ISPs resisted proposed rules requiring them to disclose more data about broadband speeds and other characteristics, urging an industry approach instead, in comments this week on an FCC National Broadband Plan public notice. But Google and public interest groups said transparency is lacking and rules are necessary. Some fixed broadband providers said any new rules applying to them should also apply to others in the broadband ecosystem.
The copyright industries already have many of the tools they need to reduce infringement over the Internet, the Information Technology Innovation Foundation said in a report. What’s missing is crucial regulatory and legislative encouragement toward intermediaries such as Internet service providers and online advertising networks, and some good old-fashioned political horse trading, researchers and executives told a foundation event in Washington Tuesday. Foundation President Robert Atkinson said the White House roundtable on intellectual property enforcement scheduled for the afternoon may presage a more active role for the Obama administration than that of President George W. Bush. (See separate report in this issue.)
FCC commissioners agreed an open Internet has been key to promoting free speech but voiced sharp divisions on possible consequences of federal network neutrality rules, in an FCC net neutrality workshop Tuesday. Meanwhile, AT&T sent Chairman Julius Genachowski a letter highlighting areas of consensus it sees between advocates and opponents of new rules. Officials from CTIA and Public Knowledge also cited some conditional agreement.
The former senator who once suggested entertainment companies blow up file-sharers’ computers is now leading an effort to coordinate federal agencies and persuade foreign leaders to better protect intellectual property. Vice President Joe Biden convened agency chiefs and media industry leaders at the White House Tuesday to commit the Obama administration to “making real inroads” in IP enforcement in the U.S. and abroad. Groups that weren’t invited to the meeting, from the technology and Internet industries and consumer advocacy, griped about their exclusion and asked for a seat at the table in the future.
The design of an electronic medical record can affect the quality of the information within it, said panelists at a meeting of the National eHealth Collaborative on Monday. The collaborative is the successor organization to the American Health Information Community. It’s a public-private group that was established with a grant from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT before Congress established the Health It Policy and Standards committees in the Recovery Act to serve as federal advisory committees to the national coordinator.
Mark Lloyd, the FCC’s chief diversity officer, said death threats haven’t affected his ability to do his job. The threats and other hate mail followed what Lloyd called a “right-wing smear campaign” about his writings on communications policy, after critics raised concerns he would try to revive the fairness doctrine. Lloyd, who also holds the title of associate general counsel, told reporters after a speech at a Media Access Project forum that most of his work lately has involved the FCC’s broadband plan. The threats “haven’t had any effect in terms of the work I'm doing,” Lloyd said. “There is obviously increased security.” Threats have continued to come in and now go directly to the FCC’s security office, he said.
Using the Internet for elections raises serious security and privacy concerns, said technologists and others in comments at the FCC on a National Broadband Plan public notice on digital democracy. While many supported webcasting of government meetings, some warned that putting any government process on the Web risks disenfranchising people without broadband access. And counties said they opposed national mandates.
December 14, 2009 by Jonathan Make and Josh Wein|Top News
Antitrust review of Comcast’s purchase of a controlling stake in NBC Universal probably will center on defining the market for the combined company’s broadcast and cable programming, said a wide range of industry lawyers and officials we interviewed. Whichever agency gets the matter, the Federal Trade Commission or the Justice Department, probably will look at the merged company’s TV stations, NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks and cable channels, they predicted.
Data portability and cloud computing bring new challenges to privacy and security, groups said in comments at the FCC on a National Broadband Plan public notice about data portability and cloud computing and their implications on broadband.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo took a rare turn in his latest dealings with Internet companies: No explicit legal threats. Fifteen social networking sites have agreed to use lists compiled under New York’s Electronic Securing and Targeting of Online Predators Act, or e-STOP, to block and purge registered sex offenders in the state from the sites. Facebook and MySpace started the ball rolling two weeks ago by removing 3,500 New York offenders, and another 13 followed last week, including one previously on the outs with Cuomo for other reasons. Cuomo made the request to 17 sites in a Dec. 1 letter.