Congress
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2019 — Policy experts and tech executives emphatically defended the controversial Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act at an Internet Governance Forum conference on Thursday. The statute, which has been the target of attacks from both sides of the aisle in recent weeks,
Justice
WASHINGTON, July 25, 2019 — The efficacy of antitrust enforcement against big tech companies was energetically debated at an Internet Governance Forum conference on Thursday. The current consumer welfare standard sufficiently supports robust antitrust merger analysis, claimed Keith Klovers, an attor
AVs
WASHINGTON, July 25, 2019 – There is still a long way to go before self-driving vehicles can be fully integrated into society, said engineering and policy experts gathered at the Brookings Institution for a day-long conference on Thursday. In the opening keynote address, Kenneth Leonard, director of
Antitrust Division
The Department of Justice announced Friday that it and the Attorneys General for five states reached a settlement with T-Mobile and Sprint regarding their proposed merger. The settlement requires a substantial divestiture package in order to enable a viable facilities-based competitor to enter the m
Broadband Mapping and Data
The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously passed the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act on Wednesday, Broadcasting and Cable reports. The bill was introduced in June by Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Gary Peters, D-Mich., John Thune, R-S.D. and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. The
ITIF
WASHINGTON, July 24, 2019 – Experts in law enforcement and privacy came together at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation on Wednesday to debunk common assumptions of how officials use facial recognition. For law enforcement to properly meet the needs of the community, they we must ma
5G Wireless
WASHINGTON, July 24, 2019 – Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler doused cold water on the increasingly growing hype surrounding the 5G wireless standard at a Brookings Institution event on Wednesday. Instead, he said, 5G deployment will be an evolutionary process. And the no
Congress
WASHINGTON, July 24, 2019 — The Federal Trade Commission announced on Wednesday details of its $5 billion settlement with Facebook over privacy violations such as the Cambridge Analytica scandal. In addition to the fine, the company will have to provide quarterly compliance reports and form an indep
ISP
Locally-run internet service providers offer better broadband than their private sector counterparts, according to a recent study by PCMag. The data shows that six of America’s ten fastest ISPs either involve some form of public-private partnership or were run directly by a local community. “Local n
HUD
WASHINGTON, July 24, 2019 — As concern about smart home technology grows, three progressive representatives are planning to introduce a bill this week to ban facial recognition technologies from public housing. “Surveillance technology is often used to track and control vulnerable communities, parti
Justice
WASHINGTON, July 23, 2019 — Facebook, Amazon, and Apple stocks dropped on Tuesday after reports of a broad antitrust review of big tech by the U.S. Department of Justice surfaced. The review will “consider the widespread concerns that consumers, businesses, and entrepreneurs have expressed about sea
DISH
WASHINGTON, July 23, 2019 – Television broadcasters’ main bête noire used to be the cable industry, known more formally as “multichannel video programming distributors.” But the changing media landscape is forcing the National Association of Broadcasters to look for new rivals like AT&T, Dish Networ
Privacy
California businesses and legislators are pushing to change the California Consumer Privacy Act, San Francisco Chronicle reports. Dirk Lorenz, owner of Fremont Flowers, said that the law will affect not only big tech firms, but small businesses as well. “It’s going to cost a good deal of money,” he
FTC
WASHINGTON, July 22, 2019 — With great power comes great responsibility. And now Google, which insists that it is not slanting search results based upon political leanings, is under attack from both the left and the right. At a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing last Tuesday — titled “Google and
FCC
On Thursday, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai urging the agency to utilize public input to fix broadband coverage maps. “The FCC’s maps are still woefully inaccurate, and they are hurting the economy and the people of West Virginia,” said
AEI
WASHINGTON, July 22,2019 – As friction continues in the trade war between U.S. and China, policy experts believe that continuing to impose import tariffs will hurt U.S. innovation and provide China more economic leverage in the long run. The U.S. has an estimated billion-dollar welfare loss due to i
