Damage to press freedom likely outweighs national security gain

When the Justice Department launched its investigation of alleged leaks of national security information by the Obama administration a year ago, we were skeptical. Our forebodings have been borne out with the revelation that federal prosecutors have undertaken a broad sweep of the Associated Press’s phone records.

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Angst over Internet surveillance detected on Hill

Federal law enforcers say they have their hands full with criminals who skirt legal surveillance by using hard-to-wiretap services like Google and Facebook. Now they’re about to inherit a new foe in the fight: Capitol Hill.

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Christian radio group faces financial hard times

A Christian radio ministry may be facing a financial apocalypse after its predictions about the end of the world failed to come true.

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An Industry Man for the FCC

President Obama has picked a former telecommunications lobbyist and campaign fund-raiser to serve as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, raising serious questions about his 2007 pledge that corporate lobbyists would not finance his campaign or run his administration.

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Center Will Offer New Tools for Measuring the Impact of Media Beyond Numbers

What is the difference? If your question is like that one, more practical than philosophical, the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism may soon have an answer. With $3.25 million in initial financing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the college’s Norman Lear Center is about to create what it is calling a “global hub” for those who would measure the actual impact of media — journalistic, cinematic, social and otherwise.

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Looking at Facebook’s Friend and Relationship Status Through Big Data

Wolfram Alpha, a computational search engine, released a detailed report about people’s friendships and relationship habits on Facebook.

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Sen. Rockefeller to push for Do Not Track at hearing

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) will hold a hearing April 24 to push for a feature that would allow users to opt out of online tracking.

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Marco Rubio Forced To Clarify That He Is Not Giving Away Free Cellphones

Lots going on up at Capitol Hill which is kind of not the ideal environment for a bunch of right-wing blogs to start dredging up nonsense over a sinister plan to give away free cellphones, mirroring the ancient election year grievance over "Obamaphones," but that's what's happened.

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ACLU files complaint with FTC over older Android software

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal complaint accusing the nation’s largest wireless carriers of “deceptive” business practices for failing to keep the software on tens of millions of Android smartphones updated — a shortcoming that can make the devices vulnerable to hackers.

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Boston rumors aside, cell service can be halted

The government’s process for shutting down a wireless network is shrouded in both secrecy and controversy.

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