Internet/Broadband

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.

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.

Television set for a revolution

About 90 percent of Americans pay for television, giving them scores of channels to choose from, but four free-to-air networks they can pick up with a “rabbit ears” aerial still account for 96 of the top 100 primetime programs. Audience inertia and brand loyalty built over decades mean that ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC still account for 40 percent of all primetime viewing. Their unique ability to attract mass audiences, particularly for live sport, has kept TV advertising healthy even as advertising dollars fled other media for Google and Facebook.

Broadcasters Circle Wagons Against a TV Streaming Upstart

When Chase Carey, Rupert Murdoch’s top deputy at News Corporation, told broadcasters about his contingency plan to turn the Fox network into something available only on cable, he knew policy makers would be listening, too. But a few of them were busy that day, meeting with Chet Kanojia, the very man who had provoked Carey’s stark warning.

Arming Cable Against the Open Internet

Cable television companies are distressed about how quickly Internet and mobile viewing are stealing customers. Now, technology firms want to sell them ways to offer the personal choice of mobile, while justifying the goodies that come to someone who pays for a subscription.

Silicon Valley lobby group draws critics

It is said to have a $1 million joining fee and boasts some of technology’s biggest names among its members – including its founder, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. But Silicon Valley’s latest attempt to form a lobbying group has been attacked by rivals in the tech sector as an interference in politics that risks attracting negative publicity.

Cheryl A. Leanza, President

Angst over Internet surveillance detected on Hill

An Industry Man for the FCC

Sen. Rockefeller to push for Do Not Track at hearing

House Commerce Committee to Mark Up Internet Governance Bill

US regulations hard on small phone firms, Sen Pryor, panel hear

Arming Cable Against the Open Internet

Silicon Valley lobby group draws critics