Headlines

Why Is The NAACP Siding With Verizon Over Net Neutrality?

Benton Foundation — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 11:52:27 +0000

The NAACP and several other major civil rights groups have emerged as flashpoints in the debate over net neutrality, the idea that all Internet traffic should be treated equally.

Not much to fear about sponsored data

Benton Foundation — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 11:50:33 +0000

In its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Open Internet, the Federal Communications Commission has been paying undue attention to the (so far) commercially-uninteresting and technologically-unfeasible notion of paid prioritization. In the meantime, other commercially reasonable practices get deployed, both in the US and around the world. One such practice is “sponsored data.”

Work to Bolster Health Website Is Raising Cost, Officials Say

Benton Foundation — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 11:49:13 +0000

Obama administration officials said that the cost of the federal health insurance exchange was growing because they were assigning new work to contractors in an effort to prevent a repetition of the problems that crippled HealthCare.gov last fall.

Iliad Sets the Pace for Sprint on T-Mobile

Benton Foundation — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 11:48:08 +0000

Iliad swooped in before Sprint formally placed its long-awaited offer for T-Mobile. The latter's stock shot up. But that likely reflects hope that Sprint would be spurred into action, rather than excitement about Iliad's bid itself.

EBay Workforce Has Big Tech’s Highest Female Percentages, Company Data Show

Benton Foundation — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 11:46:45 +0000

With 42 percent of its 33,000 global workforce being female, eBay reported the best gender balance of several big tech companies that have revealed their workforce diversity numbers lately.

China Harasses US Tech Companies

Benton Foundation — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 11:45:13 +0000

China has opened what appear to be politically motivated antitrust investigations into American technology companies like Microsoft and Qualcomm.

What’s in the E-rate Order? A Streamlined Process

Rebecca — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 00:09:10 +0000

The third major goal adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in the latest E-rate reform proceeding is to make the E-rate application process (and other E-rate processes) fast, simple and efficient.

TWC's Dodgers channel dispute a case for a la carte pricing

Rebecca — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 00:07:45 +0000

Time Warner Cable was patting itself on the back after saying it was willing to have a federal arbitrator step in to resolve its long-running dispute with other pay-TV companies over the cost of the new Dodgers channel.

Why did all these countries start asking for Twitter’s user data?

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 23:32:07 +0000

Since its last transparency report, Twitter says eight new countries have begun asking for user data, for a total of 54. What explains the spread isn't clear.

Judge Rules That Microsoft Must Turn Over Data Stored in Ireland

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 23:30:35 +0000

Judge Loretta Preska of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York upheld a magistrate judge’s earlier ruling that Microsoft must turn over the customer’s e-mails, held in a Microsoft data center in Ireland. Judge Preska agreed to stay her order while the company pursues an appeal.

The Public Sector Considers Mobile-First Approaches to Citizen Interactions

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 23:29:03 +0000

More states and cities are announcing “mobile-first” strategies, but what does that really mean?

Top tech execs need to speak up on diversity

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 23:28:17 +0000

The sound of silence. That's what we're hearing from tech's biggest names about their industry's woeful record on diversity in the workforce and the urgent need to improve it Not one high-ranking CEO has stepped up to provide leadership for the industry or articulate concrete plans for diversifying the workforce.

NCTA's Powell: TiVo Just Wrong About CableCARD

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 23:27:14 +0000

National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Michael Powell called "spurious" TiVo’s claim that an agreement between TiVo and Comcast to work on a non-CableCARD retail set-top retail "solution" argues for retaining the ban on integrated security and channel surfing functions in leased boxes.

Cord Cutting Hits European Markets, Report Finds

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 23:25:09 +0000

Cord-cutting, the bane of traditional cable and pay-TV, may finally have reached Europe.

FCC Will Begin Accepting Law Student And Judicial Clerk Applications

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 23:23:54 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission will accept applications from graduating law students and current judicial clerks for its Fall 2015 Attorney Honors Program.

Bart Gibbon, Information Technology Engineer, Office of Policy Coordination and Management

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 23:21:44 +0000

Bart Gibbon is an information technology engineer at National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s remote site operations in Gettysburg (PA), he has worked since he joined the agency in 2005.

It’s Not Just About Privacy

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 20:55:28 +0000

It’s easy to get caught up in the simplistic debate that often dominates the surveillance conversation: that this is about balancing national security and individual privacy. But the binary argument over security vs. privacy ignores the other negative impacts of National Security Agency surveillance on our national interests.

Smartphones Become Next Frontier in Cybersecurity

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 20:54:06 +0000

There is a new frontier in cybersecurity: The computers masquerading as phones in consumers' pockets. Smartphones are constantly connected to the Internet, infrequently updated and are challenging to secure. They're rich targets, recording pictures, names of associates and conversations.

T-Mobile's Legere: We don't need to make a deal to be successful

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 20:53:25 +0000

T-Mobile US said it added 1.47 million total net new subscribers in the second quarter, including 908,000 branded postpaid net adds.

Frontier CEO says she'll beat Google Fiber 'hype' with better prices

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 20:51:57 +0000

You don't need a gig. That's the case Frontier Communications chief executive Maggie Wilderotter is making as Google Fiber readies a charge into the Portland (OR) area, perhaps as soon as 2015.

Comcast's silly propaganda helped kill municipal broadband projects

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 20:50:28 +0000

A little more than 10 years ago, Comcast stuffed mailboxes in Batavia, Illinois, in the weeks leading up to a vote on a referendum measure attempting to establish a municipal broadband network, warning of failed projects and other horror stories that would come to life if they voted in favor of it.

5G in London by 2020, pledges Johnson

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 20:49:10 +0000

Unveiling London’s first long term infrastructure investment plan, Mayor Boris Johnson said the world’s first major ‘5G’ mobile network will be deployed in the city by 2020, working in collaboration with the University of Surrey.

Watchdogs Call On FCC to Extend Online Political File Requirements to Cable and Satellite Systems

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 19:50:30 +0000

The Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and the Sunlight Foundation called on the Federal Communications Commission to extend to cable and satellite systems the requirement that their political files be posted on the FCC’s online database.

CIA improperly accessed Senate computers, agency finds

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 19:49:10 +0000

Central Intelligence Agency employees improperly accessed computers used by the Senate Intelligence Committee to compile a report on the agency’s now defunct detention and interrogation program, an internal CIA investigation has determined.

Sen Wyden calls for short-term ban on Internet tax

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 19:48:00 +0000

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) called on the Senate to pass a short-term extension of a ban on Internet access taxes.

Comcast Speed Upgrades Hit Houston, California

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 19:46:37 +0000

Comcast has begun to roll out speed upgrades in Houston and parts of California, according to customers. Comcast is jacking up speeds without a price increase.

France's Iliad Makes Bid for T-Mobile US

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 19:45:19 +0000

French upstart telecommunications company Iliad has made an offer for T-Mobile US in a bold bid to counter by Sprint for the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the US. Iliad announced that it offered $15 billion in cash for 56.6% of T-Mobile US at $33 a share.

Google Details Problems With Handling Right to Be Forgotten Requests

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 19:41:56 +0000

Google says complying with Europe’s so-called right to be forgotten ruling is getting complicated.

Authors group pushes for NSA reform, while there’s still time

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 18:01:13 +0000

A Q&A with Suzanne Nossel, executive director of PEN American Center.

A closer look: Netflix, Mozilla, and Title II

Rebecca — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 17:59:50 +0000

Netflix and Mozilla are leading the charge for the government to oversee the Internet as never before, however, it is important to understand -- and to refute, where warranted -- their positions.