FCC
Speed And Mapping Bills, LinkedIn Data Harvested, Facebook Tackles Fake Review Groups
Delgado’s speed and mapping bills, 500M LinkedIn accounts for sale, and 16,000 Facebook groups axed for fake reviews.
Samuel Triginelli
Reporter Samuel Triginelli was born in Brazil and grew up speaking Portuguese and English, and later learned French and Spanish. He studied communications at Brigham Young University.
Joe Biden
Government’s Reactive Nature Hobbling Tech Regulation, Expert Says
Congress may need another big tech breach to move earnestly on regulation, says consultant.
FCC Asked To Include States In Mapping, Maryland’s $300M For Broadband, Energy-Saving STB Agreement
April 6, 2021 – Senate Democrats and independents are pushing the Federal Communications Commission to include state, regional and tribal governments in its development of more accurate broadband maps, according to a letter dated April 1. “We strongly urge you to incorporate the voices of state, loc
FTC
National Plan Required For Consumer Privacy, Congresswoman says
April 1, 2021 — A Congresswoman from Washington State, who introduced federal legislation that would be the first national consumer privacy law if adopted, says the federal government is being outpaced by some states that are implementing their own consumer privacy legislation. “There is a significa
EBB
FCC Broadband Focus; Facebook Fiber In Indiana; Telco Fiber To 68M Homes; Right Of Repair Bill In Nevada
March 30, 2021 – The Federal Communications Commission is focusing on objectives of President Joe Biden’s $1.9-trillion American Rescue Plan, which includes $7 billion for the E-Rate internet subsidy program, Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said last week. The E-Rate program – which provides i
Privacy
Attach Strings To Data Collection To Combat Surveillance Capitalism, Experts Suggest
March 29, 2021 – Laws addressing how much data can be collected should be among new regulations that must ensure data collection from big technology companies doesn’t harm Americans, according to a March 17 panel of academics at the South by Southwest conference. The era of corporate self-regulation
EBB
Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr Optimistic About Finding Common Ground at Agency
March 24, 2021 — Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr said the regulator has since 2017 seen what he wanted: Broadband speed increases and lower prices. “The approach we adopted in 2017 is working,” he said at the Free State Foundation’s 13th annual telecom policy conference on Tuesday.
Biden-Harris Administration
Sen. Mark Warner Says His Section 230 Bill Is Crafted With Help of Tech Companies
March 23, 2021 – Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, said he and his staff are in “regular contact” with big tech representatives about Section 230 reform. “Both my staff and I are in regular contact with a host of individuals on the tech side,” Warner said Monday at a Protocol webinar discussing internet
T-Mobile Wins on Infrastructure, Lina Khan FTC Nomination, Open Source Collaboration
March 23, 2021 — A federal judge ruled Friday that the San Francisco city leader unlawfully denied T-Mobile permits to upgrade infrastructure during the pandemic. The ruling was made under the 2012 Spectrum Act, which prevents State or local government from denying improvements and upgrades to exist
FTC
Former and Current FTC Commissioners Laud Efforts At Greater Resources For Antitrust Cases
March 17, 2021 – A new antitrust bill by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn, is receiving high praise from current and former commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission for its focus on enhancing resources required to tackle competition issues. “I think we could use more money still,” Noah Phillips, comm
Big Tech
Facebook’s Oversight Board Defends Against Critics Who Call It a Shield For Company
March 16, 2021 – A member of Facebook’s Oversight Board, which was created to provide content moderation decisions for the social media giant, defended itself Tuesday against critics who say it was created as a sort-of regulatory shield for the company. The board’s head of communications, Dax Hunter
Advanced Energy
$109 Billion for Broadband Bill, AT&T Fiber, Starlink’s 60 New Satellites, Klobuchar’s Antitrust Crusade
March 16, 2021 – Democratic lawmakers have introduced a $312 billion bill that would boost broadband, clean energy and public health infrastructure. The Leading Infrastructure For Tomorrow’s America Act, or LIFT America Act, was introduced Monday and is backed by all Democratic members of the House’
FCC
Closing Digital Divide Starts With Accurate Maps, Says Gigi Sohn
March 15, 2021 – Gigi Sohn, former president of advocacy group Public Knowledge, said authorities at the Federal Communications Commission and the states need to start with good broadband maps to see where connectivity gaps exist. “Start at square one, and that is with good data and good maps,” said
China
Telecom Companies Need To Challenge Governments Over Internet Shutdowns: Advocacy Groups
March 13, 2021 – Internet shutdowns by governments around the globe are impacting their connectivity-dependent segments, including education and business, and citizens should pressure telecom companies to take action against the authors of those blackouts, experts said Tuesday. Internet blackouts in
COVID
Senate Version of Stimulus Bill Has $2 Billion For Cybersecurity, Telecom Transparency, SpaceX Pilot
March 9, 2021 – The Senate’s approved version of the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill includes nearly $2 billion for cybersecurity and technology modernization programs. Of the $2 billion, half will go toward the Technology Modernization Fund, intended to help the federal government launch new cyber and
Infrastructure
Big Tech Not Anticompetitive, But May Require Careful Regulation
March 8, 2021 – Lawmakers should not rush to paint big technology companies as monopolists and should carefully analyze what is worth regulating, according to commentators speaking at a Thursday Law and Economics Center webinar. The fallacious notion that big tech companies don’t have much competiti
