For more than a decade, the Federal Communications Commission has been failing to protect the public interest and strengthen the nation's broadband infrastructure.
Wake up, FCC: The Internet Protocol transition is now
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Some 45 years after design work started on the cellular network and the Internet, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued an Internet Protocol (IP) Technology ransitions Order amounting to a reluctant invitation for trials on the decommissioning of the legacy telephone network.
Phone firms balk at proposed NSA surveillance changes
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Telephone companies are quietly balking at the idea of changing how they collect and store Americans' phone records to help the National Security Agency's surveillance programs. They're worried about their exposure to lawsuits and the price tag if the US government asks them to hold information about customers for longer than they already do.
Modernizing the Communications Act
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
One of the most common criticisms of the Communications Act is the so-called “siloed,” sector-based nature of the law and resulting regulation. The Communications Act consists of seven titles: general provisions, common carriers, provisions related to radio, procedural and administrative provisions, penal provisions and forfeitures, cable communications, and miscellaneous provisions. Each of the titles governs a specific sector of the communications economy with inconsistent approaches to definition and regulation.
Unfair Phone Charges for Inmates
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
The Federal Communications Commission ended a grave injustice when it prohibited price-gouging by the private companies that provide interstate telephone service for prison and jail inmates. Thanks to the FCC order, which takes effect next month, poor families no longer have to choose between paying for basic essentials and speaking to a relative behind bars.
US phone companies never once challenged NSA data requests
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
None of the phone companies that handed over communications metadata in bulk to the National Security Agency ever challenged the agency on its data requests.
FCC chief: Reagan could be proud of ‘Obamaphone’ program
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Acting Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn forcefully defended her agency's phone subsidy program for the poor in a speech.
Here’s how phone metadata can reveal your secrets
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
The National Security Agency’s surveillance program, now being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union, only collects metadata about Americans’ phone calls—who they call, when, and how long the calls last. In defending the program, the government has cited a controversial 1979 Supreme Court decision that held that phone records are not protected by the Fourth Amendment because consumers do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their calling records.
Al Jazeera Sues AT&T for Dropping New US Channel
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Al Jazeera has sued AT&T for dropping the new U.S. channel on the eve of its launch.
Democrats demand Obama ‘end the bulk collection of phone records’
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Sens. Mark Udall (D-CO) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) demanded that President Barack Obama “end the bulk collection” of the public’s phone records.