’s role in the 2018 election, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg began his first of two days of testimony on Capitol Hill Tuesday by making it clear he was well aware of the laundry list of problems with the company he created 14 years… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 15, 2017 – The Federal Communications Commission’s Thursday vote to repeal the “open internet” rules classifying broadband services as common carriers represents the most significant regulatory shift in the internet in more than a decade. Critics in Congress, at the agency, and even on late-night TV wasted no time in blasting it. These… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 7, 2017 — Tom Wheeler, the Federal Communications Commission chairman under President Obama, wasn’t coy in expressing his feelings about his replacement’s “abomination” of a plan to gut the open internet rules he put in place two-and-a-half years ago. “This is the culmination of a grand plan which started back in 2013,” Wheeler… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, October 19, 2017 — The Federal Trade Commission will get two new members if President Donald Trump has his way, as the White House announced his intent to nominate Democrat Rohit Chopra and Republican Joseph Simmons to fill the open seats on the five-member body. Chopra currently serves as a senior fellow at the… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 3, 2017 - Self-driving vehicles could reduce congestion, supplement public transit systems and help the elderly and disabled travel safely, said Jeffrey Massimilla, chief product cybersecurity officer of Product Cybersecurity for General Motors, at a Federal Trade Commission workshop on Wednesday. Maureen Ohlhausen, acting chairman of the FTC, said that most new cars… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 21, 2017 — Cuts in the Federal Communications Commission budget won’t hinder the agency’s ability to provide services because the agency is entirely funded by fees, Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told senators on Tuesday during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing to examine the Commission’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget request. “[W]e have compiled… Keep Reading
Editor's Note: This past week, Drew Clark's column in the Deseret News of Salt Lake City, Utah, was on the importance of balance in our patent system. Click here for links to all of his Deseret News columns.
ASPEN, Colo. — As with many former mining camps in the Rocky Mountains, this one is best known for winter sports like skiing. But this mountain town has also developed a summertime niche: Hosting policy-makers seeking the cool air refuge from humid Washington summers.
This year, the refreshing breeze came in from the new head of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
For nearly 20 years, Aspen in late August has been home to a small but influential gathering of the Technology Policy Institute. It gathers legislators, regulators, lobbyists and academics who seek to shape the course of policy surrounding information and communications technology.
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WASHINGTON, January 12, 2015 – President Barack Obama on Monday announced that his administration would push for two new pieces of federal internet privacy legislation, one pertaining to consumers and one pertaining to students. He also announced that the Department of Education would offer new tools to help students and teacher help protect their privacy.… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, October 2, 2014 - Federal Trade Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen warned that reclassifying broadband under public utility regulation including in Title II of the Communications Act would put ISPs beyond the legal reach of the FTC, the Washington Post reported. The item was previously reported in Broadband Breakfast. Currently, the FTC is not able to… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, September 23, 2014 - In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission noted that some of its regulatory authority would be lost if the FCC decided to regulate broadband as a public utility. The FTC protects the privacy and security of consumer data by imposing obligations on broadband service providers… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 23, 2014 - The Federal Communications Commission announced that its open meeting on July 11 will center on closed captioning of internet protocol-delivered video clips, the Connect America Fund’s rural broadband expansion, and modernizing E-Rate to deliver digital learning. Tom Wheeler explained more about the E-Rate modernization plan in a blog post on… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, May 28, 2014 - The National Journal reported that the Federal Trade Commission released a report charging the data brokerage industry with collecting "troves" of information on nearly all American consumers. The agency urged Congress to push for more transparency. Believing that an invasive collection of personal data could harm consumers, the FTC recommended… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, February 20, 2013 – Policy-makers and consumers alike are struggling to grapple with a rising-tide of data usage from wireless devices, according to the chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s wireless bureau and panelists speaking at the Broadband Breakfast Club on Tuesday at Clyde's of Gallery Place. Panelists noted the challenges that data caps… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 18, 2011- Two congressional subcommittees called on the heads of several government agencies late last week to inquire how each addresses Internet privacy issues. The panel, assembled by the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade and the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology included the heads of the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 13, 2011 – Child ID Theft more commonly occurs via organized crime, but the most severe damage happens when done by family members, experts concluded at a joint Child ID Theft forum Tuesday. Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice held the forum one day after hacktivist group ‘Anonymous’ attacked U.S. government security contractor, Booz Allen Hamilton, resulting in the theft of 90,000 military email addresses. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 7, 2011 – What was originally billed as a federal agency confessional before House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on Thursday turned into a search to create American jobs and economic growth. Monday, the subcommittee held its fourth hearing to improve the regulatory review system. With the national unemployment rate at 9.1 percent, burdensome regulations from federal agencies are seen by both sides of the aisle and agency representatives to contribute to the problem. An Executive Order the President issued in January sought to streamline federal agencies by having them do a retrospective review of existing regulations and discard those they determined outdated and unnecessary. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 16, 2011 – Just days after Senate email accounts were hacked, the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade held a hearing Wednesday to discuss a draft bill that would require companies to minimize the amount of data collected from consumers and notify them within two days of a data breach. Subcommittee members met with witnesses to clarify the ambiguous language of a discussion draft of Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Mary Bono Mack’s (R-CA) Secure and Fortify (SAFE) Data Act. The measure addresses the increasing threat of data theft, in the wake of high-profile cyber attacks on Sony, Epsilon, Lockheed-Martin and other U.S. companies. Keep Reading
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 21, 2011- Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski visited the Economic Club of Washington Wednesday to answer questions that covered spectrum auctions and the impending merger between AT&T and T-Mobile. “To continue our growth in mobile broadband we need to free up more spectrum,” Genachowski said. “Spectrum is the oxygen of the mobile world and without more it will be stifled.” Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 28, 2010 – The Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission have formed a task force to deal with online privacy concerns facing American consumers. Keep Reading
Twenty-five years ago, the World Wide Web did not exist. Very few Americans had even seen a mobile phone, and broadband networks were available only to a few businesses and research institutions. Today, innovations such as broadband and others like it drive the creation of a wide variety of products and services. The competitive forces that sparked these breakthroughs need to be nurtured so that the United States can continue to reap the benefits of its unrivaled culture of innovation. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 15, 2010 - Verizon and Google submitted a rare joint filing to the FCC on Thursday. The two communications giants praised the agency for its principles while stinging it by saying that communications laws and regulations should not apply to Internet applications, content, or services. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 5, 2010 - Mary Gardiner Jones, the first female Federal Trade Commissioner and co-founder of the Alliance for Public Technology, died on December 23, 2009, APT announced Tuesday. “Mary Gardiner Jones not only tore down walls that kept women out of positions of power and influence - she smashed them to smithereens.” That was how former Labor Secretary Robert Reich described the career of Gardiner Jones. She advocated for increased consumer protections and women's rights. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 24, 2009 – The Federal Trade Commission this week asked Google for more information on the company’s plans to acquire AdMob. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 22, 2009 – President Obama finally announced Tuesday that Howard Schmidt will serve as White House cyber security coordinator. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 14, 2009 – What’s the greatest source of dissatisfaction in the mobile wireless industry? Ironically, according to industry experts and government representatives attending a conference on customer complaints, it is competition itself. The size and pervasiveness of the mobile device market has exploded. In the space of just 17 years, the number of active mobile subscribers in the United States has exploded from 11 million to 276 million. An increased number of complaints have accompanied this market growth. 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 - Google said Tuesday it has filed a lawsuit against Pacific WebWorks and several other unnamed defendants the company claims offer fraudulent money schemes using the Google name. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 2, 2009 - A senior lawmaker on Wednesday weighed in on government intervention in the media at a Federal Trade Commission forum convened to consider an alleged decreasing amount of original reporting taking place, as media outlets shut down or layoff journalists in the face of falling revenues. The widespread availability of broadband technology plays an important role both in the alleged problem – competition to traditional print media revenue streams – and in the proposed solution: widespread availability of online content funded through a variety of means. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 1, 2009 - Experts from the private sector, nonprofit groups and the government gathered Tuesday at the Federal Trade Commission for the start of a two-day workshop focused on the troubled state of the media industry and how the business models will change going forward. “Since the beginning of our Republic, journalism has been essential to making democracy work,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said (PDF) in opening remarks. His point is largely agreed upon by many involved in discussions centered around the media. But there is not a consensus on how media business models will evolve down the road or on whether the government should become more involved in the industry. Keep Reading
The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday released the agenda and speakers for its upcoming workshop, “From Town Criers to Bloggers: How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age?” The workshop has been organized to consider the emerging issues of an increasingly internet oriented society. As more consumers turn to the internet for news and information, print news organizations have begun to struggle with the declining ad market. Besides the simple economics of the matter, as online news expands many wonder how the two news formats can successfully coexist. Keep Reading
The chairmen of the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission on Friday jointly encouraged the public to take safeguards to protect themselves, their privacy, and their personal information online. Keep Reading
The Federal Trade Commission on Monday announced that it has approved final revisions to the guidance it gives to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in line with the FTC Act. The notice incorporates several changes to the FTC’s “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising,” which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers. The guidelines were last updated in 1980. Keep Reading
Notwithstanding a recent proposal by the online advertising industry to strengthen standards governing consumer data collection, some on Capitol Hill still see a need for Congress to enact comprehensive privacy legislation. Indeed, Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., has promised to introduce legislation on this subject this fall. Over at the Federal Trade Commission, Chairman Jon Leibowitz has explicitly warned online advertisers that the FTC will take a regulatory approach if industry does not improve its self-policing efforts. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, September 9, 2009 – The Internet can serve as a means for enhancing consumer protections, provided that government agencies play their appropriate role in regulating and disclosing the practices of broadband providers, according to a several consumer advocates. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 25, 2009 - Advertisers need to consider consumers’ right to privacy when they collect information on individual internet consumers, a panel of academics, non-profits and industry officials agreed on Friday. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 18, 2009 - Time Warner Cable found itself clashing with a member of Congress from its home state on Wednesday as Rep. Eric Massa, D-N.Y., introduced the Broadband Internet Fairness Act, H.R. 2902. If passed, the bill would authorize the Federal Trade Commission to review the fairness of broadband subscription plans based on cost. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 3, 2009 – Officials from Google and Microsoft denied that they were creating privacy-invading user profiles of internet users, speaking at the 2009 Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference at George Washington University here. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 1, 2009 - Consumer advocacy groups are gearing up for another fight with Time Warner Cable after the internet provider quietly updated its terms of service with language that critics have pounced on as a harbinger of future metering and usage caps. Keep Reading