Keeping politicians' hands off the Net & everything else related to technology
Pre-release rumors and press reports were making it sound like the Obama administration let Rep. Ed Markey draft the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to “Preserve the Free and Open Internet.” Maybe there was a last-minute change of plan. There were rumors and/or reports that the NPRM would contain a “viewpoint diversity” mandate and only [...]
Julius Genachowski, the new FCC chairman, announced that the commission will begin a rulemaking process to formalize and supplement existing network neutrality policy. According to Genachowski, This is not about government regulation of the Internet. It’s about fair rules of the road for companies that control access to the Internet. We will do as much [...]
Reacting to Apple’s decision to not allow Google Voice for the iPhone, Wall Street Journal guest columnist Andy Kessler complains, It wouldn’t be so bad if we were just overpaying for our mobile plans. Americans are used to that—see mail, milk and medicine. But it’s inexcusable that new, feature-rich and productive applications like Google Voice [...]
A new coalition, NoChokePoints, has been formed to lobby Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to further regulate the prices that incumbent telephone companies (Regional Bell Operating Companies or Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers) can charge for special access services purchased by businesses and institutions. Special access circuits are dedicated, private lines. For example, Sprint purchases [...]
Small cellphone operators want Congress or the Federal Communications Commission to prohibit larger carriers from becoming exclusive providers of popular handsets, like the Apple iPhone (AT&T), Blackberry Storm (Verizon Wireless), Palm Pre (Sprint) and Samsung Behold (T-Mobile). John E. Rooney, President and CEO of United States Cellular Corp., testified at a recent Senate Commerce Committee [...]
Today the European Union issued the opinion explaining its decision to fine Intel $1.45 billion for offering discounts to large purchasers (see this, this and this). Although antitrust originated in the U.S., antitrust enforcement has become more active in other parts of the world where awareness of the limitations and dangers of overly-aggressive antitrust enforcement [...]
President Obama intends to nominate Mignon L. Clyburn to the Federal Communications Commission. Clyburn is a good pick. She has been a member of the Public Service Commission of South Carolina since 1998. She chaired the South Carolina commission from 2002 to 2004, is a past chair of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners [...]
Over at TVNewsday, Harry A. Jessell writes: I don’t like the way the new FCC is shaping up. There’s something missing. My concern has nothing to do with Julius Genachowski, whom the president has reportedly tapped for chairman…. What I’m having trouble with are the names popping up for the Republican seat…. All [the rumored [...]
Wall Street Journal columnist Gordon Crovitz writes that In Japan, wireless technology works so well that teenagers draft novels on their cellphones. People in Hong Kong take it for granted that they can check their BlackBerrys from underground in the city’s subway cars. Even in France, consumers have more choices for broadband service than in [...]
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Commerce Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison, I hear, have received approximately one dozen recommendations for filling the vacant seat on the FCC which, by law, must be filled by a Republican. Although the president will make the appointment, the views of the Senate Republican Leader, in particular, are [...]
May 22, 2012
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.
